elements bar & dining — Restaurant in Pokolbin

I booked for 11 people 9 days ahead of the time we were going. The person I spoke to said the booking was all good and see you on the 28th at 6pm We arrived at 5.30pm so we sat in the lounge and had a few drinks when I went to check on our booking as we were getting ready to go into the restaurant they said your booking is for 6.30pm. I said to the waitress no I booked for 6pm she abruptly said its 6.30pm go and wait in the lounge. Then someone came & told us that they didn't have our booking. They wanted us to wait until 7.45pm -8pm to dine we explained were going to Hunter Valley garden Christmas lights & that was too late. They said we will see what we can do. The waitress was quite lovely I showed her my phone record's of when I rang & made the booking. So they asked if we were happy to order from the bar menu and eat in the lounge at half price meals by this time it was getting late so we said ok as we were all hungry. Most of the group ordered fish and chips they were ok. My husband ordered the 200g steak. I didn't get to see it as he sat at a different table to me. After we left he told me the steak looked like off cuts and was tuff he said there was no way it was 200g. All in all a very disappointing night. I know mistakes happen & we tried to make the most of the night but sooooooo disappointed. They need a better booking system. Or some sort of...

So my hubby and I booked a nice dinner for Saturday night at elements bar and dining - our first mistake. We arrived for our 7pm sitting. Waited 25 mins for the waiter to take our orders. We were seated before 2 other couples however we were last to have our orders taken. restaurant wasn't fully busy by that stage. Still had to wait another 10-15 mins for our complimentary bread and olives. After about 45 mins our entrees arrived. which were average. Very little seasoning on the scallops. Nevertheless, waited for our mains. Approx after 1hr 20 mins and still not having our mains. At this point it was as almost 830pm, We made a call to have our food delivered to our room as we were stay at the Mercure. The waiter went back and forth 3 times. Initially didn't have parts of the meal that was meant to be delivered. Main gist. If you have 3 hrs to sit and have dinner then this is the place to go. Service is average. But I feel as we were being discriminated against as we're not 'white' hence why we were last to have our food order taken then had to wait for over 1hr 30 mins for our dinner. Which I believe is absolutely ridiculous. As bad as that sounds I thought the Hunter valley was meant to be a nicer place. Very disappointed esp as it was meant to be a birthday...

We were so pleased with the service from Jade our Waitress and Maddie the Chef in the Kitchen. Jade was so polite and friendly. She was so kind and genuine and nothing was too much trouble. She knew the answer to every question and she was so noticeably professional in both her waitres skills and presentation.

Thanks Jade for making the dining experience even more exciting and friendly. Thanks for such a great job. She sets such a high standard and is very genuine in her work. She could teach other staff for sure.

When it comes to the food, I have never seen food treated with more respect OR COOKED MORE PERFECTLY. Each dish was beautifully sublime and cooked with such professional care. I have been to other good Restaurants but Elements really hits out it of the park. Seriously.

The food was so good we requested to see the Chef in person at our table and thank her for such perfectly cooked and seasoned food.

Two humble and highly valuable employees that work at elemets Bar and Dining.

Thanks to Jade and Maddie for the best dining and waiting experience ever in my Hunter Valley...