Sails Restaurant Noosa — Restaurant in Noosa Heads

So we had been lucky enough to visit and enjoy Sails approx 5 times over the last 6-7 years (COVID period included). By background, my family have been in hospitality for some 120 years - being pubs in Sydney. We attended tonight, with my mother in-law from overseas, my wife and our 12 year old son. We booked in February 2024 as we understand the earlier you book, the pecking order for better waterfront view - understandable. We arrived at 6.30pm and ordered cocktails and then our meals. Drinks arrived soon after and we then placed our meal orders. Entree - we had the scallops, twice baked soufflé - entree for my wife and I and also order 3 fried zucchini flowers and the potato bread. We also ordered mains of Moreton Bay Bugs, the toothfish - entree and barramundi and our son, the fish n chips - which we asked to be served when we had our entrees. The time lapse between ordering and entree arriving was circa 20 mins. My scallops - all 3 of them, in shell were no bigger than a 50c piece - but at $30 for the 3…surprising at the expense; my wife’s soufflé was a good size for entree at $29-. The soufflé was great, my scallops flavourless if not for the kosho and caviar blowtorched. At the same time, we requested a Coke for our son. Our mains arrived approx 20 mins later which with the exception of my mother in-laws Barramundi were ample servings - the Barramundi was I guess 15cm x 5cm x 5cm….hardly a “main” serving. The bug was a good size as was the tooth fish (entree size). My son’s fish n chips was an average kids meal but heavily battered and which upon eating…he stated he could not finish as he said it made him feel sick because of “so much oil”. By this stage we had again asked where his Coke was and also requested another bottle of water. As we ate our mains, I have to admit that my wife and I admitted that “things had dropped at Sails” with regards staff, service and food and that from our observation…they appeared to be trading on location alone. Some 20 mins later, we again asked wait staff where our sons drink was and the water, to which the young lady apologised and promised to follow up. Some 5 minutes later, a lady - who we found out was indeed the manager, brought the coke - but no water. We finished our mains but our son was completely unable to even finish 30% of his meal and we decided to finish and under no circumstance have dessert and leave. We then called over a waitress and requested the bill whereupon she asked “if everything was ok ?” I then reluctantly said “No” and explained in the briefest of terms all the issues that had beset us - and asked for the bill. Approx 2 mins later the water arrived - which we declined, then the bill arrived which I paid and asked to see the manager. After paying, I went to the entrance and met the manager where I explained politely what had transpired that night. The manager acknowledged there were shortcomings in staffing and service levels as I had indicated our comparison with past visits to their establishment and my comparison to “Rickys” the night before. She was pleased we had noticed tonight was not up to scratch but offered not genuine empathy for our experience - to which I mean, I was not seeking restitution but rather, a genuine and emotive engagement to our entirely substandard experience - it was devoid of same. In conclusion, I stated that “I must say that I’m truly surprised and taken aback by your lack of genuine understanding and attitude of our truly substandard experience and I can see that your ok with that - so I’ll leave it there” and left. In summary - a restaurant that was once great, is now barely good with overpriced, bland and small portions. A team that - from what I experienced is being run by a disengaged and aloof management team and trades on its “location” to carry its shortcomings. As I indicated to the manager, we will not be back…..I urge others to think twice….there are lots of other venues worthy of patronage...

I never thought I would be writing a negative review of the infamous Sails Restaurant at Noosa. But here we are. If I could give zero for service I would.

Big expectations for this establishment. It prides itself as being the best in Noosa, and to be honest for the last 20 years I would say yes. I have frequently visited Noosa many times since the late 1990’s. And Sails was and until tonight for me “the restaurant”!!! My parents loved it. We went there a lot when I was younger. So the last few years when I came back to Noosa, a visit to Sails with my young family was a must. Last time we were in Noosa wow it was awesome, service was exceptional. In the 6 days we in Noosa we visited Sails twice. Everything was perfect. Both times and the chocolate Pavlova was to die for. Sadly I will never darken the door of Sails again.

