Catalina Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

After reading the negative reviews and responses, I have come to realise that James McMahon and his inheritance of Catalina restaurant will eventually become a speck amongst other restaurants in Sydney. Customer experience and reputation is not on the list for Mr McMahon. As long as the baby boomers continue to dine at Catalina, he will have his pockets full. Generation X, Y and Z will not suffice to Catalinas standards of customer service. If a manager requests feedback then ignores the main points in the feedback regarding food preparation, staff service and customer experience then clearly they don’t want to know about it. James can continue to take ‘solace’ in the baby boomers experiences at Catalina.

Hi James, I took my partner to Catalina on Wednesday evening for his birthday. I was disappointed with a few things. I know the drink staff are told to refill glasses but after every sip of soda water the waiter was topping it up. We had to ask twice for ice as it was not chilled. Then when I asked for a glass of still water he removed my soda water. Now for the food - the entree Tempura Zucchini Flowers tasted very unpleasant, the cheeses inside (I presume it was likely from the butyric acid) were very sour and watery and the taste of the other ingredients on the plate such as the saffron aioli just didn’t work well with the zucchini flower. The Catalina steak tartare was VERY salty. I could not consume it. We did mix it together, which I later noticed the person who took our order was mixing it for other people but not us. I gave the feedback to the person who collected our plates though they didn’t ask if all was OK with the food served. The saltwater barramundi with heavy leek cream when we were told it was a ‘light’ cream - we had the fish only. The pasta in the sauce was hard and not al dente. The swordfish was amazing. The taco, crumpet and prawns were nice as starters. The Oysters were ok. We were served petits fours which were not ideal as a birthday gesture, especially the way it was placed in front of us. We had to wait 20mins and didn’t get our coffee/tea - which I asked for a tea. We did not get asked if we wanted dessert. Upon departure we were not asked if everything was ok with our visit after paying $400. The next morning I was unwell from the food and my partner was sick overnight…the reply: Dear Customer, Thank you for writing. I am very sorry to hear that our food was not to your taste. I regret that you felt unwell after dining, but I am very confident in our food hygiene standards, and thankfully no one else has mentioned feeling ill after dining on Wednesday. The dishes you disliked are some of our most popular, so I think personal preference may be in play here. I am sorry that you found your p4s inadequate for a birthday, but that is our practise when no dessert is ordered. Please let me know what you suggest instead. I am sorry you did not like the food. We try to satisfy everyone, but I fear that may not be possible 100% of the time. Thank you for writing. Sincerely, James

Hello James, Your reply with apologising about the taste of the food is an insufficient response. It shows you do not care about your customers or the feedback received. Your reply has also confirmed that myself, family and my friends will not be returning to the restaurant. Finally, I feel that the general public who look online for reviews need to be made aware of my experiences.

Hi, You must do as you see fit of course. I shall take solace from the fact that so many people adore catalina, as evidenced by the vast majority of our online reviews. I wish you well and thank you for writing. Sincerely, James McMahon Sent from my iPhone

*Spend your money where staff don’t ask you if you “need your change”, Staff are ‘happy’ to be working in such a pleasant environment and management ‘care’ about their customers...

Really average at best — not living up to expectations and its reputation. Came for a special occasion of celebration. Regrettable decision (as I was hesitating between trying this one and going back to another similar fine dining place I had tried before).

To start with the positives: 1. decent food quality in general, especially the seafood (4-5 stars, solid), 2. extensive international wine selections, 3. solid appetizers with nice presentations, 4. short waiting time for dishes, 5. convenient location next to the ferry pier

However, the experience was overall underwhelming mainly because of little things below altogether:

Assigned a table against the wall which looked like an office conference room or college dining hall — very noisy due to echo under a low ceiling and tables 80%+ filled. Difficult to have any conversations. Barely any views as well. (Disappointing even though the booking was made over a month in advance, although I understand a table with a view was never a guarantee).

Chairs were not comfortable (height and feel) and appeared a bit worn out. Need a bit of refresh of furnitures maybe?

No extra recognition of special occasion noted in booking (birthday in my case), not even in the dessert ordered — no words or anything. A tad disappointing, although the dessert plating did look and taste nice. (Only acknowledgement was the greeting upon entry.) Didn’t feel welcomed or valued enough as a diner booked in advance.

Servers mostly looked very busy (Sunday lunch) — quite attentive (which’s positive), but mostly not personal or friendly that one would expect (like even when I wanted to acknowledge or thank a couple of servers I didn’t even know any of their names).

A little introduction or recommendation of dishes or wine pairing suggestions that one should expect for this kind of fine dining setting would make a huge difference.

Also, small things like condiments for the bread or fries served (like some olive oil or sauces?) seem basic things missing, again a bit weird.

To conclude, among restaurants of similar price range in Sydney and Melbourne that I’ve tried (many award-winning as well), Catalina is not one I would recommend to others at all unfortunately. Maybe it used to be better based on past reviews? Maybe on weekdays when it’s less busy it’s better (note already got a 10% Sunday surcharge as clearly stated)?

Overall a mixed experience despite the positives stated at the top. Thought it’s an institution and legend as many have raved about in the past, but I was somewhat disappointed and would...

I booked a table at Catalina this past Thursday at 12:30 pm for two people to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Around 12:10 pm I received a call from the restaurant informing me that there was a power outage, and they might need 15 minutes to 2 hours to restore service. They asked if I could move my reservation to 2 pm. Since we were already on the way, I agreed, and we decided to wait nearby until they could serve us.

At around 1 pm, I called to check the progress. They told me the power was still out and we would have to wait until 2 pm. We stayed hungry, walking around and waiting, believing we could at least eat then. But at 1:57 pm, the restaurant called again to say that power had not been restored and they could only reschedule us for the evening—or another day—with no guarantee that service would be available. By then, we had already wasted hours waiting with no alternative dining option, as it was my friend’s birthday and last-minute reservations elsewhere were impossible.

To make matters worse, I live 16 km away (about a 50-minute drive one way). We had to return home, only to receive another call at 2:10 pm saying the power had come back—but the earliest they could seat us would be 6 pm. That meant another long wait, more driving back and forth (over 60 km total, nearly 4 hours in the car), and essentially wasting our entire day.

When we finally returned for dinner, no staff member acknowledged what we had been through. Aside from the staff member on the phone who said a simple “sorry,” there was no in-person apology, no explanation, no gesture of goodwill, no discount, nothing. For such a disruptive experience on what was supposed to be a special birthday celebration, that lack of care was extremely disappointing.

To be fair, when we did finally sit down, the food was excellent, the service during the meal was polite, and they prepared a birthday cake for my friend, which we appreciated. But the way the restaurant handled the power outage was very poor. I completely understand that the outage wasn’t their fault—but it wasn’t our fault either, and yet all of the inconvenience and wasted time fell entirely on us.

A better solution would have been proactive communication, offering compensation, or at the very least a sincere apology when we arrived. Unfortunately, this experience left us feeling frustrated and undervalued as customers, and it nearly ruined my...