TARRA Queenscliff — Restaurant in Victoria

A Disastrous Dining Experience at Tarra - Avoid at All Costs! Our visit to Tarra (Booking Reference: BAP464VG, Sunday, 23 February 2025, 1:00 PM) was an absolute catastrophe from start to finish. While the initial welcome from the gentleman who seated us was pleasant, any semblance of positive experience ended there.

Our server, (AnonyMous), was nothing short of appalling. Her demeanor was cold, bordering on rude. Menus were practically thrown at us, and her general attitude created an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere. We felt unwelcome and completely disregarded.

The kitchen's incompetence compounded the issue. After we had painstakingly made our menu choices, we were informed that a significant number of items were unavailable. This happened not once, but repeatedly, both with our main courses and desserts. We were forced to "settle" for subpar alternatives, leaving us deeply disappointed. The way our server (anonyMous) delivered this news was equally as bad, with no apology or empathy.

The combination of our server's (anonyMous) shockingly poor service and the kitchen's inability to provide what was advertised made this dining experience utterly miserable. We left feeling frustrated, disrespected, and completely ripped off.

We will NEVER be returning to Tarra and strongly advise others to avoid it. This is not a restaurant that values its customers or provides even a basic level of service. Save your money and your sanity –...

We dined for lunch on 4th Jan, booked for 12pm. Disappointing welcome from staff. Arrived 5 mins prior and were ignored for 5 mins by woman at front desk. Then bang on 12pm she says "do you have a booking?!", not a friendly 'Hello and welcome to Tarra". We are shown to our table located right at the serving/kitchen area. Lovely air conditioned restaurant on a warmish day, not hot. Young girls serving were all drinking, tasting things behind the counter - they've only started their shifts in an air conditioned, fine dining restaurant yet eating and drinking for all to see even before we were served. Didn't even get a hello or little chit-chat from them. Scene was set and it was not welcoming. Food was quite good - entree was Warmed Olives (they were hot not warm which was odd, and too aromatic for me - less is more); Zucchini Flowers, Arancini and Chicken Wings. All nice but nothing to rave about. Mains we had Gnocchi and Chicken Schnitzel - everyone enjoyed these and they were presented well. Didn't bother with dessert as we were just put off by staff and didn't really feel comfortable. Would not rush back. We just expect to be made to feel welcome and not have to watch the staff eat and drink, that's what...

We went to Tarra for our anniversary lunch but unfortunately we were very disappointed. Pip our waiter was great and the view was lovely but the main meal was very average. We started with the prawn puff slider which was amazing followed by the scallops which were ok but nothing to rave about. We ordered our mains, from a menu which was a little ‘pub/cafe inspired’ so I went with the chicken schnitzel (not sure why this was on the menu at such a restaurant - along with a steak sandwich but presumed it would be a Masterchef inspired schnitzel so may be fancier than I’ve ever had before!!). But no…. it was presented with nothing other than a bit of mayo underneath with some water cress on top, it was tasteless and boring. I felt it had been cooked by a year 7 student in a home economics class! My hubby had the gnocchi which was ok. We then decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and tried the desserts. They didn’t have any sticky wines which was also a little disappointing at a restaurant like this. Unfortunately the desserts were not much better! For $200 we expected a bit more. It wasn’t as good as the first time we went. We did overhear the waiter saying they had a new chef! I guess you’re paying...