Gowings — Restaurant in Sydney

I am very sad to give this place a 2 star review as it was once a 4.5/5 star restaurant years ago. But unfortunately I was thoroughly disappointed with our experience last night. Four things soured our time at Gowings:

Our reservation and lack of attention to detail: I had an 8:45pm booking on Saturday and had confirmed my attendance prior with staff over the phone. Upon arrival, me and my party were punctual however we were met with confusion when staff had informed us that they had accidentally given our table away to other guests who had claimed our reservation as their own. Understandably, we're all human and mistakes happen even if the booking was under my name but we weren't completely satisfied with how the issue was resolved. The table was still given to the wrong guests and my party of 4 had been placed in a spot using 2 small round tables arranged together at the last minute. We understood that in the hospitality industry it was probably important for Gowings keep all customers happy, however for a place that charges $60 for a cancellation fee with a strict rule on attendance, we felt like our presence didn't really matter to them.

Food Quality: During my last visit at Gowings, I remember the food being exceptional and was excited to share the same experience with my friends. Sadly last night did not meet my expectations. My partner ordered the 220g Wagyu steak which was neither 220g (it was super tiny) nor did it taste like it was $90. The quality was the same as a $10 pub lunch. The waitress also came up to ask my partner if he wanted any condiments from her tray which was a nice gesture except the steak was basically almost finished by that point - so it was a little too late. Me and my two other friends had ordered the gnocchi which was where the core of our disappointment began. The sauce was not bad but almost all of the gnocchi pieces had a very powdery uncooked texture inside, which was unpleasant to eat and often a sign when gnocchi has too much flour in it. There were some pieces that were cooked ok which tells me this was an inconsistency throughout the dish. I asked the waitress if this was intentional and she explained that because it's ricotta gnocchi, this is how the texture is supposed to be. If this is true, I feel that the ricotta wouldn't be something that would compromise the taste of gnocchi. Adding to the food experience, the food took a really really long time to arrive.

Price: I'm always willing to pay top dollar for the best especially for a 'chef hat' winning restaurant, but last night we truly didn't feel like we got what we paid for which was quite frankly the bare minimum of delivering good food and service.

Atmosphere: Interiors are aesthetically pleasing however the space seems so much louder than usual. I did remember being able to speak to my other friends the last time I had visited, this time the music and the acoustics of the space makes it extremely hard to hear anyone when talking which is not what you want for a dining experience.

I do hope that the staff at Gowings will take the time to read this and consider making some improvements. But from what I can see on Google Reviews the Owner does not seem receptive to constructive criticism and responds abrasively instead. Personally, I think customer satisfaction and product excellence should always take priority when running a business and not purely just defending reputation and credibility. I'd be interested to see if the Owner would respond to this review with something as equally as scathing or would be willing to investigate the kinks in his/her establishment.

All the best to the Gowings team. Will consider my return, but not for a...

A really disappointing experience. Ate here end of last year and felt it had gone downhill. Decided to give it another go for our anniversary dinner tonight. We didn’t have a booking and front of house ( a lovely woman who has been there for some time) explained the restaurant was booked (totally fair enough). When we arrived the bar section was busy but we luckily got a table. Within 15 mins the bar cleared out. We had a lovely waitress who commented it was her first shift there and she went to check on a question we asked, which we felt was a good response on her part. The one star is for her as she was proficient and friendly. Calamari was small and nice enough. The steak was approx $80? Cooked properly at medium rare but overpowering charred taste and incredibly chewy. I couldn’t eat it. Hot chips were akin to Mc Cain frozen chips. We moved on to cheeses and asked our nice waitress what there was, explaining we were after soft cheeses such as Camembert etc. She went and checked with a blonde woman and came back to confirm we would have soft cheeses and a hard cheese. Prior to that I’d ordered a glass of wine. Granted, they were busy with a wine tasting in the restaurant but the wine took ages to come. The blonde woman came over and implied the waitress had made a mistake with the cheeses but repeated the same offerings. Soft cheese would be on offer. We went ahead as wanted a soft cheese, the cheese arrived. No soft cheeses. It took forever and three reminders for the glass of wine. $36 for the cheese plate and it was dismal. No pastes etc. We then wanted to pay our bill but couldn’t get anyone’s attention as staff were too busy socialising with one another at the bar. Getting more and more frustrated we then really just couldn’t escape fast enough. If you look at my other reviews you can see that I usually five star places and normally an easy/happy customer. Have been a long time QT/Gowings fan. Filling up rooms with guests from my 50th birthday and also taking my daughter and friends there for her 20th. A really disappointing experience, below average food and lacklustre all round service (aside from new waitress). Won’t be back to eat again. Far better places at that same...

Thank you but no thank you. I found the service at the bar and dining room very poor. It’s very disappointing experience especially when I had regarded Gowings B&G and QT Sydney, as a trusted venue - being a regular hotel guest and regular events customer (had my daughter’s 21st party at StudioQ)

Upon arrival, we alerted the MaîtreD that we will be at the bar prior to our 7.30 dinner reservation- asked them to alert us at 7.30. 7.30 came and gone, no one alerted us if our table was ready, we had to chase them. The bar experience was poor, with drinks ordered not served until we moved to the dining room. It was a very long wait.

The booking was made with notes on gluten free and nut free requirements. Our server had to be alerted of the critical notes, once again indicating your process lacking in customer consideration which could have been very dangerous outcomes.

Let it be noted that the mains were not served at the same time, leaving some dishes getting cold whilst we waited for others to be served. The pasta dishes were mediocre and tasteless. They were overpriced for the portion size and poorly executed. Once again disappointing kitchen service.

When it came to settling the bill, the staff announced that the restaurant does not allow split bills. Firstly, this was not noted on our booking confirmation and your staff rudely insisted that it was. (No, it was not). For such a big group like ours with a $800 bill, it’s one mighty credit facility required just because your restaurant fails to provide a service for group bookings. It was also rudely explained that most “young” people nowadays just transfer funds to the payer - which we all took offence to.

Overall, the experience was extremely disappointing leaving us feeling robbed and deceived. Such a bad experience is hard to forget and we will not be future patrons nor will we...