IronBar — Restaurant in Port Douglas

We passed by this Restaurant on Tuesday 21 July for dinner and at first glance we weren't impressed by the appearance of the venue as it looked like a pub, but then I noticed the dry age steaks displayed in the fridge in the front and it really convinced me to give it a shot. To sum up the whole experience to me it was just an over priced pub trying pose as a higher end steak restaurant. The waiter was super nice, we made a booking for 30 minutes later they called us on our mobile when the table was ready. The waiter was very helpful and she seems to be knowledgeable about the wine pairings. She made great recommendations and we even got to try 2 glasses of wine each to determine which one we preferred.

As for food wise it was far to compare from the service.

For Starters, we got a dozen oysters: One of the oysters were bad it had really fishy smell compared to the other oysters, the waiter confirmed it didn't seem right and even the kitchen said yes it was a bad oyster so they gave us additional oysters and didn't charge us for that plate which was nice but then our sides and mains came out which was whole other disappointment altogether.

Mains: Dry Aged Angus Scotch Fillet 300g $49- I asked for the steak to be medium rare which is standard for a high quality steak but instead the steak was overcooked which was a shame because the cut and quality of the steak actually would of been really good.

Lamb Cutlets $34 - Lamb cutlet was good chargrilled, moist. I would say average but no complaints.

Sides: Greens $9- Veggies were good, Cooked well. Heirloom Carrots $9- The menu said "heirloom" carrots that are caramelised but instead they weren't roasted, nor caramelised, THEY WEREN"T EVEN HEIRLOOM, they were just normal boiled carrots.... Baked Macaroni and Brie $10: This dish was very average. It was pretty plain and dry.

• Sides were not what we expected compared to what was mentioned on the menu*

Wine: Hardy's Char3 Shiraz 1 Glass $15- Perfect Bleasedale Mulberry Tree Cab Sauv Glass $14- Perfect.

Atmosphere: I like the saloon style atmosphere.

The service was probably the best but compared to all the restaurants in Port Douglas. I would have to put this one last on my list. Apart from the bad oysters, and the overcooked steak, I would have to say the mismatched expectation on the sides were...

After over a year of frequenting Iron bar since moving here. We have sadly been very disappointed. We were typically there every Saturday or Sunday normally been 2-4pm for a light bite and drink. We go there as our dog has always been welcome. Our dog is about the size of a small cat. We have been there with the dog more times then I could even count even giving our dog a little bowl of water from time to time. Yesterday after coming almost every week for well over a year we were told that dogs were not allowed. I asked when the rule had changed. The incredibly rude manager told me it had always been the rule. I told him that we come to the venue sitting outside with the dog almost every single weekend and this was the first time we had ever had a problem. He told me that I couldn’t possibly have been to the venue before cause he doesn’t remember ever seeing me and he had worked there for 6 months. As though I was lying about being a regular customer. I was pretty surprised by his rudeness he was such an angry little man I assume he was having a bad day as there is no way this guy is in a customer facing hospitality role with this kind of attitude to customers.

The manager was obviously very inexperienced in dealing with people and a situation such as this he approached with such impeccably blunt rudeness. To make out as though I was lying about being a regular customer was pretty hurtful considering the money I have spent there on an almost weekly bases. It was pretty embarrassing having to leave. Especially considering we had brought visiting guests with us on this occasion. Which was not the first time we brought visitors there either. We nor any visitors we have will be going back again which is very disappointing cause we really like the place. Hope your new manager is worth losing regular...

Me and my Aunty are staying on holiday in port Douglas for 6 nights and have never been here so didn’t know any good places to eat, we jumped online and had a look at some places and iron bar was one of the first ones that came up, the reviews weren’t the best but we decided to give it a go anyway and were pleasantly surprised! My Aunty had the cheese cauliflower and watermelon salad ! I had some steak fries and the salt n pepper calamari, my Aunty enjoyed the salad so much she’s going to learn how to make it and the cauliflower was amazing ! I loved the chips they were crispy but also soft on the inside and perfectly seasoned I didn’t even need sauce I just ate them straight away ! My calamari was cooked to perfection and laid on a bed of a coleslaw type of salad that was delicious too, we also had 2 cocktails, my Aunty had the Toblerone desert cocktail and I had a more fruity almost piña colada type cocktail called a Marco Polo, it was delicious and came with a cherry and fresh slice of pineapple, also the customer service was great we get a girl from the Netherlands who was great and also a dark haired lady with an accent who was also great and gave us a seat without having a booking since there was only the two of us, food arrived not long after we ordered and same with the drink, all around a fantastic dining experience and will definitely be back before our trip ends ! (I’m dying to try the coral trout) I have no clue why some of the reviews are so bad since we are usually quite fussy when it comes to restaurant quality as my grandpa owns restaurants back in Melbourne where we are from !...