Amanda's on the Edge Restaurant — Restaurant in Pokolbin

A Disappointing Experience at Amanda's**

I recently dined at Amanda's, lured in by their enticing advertising and a broad menu that promised an enjoyable evening. Unfortunately, my experience was far from what I had hoped for.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by bare tables, devoid of tablecloths, which set a casual tone that didn't quite align with the restaurant's upscale pricing. The staff appeared confused and overwhelmed, despite the restaurant not being busy—a red flag that would become increasingly apparent throughout our visit.

The prices were steep, with even the children's meal priced at $50, which raised my expectations for quality. Sadly, disappointment struck early when I discovered that the spaghetti bolognese my daughter had chosen was unavailable. She settled for chicken nuggets and chips, while I ordered the slow-cooked crispy pork belly and a curry, accompanied by sparkling water. Children are fussy enough and hard to please. At least take it off the menu than let kids order and come back disappointing them later that is unavailable.

When the drinks arrived, I was taken aback by the basic glasses reminiscent of a backyard BBQ. To make matters worse, what I had thought was sparkling water turned out to be tonic water—a flavor I detest. My attempts to clarify my order with the Indian waiter were met with unnecessary blame on me claiming I ordered the tonic water when I would never order Tonic water which only added to my frustration.

When my pork belly finally arrived, I was disappointed to find it gluggy and chewy, with an overwhelming saltiness meant to enhance the crackle. This dish certainly did not live up to the promise of 12 hour slow cooking, and the portion size felt more like a garnish than a meal. My daughter's chicken nuggets were nothing more than processed, bland bites that reminded me of fast food and chips were packaged. Definitely not worth the $50 price tag and I wish we had done drive through at McDonald's. Why can't a restaurant simply make crumbed tenders and chips with house made relish or sauce?? Healthier, simple and tasty.

To add to the confusion, a staff member brought out a beautiful dessert message for my daughter while our mains were still on the table. While I appreciated the gesture, the timing was puzzling and felt more like an attempt to cover up the shortcomings of our meal.

The curry, though decent in flavor, suffered from poor presentation. The rice was watery, and the naan was stale, which only compounded my disappointment. For dessert, we received the chocolate message along with a crème brûlée and toffee crunch pudding, both of which tasted like they had come straight from a microwave—definitely not the gourmet experience I had anticipated.

In summary, the service was lackluster, the food was subpar, and I can't help but feel that the former owner, Amanda, would be disheartened by the current state of her restaurant. I did receive a small discount on the chicken nuggets, but honestly, I believe we should not have been charged at all.

As someone who rarely writes reviews, I felt compelled to share my experience. For those considering a visit, be aware that this restaurant did not live up to its promises, and it was a disappointing, frustrating culinary experience overall. I will never return....

We recently spent my husbands birthday celebrating at this restaurant for the first time and if I was just rating the food, it would be 5 stars without question! Our entrees were the dumplings and king prawns - could easily have eaten 10 portions of both, just delectable. Our mains were the scotch fillet and linguini - perfection! And regarding the desserts, lets just say I have not seen my husband eat one in 30 years of marriage - he scraped the plate clean (his was the maple pudding and I had the vanilla/passionfruit meringue) - just heavenly. Unfortunately, our 3 courses took 2.5 hours to complete - ridiculous to say the least, even though we had put aside the evening to celebrate, 2.5 hours is indicating they are either disorganised, short staffed or both. But an explanation, apology or heads up would have been nice as we spent most of the night with an empty table in front of us - luckily we like each others company. Given we were on time for 6pm sharp and were only one of two couples in the restaurant at the time (yes it filled up closer to 6.30pm but our order was well and truly taken by then) what started as a lovely dining experience became tedious constantly waiting for the next course to arrive. We were seated immediately, and by 6.15pm we had our order taken by the host, wine selected and poured, still water poured and hot bread, butter, olive oil and balsamic was served. Great start...and then the wait began (now keep in mind that knowing the dinner we were to have that evening, we ate very little during the day and were ravenous). Entrees came out at 7.10pm - 55 minutes. Ok we thought, maybe there was an issue in the kitchen that was being sorted. By this time the restaurant was well and truly packed and other couples/ tables were experiencing the wait also - you could see us eye-balling each other trying to work out who had arrived before whom and who was being served first. Every time the bell in the kitchen rang for table service, all the diners turned towards the door hoping it was their meal - amusing if it wasn't so frustrating! At least it broke up the time. Mains came out at 7.45pm, and finally the desserts came at 8.35pm. By the end we ate the desserts literally in minutes and got out of there - there is only so much sitting you can do on a hard wooden chair. If only someone had come to the table to say something - but the wait-staff just kept doing laps around the room without engaging with anyone. So they get 1 star for eat menu item, but honestly, for $120 pp they need to get their act together, either hire more staff or take less bookings. While I would love to return for the food and the ambience, I won't return until the reviews indicate that the timing of the meals has been sorted. Very disappointing to what was otherwise a...

Where to start... My husband and I have been going to Amanda's for our anniversary for 18 years, the food was the kind of dish that was carefully prepared and you had to stop yourself from trying to lick the plate, the service was amazing, they had a black board they took to the table explaining the entree, main and dessert of the day yet you always had your favourites and the atmosphere was always incredible although you had to lean in because the tables were full with people chatting.

Last year was the only year we missed, as it turns out Amanda had sold the restaurant, and this year we noticed straight away.

Although the staff seemed pleasant the atmosphere was not the same, the vase at the front had dirty water in there

The menu was a 3 course set menu, the food options had changed The entrees - Halloumi was ok but nothing to write home about Crab Ravioli I had a shell in the crab ravioli, super crunchy with a couple of bites, a bit watery in the bottom of the plate

The Mains - Chicken curry - Chicken was not great quality it was something that you could have purchased from a food court

Fish of the day - Broccolini was bland, I needed a lot of salt, the fish was ok and the cous cous was pretty plain. I couldn't finish it

The desserts - Crepe - Average, wasn't great Creme brûlée - I've had this dish every year, it was by far the most disappointing dessert I have had there

When we went to pay the front of house staff asked how everything was and I asked him when Amanda sold the restaurant, he assumed it was because of the front staff, which it wasn't it was the food. He tried telling us the same chefs were here but when I asked if Sarah was still there he said no she retired. He said the menu was the same but when I told him the last time we were here there was a crab and snapper ravioli he then changed his tune and said oh yes I remember. We tapped our AMEX and the receipt didn't come out, the staff member tried to tell us that the payment didn't come out he then proceeded to pick up the computer screen to turn it towards us and show us, I had to show him that the payment came out of our account, although it said pending next it to (which he pointed out) I had to them explain to him that is normal until the funds clear. He told us he will call us to chase up the payment it the money doesn't go through.

The whole time we have been coming we never walked away thinking about how much we spent but this was the first time we felt like we blew our money on a meal that should have been served at a shopping centre.

Time to find a...