Shearwater Restaurant

Staff were excellent. Found the food to be a bit bland. On two occasions I found food to be very undercooked. Needs more healthier options both on Al la Carte and the buffet. Thanks Karen

The whole experience was great. I wish there were more fruits available for breakfast, similar to the fruit platter available for dinner. I know avocadoes are expensive, but I wish it was also available if requested. The staff were amazing. The kitchen had some issue with their cooking facility on one of the lunch services. Service was very late. And the staff handled this setback really well. I understand it's breeding season for the birds. Maybe some well placed fans could be helpful in dispelling some of the bird smells especially around food. It might be tricky depending on where the wind is blowing from. But as mentioned above, the overall experience was great. Kudos to the staff.

Excellent service! love the foods. My husband and I will definitely come back thank you so much

Food was excellent, especially the curried barramundi it was superb.

The beautiful and polished staff really made every meal a lovely experience. Even when the restaurant was very busy, they had everything running smoothly with a smile as if it was effortless. We had especially lovely service from Niall, Renata and Conor. That said, every chef and server we met or saw working was great, worked together well and always had a kind word. How you have collected so many great staff in one place is beyond me. We also found the food excellent - our favourites were the Indian and Mexican theme nights, and the fish dishes across the board were all next-level.

I am not sure anyone pays attention to reviews because nothing changes! All uncovered food covered with flies laying their eggs, which causes vomiting / diarrhoea when eaten by humans! So bad I took photos!! Why can’t everything have the clear lids that people can just lift, self serve and put back on, clear lids you can see what there is. Same with bread, flies all over them. All it needs is those pop up umbrella type net food covers. 1st night Friday Dinner : Firstly Dinner is way over priced… $110 for 2 plus drinks, there needs to be a cheaper option than a buffet, especially for the young ones that are on low income/students that are keen to explore Heron Island. Buffet is absolute garbage food, our 1 and only dinner was cold ribs, the lemon chicken my partner and I both got was still pink fleshy under cooked, and mine was bloody! We took pics, when I asked staff to let kitchen know he said nothing wrong with the chicken served, it just needed to be rested, needed way longer in oven before resting! when I got up to take my plates to him staff took it from me, and on return apparently he said he’s sorry !?? Because of that I cancelled the 5th n 6th Nov dinners, 5th being my birthday dinner! Which I ended up having nothing to eat from lunch at 2pm to breakfast at 7am, I was totally upset about that as the booked sunset cruise was cancelled too. If you don’t have the buffet over priced awful food you starve!! Not good enough, there’s not even anywhere to buy a sandwich? Yet I could smell the staff BBQ cooking which smelt divine! I wouldn’t have loved a sausage sizzle sandwich! So to be honest the dinner and uncovered food was a huge disappointment and spoilt what should have been an amazing joint birthday getaway !!

Booking on the internet is tricky. It would be better if you could make multiple bookings once you’ve entered your personal details.

Nile was a stand out waiter. Friendly, efficient and to be highly commended. Renata was very professional and always gave a relaxed vibe and nothing was too much trouble. Inish was also very good and worth commending. The chef went out of his way to accommodate my family’s special needs without ever flinching. More budget should go into quality of deserts with less variety and more focus on one or two home made options. Chilled milk for cereals is always a good sign of a quality breakfast. Often the milk is just put out there at room temperature which is a small thing but noticeable by many. When you upgrade the hot servery containers, make sure they are the ones that roll open and closed … the lifting on and off and uncertainty of whether the person wants the lid back on or not is an ongoing annoyance by all ( and I assume you value such feedback). Also, juice glasses under the juices not on table. Add another cutlery area near the juice area as it is a very long walk back to the furthest part of the restaurant if you forget a spoon. Finally, I would train staff to remove dirty plates from tables as a higher priority than that being currently practised. I run a large travel company in Sydney so this constructive criticism comes through years of observation. The crew should be proud overall and our family of 8 found their engagement with us one of the highlights of our stay at Heron. Thank you!

Chicken and reef fish on Friday buffet dinner looked not fresh. They smelt somewhat badly. Saturday buffet dinner was okay. We didn’t eat beef items, so can’t comment on that.

Sunday 18th Dec roast meats was excellent. Monday 19th Dec beef stew was excellent. Monday 20th Dec Mexican night needs a few more options eg. Tacos, nachos Fish served each night was a bit dry, but the sauces it came in were good. Fresh reef fish would be better. Tues 21st Dec the 2 Asian noodle dishes were good. Soups served were generally good. Corn chowder very nice but a little too salty. Desserts options were good but too much repeat over 4 days. A seafood buffet ( prawns, mussels, shellfish & fresh reef fish ) would be good to serve at a tropical island, at least once a week.

We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves on the island, but we feel you are understaffed. The staff here are delightful and polite, but rushed off their feet. The food is wholesome but lacking refinement. Generally the resort is looking ‘tired’. Loving the close proximity of the wildlife, although at 2.40am last night most of the reception rooms, bar, restaurant and pool area were still fully illuminated, going against the lights out policy. We feel that there is a lack of General Manager visibility.

Would have scored higher had they been able to keep the flies off the food.

The service from the staff on all four occasions we used the restaurant was the highlight. Food was good and tasty with a wide selection. Lovely feeling about the place

This rating is for the meals on Wednesday which were both unattractive to look at and unappealing to eat. Certainly not what we expected for$50/ head

Lovely staff, very friendly but obviously understaffed. No time to serve drinks. Salads were unappealing. Meat selection was good. No chicken selection Sat or Sunday night. Great fruit selection, very popular with all guests

I was very disappointed to learn that the only options for breakfast and dinner were buffet. CoVid is still active and influenza has been more common lately. I am also unable to eat $50 worth of food for dinner in one sitting as I don’t have that big an appetite so I did not get value for my money.

Breakfast was great however we found the smorgasbord dinners very ordinary for the price charged. Need more choices on the lunch menu given the only other food available on the island is sandwiches from the shop.

The staff are fantastic, v friendly and v helpful. The meals are ok , they could be excellent if there were appropriate sauces / gravies available- as they really enhance the flavours and the whole experience- the base meats fish etc would be fantastic with sauces ( not just those provided in the salad service) - don’t want to complain cos I know it is a long way from the food supply but just giving feedback

Lunch was nice and good value. Dinner left a lot to be desired. Would have preferred to pay $50 for plate