This is my second review for Yabbis in Cotton Tree. Unfortunately new owners took this restaurant over a few weeks ago and things have changed since my previous review which you can read here.
It was a midweek evening and as we’d both had busy days, a last minute decision was made to dine out. As it is only a short cab ride away, and is BYO we phoned up and secured a booking. Lucky we did as we got the second to last table – there were a few large groups there. I hadn’t intended to write a review, as I eat out so often I don’t have enough time to review all of them, however when our meals arrived I changed my mind. Read on and you’ll see why!
The waitress who seated us was lovely – brought our menus over promptly along with a water bottle and wine bucket. This was a good start. Before I forget – the wait staff and kitchen staff (all of whom are visible if seated indoors), worked tirelessly – it exhausted me just watching them – they were full on the whole time. Unfortunately, as we were told later on, they were short one chef that night so that would help explain why. It’s a shame they didn’t have another waitperson.
Rewind a bit…. so we’d been given our menus and were pleased to see they offered much the same food on the menu as our previous visit some weeks earlier. We both decided what we wanted, poured ourselves another glass of wine and waited and waited and waited. We deliberately folded up our menus in front of us as sort of the International signal that we were ready to order – but sadly, no one noticed.
My partner eventually caught the eye of a chef behind the pass (I learnt that word from watching cooking shows!) and gestured to him. He called out to someone who called out to someone who told off the waitress and she came running over apologising that she’d thought someone had taken our order already. We both decided against entree as we planned on having dessert or cheese so I asked for the Lamb Tianne with blistered cherry tomatoes and mashed potatoes (mainly because I love mashed potatoes). My partner got his all time Yabbies favourite, the Eye Filet Del Mar. In fact a photo I took of that meal got many of my facebook followers salivating and booking in to try it when I posted it back in October on the Sunshine Coast Restaurant Reviews Facebook page.
We drank our wine, indulged in some witty conversation (if I say so myself) and out of the corner of our eyes couldn’t help but notice the waitress running back and forth attending to everyone’s needs. The older lady (who we later found out was one of the new owners) also worked hard but it showed on her face. She looked the type that you’d be too scared to ask for extras.
Our meals were brought out and immediately our hearts (and expectations) sunk. The Eye Filet Del Mar was more like Eye Filet Disappointment – especially considering the price is $39.90. Unfortanately the lighting was such that the photo I took made it look worse than what it was – but only slightly. It was extremely flat and insipid looking but worst of all, the steak which was supposed to be rare, was more medium-well. The steak was a smaller, cheap version of what we’d had there in the past, and being overcooked, was tough as a result. The prawns also did not taste very fresh. Quelle déception! (French translation: how disappointing!) To make up for the lack of steak it looks like they filled up the plate with extra potatoes. I realise that “stacks” are old-fashioned and have been for years, but this new-style plating was not particularly attractive nor modern looking. Here’s the photo I took the other night:
Compared to what we’d had on previous occasions prior to this new ownership:
Again, we tried to attract someone’s attention but were unable to and eventually I had to go up and practically tap the waitress on the shoulder. We showed her the medium-well and she was horrified and agreed that it definitely wasn’t rare as requested. She took it away but during the time it was taken out the back (we could see them all discussing it out there), I finished my meal.
I had originally had to ask the waitress what a Lamb Leg Tianne was as when I had tried to google it the only result I could find was on their own menu on their facebook page! (I normally wouldn’t google menu items but seeing as we’d been sitting there waiting so long we figured we may as well). The waitress had explained that it was the way it was pulled and formed into a shape. When it arrived it looked ok on the plate, but unfortunately the taste was very underwhelming. The lamb was ok – rather well done in places which resulted in it being extremely chewy. The tomatoes were tasteless – barely seasoned, the mashed potatoes were average. Perhaps the most disappointing thing on the plate though was the huge handful of baby spinach leaves just plonked on the plate – they weren’t even warm but were covered in some rosemary jus which kind-of warmed them but didn’t impart any flavour. Another fail.
By this time we had given up waiting for his new steak to turn up, we’d long since finished our wine and had not been offered any further drinks so we got up to leave. The waitress, bless her soul, came over and apologised and explained about the fact that one chef was away. I questioned her if Yabbi’s had new owners (as we had noticed a new paint job) and were advised that yes, it had been taken over several weeks prior and she advised that the female owner was the other person serving in the restaurant. She apologised and understood while we were leaving.
My partner went to pay and explained to the owner about all the mishaps during the evening and explained that we were regulars and locals and instead of apologising, she tried to argue and make excuses. I am never one to believe in that old-school way of thinking that the customer is always right – but when people are trying to politely point out to you the reason for their disappointment you should listen carefully and learn from it – not reel out a list of excuses and talk over you. Nevertheless we didn’t need to pay for the steak but left on a bad note and we’ve now put it on our boycott list. If you’ve been there recently and had a different experience please let me know – we tend to only avoid our boycotted restaurants for around a year before we give it another go.
Such a shame as we used to enjoy visiting Yabbi’s. Oh well, if we feel the need to eat in Cotton Tree it will have to be next door at Ba Vigo for now.
| Newspapers | N/A |
| Water | Brought to the table |
| Seats | Plastic |
| Coffee cards | N/A |
| BYO | Yes |
| Service | Had glimpses of brilliance but due to being understaffed we were left short many times. |
| Food | Average. Lacking flavour. |
| Ambience | Very nice indoors and out |
| Value for money | Overpriced a la carte menu although they do have some lunch and breakfast specials which might be better value. |
Facebook: They have lots of regular posts – plenty of specials so maybe if you paid the special price you wouldn’t be so disappointed
https://www.facebook.com/yabbiesrestaurant
Website: everything you need on a website, opening hours, menu, location:
http://www.yabbisrestaurant.com.au/
Address: Shop 2 / 27-29 Cotton Tree Parade (the same road continues on to become “The Eslplanade), Maroochydore
Phone number: (07) 5443 6650
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