Kondalilla Restaurant — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

This is our local "absolute gem of the hinterland"....have been here a couple of times previously for lunch but always unfortunately in a bit of a hurry....had the privilege on Sunday for a long, leisurely lunch with the two most favourite girls in my life now, my Wife and Daughter.....booked an outside table (views are to die for) but getting a little nervous with a light drizzle as we arrived....not to worry, umbrellas kept us covered and the diamond sprinkles on the local flora added to the magic....many restaurants in this area also have wonderful views but surely the main reason you go to a restaurant is the food and Kondalilla Falls ticks all the boxes.....delicious, light, fresh, mainly local ingredients combined into innovative combinations that tingles the taste buds with every mouthful....we started with the intriguing “Oysters Kondapatrick” [my naming]….based on the traditional dish but enhanced with the addition of tomato, roasted eggplant and smoked mushrooms…. each was a next level, light, delicate joy to taste I could easily knock over a dozen (or 2!) of these delightful pearls…..my main choice was a Thai Calamari Salad a perfect combination of chunky, perfectly cooked, lightly crumbed seafood combined with fresh, crispy salad and pickled ginger and a light, [not too spicy] dressing…absolutely delicious and perfect for a Sunday lunch…..the ladies ordered Thai Yellow Tofu Curry and Truffled Mushroom Linguine….perfect was the verdict from both seats.....especially pleasing because both have recently returned from an Asian/European dining sojourn so they certainly had the originals to compare to…....I have never been a fan of live music at a restaurant….I attend a restaurant to dine out not listen to [often intrusive] music....not for me table speak loud to overcome strumming guitars, stopping between mouthfuls to put down utensils to clap etc. but boy o’ boy the gentle, sweet, soft background tunes by Hannah and Jason on Sunday just added to the exquisite experience at Kondalilla Restaurant…….helpful young staff attended promptly to any request….perfect in every aspect, service, setting, views, food, mood….. many restaurants around this area are trying hard to achieve what this tiny diamond is doing daily but, with Tapas 10 temporarily closed and the Mapleton Tavern self-imploded on its new, wild goose chase path to oblivion [they would be well advised to take a leaf from the path of these guys] this is my goto visitor site…..I very rarely return promptly to many eateries but this is so good that the next set of visitors (Friday night) will also be treated to the excellence that is...

Spent a disappointing early Mother’s Day dinner at this restaurant. The venue is beautiful that’s for sure but I felt the price and hype were unwarranted. Being Pescatarian/Vegetarian, I thought the menu quite small on options. The food was ok but not out of the ordinary. They menu proudly stated that it had a lobster tail and our reservation was an early 5pm with very few other diners present yet the lobster tail was “unavailable “. The entire seafood part of the mains on the normal menu consisted of 3 fish dishes and Charcuterie board. They had a specials board which had one seafood pasta and the rest were vegan options. They don’t even do a basic fish and chips. I don’t know why so many fish dishes. The ocean and lakes are full of other options. Garlic prawns or even some mussels in broth would enhance it. Not even a seafood soup of any type.

Now to the next disappointment. They brought out the meals and mine was served complete with a hair in the meal for which I was promptly told when we raised it, that it was my waitresses. Who then walked off with the hair without a word of apology. No mention of it again after I had eaten 3/4 of my contaminated pasta. Needless to say I did had stopped eating when I found the hair and lost my appetite.

The next thing that occurred was the waiter breaking and dropping 4 wine glasses which shattered literally everywhere including on my elderly mother’s chair and clothes. In trying to brush it off her, I received a splinter for my efforts and had to remove it myself in the bathroom. Upon exit I noticed one of the waitresses with the same issue and no mention of a WHS report. The carpet was riddled with tiny shards and my mother and I had to get up and move away from the table while they cleaned the carpet with a dustpan and brush. Again no sign of the lady in charge etc.

Dessert was fortunately unhampered by further faulty towers events. At no time did the manager come to apologise for any of it and we paid full price for our meals. No replacement meal or compensation was offered at any point.

The good points were: Pretty venue, lovely art, quiet location, lots of parking.

For a fairly out of the way venue, it did not leave me...

We recently stayed at Kondalilla Eco Resort and had two excellent experiences at the Kondalilla restaurant. The first was after we completed the Kondalilla Falls circuit; we were hot and looking for something to cool us down… they had gelato on the menu so we made our way up the stairs and were greeted by a lovely gentleman who was more than happy to seat us out on the deck and treated us with the utmost care even though we were only there for gelato. The second experience was dinner that same night. Again, we opted for outdoor seating and again the service was impeccable. I had the Dahl and hubby had fish and chips. The food was delicious and servings were generous. I’m surprised the restaurant wasn’t busier.. it was a Thursday night though, so maybe it gets busier on Friday and the weekends.. it’s such...