The Kingfish — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

I don’t like to criticize but I’m not sure what happened? I’ll try to summarize the experience without going into too much dribble so you can adjust your expectations prior to your arrival

The Table we were ordered to sit at had not been cleaned correctly. There were bits of old napkins left on it. My partner was disgusted, I chose to not let it worry me. Instead I concentrated on a nice wine and overlooked the situation. Seats were comfortable & it’s a nice view. Let’s be honest, These things happen. We often go out to dinner, several times a week so I don’t let those little mishaps worry me.

However the service mishap intensified as the night progressed

I was questioning, How such a seafood restaurant with many favorable recommendations could falter our dinning experience? We were told on good authority that it’s arguably the best seafood restaurant in Newcastle. So we were excited to go there, and canceled our other dinner reservations. We had been told that KF is better than Scratchlys. But with our first hand experience we can report thats not the case.

Let’s be honest, KF isn’t in the same dining category of Scratchlys.

If I was to review Kingfish from a fish and chip shop standard, I would probably give it 4-5 stars. But considering the restaurant is pitching itself with prices a tad behind fine dinning levels, and above pub rates, I’m forced to review accordingly.

Wait Staff tried but didn’t really have much of an idea on what exactly they are supposed to be doing, they were even puzzled on how to explain the dishes on the menu. No targets or achievable goals seemed to be set for them leaving inexperienced workers wandering the premises looking very confused. This has to be un profitable. And it’s Kind of annoying when your trying to gain the attention of a server bc you don’t have any water or you need another beer/drink, you have food but no knives and forks, and the restaurant is only 1/4 full.? It’s very inconsistent. Dirty plates had to be removed by ourselves bc staff didn’t seem to know it was their job to collect them? It was clear most servers were unable to understand their primary tasks or role’s. And That’s not the staff fault! That’s a management or the owners responsibility to ensure diners receive value for money, and have a nice satisfactory dinning experience by ensuring the staff are competent, trained and comfortable in the knowledgeable required to do their job. Wandering staff with no direction exasperates dinners. I know on our table, and other tables around us, many diners sat with empty glasses and dirty plates in front of them trying to get a server’s attention. Some were walking out complaining over the food quality. Others were laughing over the lack of service.

Look Unless staff can be shown good serving techniques, in the interim the restaurant should just allow patrons to order their own food, and collect their own food, drinks, water, cutlery etc like a pub, which would allow the wait staff to just collect the dirty plates glasses and wipe down tables.

I liked our food. I thought it tasted nice. Oysters mornay were a little undercooked. But, most people on our table didn’t enjoy their food. Old chips served weren’t hot and mainly made up of tiny scraps you find at the bottom of the frying bucket.

Look they had a Lovely beer & wine list, so it’s not all bad, just disappointing to see these other silly things occurring. And they can be fixed.

I’m sure if the place is run more like a pub bistro style where patrons are not relying on undertrained unsure waiters, the venue would do much better and customers would value the experience more.

I can’t recommend in its present form. Go find another dinning experience on the waterfront as there are many better...

Normally not a review leaver, however we decided to book here for my wife's 50th family lunch. This was our third time here over last few years and probably the least impressive, especially as prices have risen and menu items have changed. Overall a three star at best experience. The staff that served us were great though and it was a great day but the food was lacking. Generally okay, but for the high prices, some small things that shouldn't happen in a supposedly higher priced restaurant did. There were certain soft drinks and beers unavailable, they had no buns to do burgers (and some other items unavailable I can't recall) and there were items not described well on the menu such as the mornay items with the bugs or lobster being chargrilled which didn't mix well with the mornay topping. The steak dishes were almost cool when brought out and also appeared undersized. The flavours were quite good though for the steak but had clearly been sitting too long as the medium rare ordered was closer to medium well. Flavours were good though for some other items like scallops but one of the battered barramundi pieces somehow tasted burnt. My daughter wasn't super hungry so opted for a side bowl of chips, which along with coming out last, also unfortunately resembled all the leftover chips from the bottom of the cooker and she barely ate any (every other chip side bowl was fine so go figure). The in-laws ordered their entrees and meals first, but their food came last with entree and main coming at the same time. Overall what should have been a great experience was somewhat soured by the unavailability of some menu items and weirdly cooked items. Just small things in isolation that are not a big deal, but when combined lower the experience. To also give an idea on the price range, the lunch party was for 8 adults, 4 kids and a toddler with the total coming in a bit over $1000 (with only 5 alcoholic beverages ordered, 2 cocktails, 1 beer and two zero beers and only 1 of the seafood platters and 4 x kids meals) which whilst expensive (even for a special occasion), you don't mind paying if you get high level food. Sadly, this...

Absolutely amazing dining experience. The staff are very attentive, professional and friendly. The food was outstanding across the board. Garlic bread was the best I have ever had, such a unique flavour, wonderful textures, freshly made flat bread, wild garlic which has the texture that is reminiscent of anchovy but a fresh grassy flavour with a nice savoury note coming from the parmesan. Was definitely flavour packed and on the freshest and softest flatbread perfectly cooked with a nice hint of char. The prawn cocktail was deconstructed with the freshest of prawns, homemade seafood sauce, delicious capers scattered over the plate. Fresh lemon wedge and crisp iceberg lettuce. Fish and chips, Barramundi once again fresh and delicious with a delicate thin batter, home made tartare. Hand cut chips looked like classic old school chips from a local takeaway, but seriously the best example you could think of, perfectly seasoned and delicate. The Morton bay bugs were a first for me. Very fresh, perfectly cooked so tender. Very delicate creamy and pillowy light Mornay sauce with charred curry leaves on top. Deserts were also both incredible. Sticky date rich and decadent. The cake is moist with perfect density, intense rich sweet caramel harassed back in by pushing the caramel dark enough to balance with a light bitterness. Texturally perfect with a crunchy crumb on top and the right amount of cream. Chocolate biscuit is definitely for fans of the darker style of chocolate. It is like a dense chocolate tart, not sweet but has a nice salty note. Balanced with fresh black berries and delicious creamy vanilla bean gelato. This place is highly recommended and will definitely be back. Please pass on my appreciation to the chef and the wait staff for a...