Review Sandpipers Restaurant - Nelson Bay

Where do i start... the food was absolutely delicious and every bite was full of flavour! The service was 10/10 and i was happy with everything. The people working at the restaurant were so kind it honestly made the whole experience wonderful. As a Melburnian and a seafood lover, this restaurant is in the top of the list as my favourite restaurant!

Had dinner there on Saturday with my wife. Great experience from the lovely waitress Monica who was friendly and knowledgeable to the food. I had the Prawn linguini special - outstanding. Perfectly cooked paste and generous portion of Prawns. Good selection of wines. Well done we will be back.

For such a touristic town at the peak of the travel season (between Christmas and NY), I was expecting restaurants to be open (majority is not) and offer more flex hours to accommodate the demand. Sandpipers was the only place we've been and read about that its kitchen was open past 8:30pm. They have a fast service and lovely outside seating on a smaller charming street. We ordered the fish of the day (barramundi) and the prawn linguini. The fish, despite being a little smaller in size, was absolutely perfect and our favorite dish. Strongly recommend it.

Beautiful food..The Octopus was great and the Salt & pepper squid with the wasabi dressing was yumo! Great service Friendly staff😉Highly recommend 👌

Excellent friendly service and delicious food. The best prawn pasta I've ever had in my life. I'll always suggest it to everyone visiting Nelson bay as the best. The kids wanted ice cream from the next doors gelateria that was already closed. The staff kindly served them ice cream for dessert to keep them happy.

A solid 1 star rating, potential 2 star. The food was overrated, it tasted bland and tasted just weird. Paid approximately $25-$30 for every meal and was definitely not worth it. the pasta tasted like something you can make at home. I had the lamb with couscous and in my opinion - it was okay but i would not recommend someone to pay over $10 for that. the service was great but the waiting time was long. The only think i enjoyed was the oysters.

Had a dinner with family and was worth visiting. Food was delicious and staff was friendly with very warm and cozy environment. recommend all to visit this place and would love to go back. Special shout out to Monica and Manish for excellent customer service.

Probably one of the best Resturant we visited and the service we had was the best whilst we stayed at Nelson bay. We had momo soup (Nepalese dish) for entree, It was very authentic, and full of flavour. My boyfriend had a seafood taste plate and I had pumpkin ravioli, both dishes were packed with favours, love and freshness. Not to mention, service was absolutely amazing. Waitress was so nice and smiling the whole time. Would not mind driving 8 hours (from where we live) just for the food. Thanks for the great night.

Probably the best chefs sampler plate I've eaten, every part of the dish was spot on and plated perfectly 👍 The only thing to better the perfect dish was the best service I have received in a restaurant in a long time. The service provided by Zeljko was impeccable, even knew who I was when I walked in the door by the time of arrival, a skill from years of practice! Spent the perfect amount of time at the table and talked about his personal experiences and background! I would return just for the service if nothing else, highly recommended 👍 Don't hesitate !!!!!!

The best restaurant between Sydney & Brisbane! All dishes were amazing: oysters (super fresh), carmelised carrots & pomegranate salad, seafood taste plate & mixed dessert share plate. We ate far too much tonight but don’t regret a bit :)))) Must visit if you are around Nelson Bay!

My wife and I Lisa loved this place. Mario is so passionate about his food and client satisfaction. It's a must eat while in the Bay. Thanks Mario and your dedicated staff!! ��

Could have got 5 stars except for serving ,by the glass, yesterday's wine! That's a no no and I'm sure Mario won't do that again. Also needs more choices on the wine list, a little bit more upmarket. V good food and service comes with a smile.

Absolutely delicious. We are visiting from Brisbane and this is by far one of the best meals We have ever had. All dishes, from entree to desert was just so delicious, amazing quality, so fresh and so tasty!! Couldn't recommend it highly enough. Staff were so lovely, great atmosphere. Just a memorable night overall!!

The pork dumplings are to die for. Yummy. Highly recommend. Great service Great food

Sizzling Garlic Prawns was a shared entree and amazing. Main meals was Pork Belly and Swordfish which both was incredible. Service was first class and the whole evening was fantastic. Highly recommend and will definitely be back. First class Nelson Bay restaurant.

Food was fantastic with the mixed oysters than the sample plate following the desert. The nicest food I've had in the Bay.

Such friendly, attentive and helpful staff. Could not have asked for more. Atmosphere and ambience was welcoming and relaxing. Food was delicious and very fast, good wine and drink selection. Overall one of my favourite dining experiences in the Bay and overall.

