Fortuna Drink And Eat — Restaurant in Sydney

Not one to complain or write reviews, but I would like to provide some feedback to the venue. My friends and I had the bottomless brunch, with myself being vegetarian and another of us vegan. The other 10 people had no dietary requirements. We had let the venue know in advance of these requirements and they had said they would happily accomodate these. However on the day they served me a lamb dish which they said was ‘vegetarian vegan’ (despite being visibly layered with cheese but I assumed they meant vego). After starting to eat it I found lamb throughout the meal and when i questioned it another waiter said ‘that’s lamb’. Without any apology. Later they brought out the rest of the plates and started calling out ‘gluten free pasta?’ we were all saying no we didn’t order that but we are waiting on the one vegan plate and one vego and he said ‘yeah same thing’ and then eventually he reluctantly took it away after we insisted we did not order a gluten free meal. Later a different waiter came out with a ‘mushroom’ pasta and I asked ‘is this the vegan or the vego dish’? And she said she didn’t know. I asked if she could please double check with the kitchen because I was previously served a meat dish. She took it away seemingly a little hesitant to take it back. She came back and said that it was the vegan dish. My vegan friend said ‘surely not, that looks like it’s got cheese all through it’ but the waiter insisted it was vegan. My vegan friend said ‘please can you double check again because it smells and looks like cheese’. She again reluctantly took it back. Finally a different waiter again came out asking what the problem was- we explained again that we had been repeatedly told our dishes were vegan and instead served meat/ dairy dishes. She said the mushroom dish was certainly not vegan, it was vegetarian and the vegan dish was coming soon. She apologised and was the only waiter to take any accountability for the incorrect meals and she looked like she was about to break down and said ‘we’ve got multiple new staff today and 300 pax. I’m sorry for the Mix up’. She looked so stressed and I felt for her in that moment but I was also in disbelief that multiple waiters would not only lie and say a meal was vegan strewn with meat and cheese, but also not apologise or be willing to help when there was a clear mix up? It shouldn’t have been that difficult- all we wanted was on vegan plate and one vego plate but I felt like they perceived us as extremely difficult or asking for too much. My feedback would be to not overbook the venue and definitely do not have multiple new staff starting their first shift on a Saturday (one of the staff members told me it was...

Literally the worst dining experience I've had in Sydney. As a booking of 12 with 1 vegan and 1 vegetarian - I really didn't think we would have a problem.

As a vegan, I never expect a fantastic experience at most restaurants, but I at least anticipate that the waiters and kitchen staff will serve something without meat or dairy. As we took our seats 4 inches from the main road, we were asked if there were any dietary requirements - and when we told them our requirements, it was confirmed that they could be catered for.

The starter was a tomato cut into quarters with a tablespoon of oregano and salt plopped on the middle of the dish (not sprinkled evenly across the tomatoes). Then half an unseasoned mushroom cut into slices on a side plate was served to me.

That should have been an indication of what was to come tbh, and I truly wish that was all I was given. No amount of watery iced down aperols could have prepare us for what was in store.

A dish was brought to our table and announced as "vegan, vegetarian" - to which I asked "Is it Vegan, or is it Vegetarian" and a blank faced waited left the meal and said "Vegan". As the oily cheese on top smelt quite dairy-like, I gave it to my vegetarian friend - assuming that he meant it was vegetarian. Much to her horror, after several mouthfuls of the pasta dish, we discovered the meal was actually a lamb dish - which was confirmed by a different waiter - and without a hint of an apology, was abruptly whisked away. Later, the entire table was served (with the same lamb dish) and we waited in anticipation to see what would come out next.

A creamy mushroom dish was brought to the table and claimed to be gluten free. I asked if it was vegetarian or vegan and it was begrudgingly taken back to the kitchen and brought back as apparently "Vegan". As it was creamy and layered with cheese, I questioned the waitress and reminded them of the lamb situation - who honestly could have sent it back to the kitchen airborne propelled by the force of her eye roll. She stormed away with it, and delivered it to my friend as the vegetarian option.

I managed to chat with the manager who was extremely overwhelmed, and organised a vegan pasta dish to be made. It was average at best - but to be honest - by this time, I really didn't have much of an appetite based on my levels of trust for the staff and their integrity to provide basic dietary requirements.

I appreciate the manager, but was really disappointed to pay $99 for...

This place is a complete misrepresentation of what a "buffet" should be. What was advertised as a buffet turned out to be nothing more than a frustrating waiting game.

The menu listed five different pastas, but what we experienced was far from that. The evening started with two oversized truffle mushroom pastas (which we were told had to be served first). They were thick, doughy, and clumped together—honestly, almost inedible. After that, it was like pulling teeth to get the rest of the dishes. The main waitress was inattentive, ignored our requests, and made us feel like we were a bother.

In 1.5 hours, we received just four out of the five promised pastas. The final dish? Never arrived. It became clear that the restaurant was intentionally dragging out the service, hoping our time would run out before we could finish the meal we paid $120 for. When we asked about the missing dish, the manager gave the ridiculous excuse that since there was still a plate on the table (mind you, one we couldn't eat because it was so poorly made), they wouldn’t bring out the next one. And here I was, thinking a buffet meant you could enjoy multiple dishes at once! But no—at most, we had three plates on the table, and one wasn’t even part of the so-called buffet.

Knowing we had limited time, we proactively asked for smaller portions of the third and fourth pastas, hoping to get through the meal. The only dish that had any substance was the lamb ragu; the rest were just basic pasta drenched in cheap sauces. We were eagerly awaiting the final pasta, which never came. The slow pacing felt like a deliberate attempt to short-change us, and the manager’s dismissive attitude made it even worse. His excuse? "I’ve got people waiting for tables outside." Spoiler: there was no one waiting.

The final insult was when the manager "generously" took $8 off our bill for the barely touched truffle pasta, and took the burrata off the bill (not part of the buffet) but that didn't make up for the fact that we never got the full experience. And let’s be real—what kind of buffet forces you to finish one plate before moving on to the next?

I will say, the one redeeming part of this disaster was the young waiter who attentively topped up my Parmesan. He was the only one who seemed to care.

In short, I do NOT recommend this Thursday "buffet." It’s an overpriced, poorly executed scam that leaves you constantly begging for the food you’ve already paid for. Do yourself a favour and go...