Elements Bar and Grill Haberfield — Restaurant in Sydney

Visited Friday 14th October

We ordered the 1kg Bistecca Alla Fiorenti steak to share with a generous four sides, and Chimichurri and Hot English Mustard for sauce. Also one Dirty Margarita cocktail and a Carafe bottle of Torzi Mystic Shiraz.

Took them a while to come around to ask what we wanted to order, possibly due to the restaurant being new.

Asked for the Mystic Shiraz, Carafe size (repeated twice), and he somehow thought I said a bottle. So make sure they hear you on this. It was a young Shiraz but it tasted strong and full bodied, very much to our liking. Unfortunately, it looks less than 375ml, and the Carafe doesn't have a measurement for staff to see how much they should be pouring.

The cocktail was great and had a good amount of alcohol infused into it, value for money.

The steak wasn't cooked evenly (medium rare). The bigger part of the meat on one side of the bone was cooked as we like it, but the smaller side was cooked to the centre. At least it wasn't chewy.

The four sides that we ordered were Steakhouse Chips, Chargrilled Broccolini, Sweet Corn Ribs, and Portobello Mushrooms. They all were tasty and flavoursome and we didn't have any issues with them.

The only problem that we had was where we were seated, near the entrance and in the walkway of people walking in and out, and in front of the bar. Our hot food became cold pretty quick.

The area where we sat, should just have been made as a waiting area or for those enjoying a drink or two before their tables are ready, rather than seated dining. Not a very good experience.

Many people had asked to move seats, but they're usually in groups of two. The table next to us, had four couples who moved tables, in the space of time we were there

Unfortunately they didn't offer us a seat on vacated tables in their main dining area.

Online states smart casual, but we've seen a couple of people in t-shirts, shorts and thongs. Still allowed to dine in the restaurant? These people should be penalized if they cannot change into appropriate attire accordingly and to respect the decency of the restaurant and other patrons. They looked like they just lived next door or down the road.

Overall the service was great and we were...

Our adventure at Elements Bar and Grill was, well, an interesting one, to say the least. We strolled in fashionably late at 7:45 for our 7:30 reservation, but don't fret; we had dialed ahead to inform them of our tardiness, and they graciously understood (it just comes out of your seating time). Little did we know, our timely courtesy was probably unnecessary because we found ourselves twiddling our thumbs for nearly an hour before food graced our table.

The drama kicked off with the appearance of the sirloin steak tartare. Starving and a bit woozy from sipping on wine without a morsel in sight, we were disheartened to find only a quartet (4) of crackers accompanying the tartare. With one bite each, it was clear we needed more, so we made our polite request. Fifteen minutes passed, and we decided to hit up a second server for extra crackers. Eventually, another four crackers materialized, and we later discovered we'd been charged a princely sum of 5 dollars for the privilege. Yes, you read that right—$1.25 per cracker. Perhaps they were handcrafted by monks atop a sacred mountain, though. They did have an epic presentation, resting on a massive stone tray surrounded by decorative salt and garnishes. But alas, still not enough cracker lol

After what felt like an eternity, our main courses graced our table. The steaks? Well, let's just say they fell squarely into the "meh" category—neither gross nor wow-worthy. That hour-plus wait? It simply wasn't justified. You know that feeling when you wait, but the food is so incredible that you don't mind? Well, this wasn't one of those times. We cared. The mashed potatoes were subpar, and the watercress salad surprisingly stole the show. But when the best thing you eat at a steakhouse is a salad, it raises an eyebrow or two.

Kudos to the waitstaff, though. They remained lovely and gracious throughout the marathon of slow service and mediocre eats. So, there you have it—our amusing journey through Elements Bar and Grill. It may not have been a culinary masterpiece, but at least it left us with a memorable...

I very rarely leave reviews, as a matter of fact, I find not returning to a certain establishment and advising friends of my experience in person to be an adequate form of a poor review.

But this is absolutely ridiculous.

I arrived to Elements Bar and Grill, Haberfield with my Fiance, for a nice steak house experience. We arrived at 7:30, not a minute later. We were greeted by a lovely lady, who I would assume was the manager. She was about the only helpful person in this restaurant. She sat us down in the corner (huge mistake) and got us menus. We were greeted by a waiter later to ask for drinks, to which we ordered an Aperol Spritz and a Bourbon and Coke. He acknowledged it and walked away.

After 20 minutes, we received table water, by the manager who asked if we were ready to order, we then ordered our food and said our drinks had already been ordered. She checked and informed us that the drinks had NOT been out through, to which she took our order.

We finally got our drinks, 40 minutes into our dining experience. Once my bourbon and coke had been finished, ironically the same waiter from earlier asked if I'd like another. Me knowing he had already asked and failed to deliver earlier, decided I'd ask again to see if it'll change.

Anyways, fast forward, watching another couple walk in and get served food before us, we were served our stupidly priced meal. I don't mind paying well for food, but when it arrives COLD and 1 AND A HALF HOURS LATE, I really should have walked out.

Once the meal had been finished (which was okay by the way, I make actually seasoned steaks at home) the waiter from earlier apologized for the lack of a drink and would constantly hinder our experience from that point on, claiming he'd provide a drink.

I appreciate his honesty and I really acknowledge the mistakes but to do it twice and still be forgotten in the corner is a step too far.

Still paid nearly $300 for the experience, would never dine there again. Not worth the time, I really hope this does not happen to anyone else as I can see why the food...