La Spiaggia — Restaurant in Hibiscus and Bays

Unfortunately quite underwhelming.

Edit Since I can’t reply back to you Maria, your comments are absolutely false. As I suspect many of your responses are on previous reviews. It was my son’s birthday and we were having a great day until we came to the restaurant 😂 “Greeted you when you arrived and there was no response back?” Are you kidding me? I arrived and was glared at and despite so, said Hello and asked where my father might be sitting for the reservation. “I communicated for your son to not jump on the chairs next to your table and touch the windows.” Another complete lie. You again, glared and pointed to him and said nothing. Absolutely disgraceful response from you and will never waste a cent here again. Goodluck with that attitude in this climate.

Having tried lots of Italian food around the world this was very average…especially given the price point. We spent over $180 for 2 adults and a 2 year old (whose birthday it was).

STARTERS We ordered the King Prawns which we could smell before we saw them. Once they arrived at the table they were overcooked and the shell was hard to remove from the meat…I don’t think they were fresh.

We also order a Parmesan and Garlic Pizza, which was probably the best dish of the night yet still a bit dry.

KIDS MEAL The children’s portion of chicken Alfredo has about 8 pieces of pasta in total and some chunky chicken bits which he didn’t eat. (We went to an Italian restaurant because it’s his favourite and usually eats most of an adults portion!). We then ordered him some fries and unfortunately they were nothing special, no better than your local fish and chip shop.

MAIN The woodfired pizza was ok, unfortunately again the ingredients didn’t impress…and though the dough flavour was nice the bases were a bit soggy. We ordered the Milano and the Tuscany.

DESERT Would have liked to stay for desert but after a few courses we decided that was enough.

CUSTOMER SERVICE Not sure whether they’re having an off day but it seems to be common now that you walk into a place and get met with nonchalant stares and short, very direct communication with no charisma. Caught the lady managing tonight giving our waiter sharp stares throughout our meal which made me feel uncomfortable. Our male server was attentive enough but again didn’t seem happy to be there.

Given it was a birthday celebration for my son, he wouldn’t have known. Not one team member acknowledged it or him other than assigning a high chair to our table.

We left as soon as we could after the meal.

My Father has since had a very upset stomach (he ate 3 out of the 4 king prawns).

A real shame, hope you can take the...

Great service and service attitude, but i can't say the same for the food. Maybe my taste is lighter, but almost all the dishes were overly salty. My companion and i order an pork belly bites for entrée and 2 mains: al fredo and minto (truffle based pizza). The Al Fredo was alright but it would be better paired with some red wine or baked bread, because it was quite salty. The entrée was interesting, pork belly that is fried but i think the marinate was too high on salt and it ruined the crunchy texture and juicy fats of the pork belly. We had to drinks lots of water to counteract the high sodium consumption. The pizza was quite good if you ignore the saltiness too. The truffle "sauce" was not noticeable in the pizza and the wafer cut of raw salted ham (i think it's a calf or leg cut) was an artistic touch but was also very salty.

Overall, i would rate it as barely passable, only made up with the good service. I think its renown is mainly contributed by its location. Being situated in the heart of Murray Bay (a very small beach south of Browns bay), with a monopoly in that there are no real restaurants within a few kms. It also helps that it has a good sea view. It's just...

This is a great place to eat. Firstly the view out the windows is fantastic. The service was excellent. In fact I usually order a beer and get frustrated that I have finished my beer before meal arrives. At La Spiaggia I got my entree and main before I'd finished my beer. I ordered Calamari for my entree. Best Calamari ever. Easy to read menu to. You don't have to understand Italian to read it. For main I had Roast Pork Belly. Again best ever. Crackling cooked to perfection. Would have liked a few more veggies but totally satisfied. Finally, the dessert. I had the Cream Brullee which was fantastic but not normally on the menu. Waitress told me desserts were made by Maria the restaurant owner. She was also one of the other waitresses. Not often you see owner serving the customers. Hence the excellent service. Prices were high but not exorbitant. To be expected for such good quality. Will definitely...