The Shop & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

On Friday we had the displeasure of dining at this abhorrent establishment. We booked a table for 5:30pm and two girls arrived early, ready to order and be seated. Unfortunately three of us were stuck in traffic and arrived at 5:45pm (15 mins late).We ordered food and drinks soon after arriving and requested for one of the dishes to be made without dairy as we cannot eat it. The waitress was very confused by our request but placed the order and assured us that they could fulfill our request. When the dish was brought out some 15-20mins later, it contained dairy. It was roasted tomatoes on a bed of labne and foccasia. The waitress didn’t understand the meaning of dairy or the implications of serving us food that we were intolerant to. She placed the dish back on the table and said that the kitchen was too busy to remake this as there were only 30 minutes left on our booking. I politely asked for her to suggest an alternative dish but she maintained that we couldn’t be served as they were too busy and because we were “late” to our booking that it was our fault. The owner Lucy approached our table and continued to haul abuse at our group and claimed that we were “45 minutes late” so we couldn’t be served. She also suggested that we “cut her some slack” as both the chef and waitress were new and couldn’t speak English. It was really uncomfortable to hear the owner of a restaurant blame her staff’s cultural backgrounds for her lack of under training, customer service and poor business sense. I then asked the owner, “should we order something else” to which she shouted “don’t be a smart ass”. We were hungry, distressed and disappointed. We couldn’t believe that we were being refused service and being called offensive names. It’s commonplace for dietary requirements to be catered for in the hospitality industry so I’m not sure why Lucy thought she was exempt. If you have an allergy I strongly suggest you don’t dine here because you will either be served something inedible, or verbally abused. For management, I strongly suggest briefing your staff on the menu, adequately staffing your restaurant on a busy Friday night, and communicating your strict dining terms so customers can choose an alternative establishment. Regretfully, we paid the $180 bill and quietly left the table as we didn’t want to disturb...

Really disappointing experience here. Having lived locally for years I’m surprised I hadn’t been to The Shop before, but having been on my list I decided to take my sister here this evening. We booked a table for 5pm to enjoy happy hour and bites. We arrived at 4.40pm. We asked for 2 glasses of wine and were suggested a bottle of wine instead. I asked ‘is the bottle on happy hour?’ And we were told it was. We got the wine and it was lovely, the food was good - anchovies were very very small but the chop salad was yummy. The bill came and the bottle of wine was 5$ cheaper than full price. I questioned this and was told $55 dollars was the happy hour price rather than the full price of $60. Keep in mind a glass of happy hour wine is $9 (x 4 is $36). Having originally made the booking for happy hour, this was really disappointing. The manager said this was normal and eventually offered to charge us for 4 happy hour glasses instead. He returned to behind the bar, told guests sitting at the bar the situation in which case one individual turned to us and rolled their eyes up to heaven in a very disgruntled way. We were genuinely upset leaving and have a bad taste after the experience. Really disappointed and annoyed as I would have loved for this to have become our new go-to spot. I hope this experience doesn’t happen to anyone else...

We had such a lovely night here. Everything from the wine to the food to the atmosphere made it a place we’ll definitely return to.

The wine list is genuinely beautiful, with such an interesting and diverse range by the glass. We sampled our way through most of it during the evening as each selection was so interessting, which was such a treat.

The food was equally impressive. We ordered a spread of starters, even the simplest dishes, like sardines with crackers, were full of flavour and very satisfying. The pasta special (rigatoni with a rich, perfectly balanced sauce) was the highlight for me, but the meatball salad and smaller plates were just as carefully put together. The menu feels well thought out, and the fact that they do rotating specials means you’ll always find something new to try on a return visit.

The space itself is cosy yet comfortable, with a relaxed buzz that made us stay far longer than we intended. We sat at the bar area, which gave us a great view of everything happening, but there’s also outdoor seating that looked just as inviting. The staff couldn’t have been friendlier, warm, attentive, and clearly passionate about what they’re serving.

Between the exceptional wine list, the delicious food, and the welcoming atmosphere, this place is an...