Altitude — Restaurant in Sydney

We will genuinely take the time to express gratitude for the beautiful setting of your restaurant, the lovely food, and especially for the exceptional service we received from Nicole, who took great care of us. Her warmth and attentiveness were what kept our evening at peace and not erupting.

However, there were several issues on the night that unfortunately left a sour taste in what should have been a special and enjoyable experience for our group. Rather than raise these at the time and risk further disrupting the evening, we felt at the time we had no choice but to look to address them afterwards.

Firstly, we were advised of a surcharge for card payments and an additional charge due to the size of our group, and this was fully understood and accepted in advance. However, we were later told that each guest would also be charged a 10% surcharge on each individual drink order as they were paying for their own beverages. This was not explained beforehand, nor is it reflected in the agreement we received. When we sought clarification, the agreement was abruptly presented to us in a manner that felt dismissive and frankly, quite embarrassing. It appears there is a very different understanding of the total and settlement bill and a progressive or individual order surcharge. Unfortunately, this left our guests feeling taken advantage of, as this additional cost added up significantly across the night.

Other issues included running out of cold beer for our guests, a glass of wine being served with sediment, another served in a chipped glass (which was replaced, with a complimentary drink offered), and incorrect meat temperatures and cooks for two guests, who were left to resolve the matter themselves.

Perhaps the most concerning issue was when a guest ordered the Earl Grey chocolate terrine and discovered bits of wood in the dessert, nearly chipping a tooth. When they raised this with the staff, they were told that’s what happens with smoked chocolate, and no replacement was offered, rather they felt dismissive and dismissing of the discomfort and potential harm caused. This is quite concerning!

These issues, collectively, left many of us feeling that the guests’ experience wasn’t valued, which is disappointing given the calibre of the venue and the premium pricing.

I hope you’ll take this feedback in the spirit it’s intended, as an opportunity to improve communication, service, and attention to detail. I would appreciate a genuine response in due course.

It has also been very disappointing to note that we have not received any further communication or resolution in response to the concerns we raised.

Unfortunately, this lack of follow-up has left us quite disappointed. The response provided publicly on Google Reviews has come across as little more than a formality, rather than a genuine effort to engage with the feedback we took the time to share. This gives the impression of lip service, which feels both unprofessional and inappropriate given the nature of the concerns raised.

We would still appreciate the opportunity for our feedback to be acknowledged meaningfully and for the matter to be addressed in a way that reflects the level of service and care we expected, however via this platform and directly with you via Email has received deadly silence which perhaps reflects your real concern for customer care and the true value of your lip service on...

