Review Blackwattle Grill - Mascot

I stayed at the Rydges Sydney Airport the night before flying off to South America (back in June 2016). Had dinner at Blackwattle Grill that evening, and it sure was a great meal to send me off. Amazing steak, Guinness, and dessert (a Coconut Panna Cotta). Mmm mmm!

BLACKWATTLE GRILL. No welcoming staff. Reserved thru Dimmi but no staff had any idea of the reservation. No table was ready, some had dirty plates and glassware for clearing where no one seemed to care. Staff looked unhappy, disorganized, quite rude too for trying to hurry us eventhough it wasn't busy. No leader/mgr in sight. Staff needs good guest service training. Restaurant is dated, bench seats and high back chairs were dirty and uncomfortable. Overheard a couple complaining to the staff of their wet and sticky table, staff didn't even apologize, she just moved them to another table. Drink orders took ages and came without glassware, we had to ask. This is basic. Main courses (pasta, pork cutlet, and medium rare steak that they called wagyu rump but didn't taste like real wagyu at all) delivered over half an hour and no apology for the delay despite resto not being full. The only good thing was the dark chocolate mousse dessert that was really good, that's it. When we paid, they asked for our room number and when we said we're walk-ins, the staff immediately charged another $2 for being walk-ins without informing us. Dodgy. No thank yous, nothing. Terrible dining experience. Not coming back.

Meh! coming from a hospitality background myself i was looking forward to a night here with my mother before she went on holiday, something a little bit fancy and thats what was expected when i scanned the menu and prices. what we got was a bistro experience at best. its little things that go into putting $35-$40 next to the main course, mostly in the service. no offer of water BEFORE drinks that had to be paid for, that came about 20 mins later,. the jug was just placed on the table, it should have been poured for us. the food came in a reasonable time but was nothing to write home about ($68 for the lamb shoulder it should have been mind blowing). we decided to finish with some desserts and all i can say is the kitchen should be ashamed, chocolate mousse and panna cotta might as well have come straight from a college kitchen, the worst part was the rock hard panna cotta. didnt move like it costed $15 but like the chef was weighing the gelatine in kilos rather than grams. convenient is youre staying at the rydges but next time ill make the extra effort and travel a little further somewhere that isnt taking advantage of tired travellers that cant be bothered to do the same.

Pretty average considering the high prices. Making use of the 20% discount for being a member certainly helps. Wait staff are poorly trained, poor English language skills and get orders wrong (for multiple tables). I ordered an entree size meal and was served main size. Fortunately they charged only entree pricing after I asked. But, the food was very average indeed. It's a captured market with prices you'd expect in a much classier restaurant. OK food but overpriced for what they're serving. Clearly not enough staff to manage a full restaurant - wait times quite long. Final piece - was being given the bill then staff vanished so walked it up to the counter to find a pen. No help. No acknowledgement. Just non-existent service. Rydges brand at risk of being damaged by quite poor management of the restaurant. Frankly the casual dining on the ground floor is MUCH better value!

Overpriced and substandard. I ordered a slow cooked pork belly. What I got was a pork spare rib fried in a pan that was dry, tough and flavourless. Not ok for $34 dollars. When I complained I was challenged and told that is pork belly...more frustrated at the fact they were trying to insult my intelligence as I know the difference between the cuts of meat and it was not slow cooked. They then gave me a ceasar salad that was just as bad. Hard boiled egg was dried out, chicken was in tiny little pieces the croutons tasted like they came out of a box....stale and don't get me started on the $9 duck fat chips that if you blinked you missed as you get 6 chips and they are floury and soggy. Very disappointing for the price you pay. Not even worth the 1 star!

i had an entry and a Roast Duck Breast(AU$35). The duck was way over cooked, the meat was just tough.The service was poor too. waiter should have put the dish more gently and ONTO the table, not on cutlery. it might have been busy time but they were absolutely untrained staffs.It was a really disappointing dinner.

Got there late one night for dinner and service was absolutely terrible. Had to wait ages to submit our orders and again to get our meals. Everyone on the table received their meals excpet me, and there was no word or apology about where mine was. The staff never asked us if we wanted dessert (they missed out there), and were just focused on kicking us out when the restaurant closed. Perhaps if they served us more quickly we might have left earlier! As we were leaving, the manager was so busy talking to his mate about a personal matter, that didn't even bother to acknowledge or thank us. If that was the manager's attitude, the staff have no hope! The 2nd star is for the food. Given this is a restaurant at an international hotel, I was embarrassed that this is the service visitors would receive upon arrival in our country.

The food was delicious. It came out quickly after ordering. But that was the difficult part, actually finding a waiter to take your order. Our whole night was spent waiting for them to take our order. You would try and politely get their eye contact and they would blatantly ignore you. When we told a nearby waiter that we were ready to order (after waiting 20mins since we received the menus) she said I will get your server and then disappeared. Then it felt like all the waiters were actively trying to avoid you when you were clearly needing their assistance. The only efficient waiter was Dita. She seemed run off her feet as well as she was clearly picking up the slack for the others.