Kickin'Inn Zetland — Restaurant in Sydney

I was extremely disappointed by the service, which was the first impression I got before the food arrived. I am hoping that they will improve because the crab we had was actually quite good. We ordered the “mud crab+” which contained 5 half mud crabs, 5 half bay bugs and 2 potatoes, with choice of sauce. Also ordered the barramundi with chips, chicken winglet with chips and kids pasta.

Here’s why I was disappointed: When taking orders the staff had no idea what kind of fish or prawns they are serving when asked. I would expect that they would either know it or ask someone who knows. When asked what species of fish (Barra, hoki, etc) or prawns (king prawns, tiger prawns etc)…. The fish and chips, was described as “the frozen type” and she literally just repeated herself a few times and said “I don’t know” rather than go back and check. The prawns bag was described as “the peeled type” and again “I don’t know”when asked to clarify the species. We decided not to order either to avoid any allergies to unknown species - I’m highly allergic to tiger prawns but it is specifically that species. We asked about the kids menu, my son really wanted the pasta with juice and ice cream set which was on the “Kids eat free Mon-Wed” page. We said we’re ok to pay for it but I just couldn’t understand why the waitress said they couldn’t do it. Compensated with free apple juice though. We’re appreciative of the gesture, just very confused. The kids pasta came in a huge bowl. I asked for a small plastic kids bowl from the waiter (different person who took our order). He said “sure” like he understood, but came back with another of the same exact huge bowl 🤦🏻‍♀️ Might be useful and good service to provide kids bowls and cutlery :) Crab experience - for a seafood restaurant specialising in serving shellfish and crabs, please look into investing on crab tools :) we were given a hammer which was really hard to use on mud crabs and I think the amount of force we had to exert is not very good for your tables. Furthermore, cracking the mud crab claws before serving not only helps with a better eating experience but also assists with letting the sauce flow through and hence taste better. We also ordered the barramundi but oh my goodness… way overcooked, hence it was extremely dry and not very nice at all. For a restaurant with such high reviews, I expected to see some extra touches which to be honest are very easy to do! But none of these happened. Come around occasionally to provide more table water Ask how the food is or if we need anything else Ask how was the experience when settling the bill

Here’s why I would come back again to give it another go: I absolutely LOVE seafood but I’m highly allergic to tiger prawns. Did not have an allergic reaction so either there is no cross contamination in the kitchen or they don’t service tiger prawns hah The mud crabs were fresh and decent size. Great value for money for what we got! $89.95 for 2.5 mud crabs, 2.5 bay bugs, 2 potatoes. The sauce was really yummy and went well with the seafood. It was also very generous. The chips were well done and tasted great with the chicken salt.

I’m only sharing all the details in hopes that you’ll improve, because I would love to come back over and over and rave to everyone how awesome you are, I see so much potential because the food is actually really good!...

As a “themed” restaurant, this met all expectations. We didn’t come in expecting a Michelin Starred dining experience and this review is certainly not a criticism of the style of catering.

If anything, it was very well done overall. Clean restaurant, good supply of gloves and aprons, polite floor staff who you could tell was understaffed but tried their best, food was (for what it was) quite delicious and cooked well.

That being said, it was a bit difficult to get a hold of someone to help us if we needed more tap water or other things like cutlery.

My suggestion would be to set up a self service station so it would be more convenient for customers rather than having to pester the clearly busy and understaffed waiters with a lot to remember in order to cater for an abundance of needy customers.

The price was also quite steep and bit on the expensive side. Yes I understand it is seafood and there are overheads to consider as well as other things but it was quite steep and paying 100+ a person on seafood (we ordered two rounds of the custom bag with two rounds of garlic bread and corn) to just about be full at the end of the meal is probably not the financially responsible thing to do. Maybe we should have ordered more sides or rice instead.

Lastly the music was a bit on the loud side. Found it difficult to have a conversation with the person sat across me. But that’s probably a niche bit of feedback that your general seafood indulging customer would happily skip over.

Overall.. it was an above average experience (for a well above average price). But I would be lying if I said I would be rushing to go back. Was it fun? I suppose. Would I do it again? Probably. But not for...

My first visit to the Zetland branch, but many at this business overall (have been to Petersham and Bankstown).

Food was great, finally got to try the snow crabs - exceptional! Prices are expected.

But that's where the two stars end.

My wife booked the visit for my surprise birthday. Throughout the dinner, the service was responsive when called upon, but on most occasions, the staff took their time to respond.

When asked for the birthday cake to be served, the wait time was about half an hour, if not more. When the cake arrived, although it was nice to have happy birthday sung out by the staff but they sung it to my wife and served the cake to her. Also, they failed to provide small plates, cutlery and serving utensils for the cake.

Along with that, they failed to serve the celebration alcoholic shot during the service untll I asked about it at the end...and there weren't any choice on what alcohol it was. Also, it was served by a kitchen staff (not in standard uniform) instead of any of the floor staff by the way.

Staff also failed to provide the soft drink (which came with the crab meal package) during the sitting. It was given after paying for the dinner.

Manager (possibly) on shift did acknowledge the delays and not providing the drink during service, putting it down to short staff. Which might also explain why a few other tables weren't cleaned away soon after the customers had left.

Honestly, a totally different and unfortunate experience compared to the other branches I've been to.

Hope you all sort...