My work colleagues and I decided to go to The Terrace in North Sydney for a casual team lunch. As it was a Wednesday the $10 lunch specials were on and the restaurant was literally over the road from where we worked making it easy to get to, especially as we had to be back within the hour.
We have been here once before and thought the food was good so decided to return.
When we arrived at about 12.30pm, The Terrace was already bustling with city professionals, no doubt taking advantage of the $10 lunch specials and having a cheeky beer.
The comfy sofas were free so we decided to sit here even though it was quite low to eat at and I didn’t want to sit outside as it was full of smokers.
The restaurant/bar is quite modern and sophisticated, and the bistro menu includes something for everyone, whether you are looking for a light bite or a salad, or want something more filling like a curry, stir fry or a burger. The classics include fish and chips, steak sandwich, rump steak and chicken breast schnitzel.
However, we all decided to go for the $10 steak which comes with chips and salad and a choice of mushroom or pepper sauce or gravy. I decided to go for the mushroom sauce and have my steak cooked medium.
We didn’t have to wait too long for our food and chatted amongst ourselves during this time, even though it was quite loud, you had to speak up. About 10 – 15 minutes later our food made an appearance and we got stuck in, although I should probably have gone for medium rare as medium was a bit too well-done.
Alex on the other hand, who had arrived 5 minutes after us and ordered his steak separately, was still waiting for his meal. It wasn’t until we had nearly finished our lunches that he asked a passing waitress about the whereabouts of his steak.
To his surprise, the waitress came back and told him that there was no order for steak under his table number 20 that he had been given at the bar, and was asked whether he did actually order a steak. “Yes, I did order my steak, along with this beer” was his answer, but miraculously the waitress was having a hard time believing him!
Alex managed to get a refund for $10, and just as we were about to leave, his “missing” steak appeared! Of course, he refused to eat it, after such a long wait and terrible customer service, I still couldn’t believe that the waitress asked him if he had ordered food. It seemed to us that she thought he was making it up! This is definitely something you don’t expect from a restaurant.
Overall the food was pleasant enough and I can’t grumble at it as it only cost $10, but it does leave a tainted impression in our heads now as to whether we would want to go back.