What a fantastic view with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in full display and when the sun sets and the city is lit up, this location is probably one of the best in Sydney and for that reason 5 stars. The waiter looking after us also gets 5 stars for his service. After that the stars drop really fast, and after spending $500 for me and my wife it's a little too much for a fantastic view and disappointing initial service and food. Booking was at 6pm and got there a little earlier at 545 thinking we could have a cocktail and enjoy the view. Got out of the lift and you get to a "reception" desk with no reception and the phone did not stop ringing and ringing. Few stuff running around avoiding eye contact until I stopped one to mention we had a booking in the restaurant but he said he works in the bar, someone will come shortly and ran away. We tried to have a drink but the bar was full so went back to the reception desk and you could see last minute cleaning and setting up in restaurant. At 559 a woman comes out of the restaurant just to say the restaurant will be opening 10 minutes late, suggested we go have a drink at the bar (she obviously doesn't know its full) and crawled back in the restaurant without even a hello or goodbye. Us and other customers all looked at each other with a "seriouslyyyy????" face. Anyway we finally entered the restaurant and the view makes you forget these little flaws. Funnily enough we ordered the same dishes and out of everything the only enjoyable dish was the Caramelised Pumpkin. The Ducks 2 Way looks fantastic when served but so disappointing, the leg Terrine had no duck flavour but an overdose of herbs and garlic which I could feel in my breath few hours later and the duck breast looked promising until you cut through. The skin looked crispy but wasn't and the breast felt very oily and had a lot of fat (because the skin side wasn't cooked enough) I managed to eat some but gave up very quickly and same did my wife. For mains we had the lamb and I was hoping they deliver, you know being in Australia and all but that was even worse. I had mine medium rare and my wife had hers medium. Mine was served rare and my wife's medium rare (more on the rare side), we could barely taste the lamb and I have no clue how they managed that. On the bright side the veggies and greens get 5 stats. I can only imagine that the chef doesn't eat meats, hence the complete disaster. And finally we ordered coffee or at least we tried. Our waiter was stretched really thin because there was a large table of 21 and I can only assume that his manager made him prioritise that table. Without exaggerating it took 15 minutes for the coffee to reach our table by which time it was cold so as soon as I mentioned it to our waiter he was so embarrassed he ran back to get us another 2 and waited there until he had 2 fresh espressos and ran back to our table. Once more I want to say that the view is one of the best and would definitely go again but just for drinks, our waiter also gets a 5 star but food gets a 1 star and I'm being generous because apart from the meats everything else was nice. Was it worth $500? Definitely a big NO especially when it comes to meats. Can't comment on the fish. And if you try your luck I wish you have a better culinary experience than me or just have a cocktail, enjoy the view and eat...

We booked over 6 months ago for a special dinner to celebrate my birthday. Each time it is someone’s celebration, we go to a fine dining restaurant. That said we have a lot of experience in fine dining restaurants and as such can make a genuine review. The whole experience could be described as “bizarre”, “a comedy of errors”, “a monty python episode” or a wedding where we weren’t invited guests. An impressive Kardashian-esque wedding on a grand scale was booked next door in the normally public cocktail bar. We weren’t aware of a wedding being booked in the Blu Bar (if so, we wouldn’t have booked to dine on the same nigh). It was like dining in a club, whilst eating your food, the music and drums were pumping from next door. Instead of a fine dining ambience, we got “In da club”, “let’s get married” by Jagged edge. My brother was literally dancing at the table. It was clear the staff had an unfortunate situation on their hands and were so apologetic, offering everyone free “champagne” (which was actually Tasmanian “sparkling” and not from the champagne region of France). Staff were clearly aware the situation was not ideal. The event next door impacted a lot on the night. I wanted to order a cocktail, but was informed I couldn’t because the bar was serving wedding guests. Surely, the paid guests at a hatted restaurant would be able to be served a drink of choice. Later, I saw other guests getting cocktails, so there were inconsistences with the message. Service was inconsistent, at the initial arrival and after ordering, my mum sat with all the menus on her table for about 20 minutes. Half of the table of water cups were filled up and we had to ask for the others to be done. Bread and butter knives were not removed until dessert time. A four course meal for $135 plus drink costs took 4 hours and between each meal, there was significant wait time, leaving us annoyed and hungry. At no time throughout this wait were we offered a drink. We actually did want one, but couldn’t get staff attention. The amuse bouche was a little strange (pea pannacotta and scallop) and paved the way for the evening and the food was good, though just didn’t appear the high quality standard one would expect. I feel sorry for the staff, because they were very nice but either quite ‘untrained’ or ‘frazzled’ by the experience. I think this is more of a matter for the Shangri-La, rather than the wait staff on the night. There’s not a lot the chef or staff could do, they did the best they could in a situation they shouldn’t have had to deal with in the first place. Certainly we understand booking weddings is important, but the logistics coordination was poor. They should have booked the whole venue for the wedding not had the restaurant open. If this was a pub, it would be a different story. However, this is a fine dining restaurant which we paid a lot of money to go to and unfortunately that’s not acceptable as the wedding significantly impacted the diners. We hope the Shangri la believes in continuous improvement and this will be constructive feedback to apply in the future. The number given for this review is for the AMAZING view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and...