Neild Avenue

This was a much anticipated evening by my friends and I and it was a huge dissapointment. In all honesty, I can say this was the worst experience I have ever had in Sydney by far, and I eat out every week at some of Sydneys best. We were aware that they didn't take reservations (that was the first strike, what restaurant doesnt take reservations?) so we arrived early at just after 6pm. We were told that there would be a 90 minute wait, which we were happy with. I went to the bar to get a drink for my girlfriend and another of our friends who was with us and that took 25 minutes, despite nobody else waiting for a drink, and despite asking twice to put an order in and being told "somebody will be with you shortly". After finally getting the drinks, I got back to the waiting/bar area to find that they did in fact have table service, but the girls at that point had not yet been offered a menu or asked if they would like a drink having been there 30 minutes. At the 2 hour mark we were so hungry we ordered some bar food, a kebab and some olives which was nice. An hour and a half after that (that's right, 3 1/2 hours total wait time) we finally got seated just as we were trying to close our bar tab and leave because of the ridiculous wait and rude/indifferent staff. We ordered the calamari, goat, and chicked with a side eggplant salad. We didn't have to wait long for the food, and when it did arrive we were so hungry that we didn't talk and the whole experience was over in 5 minutes. The food was average at best, with the mains being $30-45 each and the salad about $15. The calamari was cooked well but it was tasteless and the sauce that was presented with it did not suit at all. The chicken was nice, and the pesto sauce was very suited, however; it was nothing more than a baked chicken and as such not too impressive. The goat was mixed, some bits were nice and tender but others were too chewy and my girlfriend had to stop eating bits because it was too tough. It was served with onion which was nice, but in all honesty reminded me both in taste and looks as if I had just ordered a $7 kebab. It did not belong on a menu, and the $40 price tag for that was wishful thinking on behalf of the restaurant. The eggplant salad was the winner, it was nice in taste, texture and looks. The wines of the evening were nice.Overall it was an extremely dissapointing evening food wise. We went in expecting a great atmosphere and good food. We were all dissapointed, the long wait, the rude and indifferent staff, the average food. If I had to do it all over again, next time I will just go to the kebab store and get a $7 kebab. We would all have been a lot happier for the experience.

Exceptional!

Good fitout, average expensive food, very sloppy service, not surprising it wasn't pumping on a Thursday night. Not returning.