three blue ducks

as soon as we arrived we knew the service was going to be spot on - we were welcomed at the entrance by friendly staff. bar staff obviously love their jobs & we realised everyone’s focus was on making the diningexperiencethe best it could be. great ambiance & venue. we were only disappointed that they’d run out of the lamb (for sharing) and fish of the day - it would have been better to have been advised when we were seated rather than later when taking our order because our first choice was lamb, my second was the fish. however, all dishes were fabulous - the sides were great (potatoes, pumpkin & carrots). we had the steaks - bit pricy & larger than we’d have chosen, in hindsight we could have shared & had a smaller dish also. we’ll definitely return & recommend if you’ve not dined there.

worst diningexperiencei have ever had!!!

i never thought i would ever write a review where i say the restaurant completly ruined my partners and my night.

we made a reservation so we could see the southbank riverview (it was our anniversary)

instead, when we got there, we were seated in the very back corner (literally the last table of the back of the restaurant) right near the toilets (i could literally see who was coming in and out of the toilet)

our view was an overpass where we started counting how many taxis were passing through.

meanwhile, we asked the server, if any tables become available, could we change tables as we were trying to be understanding that they were busy (even if we had made reservations to avoid this)

moving on, we decided on our meals to be told we were given the old season menu and 2 of the 5 dishes we wanted were no longer available. why are you still handing out old menus? you are a restaurant for god sakes, at least get that done right! you are not a cheap take away shop, have pride in what u are selling and be more attentive to detail.

now at this point we are both saying to each other, let's make the most of it, we are here together and we were happy to be in each other's company to celebrate and had a laugh about the whole situation.

an hour and a half later with 2 glasses of wine down (approx 8:45pm by this stage) we were both starving and getting hangry to have only the entree come out. this is beyond ridiculous, we were already treated like rubbish patrons by the lack of attentiveness to now be waiting an hour and a half for just our entree!!

that's when we both said "let's go"

to the service manager on that evening, you have failed in your duty. we are all busy and things can slip, yes, but your main job is to ensure your restaurant patrons are taken care of, we didn't yell or make a fuss, we respectfully told the waiter if we could be moved when seating became available, we were not rude to anyone and tried our best to see the positive in the situation but your negligence caused what should have been a good night for us into nothing but disgust and dissapointment.

the final spit in the face for us, was when we said we are leaving (cancelled the order because we didn't want to wait another hour for our mains)
we see not only one, but 4 empty 2 seater tables with beautiful views of southbank available, by this time it was 9pm and people were leaving so in noway would those tables be reserved.

congratulations to the service manager and owner of three blue ducks, may you read this and realise even though you pay high rent and commend yourselves to be a respectable high end restaurant who deliver in good food and service, you failed in every aspect that night. please get off your high horse and pay attention to your patrons. you keep this kind of service up and you will not survive this industry. may you learn from this and hire a more attentive service manager. safe to say will not be recommending.

4 stars for the foods, 1 star for the waitress who ignored me when she walked to me and i was saying "excuse me"~ after i said the second time, she stopped, i asked to pay the bill（i said "please"）, well~ after 5 mins she didn't come back and continued to sevre the other customers and chatted with another staff ~then i asked the other waiter , he brought me the bill in 10 seconds.（because my seats is not far away from the counter）
the other waiters are all nice and professional.i was having dinner with my 18moths baby, and the waitress seemed not polite(a long face and no smile)which made me had a badexperienceat the w hotel.

staying at the w hotel for our wedding anniversary we were excited to be dining at three blue ducks last night. unfortunately our excitement dissipated throughout the dining experience. the dining setting was excellent, with a well positioned table with a great view of the brisbane river and southbank. we were welcomed by our waiter and the night was off to a good start. we had oysters for entree, which were excellent, particularly liked the finger lime dressing. the mains were a different story though. the char grilled prawns were overcooked, very dry and there were only 3 of them, not a very generous main serving in our opinion. the t-bone steak was of average to poor quality and presented gristle throughout and looked well under 500 grams. the waiter had become inattentive and delivered my glass of red wine, ordered at the start of the sitting to be taken with the steak, as we were finishing our mains. even more frustrating, was that our waiter was 2 tables away chatting with a couple that had finished their meal and were preparing to depart whilst i waited and eventually abandoned the notion of wine with dinner. the wholeexperiencewas underwhelming, so much so, that we made the decision not to return for breakfast as we originally planned. three blue ducks was a low light in an otherwise amazingexperienceas guests at the w hotel. unlikely to return for a meal.

this is not a positive review. the brisbane arm of three blue ducks fails to live up to the hype associated with its bronte and byron siblings. it failings are almost universal across the criteria common to restaurant reviews. the food at three blue ducks is, unfortunately, yet another example of the mediocrity that many brisbane restaurants of a similar ilk appear to be settling for. the drying meats and fish displayed in a cabinet on entry lead one to believe that this restaurant, like its southern forebearer, prides itself on high quality food. not in the white-table-cloth-and-classical-music tradition, but in the good-food-done-well tradition. it's neither. we shared all our dishes: the haloumi (an uninspired variation on an outdated concept overpowered by a garden of parsley) and tandoori quail (a very underwhelming marinade considering the depth and complexity characteristic of tandoor) to start, the 500g bone in ribeye with burnt onion and chimichurri (a reasonably well-executed dish, but not for the $60 price tag) and carrots (advertised as include honeycomb, but noticeably absent from our serve) for main, and chocolate parfait (perhaps the least inspiring item we ordered) and crème brûlée (boasting the inclusion of vanilla … as much a staple ingredient of crème brûlée as eggs and sugar). the decor is confused. laminated table tops; part faux wood part concrete flooring; downlights on rails alongside modern pendant lights; mismatched seating with a scandinavian feel ... what is going on here? service is poor, lifeless, and, sometimes, condescending. to draw on the recentexperienceshared by my wife and me, our server carried an air of arrogance complemented by yet another attempt at hipster wait staff attire (an outdated look). when our dessert order was incorrectly placed, our server offered an insincere apology. there are other small, but equally noticeable aspects that contribute to the overall listlessness of three blue ducks. if the rather large vacant space towards the back of the restaurant isn’t off putting, the battery-powered tea light candles in the bathrooms are. how could a couple be justified in paying over $100 per head (including 1 glass of bubbles and red each) for such oversights? interestingly, in this weekend’s wish, the magazine published as part of the weekend australian, jeff bennett, one of the co-owners of three blue ducks, described how he had an uneasy feeling about opening an arm of the restaurant in brisbane. perhaps these reservations were well-founded.

well w! it’s a little early to judge so you be the judge. fish - gold band snapper fresh but over cooked. oysters and prawns naturale perfect. lamb meatballs perfect. not sure if the byronexperiencehas fully transitioned yet...staff nervous and feeling their way in the curvaceous surrounds. they lack confidence. a great view for brisbane. twice in two days and it’s consistent but just a three. very very clean and new. not grimy.

i’ve never been to three blue ducks for dinner in byron. so when their brisbane iteration opened up at the new w hotel and a friend happened to have booked a table for opening night, our attendance was almost mandatory. overall ourexperiencewas a little lack lustre. we really should learn not to go to restaurants in brisbane during the opening month. i feel like restaurants here really take a little longer to iron out their wrinkles. or perhaps it’s just them.