The Spare Room — Restaurant in Sawtell

I never go out of my way to write reviews, but do when moved to.

My wife & I are ex-restauranteurs from Noosa and moved to Coffs recently.

We have struggled with the low standard of dining. We walked in off the street for dinner on a Saturday night based on the menu & vibe and were pleasantly surprised! We were met with professionalism from second one. Thank you, Riley (I hope I remembered your name correctly?).

I note you recently came under new management and was shocked to find a plethora of negative reviews.

We either caught you on your best night, and they caught you on your worst, or someone has a vendetta against you. Perhaps also the reviewers don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Maybe Dominos is more their speed? Just saying…

The food was 9/10 (sorry, I’m a hard marker). Well balanced flavours, cooked to perfection, thought through ingredients, well presented, and large portions. The service was 10/10. The waitress (English travelling VISA) knew everything asked of her regarding the food & wine (excellent training for a backpacker!).

Given all that, the value for money overall was exceptional!

I Googled to find details on the Sunday Jazz session which we are keen to come for, which I struggled to find details of (perhaps that’s a website task for IT guys?).

Best of luck guys. Godspeed! We’ll see you one...

The staff were lovely, however very low staffed for the amount of people booked in. Waited 20 minutes to be able to ask for table water, and the food didn't arrive for an hour.

We got the tuna entree, which was disappointing and very chewy. This is the first time I've ever not enjoyed the seafood at an establishment. The juice pairing was awkward and made the whole dish subpar. The bolognaise was average but nothing wrong with it. The market fish was delicious, however a very small serving and plate for a $40 dish. The sides of the dish was a burnt lime, and (I am not joking) half an onion. Just seems like the head chef hasn't put much energy or thought into ingredient pairings and needs to refine the menu.

The actual atmosphere of the establishment was quite lovely and well designed. It's a lively area even without live entertainment, and is a very nice vibe for a casual dinner. The only feedback I have is that the tables are very squished together in an attempt to fit more people in. There is about 20cm's between each table, and made for a bit of an awkward departure for the tables next to us.

Overall, the atmosphere is lovely if you're wanting a few drinks, but I wouldn't recommend the place for an actual dinner. You could cook a much nicer dinner at home. Would be worth it for after...

We recently dined at The Spare Room and our experience was not good at all. The venue itself is very cute and it has a lovely atmosphere. However, the food and service were among the worst we've ever experienced in Australia or overseas. It took asking three waiters to receive a bottle of water, our cocktails did not taste great, we were seated almost on top of the live music, but worst of all was the food. We had the worst pizzas we have ever been served. We clearly specified that one of our party had a mushroom allergy and asked if a mushroom-free Meateater pizza would be a problem. We were told it would not be, but we were then served, to our astonishment, a pizza piled high with mushrooms! We immediately stated that this was not a mushroom-free pizza and were told by the waiter that it was. We had to get a second waiter to intervene. We also ordered a Roast Veggie pizza and were extremely disappointed to receive a crust with about four baby tomatoes cut in half, about ten cubes of pumpkin, and a few strands of what appeared to be broccoli stalk. Very, very disappointed and would...