For a weekend away, this place surely makes dining very special. The staff are very warm and friendly. The service was exceptional. The food was this establishments strongest point: absolutely delicious. Such a great variety of flavours across entrees, mains and deserts .Well priced, would definitely go back again and again. The reason why it's not 5 star is because, we were sat outside against a barricade and it felt as if we were on the sidewalk as opposed to a restaurant. They were booked out inside which we understand. Thanks Sandpipers!

Best food we have had in a long time. Couldn't fault anything. Food was amazing and staff are wonderful. Definitely made our anniversary dinner one to remember ��

We had a large group having the 3 course set menu. Great menu, excellent value and amazing service. Highly recommend this restaurant. Don't think twice, don't look elsewhere - just book it now !

Lovely little place really nice food and highly recommend

The Taste plates are awesome and the white chocolate spring rolls for dessert finished the meal off on a high. Will go back again.

Absolutely delicious! I loved every dish. Beautiful little restaurant with the most welcoming and friendly team of staff. It's a MUST when in Nelson Bay!

Great food and great service 😍 We walked in as a late decision to go out and even though they were very busy, they managed to move some bookings around and get us s table with minimal fuss. Will be back again 👌

Five years ago we had a great experience here, this time not so much. The mains were ok, but not great. Husband had lamb which was a bit chewy. I had scallop tagliatelle off specials menu. Pasta was great but scallops over cooked. The dessert, however, was horrible. Crème Brûlée with orange and five spice. It was not crème brûlée. It was grey grainy sludge with burnt sugar on top. The five spice flavor was strong... and so so wrong. I don’t even understand how it hadn’t been removed from the menu before now. Another table saw me take my first bite and came over to say they saw my reaction and couldn’t help telling me they thought it was awful too. So strange. Not pleasant. Not edible. After mentioning it to the Waiter, he said it would be taken off the bill, but it wasn’t and then we had to awkwardly request them to change the bill. not good. Won’t be back.

This restaurant has a good ambience, okay service and serve decent food. But the price is on the high side and the portion is small. The prices are easily a lot more expensive than a comparable restaurant in Sydney. They charged $33 for 12 small pan fried prawns.

If I could rate this place lower than a one star I would. I have eaten at many places but this experience has been by far the worst and has left the most disgusting taste in my mouth. My husband and I dined here on our last night of our vacation at nelsons bay. We were served by a man who provided a service which obviously looked like had no training at all. From the moment we sat down we didnt feel welcomed at all, and was just rushed by just telling us the specials of the night- the waiter stated that there were two fishes of the day swordfish and maya maya. My husband and I decided on the turkish bread and dips which was mediocre. When the food arrived the food was basically dumped in front of us without any explanation for even at least what type of dip was provided (as nothing stated in the menu). For mains I ordered the seafood tasting plate and my husband ordered the meat sandpipers tasting plate. The seafood tasting plate specified on the menu fish of the day. The waiter didnt even bother asking me which of the fish of the day I wanted. But I didnt want to make a big fuss about it so I let it slide. Anyway the food took 45 mins to come out. Once the food arrived our orders were switched. I received my husbands meal and he received mine. I asked what type of fish was included and the waiter wasnt even sure which fish it was. He just concluded it was maya maya, which he probably just guessed. Which could have just been a simple mistake no big deal but where is the eye for detail in your service?? <br/>So, we just simply switched our meals back. When I took a slice of the fish I noticed an insect crawling in the bed of salad which the fish was presented on. I really wanted to bring it the waiters attention but my husband just took it out and just told me not to eat the salad. It was obvious the salad was not washed properly. Which is very slack considering the tasting plate is $42 each. You would think they would take more pride in the presentation as it is so overpriced. Furthermore, the food was tasteless, overcooked and definitely did not meet the expectation for what it is priced. After we had finished our mains our plates were taken away straight away and the waiter didnt even ask us how our meal was or if we would be interested in looking at the dessert menu. We requested for bill as we wanted to.leave this place asap. My husband was left waiting at the table for 20 mins to pay. When the waiter returned with the eftpos machine. The waiter was so rough with swiping the card and inserting the card then stating the card chip does not work. So my husband just paid with different means. After all this the waiter doesnt even thank us or anything just simply walks away from us. <br/>This was definitely the cherry on top of this worst experience. I mean I dont expect above and beyond service everytime I dine out because lets face it, thats just not realistic these days but as a paying customer there has to be at least basic standard of customer service that you should meet and this service was unfortunately below low. <br/>This is an absolute shame as my husband and I are actually returning customers. We dined here many years ago. I must say the standards with both food and service has drastically dropped. Im not sure if it is because they have been running this reataurant for a long time and the people working there are over it- which is understandable but this is unfair to be treating people this way. If your over running your business I suggest just shut it down. Absolutely no passion in hospitality, poor service, poor quality food. Beware do not dine here!! We Will never be returning here to dine again.

