CALEB Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Western Australia

Went to have dinner with a group of friends. There were 8 of us with different entrees and mains, so quite a big order. The waitress asked for our order, and without a pen or paper, tried to memorize our order. After repeating, we realised she missed out a few things and made some errors. We corrected her, and she seemed to remember for the most part, so we assumed it was all okay.

Our food started to come, and there was an extra dish we didn't ask for. It was sent back to the kitchen and they came back to give us the dish as complimentary. We didn't complain but we knew the waitress was pushing her limits before with her memory. The food quality itself was good.

Mains came. Me and a friend ordered the $55 "lamb rack" as medium rare but it came out as thin lamb chops which was different to what we expected. Hers was cooked perfectly. Half of my chops came out cooked but the other half was completely raw, light sear outside and almost blue in the middle. I asked the waiter that I asked for medium rare.

Waiter took it back, and I could see the chefs discussing and "this IS medium rare". Nevertheless, they re-cooked and replated whatever was left over on my plate. Came back a second time. I cut it open and it's still raw. When pressing the meat, it wasn't firm as medium rare. The picture attached is the second time it came around. I didn't want to take the risk so I left it as it was and refused to eat it.

When the waiter came back, I said it was still raw but don't worry about it. I left it at that and told myself that it was a shame that a nice looking place didn't make the lamb medium rare as I ordered. What ensued later was a direct confrontation from Caleb the head chef.

Coming to the table, the chef pointed out his ticket that he received the order for 2 x lamb racks, medium rare. I confirmed that was correct. He then stated that he cooked them medium rare, that it is correctly cooked, and everyone here eats medium and not medium rare, that no one complains. He continued that I should have ordered medium next time.

I didn't want any drama, I agreed to disagree and said I would order medium here next time now I know how they cook lamb (mind you, I most likely won't come back). The confrontation seemed egotistical and condescending to me, I know what medium rare is. You guys can be the judge based on the photo.

I was trying to figure out why the chef was like this, when it was clearly rare to me. I saw the signs and cullinary awards; maybe on his high horse? For a place full of awards I wouldn't expect this kind of incident here. We settled the bill in full when given to us at the counter and left.

The night left a sour taste in my mouth. I've eaten at 5 star fine dining restaurants, 3 star restaurants; all places that have served lamb here in Perth and overseas. I've never had someone pass lamb that raw to me as medium rare.

You can't make all customers happy, and with a confrontation explaining "I'm right, and you're wrong", I guess I will always be that unhappy customer here.

I'll go somewhere else that makes medium rare lamb the correct way (that I...

DO NOT BOOK YOUR EVENT AT THIS RESTAURANT They will take your money and provide less than even basic customer service to you.

I have never been more disappointed by an establishment before, but I felt my hands were tied and had no choice but to continue on especially being that it was the DAY OF my event.

In a nut shell. The food came out 1 hour late. It was served cold. It was served without any cutlery or napkins. My guests were bring paper towels from the TOILETS to eat their food with. For some reason there was no staff at the bar. Drinks ordered by guests were being made down stairs and served up to 30 mins after ordering!

Disappointed and embarrassed is an understatement.

I won't even get into the disaster of people trying to now COLLECT their items the following day. Basically the balloons were not picked up until the following Friday. And the lit numbers the follwing Tuesday, all due to the event managers poor management and lack of communication.

There is so much more to write, but I'm sure this conveys the main points.

I communicated with Caleb, all that had happened and he advised that he wanted to meet and discuss all that went wrong when he returned to Perth.

I decided to give Caleb an opportunity to make things right with compensation for the money I had paid for this event, where NONE of what I paid for was delivered.

Caleb offered to either compensate me or do the party over again free of cost.

I had had enough of dealing with him and the birthday issue so I chose to be compensated with costs I had paid.

I'm not surprised that 4 weeks after this conversation  I have not received any funds from Caleb nor has he been responding to any of my messages or phonecalls.

I am disgusted and disappointed about how this has all been handed from top to bottom.

I will NEVER recommend this restaurant to anyone, and STRONGLY advise that you do not make your event here. You WILL be disappointed. Just look at the other reviews and how the restaurant owner responds to them!

Your response to this review is absolutely shocking, and filled with lies. I never asked to work for you?!? I am a fully employed individual, with no restaurant training or experience, or any desire to work in the hospitality industry. I wish you all the best Caleb, you can't go far conducting business in this...

Great location, fitout, presentation, music, tight menu.

Your food was really good, the main exceptional. Caleb visiting each table was a great touch.

Unfortunately you are let down by your staff being disorganised and untrained.

Our greeter seated us and took our drinks order. Then another waiter introduced himself and said he would be looking after us. Then the greeter came back with our water. Then the other waiter brought two red wines instead of sparkling. Then the sparkling was served by the greeter.

Oue entrees was served, the Burratta. It was ok, nothing special.

Then our glasses were empty. Our entree plates cleared. No offer for a drink.

Our mains served. No offer of a drink. I summoned a waiter and ordered two glasses of wine.

When we were two thirds through our mains, the bar waiter served our two glasses of wine and apologised how long it had taken as it was his first night. How long does it take to pour two glasses of wine with 20 people in a restaurant?

I couldn't believe these two glasses of wine - the smallest wine glasses I've ever seen (seemed like sherry glasses) and poured to the bottom third only. What a shame. A decent serve of wine for the $9 price would have gone nicely with the main.

The greeter offered desserts and coffee and I asked for the bill which was delivered promptly. The bill sat with the cash payment showing, for half an hour at our table. Eventually we gave up waiting and took it to the till.

What a calamity. Both greeter and waiter were there, totally disorganised. No float in the till, can't find the keys, don't know what to do. Took 10 minutes of standing at the counter to get change.

Caleb, your food was great, your demeanour was great, your place was great, but the service staff were terrible. We won't come back. Please get a good team together and make it a...