The good: Not bad for a work lunch, though the prices are a bit high for what you get. Great place for a drink(or ten) after work if you walk in Darling Quarter. Decent happy hour prices, and a good selection that goes one step beyond the basic beers on draft. This probably also isn’t the kind of place that’s going to kick you out for having too much to drink, which may be relevant, depending on the type of night you’re going for. The bad: First, they need more bartenders! Around happy hour time, there are always, always far too many people waiting at the bar for drinks. The bartenders are friendly and competent; they just need to double the number of them. Next, the ambiance leaves a bit to be desired. There’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s also nothing right with it. It’s just a decent indoor/outdoor space, to be filled up with whatever you and your friends can make of it. The bottom line: You don’t go here for the food, and you don’t go here for the amazing service. You go here because it’s a pleasant place for a nice time with your friends or coworkers. And for that, it delivers.
Suryo H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Hong Kong
Pretty good steak. Had the angus sirloin brazilian cut. It was bigger than expected. Came with some spinach i think under it and red wine sauce with what i think was a hint of teriyaki sauce. You can really taste that little teriyaki kick. So the menu didnt have the weight of the steak so i was a bit pessimistic because its usually small. But when it came it was pretty good size. You can cook your own steak too which i think is pretty unique. I mean, cooking my own food in a restaurant? Anyway, overall pretty good steak. Has anyone tried the kangaroo steak or know any place that has good kangaroo steak let me know please.
Lauriane T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Bois d'Arcy, France
We went there in December 2014, during the Happy Hour(from Monday to Friday from 3 to 6 or 7 pm I think). We took 10 $ pizzas and they were really great! Not too small or too big, with the right amount of ingredients. Definitely a good price!
Ali H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Melbourne, Australia
This is a good reliable bar and restaurant. It’s big, so there will be families and groups. There’s a good range of cocktails, tapas and meals. Service can be a little slow but the Restaurant Manager and staff are really flexible and professional. On this visit I enjoyed a Watermelon Martini cocktail, some Bruschetta with Vine Ripened Tomatoes and a Prawn & Avocado Salad. Very enjoyable, thank you.
Zoe K.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Australia
I really feel as though restaurants in Darling Harbour can get away with serving very average food. The food here was average and overpriced yet the atmosphere the décor and the service were all excellent. Excellent service from the get go, we were in a large group and were looked after all night. The bar wasn’t too crowded and the set up of the restaurant made it easy to leave the table and get a drink at the bar. There was a stage which was elevated above the bar and for most of the night there was a very talented acoustic guitarist singing covers all night. That was fun. The tapas was dissapointing. Chicken souvlaki was yummy, the salt and pepper squid not overcooked but overly crispy and very dark as opposed to the usual golden brown(deep frier definitely in need of an oil change!). And it was the same thing for the fried chicken wings. The haloumi was awful– huge chunks of flavourless rubber. Everything seemed to be covered in too much salt. The thing is, these are all basic dishes that have seemed to failed a quality test, and I get the feeling that the company that owns this restaurant along with a bunch around Harbourside, King St Wharf and Cockle Bay Wharf, really just don’t care.
Mela S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Australia
They get 4 stars for service, 3.5 stars for the dessert, but 1 star for the steak. :/ I hate to rag on what was a free meal, but I was disappointed with Stacks, to be honest.(I’ve been to Braza next door a few times and had always made a mental note to check this place out.) We had a set menu which came with garlic bread, fries, salad, steak, and dessert. The garlic bread and fries were pretty standard fare. We also got some salad with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. I don’t know if it was because it was a set meal, or if we arrived late, so the other people in the group ordered for us, but they served us steak without asking us how we wanted it. So mine was medium well, but my cousin’s was well done. This was probably the most tasteless steak I’d ever had. I had to douse it in pepper to be able to eat it. The menu we had said we could get free sauce with our steak — mustard, Tabasco sauce, tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, etc… seriously? Who puts mustard on steak?!(They even had TWO kinds of mustard on there. Am I missing something?) The other people in the table ordered BBQ sauce to make it taste better, and when you have to put BBQ sauce on a steak, that’s not a good sign. The saving grace was their dessert of the day, which, that night, was a chocolate mousse tart. It was quite good, and not too sweet, and came with a few blueberries on the side. Waiters were really friendly, so no complaints there. I wanted to cry knowing that Braza was next door.
Daniel T.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Sydney, Australia
Awesome modern Australian restaurant! Food is great, all is good. I come here very rarely because the pricing of the food is a bit expensive for what you get. Other than that, it’s great! It’s in the darling quarter so the atmosphere here is superb, you can’t get any better than this! This place is also great for large amounts of people as they offer large tables and seating. It does get busy during the nights so I don’t recommend trying to get a table during then!
