Forest Byron Bay — Restaurant in Suffolk Park

Terrible experience and very poor value for money. We had the New Years eve fixed menu dinner and left feeling hungry and completely disappointed. Firstly the service was shocking. The individual staff members were polite and efficient but run off their feet. They appeared at the table to deliver food and clear dishes. We ordered wines but no glasses appeared. We had to pour out water glasses to get glasses for our red The waiting times were very long. The food was well below average. The tasting plate of three items was a dud. The coopers shute tomato had an overwhelming taste of stale pastry and no tomato, the prawn case of corn taco was stale. The salmon blini acceptable. The entree of scallop and oyster was awful. Six of the nine people at our table left it. The texture and taste was not good. The beef main was well cooked but came with only a vegetable garnish and no option for added vegetables. The flavour was good but 400g of beef alone was not optimal. It was also delivered to largely empty tables and left as the venue had fire dancers performing at the time. The poor diners on the overlooking balcony were inundated with spectators crowding them. The desert was an a chocalate dome that was melted by a thick chocolate sauce that was poured on by the waiter. Great theatre but the over-abundance of chocolate completely overwhelmed the berry component.. The whole thing was also accompanied by a dj and drummer playing techno with pink and orange lighting that clashed with the whole atmosphere. All in all a completely forgettable experience and horribly expensive. Forrest missed the mark on everything. Food, service atmosphere and price. They will need to lift their game substantially or they will have a very short lifeEdit Jan 21 Unfortunately Monique I didnt recieve a phone call from you or your staff. Your reply is obviously generic and meaningless. As you dont have a phone number to contact I am not sure how you discussed this with me. I leave it to readers of this review to draw...

Will not be returning. My partner surprised me with a dinner booking at The Forrest for my birthday this evening- it’s an understatement to say it was an utter disappointment. My partner had specifically mentioned it was a special birthday evening and we asked for a quiet table - we we’re sandwiched between two young loud families and no mentioned of my birthday ( despite reading in a recent review that another customer got candles and a special greeting for their birthday booking- sometimes it’s the attention to these little details that make all the difference ). It seemed the booking was also forgotten when we were sat at a table with three place seating. It took 15 mins for our water glasses to be filled and 30 mins to get our orders taken. We over heard the family next to us complain about the 20 min wait for their kids meals during this time. I understand hospo venues may be recruiting after this past year; however we had to inform the waitress of the drinks we wanted by pointing them out to her (as she had no idea which ones we asked for).

Burrata dish - un seasoned and with three small pieces each of the vegetables - which were all raw. Bread and butter - butter was rock hard from being left in the fridge Chicken - under seasoned. Purée was left with large pieces of what seemed to be artichoke and was lumpy- the SINGLE LEAF of cavelo nero was wilted and meek. Gnocchi - gluggy, dense - tasted store bought. The pumpkin with it was also average at best with minimal seasoning / attention. Judging by the other reviews we definitely should have read them first before spending $200 on a meal that left a lot to be had. Additionally - being someone who works in hospitality management - the mark up on the wine list is beyond ridiculous. Disappointing for a restaurant that has been regarded as one of “the best in Byron.” Picturesque but a fish and chips by the sea would have...

A very disappointing experience. We had booked into “Forest” for lunch. On arrival, it was made clear that whilst we could sit in the restaurant, the menu was the “Verandah Lunch” menu (think, poor pub food)....and so the farce began.

For starters, we ordered oysters. They came and were delicious. We also ordered squid....which never arrived.

To make up for the squid being AWOL we asked for another dozen oysters (they were good). They eventually arrived as a dessert after the mains (see below) were eaten....oh, and they were missing the lemon wedges (I mean, you have oysters, dressing and lemon...so I can see how it’s hard to remember ALL of the elements.)

For the mains we ordered curried cauliflower with macadamias (they weren’t macadamias, they were walnuts). The dish was average at best (and I’m being generous).

We also ordered beer battered fish with shoestring fries and tartare sauce. The fish (overcooked and a little light on) arrived, as did the bucket of chips.....but no tartare sauce.

We were charged a $42 Sunday surcharge (which the very nice man actually deducted after hearing our story).

We drank two bottles of overpriced Riesling (very nice, but $65 a bottle for a $20 wine) so were nicely anaesthetised at the end of what was a very poor valentines lunch.

Basically, the lunch menu was below par for pub food (plus the string of errors and omissions) but priced as though it was 5 star.

I can’t speak for the proper “Forest” restaurant that we thought we were booked in to....it may be good. Just don’t bother with lunch here. The staff...