Smith & McKenzie Steak House — Restaurant in Hamilton

We have celebrated our family's special occasions at S&M so don't go regularly and it's been a few months since our last trip. Unfortunately whether it was just bad luck or things have changed there it wasn't a great experience for us this time.

The single ipad for ordering for the family was a slow and unpleasant experience as each person had to wait to see the menu and it was clunky to use. The staff member made no mention of any specials or even how to use the ipad (please note you need to scroll down past the 'Chophouse menu' to see the dinner menu).

The crumbs stuck in the table from many previous diners wasn't terribly appealing, and while it was the garden seating area it was clear the cleanliness wasn't something that was a focus in this part of the restaurant. Having 'the Chase' and One News on the TV wasn't really adding much to the ambience either. Contrasted to previous trips where live music was playing.

The food was at best ok for our family. The kid's chicken was very well cooked (not quite chicken Jerky but not far off). However, the prawn cocktail included prawns still hot from the cooking/reheating process. But in contrast the texture of the prawns was slightly under done. When we questioned this the staff explained that the prawns had to be cooked (oh wow, I had no idea!) and that is why they were still warm (which while true doesn't answer whether the prawns were intended to be served still hot from the cooking process or whether the usual cooling process was rushed etc).

Ultimately we sent the prawn cocktail back as it was just too weird eating hot prawns in a prawn cocktail and the lettuce had started to wilt.

The cocktails and mocktails were nice, although the single ipad ordering system made the selection process slow (why couldn't we have paper copies of the menu while being given an Ipad I have no idea). However, it was odd to see our drinks initially go to a different table despite the digital ordering system.

When we booked we dutifully added as requested per the booking form that we were there for a birthday and would have a child with us. No mention was made of the birthday by the staff at any stage and other than there being a child's $6 activity pack at reception (which looked outrageously overpriced for a pencil and photocopy page, and which was not mentioned by the staff) no special accommodation was made for our 8 year old.

We had intended to stay for mains and dessert but the whole experience to that point meant that we decided to call it a night early.

The prawn cocktail was still on the invoice (despite sending it back). However, when I queried this it was removed after the staff member taking payment got permission from someone else.

Sadly, after a number of very positive previous experiences with S&M we will be looking for a different option next time we intend to have a special family meal. Hopefully this experience was just a blip although there have clearly been management/systems changes since our last experience so I would be wary of historic...

This was our very first time at Smith and McKenzie’s and it did not disappoint. When we arrived we were promptly seated and it was really lovely that they already had some colouring pens, colouring page and a lollipop for our 4yr old. We were given ample time to look over the menu before being greeted by our lovely waitress Taylor. She was super nice, bubbly and patient and never once rushed us. As we ordered items for the menu she also highlighted some of the dishes that were really good or popular which was quite nice. She interacted with our 4yr old son and he loved chatting to her and telling her his long story and she never rushed him and was so patient and interactive with him which was so lovely and such great service. Taylor we felt went over and beyond in her service to us as she apologised for taking a bit longer in getting to us to take our dessert order as they were a waitress down however we weren’t bothered as we were in no rush but the fact she wanted to make sure we were waiting too long was really nice. Taylor definitely made our first dining experience a really positive one so much that we will definitly be back again soon.

Smith and McKenzie’s itself was a really nice restaurant that was reasonably busy when we came but it was still quiet enough to have a good conversation and not be in other peoples conversations at their tables. The place was nice and clean and the tables were promptly cleared and cleaned when customers had finished.

Food wise we were impressed I ordered the lamp rump, my partner had the beef cheek and our 4yr old had the chicken tenders. The lamb was cooked perfectly along with the broccolini, beetroot and potatoes. The beef cheek was melt in your mouth and the miso potatoes, carrots etc all paired so well together and cooked so well. We both felt both dishes were big portions especially for the good price of the dishes, so much so we actually couldn’t eat the whole thing and were able to take the rest home in takeaway containers. Our 4yr old had the chicken tenders, chips and cole slaw and again the portion was too big that again we packaged up what our 4yr old couldn’t eat and brought it home. Desserts we had lemon meringue tart and the sticky date pudding. The lemon meringue was so delicious the lemon curb was amazing not too sweet or too sour or tart and the meringue was done beautifully. It came with coconut sorbet and biscuit crumb and I tell you the coconut sorbet was delicious and went so well with the lemon meringue and that’s coming from someone who’s isn’t usually a fan of coconut desserts. The sticky date pudding was delicious but did find that it was quite a big portion so couldn’t finish it all but for the price it was definitly value for money.

Smith and McKenzie’s was a big hit for our family tonight and we will for sure be back very soon for more...

Booked and went to the place at 1pm and got the starter (freshly baked sunflower & honey loaf) at around 2.15pm.

The table who came in after 20min since we've been seated and ordered got theirs first so I had to ask the waitress who took our orders to confirm that our order went through and how long it would take. She denied she was the one who took the order and went to check. She then came back to the table and placed sharing plates without any word. I asked again if the order went through and she then said it is on its way.

Few minutes after with the sharing plates in front of us, another waitress came to us that the bread will be out in one minute and because they weren't happy with the quality of the steaks , it will take another 15-20min for them to come out. By then, the table that came after us was already half way through their mains.

Absolutely NO apologies until then. I could tell that they were putting the orders to the kitchen after I have spoken to them.

The loaf came and it was another waiting game. I asked them what has taken them so long and they said there was a communication error with the kitchen and it caused delays. I spoke to them about the other table who got their orders served prior to us and that was the point when they apologized. I believe the communication error is not only with the kitchen staff but with customers as we were just expected to sit there and wait patiently for our orders for the rest of the afternoon if we didn't take our initiative to ask about our order.

We finally got our steaks after waiting an hour and a half. To be honest the steaks were steaks to me by then and nothing special. The salad we had as a side was so salty that it felt like I was eating salt itself.

As we left, we paid the full bill. They were only apologetic at the last minute of the whole time we were there. They offered us vouchers after paying the full bill.

Here's a question for you. After receiving such service, would you take those vouchers? And potentially come back to the place again?

Bad luck of the day we were having perhaps? But we had our holiday afternoon ruined from the experience.

This is my first review ever in Google and hate the fact that its about a bad experience instead...