Back in Noosa for a holiday and tonight we booked to dine at Sails. We couldn’t wait. We knew it would be amazing. Why wouldn’t it be? It has been so, every other time. But no not tonight. We walked out. And I will tell you why.

First impressions - We walked into the door stood at the font door and for about 2 mins no one noticed or acknowledged us. Finally a young lady did she was polite however we shouldn’t have been kept waiting.

Service experience - Sat down offered water and then 10 mins go by no water, no acknowledgment and no service. For a restaurant like that it is simply not acceptable. There was a person serving the table in front of us, and a table to the left….it was clear we were seated in her assigned section. Noting the restaurant wasn’t full and the person who had served those in front and to the side of us simply ignored us. Not even a simple hello I will be looking after you - your water is on the way may I offer you a drink? It’s not rocket science! My local take away, has more welcoming service. I had to get up and speak to the lady who seated us to find out if someone could come and serve us to order some drinks.

Rude attitude - finally the staff assigned to us who for the last 10 minutes walked past us - finally approached us. No hello no nothing just started to serve our the water we ordered 10 mins earlier. She was not happy. You could cut s knife with the tension. asked her if she was the one assigned to our table, she quipped back and said yes. I said we had been waiting and again she quipped well I was waiting for your water. In my head I thought - that is not good enough - I thought to myself don’t blame your colleagues behind the bar. And furthermore it was only when I had complained she finally approached our table. I explained to her that I have had better service at Sails - and I have absolutely every time. She rudely responded well “I have worked here for five years!” Coincidentally that should mean she should have the experience and respect for her customers to know better. At that point we had enough. How sad. Because of the lack of customer service from this person and the downright rude behaviour. The whole experience was totally spoilt. We walked out. The lady who originally did do her best to stop us but sadly the damage was done. A restaurant of the calibre of Sails should not leave a diner waiting. They should not have team members who treat you like a second class citizen. Never again Sails. Its put an awful taste in our mouths. Sad. Maybe we expect too much . Actually no. When you’re paying top dollar you expect perfection. Sadly this was not the case for...

really disappointed - in August 2023 I was here with a few friends - we were all very excited to try the 9 Cap Wagyu steak - now, I'm a bit of a bozo, and whilst I thought something was wrong when I was eating my steak, I'd had a couple of beers and I wolfed it down before realising that it wasn't even Wagyu - it was a tasty steak, no doubt, but it certainly wasn't $74 worth of Wagyu - I didn't even realise until I saw my friends face when he saw his steak when it was brought out to him - he realised immediately because HE IS A WAGYU FARMER - he took this little switcheroo to heart and raised the issue with the staff who dug their heels in, not really understanding that he has personal experience with the embuggerance of purchasing, breeding, qualifying, genetic testing and selling Wagyu beef - all of which justifies the ability of a restaurant to sell a steak for $70 as opposed to $40 - the speculation around the table was that they had planned the menu two steaks short and threw a couple of steaks at their patrons hoping no one would notice - now, my friend asked to see the steaks that they would use to cook and serve up (i guess he wanted to see the packaging) and they tap-danced like they’d had a LOT of practise - they gave these poodle-faking answers about how “the kitchen was closed” and “there's no Wagyu cooking right now” until about half an hour later when, all of a sudden, they relented and a waitress trotted out a frozen Wagyu steak in plastic - she was tossing it from hand to hand like a cricket ball - when we asked to see it she would deign fit to hold it still for some fraction of a second and then go back to her spin bowler routine - when I saw it, I couldn't see anything that said 9 Cap and asked if we could take a picture - it promptly disappeared back into the kitchen - the speculation was that they had rung around the local restaurants, flashed away and brought one back as evidence they hadn't run out, and never were in the position they had to serve up a fugazi - we lost track of the other steak as well - my friend suggested we could get a sample genetically tested and they must have cleared the table while we were all standing around trying to get a look at the frozen steak - a waiter brought my other friend over to the cash register to talk about an appropriate modification to the check - I went to the bathroom and when I came back we were all being asked to leave - this whole exchange was really weird to me - hospitality staff don't really act the way they did - they all came off sounding like...