My friend recommended the Meatery in Devonport however the experience my group of 5 had on the weekend was a totally different experience and not one of the reviews online. In fact the worst case of 'throwing a young inexperienced staff member under the bus' I have ever seen by a management in my life not to mention the bad service and average meal.
When we were first seated the young waitress (clearly as I said earlier inexperienced and perhaps in her 'new' holiday job) was tentative and friendly and attempted to make my friend a Long Island Iced tea which was not on the menu. Entrée's came out without a problem and these were nice.
But then out came the mains. Total inconsistency. A steak meal I ordered and asked for mash potato came with a tiny dollop - more like a decoration on the side of the plate as was the wilted decoration of salad even though the menu said it was served with this for $30. Then my other friend ordered for $2 more a steak and calamari board and received not only a huge amount of calamari but a big serving of fries. Very much different to my plate. It doesn't cost more to serve mash potato versus fries. The steak was ok but I have had better and would go to the Grill or the like for a better night closer to home for similar price.
So this is where the trouble brewed, I kindly asked the waitress if I could have more mash and instead of sending my plate back for the Chef to fix she came out with fries (which I didn't ask for) and she commented that she should have noticed my portion size. I replied "I am not blaming you, it's the Chef's problem not yours". We believe the Chef (also the owner) probably gave her an earful in the kitchen. My friend had the exact same meagre serving of spud as I on her plate but no fix was offered to her. From then on she dropped the ball and service was no more.
We had to ask for cutlery, which another staff member bought us. Then we had to ask for water, we got one bottle to the 5 of us and in a very hot restaurant with no air con, then it was not replenished. One friend ordered a drink which never came and the table never got asked later if they wanted to order more drinks. This was a massive loss of dollars for them not to mention our dehydration.
All the while the Matre D (co-owner) was standing behind the counter in view of us talking and appearing to look at a laptop or phone. My friend caught her eye a few times but she never came over.
Later and small credit to the Chef he sent out one Chocolate brownie dessert for us all to share to apologise and this dessert was very muddy and delightful but the damage was already done.
After the meal with the knowledge that I was going to write a bad review I thought I would advise the Management of our dismay over the bad service and she just blamed the waitress entirely and said she knows better. Meanwhile the girl was in tears. We reminded her that it was her that is meant to train new staff and oversee. From the counter she could see if tables needed anything and if her staff were doing their job. It's for the better of their restaurant or this will result in their doors closing. There is so much better competition out there I don't need to go over the bridge to Devonport for a bad evening. I suggest this waitress gets out of there fast and finds more pleasant employment with management that care enough to develop and take the blame. Toxic environment. Not people I would ever want to support. read more