Review Rookie Eatery - Wollongong

Rookie Eatery is described contemporary Australian cuisine. I'm glad they are here at the Gong as we can't always travel to Sydney. Food/flavours: Impressed with the flavour profile. Fresh ingredients. Neat presentations. Prawn ravioli tasted great with the sauce, pasta felt slightly chewy. Mains were a hit. Salad was delicious. Dessert are always subjective, but they have a variety for your tastebuds (tangy, sweet, mild) Service: Attentive and professional. Price: Fine dining price... Decor: Okay

Top dining experience with a variety of food from different regions across the globe, we had the tasting banquet and everything was great

We had an amazing meal, the food was delicious! Be warned though, still water is $5 per person. I’ve been to many restaurants and this was the first one where I’ve had to pay for water. The waiter didn’t tell us this, either, or give tap water as an option. It was only seeing it on the bill at the end that we realized. This just felt quite dishonest and spoiled what otherwise was a great meal.

Great food. Loved the duck and lamb mains. Salad and parfait very good. The wine is not as good as the food, and needs reviewin. Particularly the Chardonnay and Riesling have low ratings on Vivino and I agreed

Easily the best overall experience I’ve had in 6 years living in Australia. Great service, wine menu and food was to die for! Thanks for taking us in last minute and at the end of the night

Food was really tasty at an affordable price. We went for the "Feed me 2" course ($69 pp). The courses were beautifully presented and the staff were very attentive, with each dish coming out at a reasonable pace. Our favourite dish was the Maryland duck. Portion sizes are not big so if you are after a big feed then you may be a bit disappointed. The only thing that was really annoying were all the flies buzzing around in the room.

My husband and I had the "Feed me 2" degustation. Food were good but not great. The complementary entree was roti with yellow curry. The roti tastes and feels like from the frozen packet. The rest of the dishes have great flavours but missing some crunch textures especially the fish dish, which would be great if the fish skin is crispy. The major disappointment is the portion size. All the dishes are small and to be shared between 2 people. It seems more appropriate if the mains are same size on the dish but for 1 person. I am a small eater and I was still hungry after the 6 course meal. It would be great to have some kind of carbs that goes along with the meal. Overall it is quite an overpriced meal.

Fantastic restaurant, they offer still or sparkling water and charge you per person for the still water without telling you. I have not experienced this at any restaurant in Australia and they do not warn you.

I now know why Rookie is on the top ten list of NSW eateries- fantastic. We chose the 5 course banquet where you get to taste 5 components of the menu, there is also a 3 course along with an 8 course which consists of all menu items. Each and every course was brilliantly balanced with superb flavours & textures from the Kingfish sushimi to the pork belly with scollaps. The food was amazing, service near perfect and atmosphere fantastic. This place is in an old house that has been a restaurant for at least 20 years, it’s had a fresh update and feels good just to be there. Rookie is worthy of its place on the top ten NSW eateries list, thank you Rookie and we will be back.

The most fabulous gastronomic experience in Wollongong. Casual 5 star dining at its best. Attentive staff who know the menu, wonderful modern food and great value for money. My only complaint is that this review only allows to rate Rookie 5 star. See you again soon.

Absolutely sensational food and service! Certainly worth every bite. One of the very best restaurants in Wollongong!!!

This place is just incredible. The food is to die for!! No better place to eat in Wollongong!

Rookie is without a doubt amazing. Daniel is one of Wollongongs most amazing chefs. The food, incredible, accompanied by consistently fabulous, friendly and knowledgeable amazing staff. Well done Daniel and Team. Can't wait to go back again. �

A warm and friendly welcome with fantastic customer service. Superb tasting food, very well presented; Would definitely recommend. exceeded our expectations. Thank You

Amazing food and service you can’t go wrong to pick to dinne in the best experience and you walk away being amazed on the taste that you experience omg sensation well done to you we will be back

The staff went above and beyond to accommodate to my food allergy. The service and food were outstanding.

