Myrtille Bistro Crows Nest — Restaurant in Queensland

Had lunch at Myrtille for the first time on Mother's Day. Since it's opening, I've heard many good things about the restaurant so I was excited to be there. We waited 1.5 hours for our main meals leaving us no time for coffee or dessert because we had to head back to Brisbane in time for another event. I ordered the fish and chips and what arrived was an oversized ceramic platter with very average chips that cooled quickly on the plate and would have fed a family of four, with two small pieces of battered fish that had an odour when placed in front of me. I ate one of the fillets and if I had received it in a fish and chip shop, would not have gone back. The second fillet was smelly and undercooked whereby I couldn't pull the fish apart with a knife and fork. I called a waiter over who apologised profusely offering to replace the meal. I said we had no time left to wait because of the long wait for the meal and needing to leave soon. The waiter went to the kitchen to speak with the chef and returned saying, 'chef said that it was a special Queensland fish, and was not undercooked.' It's really difficult to be spoken down to, and with no knowledge of my profession, food experience or expertise. A child could tell it was smelly and undercooked. By the way, the fish was sold as snapper, not considered to be a special Queensland fish.

The man who seated us seemed to have dropped his attention to us as diners and we had to continuously ask for water and when our meals would be arriving several times from other waiters when we could get their attention. There was no apology for the long wait for the meal.

The last time I bought food from My little Bluebery - the adjoining patisserie, I was charged more at the till then what the price was marked next to the items in the cabinet. When I queried why there was a price increase at the point of payment, I was told it was GST. It's completely deceptive and treating the consumer as a fool. I was more than disappointed with my first experience, possibly last, at this restaurant.

P.S. As I'm unable to respond to the owners untrue and threatening comments to my legitimate review. I add this: as I didn't pay for the meal, I wasn't aware that the meal was not charged. I checked with the person who paid the bill and they said they were not told that the meal would not be charged. As far as they are aware, it was paid for.

If the meal was 'completely eaten', how could the wait staff have taken an empty plate to the kitchen to show the chef? How could I have shown the wait staff and my companion that the fish wouldn't pull apart because it was uncooked? The chips and condiments were all on the place as well as the part of uncooked fish. The owner reveals who they are by using untrue, hyperbolic and threatening language. Aside from the meal, they didn't address the excessively long wait for the meals or the...

[UPDATED] DO NOT GO HERE WITHOUT A BOOKING! At last I've been able to get in to sample what Myrtille has to offer. Despite being told "we don't take bookings" when I called previously, it turns out they do. You can book online at their website or over the phone.

THE GOOD: Drinks and Coffee were good and came out quickly. Can't quick put my thumb of what was added to my Chocolate Milkshake but it sure tasted like Coconut. The two other guests I was with raved about their meals (Afghani + Hashcakes) Despite waiting 45 minutes for our meals, the maître d' recognized this without me having to mention it and took a coffee off the bill -- Fantastic service. I wish more places did this. Pet friendly in the outdoor seating area. Amazing and attentive staff. Atmosphere and décor.

THE BAD: The meal I had (Breakfast Burger) lacked any discernable flavor. I kept describing it as a squashed flavorless rissole with some bacon and egg. Given the size of it, it really needs a bamboo stick through the middle to hold it together. Chips were nothing to write home about either. 45 minute wait for food. Seeing disappointed people turned away because the tables lacked reserved signage. -- I know the feeling.

FOOD RATINGS: Breakfast Burger (4/10) Afghani (10/10) Hashcakes (10/10)

SUGGESTIONS: Management, please start using the Reserved signs on your tables. I was getting sick and tired (and so were the waiting patrons) of groups of people seeing a vacant table and assuming it was free, only to be ushered away with " Sorry these tables are reserved". One lady summed it up perfectly -- "If its reserved, where is the sign?". Crows Nest isn't exactly down the street for most of your patrons and if they can clearly see everything is reserved then they will be more inclined to book, should they wish to visit again. Have clear delineation between the café seating and the restaurant. A few people were again ushered away who had purchased café food and were taking up the restaurant seats. I'm sure the wait staff don't enjoy this so signs would make their...

Well disappointing is the best one could say. From the moment we walked in and told no tables available, to then being told sorry there was a mistake and a table for four is available. The menu descriptions were enticing to say the least, however the food was never close to matching the expectation with one of the mains being served with a long hair in the dish which was totally unnacceptable. My opinion is this is a restaurant that may be acceptable in a small country town as a fine dining experience. However it would not survive against true fine dining restaurants. My 94yr mother was excited to be eating out with family and was left very dissatisfied after waiting 56mins for her meal and said it was like a frozen meal from the supermarket.

Well, it's lovely to hear the management believe I have a flair for the dramatic and give fiction rather than fact. Just to clear a few points of fact. We didn't waltz in as we had a 94 yr old that shuffles. Not to mention, there was no waltz music playing at the time. There was no expectation of red carpet as you stipulate, your just a bistro, not a Mitchelin starred restaurant. The hair in the dish was mentioned at the time the dish was brought to the table. Said dish was taken back to the kitchen. So you are correct in stating your team are trained to handle issues.

I guess that included removing that from the bill and offering a free drink or a choice of desert. It seems you may not have been aware, or you are embellishing your reply for the online audience. The wait time was mentioned to your team. However, there was nothing stated about the temperature of the food as that was not a problem. Your reply simply shows that you are disheartened that your bistro was called out for the poor experience we had. There was no reason for me to be dramatic or embellish anything. It certainly has proven to us that we made a poor choice dining there and are happy not to return. I will leave your business to roll out the red carpet for patrons that book a month in advance and cancel their booking, perhaps they chose a...