Shoal Bay Country Club — Restaurant in Shoal Bay

Had Christmas lunch today at the CC. Our regular venue we love so this pains me to write. Staff giving up their Christmas's were amazing as usual, and this is no reflection on them. Unfortunately, this comes down to a right royal money grab of great proportions. Several hundred people crammed into every nook and cranny of the upstairs restaurant. You gotta max your rev on Chrissy day especially, but don't screw over some of the poor patrons paying $190 per adult and $70 per child. Our family (6 adults and 2 children + baby) paid a sum total of $1,290 to attend the event, no small amount of money. Expectations were that we would be sat somewhere that was comfortable and accessible. My feedback is as follows: We were sat at a picnic table (the ones under the heaters outdoors). Usually, a great spot but how you thought we could fit 5 people on 1 side alone of the table I don't know. We had to ask for an extra chair to sit on the end and thankfully the staff got one. Because the picnic tables were so crammed in 2 things happened as the staff struggled to serve: My poor mother had a mammoth amount of gravy tipped over her right shoulder that ran down her sleeve. Staff didn't even get anything to help her clean her shirt off. Table next to us, poor young child had a whole water carafe tipped over his right leg and shorts. The staff member didn't even come back with a towel to help the poor kid dry himself probably because they were ran, off their feet. The food in part was okay. The servings were on the thin side although delivering such an event on Christmas from a cost base is expensive. The venue more than makes up for this. However, the soccer ball ham, which was as about as thin as my shirt, I wonder where this was purchased from? Woolies? The drinks were nothing short of a joke. If I wanted to drink XXXX, Tooheys New or Super Dry I reckon I wouldn't spend $190 a head. Instead, I would go to Dan Murphy's and buy a case of XXXX for a few bucks a can. As an idea, perhaps if you do need to retain your margins, offering a Pale Ale off the tap i.e., XPA and the customer paying the difference between the cost of one of the above and the XPA. However, for someone who doesn't want to drink camel urine, is left paying $10.50 per schooner of XPA. Happy to hear back from you via email, justifying why the event was ran the way it is without adequate prewarning about the above points. Of which we would obviously say thanks...

Shoal Bay Country Club…. Well all I can say is I will not ever step foot back into that venue ever again!

The most unorganised event. The most expensive drinks. Pete Murray was on stage from around 9-10:15pm. And he talked for about half of that time instead of singing.

The little older man who I'm not sure is the publican or not he seemed to think he was in charge, was insanely aggressive to everyone but especially women.

Tables were pushed to the side to which people pulled out and respectfully had them to the side to allow for standing room

It’s Pete Murray… majority of the people there were aged between 40-70 years old.

Two younger security respectfully asked people to move tables back to corner area. They could still sit and use chairs, but just slightly back to allow for more people. Everyone did this no dramas. Tables out of the way.. plenty of room.

30 minutes later. The little man comes over yelling and just shoving peoples tables aggressively so that drinks were spilling and peoples phones were falling off the tables.

He came over to us and started to do the same thing.

I stood with my hand on the table and asked why as were had already moved tables. He said these were all “locked away” and people have pulled them out.

I said well they werent “locked away” they were at the side if you didnt want people to use them take them out of the room completely. I mean how does tables and chairs piled in a corner allow for more standing room anyway?

He glared at me and said “this is a standing only event” ( which no where on the ticket did it say this and how is this inclusive?)

He then shoved the table aggressively into my stomach and yelled threatening “You will be the first to go”.

This was at 8pm. I wasnt drinking I was driving.

The guy literally moved everyone’s tables 3cms over. People next to us said “wow that made a huge difference”. Others said “ We were let into the concert without even having a ticket”. We paid $80 a ticket.

During the concert near the end.. little man barged through people and flicked a light off ( that was on when we arrived to the venue … noone had touched it).. he barged past my partner and dropped a shoulder in on his way back through.

Hugely disappointing. Do not go out to be treated with such aggression. Will never go...

We decided to dine at Atmos for a family celebration. Once we arrived at the reservations desk we were quickly seated at our table and had a street facing booth with one side furnished as a cushioned lounge and three comfortable chairs facing the street. We were greeted by a very friendly waitress who had a very friendly and hospitable demeanour. For our meat choice of the night we were going to select the souvla of the day which happened to be chicken but Valsamina, our waitress suggested the slow cooked lamb shoulder. She also made another very well received suggestion in the glazed eggplant dish. We ordered the Greek salad with feta on the side, the calamari, prawn saganaki, the slow cooked lamb shoulder and the glazed eggplant. Every dish was delicious and mouth-watering. With the slow cooked lamb shoulder, Valsamina came to our table and delicately pulled the meat which melted with each piercing of the fork. There are no superlatives that would adequately describe the amazing Mediterranean taste of the lamb shoulder as it melted in our mouths from the moment it slided through our lips. The glazed eggplant was dressed in pomegranates, radish and garlic which created an explosive supernova of sensations in our mouths. As we were eating our meals and conversing, we were treated to the beautiful background music of Tsitsanis, Mitropanos, Papazoglou and some modern greats such as Sfakianakis, Pantazis, Pantelidis and Garbi. For dessert we had what could possibly be the greatest loukoumades ever served at an Australian Greek restaurant. What made the occasion and experience so exceptional was the impeccable service from Valsamina. Her service was world class, she was engaging, humorous, full of stories and created a special experience for us all. Highly...