O Bar and Dining — Restaurant in Sydney

Overall it was a good experience but the lower rating is due to some service issues.

The lower levels of the resturant floor moves in a circular motion so you get a 360view of Sydney. It moves at a relatively slow pace.... but if you have issues with motion.. then you may wish to reconsider your seating choices. Its slow but it is somewhat noticeable.

The front desk/reception had already started the night on a poor note. We were waiting in line behind 2 groups which were fine but then another group came up behind us and the reception staff asked for their details and sat them before us even though we were in front. Poor service, poor control and observation.

Once we got seated, came the next issue... we had organised for the 5 course menu... but if you looked at their menu you would know they offer upgrades and additional course. The waiter did not bother to ask any of that. Nor offer the addition of oysters. If they had offered any of those I would've taken up the offers as I was already considering them before arriving.

It feels like the main reason for the lack of extra service is due to them possibly being understaffed but if I was paying $250pp for a meal, I would expect better service.

Also the glassware..... which had lint in it....!!!! Very obviously... it appears the person who polished the glassware did not use a proper polishing cloth!!!! It not what you expect of a fine dining restaurant.

Next came the food, start of food service was better when the food came out for the first couple of dishes the waiter would introduce the dish - which is an expectation for paying such a high premium for a meal. But after about course 3 (when they got busier) it got worst.... they just brought the food out and were like "here"... and "medium" and just placed the food.

Overall though this food menu was quite good and flavours balanced. The wines also paired reasonably well with the dishes. There were a couple of things. The 3rd course of fish.... the fish itself was a little bland and a tad overcooked. But the salads and other elements helped round out the dish. Moving onto the 4th course was a little disappointing.... the beef was labelled MS6+ (I wouldve actually upgraded to the MS9+ if they offered it) but the pieces we got were not marbled and a little chewy - probably from the cut that was used.

Next came dessert which was good considering I am not usually a fan of dark chocolate.

But another disappointment in service came afterwards.... we were offered tea and coffee... and I had opted for tea.... but by the time the tea had arrived.... it was already bitter on the pour.... which means it had been sitting there for sometime before it was served to us....

Then came the service staff who wanted us to vacate our seat.... (the booking says 2hr period but people who ordered the tasting menu are excluded from this limitation)... which was a bit uncalled for since we had gotten the tasting menu.... we were already at the last part of the night they only needed to wait another 10-20min and it would've been fine. But after they hassled us... we pretty much just settled the bill and left.

Would we come back... probably not... its a little bit of a let down paying so much and not receiving the service that should come...

My partner and I visited O-bar yesterday evening for a belated birthday dinner for him. I was extremely excited to go here and my family kindly helped us pay to have some snacks and drinks here as a present for. For the bar snacks we ordered sweet potato fries (which were lovely) and the feta and chilli hummus dips (each dip was $14 which I thought was very expensive). When I ordered I asked what the feta and hummus came with and the waitress said bread which I was pleased with. When the food arrived however we received a single half a piece of sourdough each and that was it. I was really surprised about this as I assumed surely each dip would have at least come with half a piece of bread on their own let alone me having ordered two, if that was the way they chose to serve the food. There were two of us, two dips and half a piece of bread each. I wasn’t sure if we were just supposed to eat the rest with a spoon and honestly for the price both were really average. Later on when we both had our drinks I decided to ask if there was anything else small on the menu we could order as I was still hungry and the waitress said there was in fact extra bread for $3. I was more than happy to order and pay for that (which I did) however I wish that this would have at least been offered alongside the dips, or better they just give you more accompaniments in the first place. Finally when I went to pay I was asked if I would like to add a tip and I said no. I then noticed on my receipt that an almost $11 gratuity tip had been added? I wasn’t sure if this was just standard and the tip was meant to be extra or if this was the tip and the lady didn’t press no on the machine but I was really unhappy about it. Normally I would have just left it. But this was meant to be a one off amazing experience and it wasn’t. We spent nearly $42 on bar snacks and received half a piece of bread and that was it, on top of spending $142 overall including the drinks. I do want to be transparent and say the staff were lovely and refunded me the gratuity amount which I did feel really awful about. They were all pleasant no issues there. It was more the lack of value for money, overpriced and very average tasting food.

EDIT: 23/11/23

We were kindly invited back to O-Bar to re-try the experience and I have to say it was amazing. The ambience was incredible, the place smelt lovely, it was clean and the staff were so attentive. The food was presented really well, and was extremely delicious. We were kind enough to be offered the 'Signature Experience' which I would highly recommend. Our cocktails were light and fresh, the dips and fetta were incredible, and I loved having more of the sourdough bread. The small plates were also very flavoursome and filling. This experience definitely changed my perspective and it seems I just had a bad first impression. I am very grateful to have been given a second chance to visit O-Bar as this time it did not disappoint. I would...

Your Uber will drop you on an adjacent road, in front of a gentleman’s club. This street only has light rail access but you don’t know that before. 3 Different groups arrived, 2 local, and none found it easily. If you’re this expensive, it’s your job to get your patrons to your location with solid directions.

Booking and changing booking was easy. The front desk is polite. They will charge you 10% extra for a “holiday” that is not a holiday in New South Wales (MELBOURNE cup). Cheeky.

The service is pretty rude. 1 Cocktail menu for 5 people, and they were quite irritated that we couldn’t get our order straight quickly. How should 5 people get their order straight in 5 minutes with 1 menu to share, in a dark room? French waiter asked me “how was your service?” as he handed me the bill (nudge nudge, wink wink). This is after they had darkened the whole restaurant and were literally cleaning up around us at 11:20pm. How am I getting shame-cleaned in a restaurant of this supposed caliber? The bill was more than $1200 AUD, for context. I had to chase down someone to get us wrapped up. That’s on an 8pm booking that we were mostly late for, due to the location issue. Reading the other reviews now, I was probably charged a gratuity fee on top of the 10% gratuity I handed over in cash. I was so pressured to move fast despite being left to languish for so long, and I was told my card wasn’t working so the waiter left with it, and the bill, for some period of time.

The rotating room can make you queasy if you get motion sickness.

The food is fine. A little bit ‘80’s in both taste and presentation. The up-charged, premium fish was excellent. Cod was bland, like sawdust. Lamb was good. Duck appetizer was good. Vegetarian food was not bad. They make a bit of a spectacle of the cocktails, which is fun (liquid nitrogen on the floor). Good wine list. Desserts are fun but the brûlée was confusing, a bunch of grapefruit iced on a bed of not sure what. Soufflé was outstanding.

The bathroom was filthy. The men’s room hand dryers have never been visibly cleaned and there was toilet paper all over the floor in the ladies room. If I’m blowing 4 figures on a meal, I want a clean bathroom, it’s not a music festival. It was also smelly. I was incredibly embarrassed for my party.

Overall, we had tapas in Chippendale for $225 the day before and we returned 2 days after because it was that good. This is just okay. It was a fine experience and good family time but I will not return, not worth the money by any stretch of the imagination. One and a half car payments...