Bondi Bowling Club — Restaurant in Sydney

BEWARE do not attend this venue!!!

I am not one to write negative reviews, I am a busy mum of 2 but this venue needs to be addressed publicly! This has to be one of the worst experiences I have ever had at any establishment restaurant ever.

My husband and I were out at our local park on Sunday afternoon and I was hungry and wanted to stroll down the road for a casual easy meal. My husband suggested Bondi Bowls.

We walked down with our 4 year old and 6 month old baby and thought we would catch a quick meal before we had to go home and do the kids bedtime routine. We walked into Bondi Bowls and I said to my husband maybe This could be our new local! But boy was I so wrong. It took a bad turn very quickly. I walked into the bar area to order myself a glass of red wine and arancini balls for the Kids. I ordered a cab Sav and I took a sip of it whilst I was waiting to pay and it tasted off/funny, so I requested a new glass. This is where things took a turn for the worst. I asked the young boy staff if he could kindly swap it over for me. And to my shock I hear (tell HER it was opened the night before at the event we hosted!) so the young boy repeated what the man had muttered underneath his breathe. I said okay do you mind bringing the manager over please. The manager was the man muttering over the wine. I had a feeling and could see his stance that this was going to go very wrong. I asked him kindly if he could swap for another wine as it didn’t taste very nice. He then aggressively questioned me and said he had an event the night before and it was a fresh bottle and there is nothing wrong with! He was extremely offended as if I requested a totally refund or somthing g far beyond worse. He started aggressively raising his voice and continuously said I am not swapping it for you, there is nothing wrong! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It gets worse! He then slides across the bar grabs a glass and aggressively puts it down extremely abruptly and says I’ll taste it for myself! Insuitinutng I was lying about the taste of the wine. He then pours it and it’s splashing in my face and he then downs the wine and says loudly the wine taste FINE!” He said if you want another one you will have to pay! I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never been denied of any request from any pub bar or restaurant for that matter when somthing isn’t right they swap it without even thinking twice as you would think they would want repeat customer and standard customer service. I then purchased a new wine and I told the manager that I was shocked I couldn’t believe how I was spoken too over me wanting a new glass because i wasn’t satisfied! I told him that’s your opinion about tasting great however I’m allowed to have my opinion and it had an old rotten taste. I was so embarrassed for this grown man shouting across the bar and making such a scene over such a petty situation.

I was then KICKED out of the pub with my whole family for having my opinion and not wanting their wine.

I’ve been to many venues where I have ordered a wine and had to send back which was well received without a blink of an eyelid.

this whole thing could’ve been avoided where they could’ve simply swapped my wine which wouldn’t cost more than two or three dollars but instead they wanted to insult, belittle and criticise me causing a huge scene and ultimately losing us and any of our friends friends as potential customers. After this experience, I went home and read the reviews to make sure I wasn’t going mad and it is clearly a common theme within this venue - just take five minutes to see how shocking their treatment of customers has been - especially to kids!

We wrote an email to the venue and their response was absolutely atrocious-not in our wildest dreams would they consider a...

Booked this venue thinking it would be family friendly. We had a group that included 9 children under 5 years old. The staff were what can only be described as a disgrace, threatening children as young as 1 year old with being removed from the venue if they didn't comply with club rules (they walked onto the bowling green). The staff were completely over the top in trying to exercise heavy handed control, they were unable to control their emotions and had no appreciation of common sense which made reasoning with them difficult. I witnessed a group of 4 security staff removing one of my guests forcibly whilst holding onto his 1yo child, and another guest being told to leave and pushed out of the venue as he tried to secure his baby in a pram. At one point two security staff tried to remove our group of 30 without any explanation, before being told by their manager to stand down. As expected, this threatening and aggressive behaviour was distressing to the numerous other guests, including children and pregnant women. I would strongly recommend that this venue takes immediate action to ensure their staff has adequate training to ensure the venue is family...

Ahhhhhhh…. The Bondi bowlo. Where to begin? This establishment is a relic of a time gone by, a time where your local can have it all. It seems these days that all the elements you need in a perfect watering hole are mutually exclusive. Want a fun spot and immaculate vibe in a great location? That will be $17 for a pint, thanks! Somehow, the Bondi bowlo (as endearingly referred to by its patrons) toes the line - quality, community and value all at once. The Bondi bowlo is not only defined by its venue, location, tap selection and service, but also the community it has cultivated. I think we can all agree that Bondi has somewhat decayed, where the social currency is no longer a good time, but the perfect instagram photo; the most aesthetic aperol sprits; the optics over the experience. The bowlo leaves these pretensions at the front door, ensuring that fun, inclusivity and warmth is ever-present. Whilst one could chalk this to the community events such as Sunday bowls or trivia, ultimately the true value in this establishment comes in its intangibles....