Wildflower Kitchen — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

We went for a dinner yesterday for my partners birthday. We booked via TheFork. Arrived 5 minutes before 630pm booking, shown to our seats by an nice older lady waitress, who didn’t offer a name. Table water was prompt. However was 25 minutes and had to indicate, before we ordered.

We were instead served by the younger Celiene who has served us on previous occasions, and always provides wonderful service with a smile, and checks in on how our meals are going. Service by her was excellent as always but she appeared to be overworked as the only waitress on the floor.

Meals then came within perhaps 10 minutes. Partner ordered the Moreton Bay bug with Mooloolaba prawns and gnocchi ($36). I ordered the Rigatoni pasta with mushrooms and Gruyere. I added the chicken option ($28).

The Bug was overcooked and difficult to remove from shell. Prawns were alright. Gnocchi was dense, but flavoured. Broth was a bit oily.

My pasta was either old or overcooked. Didn’t seem like it was made in house. There was also watery broth at the bottom of the dish I hadn’t expected with the meal. Chicken was the worst bit as it was atrociously dry. Mushrooms were acceptable. Leek wasn’t really flavoured (possibly leeched into the broth)

I wonder if the meals may have been premade and then reheated - hence the dry overcooked everything. The plates were also piping hot (even the waitress commented) which also seems to suggests this may have been the case. This would be a disappointment for this previously award winning establishment.

We then chose the signature Wildflower Crumble for sweets ($14). Last seasons menu (Feb this year), we absolutely loved the signature Eaton Mess ($14) which we shared, and was an absolute star standout with artful tempered chocolate flakes and chocolate soil. We shared this dessert again, but was a disappointing replacement. Didn’t take a photo as really just wanted to finish dinner and move on.

The rhubarb crumble was over-hot, served in a cute mini-pot with a single small cornelled ice cream in a small dish with a beautiful flower garnish, and small mini pitcher of crème anglaise. Everything including the ice cream tasted more in-house than my pasta, but the anglaise was very thick perhaps from the overheating/reheat?

Overall a disappointment given the near $80 cost, and especially given previously better dinners in the past. The meals would’ve been fine, had they all not felt unartfully reheated. I wonder if the meals are being tailored to be room service meals (premade, microwaved then sent up). Would’ve preferred to wait longer for a meal and have an amazing experience than rushed reheated premade meals in the dining area.

All kitchens need to balance service time with quality, but it feels Wildflower R&B has lost this balance for its more nuanced meals.

Suggestions for the venue/kitchen:

1. More staffing on the floor as service and waiting and seating new customers seems a bit much for just a single staff member.
2. Maybe return to making key portions of meals fresh, as there seems to be a substantial flavour change since last time
3. Adapting a dessert design to a customer request for a shared dessert (especially as we indicated when we ordered our mains)
4. Larger Cornell of ice cream to offset the rhubarb crumble as the balance of hot to cold, sweet to tart is a off-kilter with the portions - even for a...

Having heard good things about this restaurant, I kept it in mind & decided to make a reservation for a romantic dinner for my partners birthday. Unfortunately we were bitterly disappointed. The menu is tiny, only around 5 mains to choose from, presented on an A3 laminated menu with the radio blaring in the kitchen. Not quite what I was expecting. We ordered the seafood fritters to start, & 40 minutes later we received potato croquettes which had no real sign of seafood (possibly tuna) & which were still frozen inside! Naturally we sent these back, which the waitress handled well, offering us another choice of starter. We went for the lamb flat bread which was an improvement, but nothing amazing. So then onto mains. My partner ordered the barramundi, and I ordered the chicken breast. The chicken was the strangest texture I’ve ever eaten. Tough as an old boot (seriously overcooked) to the point it felt squeaky in my mouth. This was presented on a bed of tomatoes, eggplant and onions, which didn’t have a nice flavour. It also promised a corn fritter but again it was a tiny frozen croquette type thing, definitely ordered on mass and deep fried. Not in any way a fritter. My partners barramundi was nicely done, but it didn’t come with the garnishes it was advertised with (said there were Brussel sprouts but not one in sight) and what it was presented with (pea purée, lentils, bacon and some other unrecognisables) were a terrible flavour too. The bacon was rock hard and overall the meal so unpleasant that in both cases we were so hungry we ate some of the meal, but left a fair bit because it was so unenjoyable. The best feature of the meal was the wine we drunk with it and the service. The waitress was lovely. But having been a restaurant reviewer for years in London the meal was less than a 1 star. We’d never go back with the current menu and chefs and we would not recommend it. I do feel bad saying this though as I appreciate they do employ locals who rely on the work. I hope they can take the feedback constructively and...

Going to a restaurant isn’t always my favorite thing due to the chaos that can occur. I use quite a large powered wheelchair which can sometimes mean playing Tetris to get in and out of a place. Once or twice is cool but when this is my life and a daily thing it can get a bit annoying and I’m a positive guy!

We used Cérge to go to Wildflower Kitchen, the food looked amazing online and so my Support Worker Lauren and I hit the road to head for lunch!

We notified in the Cérge app that we were coming and that I wouldn’t need a chair as I’d be bringing my own.. Customer service on point!

Walked into the Wildflower Kitchen at Mercure and was greeted by pleasant staff. Even calling myself by my name and a hand knuckles to make my presence welcome.

It was fun. I didn’t feel like a bother, I felt welcomed! We were showed to our table, the chair was already moved away for my convenience. Woohoo! No Tetris today!

We had just had a walk around the beautiful lake surroundings outside, staff informed us about what types of fish were jumping out of the water, it was that nice small talk about surroundings and not where I felt like they were being nice because I have a visible disability. They were bream but not on the menu….. Hehehe.

The staff were very accommodating to my needs to have child’s menu and it wasn’t a problem for me to order off that menus. Sometimes people don’t like it because “I’m not a child”. I don’t eat a main size meal. Bonus was the ice cream with my meal. That always fits in my belly hehehe.

We were definitely so welcomed by all the staff, would definitely return and of course use Cérge. It’s so nice to arrive and all the “stuff” like Tetris and how to help is already done. They know what to do because I’ve told them and so everyone can just get on with doing their job and me having fun. Great day...