This restaurant is highly rated but for no valid reason! Heavily priced guys so beware before stepping in! Our friend wanted to have the seafood here and that was the whole point of going here. We being vegetarians, the options were limited. Ordered for a ravioli and dumplings whereas our friend got a chance to quench his seafood desire by ordering prawns. The food was good but not standing up to the level of spending so much money. The service was ok. <br/>Food - 3/5<br/>Service - 2/5<br/>Value for Money - 2/5<br/>Ambience - 3/5<br/>

Nothing fancy, very basic fish & chips restaurant on the overpriced side :)<br/>Grilled Barra meal with chips and salad for $22 was good but the fillet of barra was more for kids meal.<br/>The chips were really good!

Loved it. Fresh amazing flavours and textures. Excellent service. Most personable wait staff I’ve had the pleasure of being served by, in a long while.

We had been here for dinner twice this week in Sept. One time just my husband and I. And tonight was with family a group of 5. My husband were very happy about the fish if the day - Baramundi. He said this was the best fish he ever had in the bay. I had the tasting plate and one of the family had the tonight special - veal. Dessert we had one platter for two and one sticky date pudding. We all very happy about the food. Service was good. We will definitely come back.<br/>We came backto Sandpipers last on 16 Dec which was 6 weeks after the restaurant changed owner. We were excited to see how did the food go with the new influence. We found the menu was the same as before. The owner's son advised they will modified the menu in a couple of weeks by adding a few dishes. My husband had the lamb backstripe while I had the daily special - the soft shell crab. My husband was very happy with his dish. Unfortunately mine was average not excited. The batter on the crab was a bit oily and the crab had no flavor. The asian salad was hard and dry. However we are still optimistic and are looking forward for the new owner to bring something new to the bay. And be reminded there is a 12% surcharge on Sunday now which we haven't had this surcharge from other restaurant in the bay.

Fantastic restaurant and lovely waiter. The oysters are fresh. Food are good. Seafood chowder is lovely. Beef pasta is great, soft and juicy. Super nice beer

Amazing service! Waiters were very attentive<br/>Fish of the day and the arancini were amazing<br/>Would definitely come back when I visit Nelson bay again <br/>

Garlic Parmesan bread is 10/10<br/>Mixed oysters were 9/10<br/>Arancini was 10/10<br/>Fish if the day 10/10: the sauce was 11/10<br/>Service 10/10<br/>Location 10/10<br/>Music 10/10<br/>Vibes 10/10<br/>Eshays

Was really looking forward to eating here after reading all the positive reviews and seeing the great food pics so was really disappointed to find out our table, that we had booked, had been given away 😣. So disappointing, such a bad experience!

Devine!!!<br/><br/>We shared the sesame seed halloumi and the pan fried chicken. The flavours were delicious, fresh and delicately seasoned to perfection.<br/><br/>Dessert we shared the lavender and honey creme brulee. You start with that perfect crack which is music to your ears, it then takes you on a beautiful fragrant journey. <br/><br/>But the absolute SHOW STOPPER was the white chocolate and chilli spring rolls WOW WOW WOW!!!! That crunch soon follows with the sweetness of the white chocolate complemented with a soft warmth from the chilli. An amazing experience and highly recommend.<br/><br/>Thank you to the waitresses for the seamless service it was a perfect night and can't wait to return!

Decided to have dinner tonight due to the rating on here, and it was right on the money. Starting with the boutique Pale Ale and a glass of bubbly, garlic bread to share for starters and ordered pork belly and the fish of the day (Jew fish) for mains, all of it was excellent.  Outstanding service, lovely quiet restaurant, overall very good, well worth the money spent.  Only glitch was a fork with some remnants of food on it, they were very embarrassed and replaced it immediately, I could then hear then out the back going through the cutlery draw. You won't be disappointed when you have a meal here, top notch.

We had dinner here and quite liked it. I had the king prawn stack entree with avocado salsa and it was delicious. I also had the Sesame crusted halloumi salad... But this was not as tasty. Cheese was actually quite tasteless and was more similar to mozzarella than the beautiful salty halloumi. My husband got the pork bellies and said it was quite nice. He also had the lemon tart and thought that was also nice. Service was good and the price reasonable for a restaurant of this standard.

Took my partner here for his birthday and it was perfect. Food was great and the service was amazing, they even sang him a happy birthday and gave him a cake :) Will definitely recommend this restaurant!

