The Boathouse North Wollongong — Restaurant in Wollongong City Council

What an absolutely vile experience. From the moment we walked in, it was clear this place is completely out of its depth. We came on a quiet Wednesday night, hoping for a relaxing dinner with good drinks, and instead, we got one of the most frustrating, embarrassing, and downright disgusting dining experiences any of us have ever had.

We ordered drinks right away, thinking it would set a good tone for the night. We waited literally 30 minutes for a couple of basic cocktails—on a night when the restaurant was practically empty. When my espresso martini finally arrived, it was a pathetic: 60% froth and barely any actual liquid. I was shocked at why it took so long.

Then we looked over at the bar and saw the bartenders just standing around, chatting, with absolutely zero sense of urgency. The lack of care was infuriating.

But that was nothing compared to the revolting food. We ordered, and then we waited…and waited…and waited. Two full hours later, our food finally started to come out. During those two hours, a waitress came to our table three or four times with dishes that weren’t even ours. Every single server looked completely lost and confused, wandering around aimlessly, not knowing where anything was supposed to go. It was actually painful and embarrassing to watch. How does a restaurant operate like this?

And then the food arrived. I ordered a schnitzel for $40, expecting something decent, but what I got was purely pathetic: a few tiny, cold pieces of chicken that looked like literal nuggets. To make it worse, there was a bone in it. Since when does schnitzel have bones? The entire thing was salty, overcooked, and downright vile.

My friend ordered the prawn pasta, which was somehow even worse. It was burned, oily, and tasted like actual cigarettes. It was so disgusting that we had to send it back. I don’t think I’ve ever had to send back a dish before, but this was truly inedible.

The so-called "salad" was literally an entire cob of lettuce dumped onto a plate with a few seeds sprinkled on top—no dressing, no effort—forcing us to awkwardly cut into it like a steak just to eat it.

And let’s talk about the portions. For the ridiculous prices they’re charging, the portion sizes –were an absolute joke. To charge what they did for that portion of food was borderline theft. We were all left hungry and extremely unsatisfied.

In the end, our group of six ended up paying a total of $460. Even with the 10% discount I asked for, it felt like we were being completely ripped off. The restaurant’s excuse? “Oh, we’re still finding our footing.” Imagine saying this and charging such prices. This place is an absolute embarrassment to the Wollongong dining scene and a complete waste of time, money, and patience.

We will never be returning to The Boathouse Wollongong, and I strongly advise anyone considering it to stay far away. This place is a disaster and simply not worth...

Disappointing Service, Ruined Birthday Surprise, and Unreasonable Fees

If you're considering this venue for a special occasion, think again. I recently booked a surprise birthday gathering for my husband and daughter, expecting a smooth and joyful experience. Unfortunately, it was anything but that, and I’m left feeling both disappointed and frustrated.

First, the pricing transparency on the mobile site was severely lacking. According to their own terms, “prices and other charges should be displayed at the time you place the order,” but accessing basic details like the $90 per-person fee was nearly impossible on the mobile version. There was no visible prompt to scroll down, and key information was hidden, making it easy to miss unless you happened to search extensively. I even requested a screenshot from the mobile site to clarify this, but they sent one from the desktop version instead, showing a complete lack of understanding of their own booking experience.

Furthermore, their handling of the surprise aspect was a disaster. I specifically noted that this was a surprise birthday event: friends were scheduled to arrive at 1:30 PM, and I, along with my husband and daughter, would arrive at 2 PM, then friendssurprise him once we arrive. Despite this clear request, the staff insisted on seating all of us at 1:30 PM, completely ruining the timing and the surprise itself. This directly contradicts their obligation to "honor customer requests" as part of their service, and it became clear they either didn’t read or didn’t care about the instructions we provided.

After realizing their failure to accommodate these requests, we had no choice but to cancel, the kids definitely wouldn't eat La Carte, which was a major disappointment for friends who had traveled from Sydney. Then, we were then charged a $500 cancellation fee. Per their own terms, fees and charges should be "clearly displayed before an order is finalized." Yet at no point during the mobile booking process was this cancellation fee mentioned or visible.

This experience has left us feeling misled and completely unsatisfied. If you value clear communication, transparent pricing, and a team that respects your event details, I’d strongly recommend looking elsewhere. They failed to meet even basic service expectations, and we're now left with a frustrating experience and an unjustified charge. Save yourself the hassle and avoid this venue for...

I booked a table for six many weeks ago. I attended the restaurant in person 3 days prior to our booking to confirm that we were situated in a quiet area of the restaurant (away from the DJ). The waitress showed me our table at the far end of the restaurant and confirmed she had made a note in the system to keep us there. When we arrived, we were taken to a different table close to the DJ. I explained the situation and was told we couldn’t have the table we booked as the “system changed it”. We were then moved to a slightly more suitable table but the volume of the music was such that we could not really converse with anyone other than the person directly next to us. Disappointing.

The service was inconsistent and slow. We had to ask to order starters. They took 40 minutes to come out. Food was ok. We then had to ask for our table to be cleared and to get menus back to order mains. Our third bottle of wine took 20 minutes to arrive at the table.

The mains. I feel that the general comment across the table was that portion size and the bread situation was wholly inadequate. An entire plate of hummus with a single slice of bread - unacceptable. A $48 “rump steak” that comes out as three thin slices of meat (totalling what I would describe as a third of a piece of steak or about 100gms of meat). I enquired if the burrata came with bread to which the waiter replied it did, to then find a $5 bread surcharge on our bill for the single slice of bread they put with the burrata. We then paid $18 for a few pieces of extra focaccia! Not ok. In essence we ended up being charged $23 just for bread which wasn’t even enough for our table of six. The zucchini flowers were quite tough and the filling was a bit dense and cottage cheesy in texture. Pastas were the highlight. The wine was good.. but at $82 a bottle I would hope so.

We had to ask numerous times throughout the night for water.

The reason I’m posting this review is because I sent a private email with feedback to the restaurant via their “tell us about your experience” option, and they didn’t even have the decency to respond.

Won’t be...