Cardens Seafood & Steakhouse

It is on a rare occasion I treck out to the burbs for a meal at a restaurant, why when I have such goodness closer to home? Family birthday is why this one time. Said family member raved about this place, sensational steak I was told, so of course I decided to attend this birthday. I will note there was about 25 of us, so a significantly large amount of mouths to feed. May I start with the wine, quite cheap and they sure made sure my glass was never empty, this is a tick!
Wait time was very excessive, as noted though a large amount of people will do this so no judgement there, I ate snails while I waited, so win for me! I ordered my steak rare with garlic sauce and veggies, it came out closer to medium rare, but that’s ok, it was an ok steak, my sauce was very sweet for a garlic base but all in all it was ok.
Do I think it was as good as said family member described? Gosh no, was it a good steak, sure. Will I be coming back? Defiantly not. What I will defiantly give props to and make noted is how well the restaurant handled such a large number of people, it was very organized and they kindly let everyone pay their own portion of the bill rather than dealing with the very messy who owes what situation. this gives them a lot in my opinion as when people start to get their calculator out to work out who owes what, I shudder in embarasmnet and can’t really handle it.

Despite a giant 3d pink lobster crawling across it’s blue second-​story façade, Cardens Steak and Seafood restaurant is easy to pass by or miss if you’ve never been here before. But if you like steak and seafood then it’s worth a visit. Their classic ‘Steak a la Cardens’ has kept drawing me back for many many years. Just choose the fillet steak option and soak up the creamy lobster prawn and seafood sauce. I love the ‘seafood madras’ also when I’m after a change. Think lots of scallops in a dreamy, creamy, curry. Delicious. The décor is plush, but a little dated and kitsch for my liking: lots of nautical references, it’s just a little too ‘finding nemo’ish’. It’s changed hands only once since it opened and the new owners are lovely people, so don’t let the dated décor put you off. The menu remains pretty much the same as it always was. As well as the usual steak and seafood menu items you’d expect, they offer crocodile, snails, frog legs and sword fish just for conversation starters I reckon. The quality and serving sizes always felt generous, but seemed a little less so on my last visit, so I’m hoping that was just a once off and not a sign of the times. What does crocodile taste like you ask, and is it worth ordering? Think salty chicken, and that’s a YES from me.