Bob C.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Palo Alto, CA
The pizza is awful — tastes about like a frozen pizza from the grocery store. Service was soso. The house wine was pretty bad. And they have a super lame Sunday surcharge. Be warned!
Henry M.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Sydney, Australia
Staff were very nice and the service was excellent., We sat outside, the inside seems to be nice too. Pizza was very nice, not heavy to the stomach and flavours were very nice. The nacho was good but not something I will be ordering again. We had Mocktails it was really nice.
Dave M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Australia
A big group of us went here for a leaving party. There were 45 of us but that seemed to be no problem at all for them even on a busy Friday lunchtime. Service was really good. The menu is pretty extensive. And expensive. I was feeling cheap so went for a pizza. My advice — don’t go for the pizza. It was huge but so much cheese. And cheese grease. So much grease that it covered the top of the pizza, flowed over the side and sogged the base. It wasn’t just mine either. A bunch of us went the pizza option and they were all grease monsters. The non pizza meals looked fantastic though and those that had them said they tasted great too. I would still go back but next time no pizza.
Kimberly C.
Rating des Ortes: 3 New Brunswick, NJ
Lovely restaurant in the Darling Quarter. Ate dinner here with a large group of people. We had a set menu and I chose Vegetarian pasta. It was good, but nothing exceptional. Free wifi was much appreciated by the social-media withdrawn kiddos. They even brought out a birthday cake for one of the travelers!
Lisa H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Mississauga, Canada
I came here for lunch after freshly arriving in Sydney from Canada. The three of us ordered 9 plates of tapas to share as well as a cocktail pitcher. All of the food was delicious! We had the oysters, t empura soft shell crab, halloumi, zucchini flowers, chorizo, calamari, and kangaroo skewers. Amazing. My only complaint is that it took quite a while(and asking 3 different staff) for a refill on the pitcher. Aside from that, no issues! For dessert we had the churros and the pavlova smash, the latter of which was wonderful. Nice little spot with a great location.
Tim D.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Halifax, Canada
It’s a large, new, touristy restaurant in the Darling precinct. The menu was large, and the service was attentive(almost fawning). The atmosphere was typical of a busy entertainment district. But my food was below average. I ordered the two-course steak special. Starter was some stodgy, poorly-flavoured risotto. Main was a small, gristley, tough bit of sirloin with almost nothing to accompany it. Meh indeed.
Ciaran H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Sydney, Australia
Ok, so a kid friendly restaurant with sympathetic staff is a valuable thing indeed. The staff here are great, really get how family’s need to be served and are patient and understanding. So onto the food. The kids meals seem standard on the page, but you get a kick up in quality. Instead of fish fingers you get a small serve of proper fries fish, the kids burger is just a small version of the one of the main menu and quality is pretty high. The rest of the menu is great with some great highlights in the pizza menu, and some quality meat(but get one of the chefs to cook, don’t attempt it yourself). Food came out über quick, even on a busy public holiday. Be back… you bet.
Warren P.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Botany, Australia
Pretty good location and the service is very good. Cocktail menu isn’t too bad, especially liked the Lychee infused vodka one with the red bull top up… could get into a little bit of trouble if I have too many of those :) Didnt see any«happy hour» promotions though :(Cocktails are average price I guess starting @ $ 14.00. Plenty of good food options as well and they have a $ 12.00 steak special for lunch(extra if you want any sauce to go with the steak). Even though its a little more expensive than that $ 10 steak specials they have at the Cargo Bar… its better steak quality here!
Una P.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Australia
Ok, so, I actually got quite alot to say about this place. (Don’t worry, it would only be the good sorts: D) BUT since I haven’t got all day today and there is no reviews left on this place yet, Let me be really short and quick on mentioning this. For 2011, the year I have been traveling overseas and would proudly mention that I have tasted MANY good foods, I vote Taverna’s ‘Vodka and dill cured salmon($ 17.50)’ to rank among my TOP5. I wouldn’t lie, I was totally sold on the word ‘Vodka” — hanging out with a Russian, that’s what you turn into– but there isn’t anything tipsy about this dish. Salmon tasted alone without Vodka sorbet poured on, I thought I have wasted my fortune but as soon as the sorbet humbly cuddled the salmon, I said«hallelujah! add this on my eyes-widening list, please.» Who would’ve known the fresh salmon combined with sweet touch of the vodka sorbet and crunchy bread crumb(it may not be bread crumb but surely looks like it), would create such a yummy that doesn’t only taste good but also look fabulous? The DIY steak grill was a bit of fail, due to too many self-claimed-the-best-chefs, but that is nothing to be blamed onto Taverna, and they have indeed taught me the lesson. ‘Let real chef do the job’ . I have also tasted their cocktails, good in general, not super impressive, but having tried only two out of all? It is yet to judge their bar. FYI, I have tasted the coffee flavoured one, which reminded me nothing but a strong espresso and another one which I would find the name out on my next visit :)