The Long Apron — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

Quite simply, perfection.

From the moment we stepped foot on the property we knew this was going to something special. We only live 10 minutes from Spicers Clovelly but we couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. Rachael greeted with us with sincerity and two glasses of bubbles in the garden. She suggested we make our way to the deck overlooking baroon pocket dam to watch the sunset. Alex showed us to chairs by the fire pit (blankets for our knees on the back of the seats) and poured us each a generous glass of wine. He very kindly chauffeured us back to our room where we had a chance to relax and freshen up before dinner. Hannah greeted us at the restaurant door and while we waited for our table she made (and we enjoyed) a couple of perfectly hand crafted cocktails in the sofa. At 7pm Alana told us our table was ready. She look after us for the rest of the night. She was professional, knowledgeable, and friendly. She made us feel very comfortable and seemed to know what we wanted before we realised it. Then the food. Oh. My. God. The food. Five star all the way. Well balanced, thoughtful and uncomplicated flavour combinations.

We’ve dined a few Hatted and Michelin Star restaurants over the years and very often the hype outshines the food. I’ve lost count of the amount of disappointing dinners we’ve had where the chefs have used too many ingredients in a dish and the food looks beautiful but ends up being over complicated and nothing shines through. Expensive and gravely disappointing. It all just ends up tasting flat and grey. This is certainly NOT the case at Spicers Clovelly. From beginning to end. Exquisite. The flavours, and the plating, fresh, bright, and clean. Kudos to the kitchen. One knockout was the sweet potato dessert. I’m still thinking about it. Alana was right. It was incredible.

Our room was perfection. Clean as a whistle, comfortable, and plush. Turndown service with handmade chocolate pralines? Yes please!

We WILL be back, and we will tell friends, family, and strangers on the street how impeccable Spicer Clovelly is.

Well done. Courtney, Alex, Alana, Hannah, and Rachael you are a credit to your organisation. You all deserve immediate pay raises. (As well as the entire kitchen staff of course)

Thank you for making our anniversary so...

My wife and I had a lunch here 3 courses $95 / person. On arrival we were a bit confused after being seated because it appeared fragmented in the service department. We had one waitress start to attend to us with water and menus but no bread or cocktails.Then we never saw her again and another waitress arrived and then we never saw her again. Then we had a waiter come up wanting to take our food order. At this stage we just wanted two cocktails to begin with. Then Simone a waitress arrived and finally it began to come together and Simone was friendly, attentive and after the messy beginning all was good. The food we thought was excellent in general. We each chose different entrees mains and deserts so we could share 6 different courses and we did enjoy all of them except the Wagyu which we both found tough in texture. The drinks menu we felt was too over priced in general and for lunchtime we felt a more reasonable priced glass of sparkling should be on offer like a Tasmanian Jansz. We realise that casual overseas travelling staff are what is on offer and Simone fell into this category although not around for long now, so I realise training is a constant issue for many establishments now. If on arrival a waiter or waitress is assigned to some tables so that the dining experience kicks off with a welcoming , caring and professional atmosphere. We felt this was not what we experienced for our first 30 minutes and for this reason we would give 4 stars mostly for Simone. We would like to give 5 stars for the food, presentation, timeliness and quality and it deserved that except for the Wagyu so it got 4 stars. We paid an extra $10 for the Wagyu and Simone did offer us a sirloin on special but said it was an extra $40 which we felt was absurd and never heard anything like that before I think we heard correctly. There were a few areas in our opinion that needed streamlining for a dining experience of this level particularly in the service department. All said we enjoyed our lunch so...

Appalling experience.

A lot has changed at the Long Apron over the recent months with severe degradation in customer service and the dining experience.

Our booking for dinner was made online. Upon arriving the verandah area had a seated couple receiving food with remaining tables empty. We were promptly ushered to the indoor dining area which was overcrowded and extremely warm. When we requested a seat outside we were initially advised it would require a few minutes to set up and after waiting we were advised by the manager that we could not sit in the outdoor veranda area as they needed to prepare for the breakfast service on the following morning.

We were shuffled into a corner seat within the stifling indoor dining area and provided our menus. The wine list was stagnant, largely unchanged since last updated quite some time ago by the exceptional Peter Marchant. Dichotomous staff were either curt and abrasive or soft spoken with rudimentary English. Tables were largely not waited upon and apathetic staff needed to be prompted on multiple occasions. Towards the end of the dinner service we noticed a small mouse scurrying across the floor of the dining room, beneath the credenza and into the adjoining hallway. We have dined at innumerable places across the developing and developed world and this was a disappointing first for us. Urgent pest control may be in order. The only redeeming element of the night was the food. The entrées could do with some more complexity. Mains, particularly the duck, were perfectly cooked and dessert was brilliantly executed.

The Long Apron used to be a favourite, but given the plethora of high quality options now available on the Sunshine Coast and in its hinterland, this is one institution which is no longer worth visiting...