On the Bay Restaurant — Restaurant in Tasman

We stayed at Stewart’s bay lodge for our anniversary weekend and ate at “OTB” twice, loved every single bit of food we had here, first night we had chicken parmi and pork belly. Was hands down the tastiest parmi right down to the chips and coleslaw… all quality ingredients. Second night we had the pork belly croquettes as an entree, the sirloin steak and the fish and chips… again quality tasty meals. The only reason we did not provide 5 stars is that both nights we came for dinner there were some issues with the service. Most of the staff were lovely. 1st night we waited over 1 hr for our meals, staff came over to apologise and said the ticket had gone missing and food would be there soon, they compensated us and we can understand that sometimes “$hit” happens in food service and we’re greatful for the apology and compensation… plus the food was worth the wait!! We had to go to the bar to order drinks a few times as we weren’t “checked on” as much as you’d expect but it was a Saturday. Tuesday night (our actual anniversary) we came back because the food was so good. We were sat down and not provided water or anything. 30 mins passed and still nothing, whilst we watched multiple other tables have drinks ordered and water given to them. Eventually someone came over and offered a very forced, quick apology which did not seem very sincere. We ordered everything from drinks, entree and main at that point so we wouldn’t need to wait for them to check on us again. Food came quickly this time but no one came to ask if everything was okay until they cleared our plates. We will come again but I’m not sure if it was just unfortunate we had two average service experiences or if this is a...

We dined here with friends twice in the last week of December, 2017. The first time, the 2nd chef agreed to replace the Tasmanian Ocean Trout with another fish that was on the menu, but keep the accompaniments the same. At the time, one of the waitresses was honest enough to tell us that we were lucky it was the 2nd chef, as the head chef wouldn’t have swapped the fish.

So we returned a couple of days later and gave the same request to our waitress, who stated she was sure the chef would agree to the change. Apparently the head chef was back and a few minutes later the waitress returned and simply said the Chef said, “No”. No further explanation was given. Despite it only being 7.30pm on a Saturday night, she also informed us that they had run out of oysters, as well as three of the ingredients of the Tasmanian Seafood Platter. Now, in my books, running out of main produce early on a quiet Saturday evening is simply poor planning. Not substituting one fish with another, when both are available, is simply a chef being pedantic. Perhaps it’s not his restaurant and he doesn’t care if he loses customers. Oh, and the Relbia Estate Pinot Grigio was not chilled.

I'm afraid this restaurant simply doesn't cut the mustard. Although I was hesitant, I did leave a tip with the waitresses, as I can't blame them for what happens in the kitchen - hopefully the money stayed with them. We...

Good food, but lack of service

S43°8.328' E147°51.351' Gabriel’s is part of the Stewart’s Bay Lodge. Gabriel’s is mainly the restaurant for the Bay Lodge guests, but they also accept outside guests, highlighting local produce. Gabriel’s has a luxury wooden interior with a wood-burning stove and a great outside view. Reservations are recommended.

In February of 2020, we ordered a seafood tasting platter for two people: a selection of today’s seafood tapas, battered fish of the day, battered scallops, crispy fries and salad AU$90 for two. Our selection of wine was the Break Creek Riesling white wine ($45), because we like the combination of seafood and Riesling. The seafood was well prepared, tasted excellent and made in combination with the wine an enjoyable dinner. We finished with the vegan vanilla bean coconut panna cotta: torched citrus, berry compote, raspberry sorbet and ruby chocolate shard ($15).

The table service started well with the presentation of the wine, but our 7.30pm reservation caused problems with the closing of the kitchen. This happened earlier in another restaurant with an 8pm reservation. Meantime, all guests left the restaurant and waiters started rearranging the tables. They forgot to clear our table and asked for dessert. We left with a malfunction in the service: do not accept reservations if you do not allow your guests enough time to enjoy...