Kalye Marinas Filipino Grill and Seafood (Geelong Branch) — Restaurant in Victoria

I called this restaurant for a Mother’s day lunch booking for 6 people @12:20pm after the church service (1st photo). Hoping to get a table during this peak hour. The staff answered the call but she's hesitant so I keep on asking her if ‘’there's available table or not?’’, she said ‘’they have’’ so that’s my GO signal. On our way there, 12:15pm they called me to say ‘’if it’s okay that our booking will be changed to 12:40 because they are currently busy’’. I understand that and I’m happy to move our booking.

12:36pm, they called again and said that our booking was cancelled. I was shock and I said “No you can’t do that because we’re almost there just crossing the street” and we arrived.

We approached the staff and said what happened to our booking? It’s a last minute cancellation and we are already there, but she said they really can’t do anything about it because there’s no table left. There’s even no proper explanation given to us. I pointed the table outside and inside that is empty and said ‘’how about that one?’’, She said ‘’the outside is for 1:00pm booking, they are coming and cannot give it to us, also inside is full of reservation too.’’ She’s not even sorry about it and said if we can wait til 2-3pm, I said ‘’No because I have work at 3pm. and that’s way too late for lunch’’. I tried to communicate with her about how's and why's but she’s constantly calling someone on the phone that left me unanswered and triggered.

I called another filo restaurant because I don’t wanna left my family be hungry because of this. I heard my cousin talk to the staff and said they can possibly have a bad review for their bad service. Then the staff immediately said the table is okay now. I was like ‘’you just said no table right? So be it. I gather my family and left the place.

I was a server myself, but I don’t get it whyyyyy on the first place they confirm my call? call me again to reschedule? Then cancelled? Like what?? Cause I’m not stupid to push myself if I know BEFOREHAND they are fully booked. This restaurant is my first option, I called for reservation, they said yes. Then we go there. Simple. What did we do wrong? By showing up???

It’s so wrong to give people a false hope. We used to go here when we have special occasion or just random cravings but this time we’re so disappointed and will never go here again.

Why need to lie? She didn’t say that we are on waiting list, she didn’t say they are fully booked!!

If only the staff said NO, nothing like this will happen. Please organise your RESERVATION LIST. If you’re unsure if the booked ppl are coming, please don’t assume they’re not coming, wait for their scheduled time and make a decision and handle it...

I had high expectation on this place knowing how they hype their advertisement. I don't know if we came in a bad time/ day, but gee the food is so below average. Like going in this place leaves us bitter taste in our pallet. Especially we spent a lot of money on the food. We went on the 09/01/2025 Thursday. Upon ordering, I asked the lady what is the most popular sauce for I don't have any idea of what to order. She suggested the shabby sauce which she said is the best (which is not good by the way). So I ordered that. I again asked if we can get the sauce on the side so that we can enjoy the seafood incase we don't like it. She said NO. I thought, ok, maybe the sauce is infused with the seafood so it'll give it a good flavour. 30 minutes later the seafood boil came and to my surprise all the seafood are far from fresh! The mussels, clams, octopus especially the prawns are so tough! As in super tough! It seems like it was reheated for three times! The mud crab does not taste anything and weird kind off. The meat had shrink. The plain rice had hard and so soft bits. Like I don't know if it is over cooked and some bits are uncooked. The garlic rice is hard and oily. Barbecue is good. Sisig taste good to but the bottom is burnt to perfection. We even mix it when it came in the table. So disappointing especially when I am promoting it to my husband before we went there. I stopped eating the seafood after trying each one. Then left no choice but to eat rice and sisig for we are so hungry. My husband had tried his best to eat the seafood by himself even the toughness of it because he is also hungry and left no choice cause we paid for it. To be honest he left most of it half eaten. Which proves that the food is bad. We are Filipino's and we know that the food is good when it's "simut to the bones". Like literary only shells are left. Anyway, right after, both me and my husband felt sick 😫. We don't know if it's because of the seafood or the sauce. You know when you ate something bad and it gives you a gaggly feeling like you want to throw it up. Overall we are not coming back. Friendly reminder to our fellow Filipinos. We are trying to support our own but please make sure that your product does not dissapoint or atleast edible. Your food should live up to your advertisement. Word of mouth is the best, and based...

I had high expectations for this place. And unfortunately, it was a very average experience.

Their signature dish, the Seafood Boil, was a letdown. The seafood wasn’t fresh, nor was it cooked well. The baby octopus was unevenly cooked, some were rubbery from being overcooked, and the larger pieces were still slimy. The mussels were rubbery probably from being frozen and then being overcooked. Even the rice was disappointingly dry. Their signature sauce wasn’t as flavourful as you’d expect—maybe next time we’ll try the Cajun sauce.

If you ask for dipping sauce on the side, they’ll charge you for it. This is disappointing given how it doesn’t reflect the hospitality and generosity of Filipinos, especially when it comes to food. I understand that it’s a business and that nothing is free, but if you’re charging three people $190 for two dishes and two drinks, you’d think a little dipping sauce would be covered. Also as a business, you would prefer that your customers are satisfied and the most memorable part of their meal is the meal itself and not that they got charged for asking for a little soy sauce.

I’m not trying to be all negative. I think the atmosphere is meant to be casual and fun and reminds you of your travels to the Philippines. It’s a good place to bring friends, family, and even young kids. They did offer a dessert to make up for the unpleasant octopus, but by then, we just wanted to leave.

I wish them success and hope things improve. I’ll definitely be back to try their other dishes. Maybe I’ll edit my review then. For now, it’ll...