MARINA Balaena Restaurant — Restaurant in Urangan

'Celebrated' a friend's retirement with 40ish people. Drinks and nibblies, then dinner. We ordered around 7.00 and meals started coming out at 9.00 !!! Two people were told at about 8.00 that what they ordered was not available. One of them ordered something else and was told 15-20 minutes later it also wasn't available. She was given a menu but no-one came back for her order. We flagged down a staff member clearing tables, she placed her order with him, he came back immediately and said she could have her 2nd choice as the chef had 'made her a fresh one' ??? No-one had seen fit to let her know !! We watched several smaller groups come, sit, eat and leave while waiting for our meals. When it finally came the food was quite good overall though my steak, despite looking good, was quite dry and no scallops in the topper as advertised on the menu. Used plates were left sitting on the table until we moved them to vacant tables nearby. Cake was brought out with some fanfare, plates but no utensils to eat with so some used spare knives and some had to use fingers. Yes, we could have asked but i think we were all very angry by then and surely provision of eating utensils is a basic part of customer service. In all the time we were waiting there was no drinks service (had to go to the bar), no explanation of why we were waiting so long, not even water which we did ask for. Some bread would have at least given us something to nibble on. Some of our group left before eating as the wait and the disregard for us as customers was too much so not sure how many actually ate there in the end. While we were paying the owner had several conversations with other patrons and some of us were left hanging while he passed pleasantries with his obviously more important guests. Still no apology for the wait or any explanation. Very disappointing for my friend who has been a loyal customer and always suggests the cafe for outings. I will not be going back and would have walked out if not for the fact we were there to celebrate a milestone in my friend's life. There are plenty of other eateries where they actually appreciate my custom and if i want average, rather pricey food and bad service there are some of them too. The absolute worst service i have experienced in an...

I rarely write negative reviews, but felt compelled to share my experience here. From the moment we arrived, the service was disappointing. When we asked for a menu, the staff were incredibly rude, and things only got worse from there. The new staff member had no clue what was in the dish we asked about, so when we politely asked if she could find out, she seemed visibly annoyed at having to do her job. To make matters worse, we were told that they weren't taking any more hot drink orders because they were "too busy." We were eventually served, but the drinks were practically shoved onto the table with no care at all. When our food came out, it was wrong. We had to point out the mistake and show them the menu to get it corrected. The two women working seemed rough around the edges, and the younger one had an attitude that made the whole experience feel uncomfortable. Eventually, we asked for our money back and left, which was the only positive outcome of the visit. I would not recommend this place if you’re looking for good service or a pleasant dining experience. Obviously changed hands from a few years ago, which is so sad.

To clarify, I did not call your staff "slack" — that would imply they were doing a job. No apologies were given during the interaction. It was far from busy at the time, and I observed three other people walk away due to the rudeness from the staff.

I want to be clear that I have respect for everyone working, especially in customer-facing roles. However, your team clearly requires further training in both communication and customer service. Their tone and delivery were unacceptable and did not reflect the basic standards one would expect in this setting.

I hope this feedback is taken constructively and addressed...

Saturday lunchtime I tried twice to place an online pick up order as I was staying in the Mantra and wanted to walk down and pick up the food, both times the order timed out with a note that the restaurant is probably too busy. I decided to walk down to the restaurant and place the takeaway order in person. I stood in the main foyer area where I was blatantly ignored by three waitstaff as I stood there patiently. The restaurant was busy but not that busy and a simple gesture from one of the waitstaff to say hey sorry really busy at the moment would have been enough for me to continue to wait but after being totally ignored for 10+ minutes I decided to go next door to "The Dock H.B" and had an awesome experience even though they...