Sarz O.S. (Sarz)
27/11/2024
I've been going to Dawson's Bistro for roughly 8 years. Last night, I was with four others, and seated at Table 3 for a 6.30pm reservation. We were running behind on time, just with work etc. I called to let them know this.
Anyway I walked ahead of the others so I could check in for our reservation and was met (normally I'd have used the word "greeted" but this is not what took place) by Rocky. Now, usually he is fairly pleasant and despite coming off a bit over-zealous at times is generally a very professional manager, friendly and welcoming.
Last night, with a stern face, barely a word was muttered from him after I had greeted him politely and told him what name the reservation was under. He then turned his head and very lazily pointed us to the direction of the table barely moving from the check in post. While I didn't expect the red carpet to roll out, I am familiar with the way Rocky carries himself and he normally will walk over to our table and seat us to our table.
One of the meals that came out was flat head tail meal served w chips and salad, 2 pieces of fish. Both pathetically small. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed they were bought from those fish n chips places at shopping centre food courts. I took a bite, and I was disgusted at how dry it was. $27 for that meal. My husband would have been happier with a McDonald's Fillet O Fish Meal. That's not me being a smart a$$, that is me doing my best to give you the most accurate description of how this meal was brought out to my husband. My husband also made Rocky aware of this sadly prepared dish and stated that we weren't paying for that meal, and that meal only. He advised, with an attitude to match his sour face, that the meal would be taken off the bill. No apologies, no worries Rocky. Then a garlic bread that was ordered took way too long to make it's way over. It's garlic bread, and it wasn't a full house not even close. If you or your staff need to be asked when something like garlic bread will be brought out 20mins after all main meals have been brought out, then you need to maybe rethink how the kitchen is operating. Even after us asking where our garlic bread was, it still took a further 30mins for it to finally make its appearance, talk about fashionably late.
The menu looked like it had gone through another change, but nothing new was added, only removed. No more oysters, no more seafood towers, were the most noticeable ones as we would often order oysters and have enjoyed those seafood towers previously. I 100% am completely understanding if there are cost issues that can cause for changes in menu like taking away of higher priced meals and the food items that make those meals. But there's no excuse, manager or not, for poor display of service. Maybe Rocky was having an off day, maybe something unfortunate happened to him personally, we all have those days. But I have always been a firm believer that you don't need to brush it off just because you are at work, but on the same token your patrons should never catch on that you are having a trashy day, let alone take it out on your patrons.
Some people may give this place another shot after a rubbish experience, but with the current state of the economy and it's unpredictability I would rather not take that risk when every dollar we earn forces us to rethink our dining out decisions. We have recently moved to Clayton, close to the Clayton Pub and we hear that the service is fantastic and the meals appear to be worth trying. So that's where we will take our hard earned dollars and hopefully become regulars.
Before I forget, and for anyone who cares, that fishtail meal tasted like overcooked Birds Eye frozen fish. Oh and there were no dinner rolls brought out before the orders had taken place. Is that something that has also stopped occurring? Or should we have reminded you about that just like the garlic bread? Do better guys, seriously.