Cook @ Kurnell — Restaurant in Sydney

Unfortunately the social media representation is not inline with reality. We attended for brunch with a party of 10. Though not phased by minimal menu options, the expected quality and presentation was lacklustre. The waitstaff did their best, however, one was a young man of about 14 and the other was a young lady, not much older. They did not know the orders they were presenting to the table (which coffee was which) and the food orders were incorrect (a toasted HAM sandwich was offered instead of a toasted TOMATO sandwich). The prices were comparative to those of mid to high end cafes, however the service, food and facilities were not. A disappointing experience after high expectations!

EDIT POST OWNER RESPONSE: It is disappointing that you are unable to accept feedback. Your response was expected based on your previous responses to patrons sharing their critical views on your food and service. We were neither rude nor abrupt. I do find it offensive though that you would suggest otherwise. Although there were very few customers, we were offered a table in a cabana with the music playing loudly, I approached you and asked if we could change tables - no big deal. We were unable to find a table with enough dry seats for us, so I approached you again and asked for a towel - I was more than happy to wipe it down myself, which I stated at the time. Then, to make it easier, we actually all just squeezed onto a smaller table to save the hassle - again, no big deal. We then placed our individual family orders via the QR code, an easy enough process as we could amend the orders (hence the purpose of the QR code option). First, we were delivered the drinks for table next to us - no worries, directed the young man to the table next to us. Next, a few of our coffees were brought out. We asked which was the strong cappuccino - the young gentleman didn’t know, thankfully they were for family members so they just sipped them to work it out - no big deal made. Due to the limited menu options, my friend ordered the “ham toastie” but optioned for no ham, add tomato - a ham toastie was bought to the table. When we queried the order the young man just shrugged - not his fault, he doesn’t know better. I then walked the toastie up to the counter and asked for a new one made to the order as requested - again, not rude or abrupt. Then our bacon and egg rolls were brought out. We asked which had the crispy bacon (an option on your QR code menu), the young lady just shrugged - we just sorted it out ourselves - again, not a big deal made. I also ordered two Lemoncello Spritzes, the young man came out and told us that there wasn’t any lemon “seelo” only mandarin, once I confirmed what he was talking about (again, why would a young teenager know what this is?), I approached the counter to confirm our options, again, just conversationally and amended our order to what you had available. The people in my group are all in customer service and as you saw, have children of similar age to those of the wait staff. We were excited to support a Shire business, however were disappointed by the experience. Google review offers us the opportunity to ensure other patrons are aware of our experience but should also offer you the opportunity to reflect and review on your business, there is no “gratification” for us (again, quite offensive). The young people servicing us were doing their best. If they were in training, and you were aware that we were “difficult”, perhaps you should have approached us to offer an explanation or enquire as to how our service was. I encourage you to review your own approach to customer service and seek ways to accept and utilise feedback to better your...

We visited this place on Sunday 31/1/21 at 9:30am. It's ok and the ambience is excellent, but it could be improved through a few basic tweaks. I like to give balanced reviews so here is some feedback and suggestions:

When you're paying $25 for a big breakfast, the choice of fried eggs only is unacceptable. I appreciate not all kitchens have the capacity to poach or scramble, however, the kitchen is clearly big enough in this case so either provide the option or lower the price of the breakfast. The menu broadly is too limiting - why isn't there the option for eggs on toast as a basic example? Not everyone wants a sandwich or a big breakfast.

We had empty plates sitting on our table for 30-40 min after finishing and noted that the young female busser was extremely lazy in this regard. We all noted she was sitting on the middle bench on her phone multiple times (both texting and talking) during our 1.5 hour stay when there was plenty of work to be done. She also had her mask hanging off her face essentially all of the time.

On that note above, for the prices being charged we felt that having to order food with a buzzer, then go to pick it up was a rip off. Those bussers could at the very least run the food out to table numbers (they clearly had time) as there was some patron congestion between tables due people moving around to both order and collect food. If it was any busier (wasn't too bad this morning) it would get jammed pretty quickly and this would remove that problem to an extent. Given how busy it was also the food was quite slow which was something I noted in other reviews prior to attending.

Overall we enjoyed it but felt it was lacking in service and menu options given the price of food and drink. The only person who seemed cheerful and helpful was the guy in the kitchen handing over the food and I suspect he was the owner so a little bit of staff training on customer service would likely help. However, the kids loved the play set, the beachy feel was great and quite relaxing and ambience quite unique. I suspect this place would be better for an afternoon drinks session and will hopefully give...

After spending the morning with our grandchildren and daughter at the beach and playground nearby, we headed here for lunch. We chose it for the convenient location more than anything else. Initially, it looked quite appealing, with its blue and white hooped parasols, sandy floor and generally very informal setting ( as previously and very accurately described by ‘Brian L’). But that was as good as it got. I think there only one or two tables occupied when we arrived, so we had plenty of seating options. At first we tried the ones with the best shade, but after that it was trying to find the ones with the least flies. We ordered burgers for the adults and chicken nuggets and fish & chips for the children, took our table number and waited ( it’s not far short of a self service), before returning to the ‘galley?’ To collect the food/drinks/ cutlery etc. The service is almost non existent. Although we weren’t really expecting much ( you can’t get much wrong with burgers etc), we were still disappointed with the quality of the food. Our burger buns were soggy, and it became a race to eat the food before the flies settled on it ( we lost that one), if you weren’t quick enough to get the food from your plate to your mouth, you’d end up eating a fly with your food. I wanted to mention both the flies and the food quality to the staff, but after seeing a person who appeared to be the owner (who had a very unwelcoming scowl) snatch someone else’s half eaten plate up almost as they were leaving, I thought better of it. So, in conclusion, something should definitely be done to limit the fly problem. Service standards and welcoming diners could easily be taught ( try a smile for starters). Food preparation and delivery needs to brought up to a basic level at least. A light refurb and clean of the whole area couldn’t hurt. And finally, reflect the standards with the prices. It’s currently way too expensive for what’s being delivered. This could be a great little place to visit, but unfortunately it isn’t...