Santi's — Restaurant in Port Lincoln

My husband and I had lunch here while in holiday with our 8 month old. I was really happy to find a nicer restaurant that supported breastfeeding and had high chairs. We ordered two yum cha dishes and two mains and unfortunately waited for 55 minutes for one yum cha to arrive and another 10 for the remaining three dishes. This wait time was fairly ridiculous given there were only two other tables and they only had four people. During our wait time the table next to us had one of their meals completely forgotten, and the nuggets and chips they had ordered for their 5 year old arrived after our meals and all their meals - they had been waiting an hour and 15 minutes. The waitstaff were apologetic with every dish served for the wait time, which was very polite and she was attentive with the high chair and service and cannot be faulted. The kitchen was manned by one chef, which with the number of tables should not have caused such a delay on the meals. The chef moved with no urgency as time passed, just continued to move back and forth from the rear area retrieving different items and appeared to work on individual dishes at a time. At one point I asked the waitress if the chef was new, but no, had been with them for some time. The spicy chicken wings we ordered also came out coated in what appeared to be the salt and pepper squid coating as there was zero spice, but a lovely salt and pepper flavour. They were good, but it was definitely a mistake in the kitchen. We also ordered the soft shell crab salad. The crab was lovely but the salad was exceptionally ordinary. Bean sprouts and mixed lettuce leaves with chopped jalapeños, chives, mint and coriander. The crab would have been better by itself than hidden amongst the lacklustre, undressed salad. Overall I am surprised with the high Google Review rating and feel let down by the slow...

Honestly, disappointed. It was almost funny how our night was:

Out of the 8 main dishes on the menu they only had 2 available. About 40% of the rest of the menu was also unavailable. This was on a Saturday 7pm. The food: Edamame was served cold (which isn’t a disaster) but had no flavour. Who serves edamame without salt? Chicken wings were really basic with just a hoisin sauce, atleast they were hot. Crab taco, needs a bit more work. half a chicken, was served lukewarm and had disappointing flavours (Woolies chicken is better). The service was pretty non existent. After taking our order (which took a while because they literally had nothing available) they didn’t check up on us once. They didn’t explain any of the dishes (except that edamame is a bean… which no one asked and everyone knows). When I got up to pay, the waiter asked what table I was (there were literally only 4 tables taken), and only asked if I wanted a receipt. No bye, thank you, nothing from any of the staff. Price: I’m sorry but what restaurant asks $34 for a Pad Thai? That is outrageous. In a Sydney fancy restaurant you wouldn’t pay more than $25. For what we got I thought it was way overpriced. Look, the restaurant isn’t necessarily well decorated, and it’s tucked away in a corner besides some other random shops. But at least put some soap in the bathroom. There was only hand sanitiser. I hope the chefs do actually wash their hands.

I’m giving two stars because I’m sure the restaurant is trying to do something well. Hope this kicks management in gear to...

Wow wow wow!!! If i could give more than 5 stars i most definitely would! Santi’s was the first restaurant we visited here in Port Lincoln after a long drive from where we live in Adelaide and they did not disappoint. First of all, the staff were the most friendliest, helpful and kind people we have met. Everyone engaged with such friendly conversation and big smiles, it was a delight! The food on the other hand was absolutely delicious! We ordered the Chichacorn ribs to start which were so juicy and paired with the most perfect sauce. Next we had the Papaya Salad which was super refreshing and a great palate cleanser. To follow we had the Floating Seafood Noodles, and wow the flavour from this dish was to die for! The noodles and seafood were coated in this thick sweet, savoury and spicy sauce that just danced in your mouth! The main dish of the night that we ordered was Santi’s Seafood Boil, this was the most fresh and flavoursome seafood dish by far!! The mild Sichuan sauce complimented the fresh seafood so well and it makes you want to lick your fingers clean. The crab was humongous, definitely worth your money! The mussels also were sooo fresh and just bursts with the savoury sauce! Overall, the food is a MUST at this place!! The owner of Santi’s is such a beautiful, friendly and generous filipino man. Never afraid to get his hands dirty in the kitchen and at the same time smile and greet his customers. If you’re filipino, suportahan natin ang...