Our order was taken soon enough and our glasses of wine and water were delivered in reasonable time but it went downhill quickly from there. The staff were far more concerned about the bigger table behind us than serving us. Our fish was burnt, we were never offered more wine and the brisket was just jelly-like fat that made us both feel sick. We didn't complain at that point we just wanted to order dessert and leave. My friend however had to go and get a waiter's attention because we had been ignored for so long. She found two waiters just leaning up against a wall in the kitchen/counter area just having a chat. When she asked to get dessert she was told that there'd be a wait because they had to serve the bigger table first. Really badly organised place and so disappointing as I was excited about going here. We also noticed another table of two who left early too, probably because of the same lack of service.

Amazing food , great atmosphere , great vibe , excellent service highly recommend it u haven't been u will not be dissapoonted ����������

Amazing food! Great service, menu has so much variety. Beautiful experience I enjoyed every bite.

Make sure you try the Feed Me menu - a great way to taste lots of dishes and very generous portions... so never got to dessert:( Next time... Loved all 6 dishes and the service was first class and friendly.

Fantastic meal. Everything very delicious and cooked perfectly with great flavour. Lovely service. Only problem was there was too much food with the degustation which left no room for dessert (although they kindly let us change from 3 courses to 2) and very loud.

Elegantly appointed, with a charisma of white painted picket fenced walls - that is my first impression of the Rookie Eatery on entering through its front door.  I felt like coming to a bud's home, after climbing up a small wooden stairs like in a Queenslander - and yet the inside reminds me of being back in New Zealand, sans the cold weather but with the South Coast NSW warmth.Every dining table has fitting white cloths over it.  The dining area can be seen separated in two sections, with the kitchen prep section transparent and the windows retro and adding to the over all good feel.  The menu does change in the past year and the place was abuzz with diners even on a week night.  Dishes offered ooze with detail, care and thought.  It is BYO for wine at lunch time and on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  There is a share plate of Sirloin beef, with de Paris butter, for two guests plus a degustation menu available.   The drinks menu in house is extensive and balanced.Our main customer engagement staff hailed from Dunedin, she is petite, has a sense of humour and was working all over the restaurant that evening. We would have loved to say hello to the chef as well.   Our plates and cutlery were changed before each offering. We could not run dry of drinks, even the San Pellegrino water.  Tables can be considered placed tightly against one another but every one that evening did  not seem to mind.

Excellent service, solid wine list (with a few outstanding but good value options) and delicious food. Entrées are particularly impressive. Will definitely be back.

Lunch there today .. We chose the feed me 2 course option then added a dessert and an afogatto... Entrees ... Light Asian style interesting and exciting .. Loved the sashimi style entree with miso cream and the dessert to die for .. Mandarin deconstruction ..Mains were somewhat boring and did not live up to the expectations delivered by the entrees...Waygu with seared cabbage and a strange pink mustard cream and fish with not much else on the plate..Wine list was small but strong and well priced .. The decor is light white and understated which I enjoyed... The service was excellent ...At $182 for 2 including a 10% tip it's an expensive lunch in Wollongong with some bright notes.... <br/>

At first sight this place looked nice on the inside and they were quite busy which is always a good sign even for our 9pm Saturday night booking. <br/><br/>They servers where exceptional and very attentive seating us and bringing water etc. <br/><br/>We ordered the Ravioli for entrée, the filling was nice but the pasta was undercooked which was a shame. <br/><br/>We ordered the beef cheeks to share with a side of mac and cheese in the hopes we would get a nice selection of different things to sample. <br/><br/>The beef cheeks unfortunately tasted like they had been immersed in fat just prior to being served and were overall very lacklustre and made us feel some what sick due to the oil content. <br/><br/>The mac and cheese wasn't bad, but at the same time I wouldn't be in a rush to get it again. <br/><br/>For us the highlight of the night was the first thing we ate and didn't pay for, a gift from the kitchen of a parmasen biscuit. <br/><br/>Over all we wont be returning to Rookie unfortunately they just couldn't get it right.

Amazing. Favourite restaurant in Wollongong. We had the degustation last time, every meal was great! The service was good, love the waitresses outfits. Nice touch.

Feed Me!. Had another amazing night at Rookie tonight, eating the chefs selection everything was devine. Great service and awesome food shared with friends!