My family and I dined here whilst in the area on holidays. A superb experience dining out with kids. They offer a kids menu with a main meal with ice cream and an activity pack for $15. And we had the two course deal for $40 which was great value. Its not often we eat out where the kids are the centre of attention from great staff. Well done. We will be back. Highly recommended for families with young kids.

Great restaurant. Staff was excellent & food was awesome. Got the 3 course menu which was value for money, if these meals were bought separately that would be slightly expensive. Good thing also with the 2 & 3 course doesn't not require a minimum amount of people.

Upset / dissappointed. We came to visit Nelson Bay as a family, as food lovers it isn't easy to find great food in Nelson Bay. I found sandpipers on Google search and we loved the look of the food on their website. <br/>Got down there and my sister in law and husband walked up to grab a table they were about to let us sit in until they saw two babies and then said sorry we have know room for you. <br/><br/>How embarrassing to them for not allowing us to sit in your restaurant because we had two babies with us.<br/><br/>Very dissappointed.

Average food for the price. Went there for dinner based on good reviews. Prawn hot pot was burnt, found the quality average for the price.

The best seafood in the Bay without the tourist trap food of others in the area. Frequented by locals one is treated to great service and excellent food and wine. When ever I get up this way on business or holiday this is the place I love to come to.<br/><br/><br/>-----22 Oct, 2014-----<br/><br/>Excellent food excellent service, I could not fault it whatsoever, highly recommended.

Best we had in Nelson Bay!. Everything was great at Sandpipers. Staff were professional, friendly, and took good care of us. Did was amazing, and all priced. Would highly recommend, and will come back next time.

Excellent restaurant. Great environment. Dishes are very well prepared and service is very good.

Amazing food and wine and beautiful service. Made for a gorgeous night out, no complaints and can't wait to come back again.

We went for a nice dinner and the service was attentive, but not over the top. We both went for the midweek two course special for $40 each. The squid was very tasty, but the dipping sauce a bit to sweet. Needs a bit of lime to balance the sugary taste. We ask for aoli and that was lovely. <br/>For main we both had the chicken breast on gnocchi and that was delish. We added vegetables and left very full and satisfied. Would definitely come back for more next time we are in Nelson Bay.

Amazing rest in port stephens. Service was brillant without being pretentious attentive profesional yet friendly food was gorgeous and a great 3 course dinner deal mon to fri nights we went there for our one year anniversary and it was lovley great restaraunt!!

Price High, Quality Low. When you charge $34 a plate, there is a certain expectation of quality. My wife and I have been lucky enough to dine at some of Australia's best and this is no where near the best - not even on the same map. I have a fundamental problem with paying top dollar for something I could easily create at home with very little effort. Furthermore, when you pay mid thirties for a plate, you expect to get something more than the good quality food. You expect views, ambience, service, style - Sandpipers offers none of the above - perhaps a little too harsh on the service. The decor is simple and lacking imagination and the music is supplied by a kitchen radio playing Newcastle's best music from the 80s, 90s and today barely heard above the clatter and certainly not for the entertainment of the diners only the chefs and their misunderstanding of what a top quality dinner plate presents. We were surcharged for a public holiday, when it was just a normal Saturday wedged between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the reply from the waitress was; 'Well, I know it's a public holiday, cos I'm getting time and a half, which is great for us!'. Unfortunately, not so good for us. We were in and out in an hour as we were so disappointed. Do yourself a favour, if you want good dining, drive 5 minutes down the road to The Point at Soldier's Point - a restaurant on the map of Sydney quality to match the Sydney price AND you get a view!

Amazing food and amazing service. The pork crackling is a must.. Do urself a favour and go.

Exceptional food and service! Nothing more to say. Will definitely be back!

Great service -very attentive. I had two entrees - scallops & calamari -both delicious! Reasonable prices and a decent sized glass of wine. I'll definitely go back if I'm in the area again!

The only bad thing I can say about this restaurant is that the exclaims of delight from other customers were too loud. My wife and I have decided this restaurant is about as good as it gets. Absolutely delightful. We had the salmon and the chicken. Both delectable. Highly recommended.

Awesome meals, good sizes, reasonably priced, well worth the money. Great atmosphere. Impeccable service, didn't have to ask or want for anything. Very friendly professional staff. Great dealing with kids. Even giving the kids a special gift for being good. Love it, will def be back.

This was the best meal of the trip! We started with a pan fried chicken breast with an avocado puree on a bed of salad with tomatoes, capsicum and olives. The breast was super moist and tender.