Grill @ Gordon — Restaurant in Sydney

So a group of friends and I came here to try the food out on recommendation, and the first thing I noted was the ambience. It's a small store by the main road with slightly dated but nostalgic ambience with jazz playing in the back with tables set and ready for customers, almost throwing me back to what feels like an imaginary visit to Nan's place. It's homely, warm and inviting albeit for reminders to check in due to Covid procedures.

The menu was a nice spread of various grill items which include seafood and steaks. We went for entrees including garlic bread, salt and pepper calamari and prawns on a stick. I did not take pictures of these, but the prawns were absolutely divine; juicy and flavourful, not dry at all which you'd expect from grilling. The garlic bread was alright, could use a bit more garlic but it was crisp and dense. We all ordered our own mains comprising of pork cutlet, sirloin with mushroom sauce, tenderloin and rib eye with ribs combo, all of which done to medium rareness except for the pork which was done according to chef's recommendation.

I did not try the pork cutlet or the sirloin but my friends said it was really good, and I will try to elaborate why they may have said that. The tenderloin I had was a smaller portion as it is a valued cut of beef, and it was done exactly how i wanted it; tender, barely any effort to cut through with a knife, a nice sear on the outside while remaining juicy and soft inside. The taste was really amazing and I felt very satisfied due to how well seasoned and cooked the steak was. Gary, the owner of this establishment, confirms that all steaks in the house are dry aged, so there is a notable slight funkiness (the good savoury kind!) which one expects from such process. In his sharing about the products sold in the store, this tells me just how much effort and attention goes into the steak before me, and the results speak for itself.

I also had a taste of my partner's rib-eye. Normally I would not enjoy the fatty parts since the texture is rubbery, but the piece I was given melted in my mouth. It was just such a pleasant experience that i almost envied my partner's choice.

As for the sides provided, all steaks come with very nice chips, not soggy or over/under seasoned, and a salad with a sort of balsamic seasoning. I normally pay little attention to salads, but something about the balsamic seasoning was just different from the typical balsamic seasoning. I might have to ask Gary about that sometime.

Overall, it was a really good dining experience. Service was very friendly and welcoming, the pricing is what one would expect of a grill house, food took a little while but no orders were forgotten or missed which suggests all meals were cooked to order. My only gripe is that the place is a little small, because such a place should have a wider access so more people can enjoy the food here. Would I be back? Absolutely. And I will strongly recommend Grill @ Gordon to my friends if they are looking for such grill...

My family have been loyal customers of Grill @ Gordon for 5-6 years and the food is almost always spectactular. I think the restaurant may have changed hands a year or so ago, but the food is still spot on.

The salt & pepper squid is just magic - amazingly tender and never fishy smelling. Their steaks are fantastic, chips are crisp and they always try to accommodate any changes or instructions for the order. Their mushroom sauce is to die for, and the caesar salad is generous and well proportioned. Oh, and they now have onion rings and they are also very tasty - lightly battered and not too heavy on the oil.

Owner, Gary, is very communicative and the food delivery usually arrives piping hot and perfectly done. Yes, the wait time may be a little long, but it has always been that way. Good things are worth waiting for! If you want fast, go to Maccas. If you want delicious, go to Gordy.

The only negative I would say is that the wagyu beef burgers seem to have gone downhill a bit - the patties seem chunkier (like, the meat is not ground properly), a bit too well done, and more chewy than before. We rarely order beef burgers so it hasn't been a deal breaker for us, but the last one I had will likely be my last one... Apart from that, you will always get a delicious feed from Grill @ Gordon

UPDATE ON THE WAGYU BURGER I spoke with Gary after this review and he said he was trying other options for the wagyu patties. I decided to try once more and I am pleased to say they are...

I’ve ordered ribeye steak from this restaurant twice before, and both times it came with the proper fatty edges as ribeye should. But this time, the portion was noticeably smaller and there was absolutely no marbling or fat at all – what kind of ribeye is that? On top of that, the doneness was completely off. I asked for medium, but what I got was way undercooked and far too raw.

What made the experience even worse was the phone call I received from a staff member during preparation. They brought up my previous complaint about the wrong drink, but all I wanted was a refund for the drink I didn’t order. Instead, UberEats refunded my entire order including the steak, which was never my request. Why is the restaurant trying to shift platform penalties onto the customer?

If this drink is out of stock long-term, it shouldn’t even be listed on the menu. What’s the point of letting customers choose something you can’t provide, only to replace it with a random drink nobody asked for? I was already very dissatisfied after that phone call, and it only got worse when the food arrived.

I paid $95 for the set menu and an extra $5 for a ribeye steak, but what I received had no fat, no ribeye texture, and looked more like a rump steak. If the restaurant or staff are unhappy with UberEats’ penalties, that should not be taken out on customers by secretly swapping cuts of meat. Completely...