Sarabah Estate Vineyard — Restaurant in Queensland

Spending a week in the Sarabah Cottages right next to the Sarabah Wine Estate, Canungra. With this week spanning Xmas, we pre-booked our lunch at the Bistro on Xmas Eve, this before leaving Brisbane.

Arrived at 1.30 pm as booked. Front Entrance locked, walked down a narrow pathway to find an open kitchen ( the Pizza Oven / Kitchen). Walked into the Bistro to announce ourselves, only to be told the Bistro was not open and they had tried to get 'Open Table' to advise customers with a Booking. Due to Staff problems. My wife checked her cell and yes, there was a message from Open Table reminding us we had a booking.

The only option was to now order Pizza ( a very narrow selection of 4 Pizzas), drinks and then sit anywhere outside. We did this. On arrival I had seen some people at tables under the Olive trees. The tented option alongside the kitchen had a long table where people had finished eating, were standing drinking and kids running around. We opted for the Olive trees. Well imagine tables chairs exposed to the elements (dust and rain). Simply put, dirty. Like a picnic spot that hasn't been cleaned in weeks. And then the final straw. We were not treated to the sounds of nature. We had two people whipper snipping the grass between the vines (at the base of each vine) alongside us. We were their for 50 minutes, I ate a third of my Pizza, my wife was happy with hers. On leaving, I went back to the reception to provide feedback. Only a waitress in attendance. Asked if she knew who we were ie our booking details. A blank response. Told her the Restaurant could not have got this more wrong if they tried. She assured me we would not be charged the $50 'Open Menu' no show fee, but had to write our name down. We will see.

Message for the owner ( who we met two days prior). Not interested in any freebies. Just reflect on the fact that your operation denied us of enjoying a special occasion on Xmas eve. We chose your Estate above so many others as well as on the advice of your neighbour who is also running a Business. You should do...

We were very disappointed with our recent experience at Sarabah Vineyard Estate. My partner and I have been loyal visitors for years, often celebrating birthdays and special occasions there with friends. In the past, we always felt welcomed, and the staff were incredibly accommodating.

This was our first visit since the change in ownership, and unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to our expectations. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a lady at the front door who immediately expressed concern about our two small dogs—despite the fact that we had brought our older dog here many times before without any issues. Though they barked briefly on arrival, I reassured her they would settle down quickly. Her comment about “little people being around” came across as quite rude, especially considering Sarabah has always been known as a dog-friendly venue, and our dogs were leashed and under control.

Once seated, we were warmly greeted by some of the longer-standing staff, which lifted our spirits a little. However, unlike previous visits, no water was provided for our dogs, which had always been a thoughtful touch in the past. Thankfully, we had come prepared.

As the sun became too intense at our table, we moved to the garden area for some shade. The same lady from earlier later approached us and made a point of noting that we had moved, instructing staff to record that we had originally been at table 10. This interaction felt unnecessarily uncomfortable, as if we weren’t allowed to relocate despite the heat.

Another disappointing aspect was that my partner had mentioned it was a birthday celebration when booking, yet none of the new staff acknowledged this. Small gestures like that used to make our visits to Sarabah feel special.

While the updates to the venue under the new ownership are visually impressive, the personal, family-owned charm that once made Sarabah so unique now feels lost. The experience felt more commercial and less warm, and unfortunately, we left feeling unwelcome rather...

Total chaos under new ownership! We rocked up for a wine tasting and ended up with being overcharged by 27%, citing holiday surcharge, which was not declared anywhere, even on purchased bottles.

This used to be such a cute little winery. This time we came for wine tasting but were told, wine tasting was just via booking. So we decided to stay for just a glass of wine and got a table allocated. Waiter who took us to table asked us all sorts of questions about what table and what else we were instructed - shouldnt he know? Ordered red wine at a pop up, and were told someone should have come to our table instead. Plenty of staff (fancy with headsets) were standing around chatting while the venue was relatively empty. Positively, someone then rocked up to offer us wine tasting but informed us that wine tasting was just offered 12-2pm (well, we arrived at 11am). So we went from reds back to white wines for the tasting (oh well..), however the lady did a great job showing us the wines. Because of that we decided to purchase 2 bottles, which were supposedly $10 off each. Trying to pay, we were then overcharged a hefty 27%. No $10 discount was applied, and with the excuse of GST and holiday surcharge included (which was not declared anywhere as legally required). Took us 15min discussion with 3 different people ending with the owner to explain why the charges were incorrect. Thankfully we were offered a refund, though twice the wrong amount (first too little, second time in our favour). However, if 27% overcharge happens to every customer, that's a nice extra income. Went to Hamptons after...they were busy too, but quickly and effortless made a board of wines for tasting...such...