La Cucina + Bar — Restaurant in Port Douglas

We booked to come to La Cucina + Bar (over a month ago) as it was apparently ‘the place we must go’ and the menu online looked to have a lot of variety. Upon booking there were no options to select whether you sat in the bar or the restaurant, you simply booked a day/time and whether you wished to sit indoors or outdoors. Additionally, there was no mention of menu exclusions or when pizza can or cannot be ordered - it states served daily. First impressions tonight, I can tell you what, we were incredibly disappointed. We walked in and were ignored by 3 staff members, standing there awkwardly until finally someone looked at us and we told them we had a booking. No friendly or welcoming greeting which is quite concerning for an ‘authentic Italian’ restaurant. Anyway, we take our seats and ordered a couple cocktails, then looked at the menu to realise it was quite small and was only the seafood pasta’s, appetisers, and more expensive dishes. We tried to get the waiting staff’s attention a few times to ask about the rest of the menu, but we’re ignored. 15 mins later we finally got someone’s attention and asked about the pizza and the other menu options. We were told that no pizza is served tonight (Wednesday) and it is only served on set days in the bar only, not the restaurant. So we scanned the rest of the menu but nothing appealed to us and we were disappointed that prior to booking there was no clear indication of menu exclusions. We decided we weren’t willing to pay for overpriced meals we didn’t find appetising so we kindly asked a passing waitress for the bill for our cocktails and that we no longer wanted to order dinner. She gave us a horrible look and said “ok let me go ask my manager”. Why would you need to ask your manager for a customer to pay for their bill? Another waiter then came over and asked her what’s going on and she said so sourly that we want the bill. He asked us what the problem was and we just said nicely that we thought we would be able to order anything from the menu including pizza, but were just told we couldn’t and nothing else is really standing out from this menu. He then questioned and asked “you don’t like anything else” and we just said well we wanted pizza and your website didn’t specify that it’s excluded on certain days and the booking system didn’t notify that there are 2 different menus and areas to the restaurant. He then sarcastically laughed and said “oh well I don’t look at the website or the menus online, so I don’t know.” Unnecessary, but ok…. You work here so, shouldn’t you know? We then said “it’s ok we will just pay for our drinks”. After we received the bill we went inside to pay and waited at the counter while the manager stood there not acknowledging us, just holding an eftpos machine. We then walked up and handed the bill and paid with ZERO communication from the manager during the process. Where’s the customer service? Didn’t it concern him that we were leaving so early with a bill of 2x cocktails for dinner? How about clarifying the menu differences and apologising for the booking confusion? Or even offering to move us into the bar section where we may find a menu more appealing to us? Nothing, quite pathetic honestly. May as well have had the staff spit on us the service was practically the same. Will not be returning, don’t touch this place - disgusted with the appalling...

This place was incredibly disappointing. I wish I could give it 0 stars. I phoned multiple times to make a reservation with no answer. I then sent an email asking to make a reservation and asking about both menus listed on their website being the seafood menu and the pizza pasta menu. I asked if this was available to order from both, as well as if they charge for a cake and if it was BYO. I was phoned a day later and whoever I spoke to informed me yes you can order pizza and pasta or the seafood menu, no BYO and yes can bring a cake. So naturally I made the reservation for my mums 60th birthday and our group of 12 people. We showed up tonight to dine for mums birthday and the wait staff were incredibly rude from the get go. I asked about the pizza pasta menu as we had some kids with us and they said no pizza haven't had pizza for 2 months and we never serve pizza in the dining area. I explained I had been told otherwise and they continued to argue back with me not a good start. We asked to order a child meal of grilled chicken and chips as one guest didn't eat seafood or red meat. This was again a huge drama and the waiter argued about serving this until the manager came over. The waiter left, never took our drink order and never came back to check on anything. Food arrived, was average. Nothing special for the price you pay. We then went to pay the bill and leave and the manager asked how the meals were we said they were okay but not great he asked for feedback on our experience so I gave him my honest opinion on our experience, he argued back with me and didn't seem to care what I had to say and continued to imply I was lying about being told the pizza and pasta was served. I politely advised that the conversation was not going anywhere and he didn't seem to really want my feedback for improvement purposes so I would end the conversation and we would leave. I also advised how rude the staff member was the served us and he said yes he was just taking things personally when everyone was upset. I then stated I understand what it is like to work in customer service as I too run my own business but at the end of the day customer satisfaction is what makes your business. It is ensuring your customers are happy and needs are met. It is about the language used and that in a customer service role we can't take things personally. It is Just what a customers expectation is and what needs to be met for them to have their experience. Being in the travel industry Port Douglas is one of our top destinations and this restaurant is usually one I would highly recommend. I can tell you right now it will not be one I will recommend any more and certainly advise clients not to book. I am extremely disaappointed. My mums birthday dinner was ruined by poor service and experiences in what is meant to be a fine dining restaurant. La Cucina, take this and all the other negative feedback on board as a learning curve and do something to improve your business because at the moment your burning...

Wish I could rate 0 stars

Made a booking as to which I had to leave a credit card authorisation for $180. In which case I had some sort of expectation for the restaurant. Arrived to be seated inside the restaurant area, only to be moved to another area on bar stools as some of our party wanted to order pizzas (didn’t make sense at all as most of us were ordering from the alacarte menu anyway). I was then seated under a broken and leaking air-con vent which was dripping on my head, so we asked if we could be moved to another table. Unapologetically and with attitude we were told that our party of 6 could move to another location but it would be 2 smaller round tables, so we decided to stay put as we wanted to be seated together. The pastas were ok, but a bit on the smaller side for the price they were. We also ordered the seafood platter for 2 which was a bit disappointing. The prawns and scallops were great, but the fish was overdone, the mussels were tiny and I would have thought it would have come with complimentary bread (for the broth that the mussels were served in). Would have paid for some bread had we known, or been offered it. The pizzas were wet and soggy in the centre, so the topping was sliding off as it was being eaten. We found the water and served ourselves as no one seemed to care. The 2 staff members that we dealt with were rude and gave attitude, and really seemed to not give a sh@#. I regret not reading reviews on this place before we booked as it seems others have had similar experiences. We are regulars in Port Douglas and will definitely not go back there nor recommend the place to our friends. This is what you get for spending over $400 Should have...