Terrigal Hotel — Restaurant in Terrigal

We were part of a group that booked seating upstairs in the bistro for a family birthday. Unfortunately another group had the same idea but whether they booked, or not, is unknown. The net result is that there were more people than seats and it was difficult to access the bar, or anywhere else upstairs. The staff were friendly and helpful. The girls behind the upstairs bar were doing their best but were swamped as more and more people arrived. Because the bistro area has a high wooden ceiling, and no sound cancelling soft surfaces on ceiling, walls or floor, the noise was unbelievable. It was difficult to hear the person across the table speak. The food, for the most part, was overpriced and the preparation was also suboptimal. Whoever was doing the cooking did not know how to cook salmon; it came to the table overcooked and very dry. How can anyone get salmon and bangers with mash wrong while cooking a medium rare steak perfectly? The menu provided for optional steamed vegetables and/or mashed potato. These were priced individually at $8 & $9 so if you wanted veggies and mash with your sirloin ($31) instead of the salad and chips then the damage was $48. It was not all bad though; the sizzling garlic prawns was sensational. That being said, there were very limited options available if you are a vegetarian or need a gluten free meal. Bottom line is that the Terrigal Hotel did not provide the venue for a pleasant Sunday afternoon in the bistro. My advice is to think twice before making a group booking here. I know that we...

We had high hopes for this place having frequented other hotels in the same group, but unfortunately, the experience didn't live up to expectations. The bar and waitstaff seemed more interested in gossiping than actually serving customers. We asked for no ice in our drinks, but it was still filled with it because the staff was too distracted chatting with each other.

The timing of the food was off too. Starters and mains came out at the same time, which meant my salad was left under a heat lamp for almost 30 minutes while we ate the starters. Meanwhile, the waitstaff seemed more interested in hovering in groups, giggling, and ignoring the line at the bar. One staff member even wandered off in the middle of taking my drink order to chat with another coworker.

The chefs special, mussels provinciale, was okay, but the mussels were hard to find, tiny mussels amongst a bowlful of shells. As for the salmon bowl, it was raw to the point where it could've swum away had it been near a body of water and the dressing on the salad was greasy and flavourless. The manager, Millie, did offer to re-fire the mains after the initial debacle, but even that didn't salvage the meal. With one of us giving us and having to leave hungry and with a refund.

Not a great experience overall. The kitchen and front-of-house need to pay more attention to service...

Went in 2 Sunday’s in a row to get ribs. The first time we were told the kitchen closed at 9. When I reminded the bartender that it wasn’t 9 yet she asked what we would like to order. When we said ribs, she chuckled and said ‘no the kitchen won’t make that so close to 9.’ Tonight we made a second attempt to eat here. Made a booking beforehand for 615. We got in and saw the same bartender. As we have never eaten here before we told her we had a booking but didn’t know where to go. She told us to go upstairs. We went upstairs and at least 4 different employees walked by without greeting us. It was obvious we didn’t have a clue and we even walked around to see if there was a podium somewhere. We eventually gave up and went back downstairs. There were 2 bartenders there. The guy was finishing taking payment so we walked over to him. He didn’t make eye contact and walked away. Leaving us with the same young lady. We told her we were ignored upstairs and just wanted to order food. Another lady came over to take the order. We ordered the special that is advertised on the website and all over the building, ribs. We were told they were out of ribs. 2 Sundays in a row to get ribs and haven’t tasted them. Service was horrible so it’s safe to say we will never be back. What a shame we were hoping to make this...