The Deck Cafe Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Port Stephens

What attracted my wife and I to the restaurant was the excellent Egg & Bacon Rolls and Coffee in the morning. Liked the location on the edge of the bay, overlooking the water and the Marina.

That evening we arrived at 6pm, were shown to our seats and settled in for a lovely evening by the water to enjoy some excellent food.

The staff were attentive and polite, catering to all the clientele’s requirements, no one was waiting for service.

My wife and I were looking forward to our mains after our starters, ordering, 2 Beef & Reef meals, mine Medium and my wife, Well done.

Our mains arrived and my wife’s steak was rare to medium, not well. The waiter when told, grimaced and apologised for the mistake and returned the meal to kitchen to address the issue.

Within 30 seconds of the meal being returned to the kitchen, the owner approached our table, interupted us without so much as an excuse me and said, :Just so you know, the steak was well done, but the kitchen will cook it further if you like”! He stated this while leaning in over the top. He then as quickly as he interrupted us, he disappeared back into the restaurant.

The experience was disappointing from the ill cooked steak, destroyed by the owner. We didn’t finish the meal as it was returned to our table from being rubberised in a microwave oven. A microwaved $64 steak, are you kidding.

The staff were brilliant, don’t get me wrong, the owner, what a Numbty.

We wont be back.

From other reviews online, seems we are not the only people out for a nice night until a Ramsey want to be...

Popped in here, without a booking, for a lunch with my wife. We were met at the door by the friendly Bambos who directed a young waitress to show us to a table he nominated. We had a great table overlooking the Marina and perused the menu. Everything sounded great but as this was a lunch we decided on the Moussaka for my wife and a Spaghetti Marinara for me. House water appeared by the drinks' waiter who asked if we required anything else to drink. I ordered a Stone and Wood Pacific Ale which went perfectly with my meal, the wife stayed with the water. The meal arrived in a timely fashion and was large. There were a lot of prawns, scallops, mussels in their shells, calamari and of course spaghetti. Both meals were delicious and the waiters/esses were observant, polite and efficient. We were full after eating our lunch and could not fit in any dessert which was a shame. My wife had a cappuccino and I had double shot espresso. The only disappointment for me was the coffee as it had very little crema and was not full and rich. My wife enjoyed her cappuccino so maybe my expectations were too high! Bambos came over and we had a pleasant chat about our native homelands: he being a Greek Cypriot, my wife being an Italian, Calabrese and me being a Londoner! It was a good feel restaurant with great views and food. I highly recommend a visit if you go to Port Stephens, you will not be disappointed. Thank you Bambos and your...

Good food and atmosphere, right by the water. I think some of the negative reviews here could be attributed to bad luck / timing, maybe arriving when it's too busy. My partner and I didn't experience any of the negative points raised. In fact, we arrived a bit past 2pm (closes at 3pm) and could have easily been told they couldn't serve us. Instead, they had a quick huddle to see if they could do a final call, agreed and seated us down.

We ordered the spaghetti marinara and the chicken oscar. The spaghetti was a delight to eat, and I would easily recommend this dish. The seafood portion was fairly generous compared to other ones I've had in the past. The chicken oscar was good but not great. Our chicken was quite dry (could be that we were just that late in the day), but the rest of the dish was good.

I'd argue that the service was good. The staff (I think they're family) were happy to accommodate us despite the time. They were attentive and lovely people. Are they a bit pricey as some have mentioned? Yes, they are. But be fair in realizing that they're a venue right by the water and that seafood prices can fluctuate throughout the year. Would I come back? For that...