27 June 2008

The Hotel Realm

| Peter Holland
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I was at a business meeting last week at the Hotel Realm’s restaurant, the Konoba. I have never had such a great culinary experience, from the moment we walked in, we were treated as valued clients. The food was excellent, the staff were superb.

I recommend it to all – it is pricey, but nothing next to kingsleys crab and steak.

has anyone else been there?

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c_c™ said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

Expensive and generic. A good environment for posers.

How is it expensive? Most night a ‘Realm Room’ is $275. I can tell you interstate you’d struggle to get a 5 star at that price on a weekday unless you book far in advance . Which brings up another thing, where as a lot of 5 star places have a bell curve for their rates which favours very short notice and very far notice bookings, Realm’s rates remain fairly constant regardless of the amount of notice.

I’m not saying Realm is perfect, but let’s not just make stuff up.

Really? It’s pricey for what it is I reckon.

thebrownstreak69 said :

Expensive and generic. A good environment for posers.

How is it expensive? Most night a ‘Realm Room’ is $275. I can tell you interstate you’d struggle to get a 5 star at that price on a weekday unless you book far in advance . Which brings up another thing, where as a lot of 5 star places have a bell curve for their rates which favours very short notice and very far notice bookings, Realm’s rates remain fairly constant regardless of the amount of notice.

I’m not saying Realm is perfect, but let’s not just make stuff up.

thebrownstreak693:54 pm 17 Jul 13

Expensive and generic. A good environment for posers.

We went and had some Sunday afternoon drinks there about a month ago, and the place was overrun with screaming children (some sort of christening / baby related thing) Not the sort of thing you really want in a bar environment.

A family friend stayed at Hotel Realm this month. Her tip from the experience is: Order your breakfast the night before.

Unlike a normal 5-star hotel, you can’t wake up in the morning and choose your breakfast via room service.

But who decides and places their breakfast order the night before when staying at an upmarket hotel? Isn’t that one of the luxuries of a ritzy place?

Patrons might be less disappointed if they are actively forewarned of this strange practice.

I MC’d a function there a couple of months ago and they were pretty good. The food was great, the service was friendly, and they were pretty responsive to extra requests. A couple of technical hitches, none of them overly major. I had the sense they were still a tad new at the game then, but trying hard to make up for lack of experience.

The decor’s a bit hospital-clean-white-surfaces for my liking, but the ballroom’s a ballroom. Good acoustics and A/V facilities.

From the ashes of the Macquarie Hostel rises Realm. Ah the Macquarie…. memories.

boring!

hmmmm somewhat – not exactly painting a picture with your words, but that’s ok because it allows me to sample it without too much prejudice.

Duke said :

@peterh – instead of just telling us how great the food and service was, why not make an attempt at a proper restaurant review? Where exactly is Konoba (address?), what is the theme, what dishes did you and the group order??? – descriptions please!

How much for entres/ mains approximately? Decor? Ambience? Did you tip?

For somebody who had “never had such a great culinary experience” this post is awful scant on details.

right.

the food:

I had an oven baked eye fillet on a bed of baked mushrooms, one of my guests had the same, the other had the fish of the day.

there was a lunch special, 1 course and a drink for $18.00. the fish was extra, but I did not mind.

it was a bit loud, being packed out, but after our meal, over a good cup of coffee, we found that we were the only ones in there, the staff were in no rush to kick us out. They explained that there were several patrons that continued into the afternoon, with coffee and discussions.

new / modern decor, no tip, konoba is on national circuit in barton in the Hotel Realm.

better?

@peterh – instead of just telling us how great the food and service was, why not make an attempt at a proper restaurant review? Where exactly is Konoba (address?), what is the theme, what dishes did you and the group order??? – descriptions please!

How much for entres/ mains approximately? Decor? Ambience? Did you tip?

For somebody who had “never had such a great culinary experience” this post is awful scant on details.

I went there for a work lunch with about 20 collegues and found it great. We had pre-ordered and the food was in front of us within 15 minuted of being seated. The staff were attentive without being over the top, the booze was reasonably priced with a good selection of wines on offer. The food was fantastic, good portion size, good quality and all served at the same time.
I would recommend it to others without hesitation.

And great if you like that clinical, sterile, personality-less “bar in a hotel ambience”.

I really rate the restaurant and bar. Waiting 20 mins for bar food seems reasonable. The lamb shanks are fantastic. Great place for a drink on Friday after work…only $3 for a beer.

Dave_K said :

Well I don’t know about the restaurant but I can’t say I was impressed trying to order some food off their bar menu at 5.30pm on a weeknight during a parliamentary sitting week only to be told that the kitchen was closed for cleaning and we would have to wait for about 20 minutes for anything that resembled cooked food.

Closed for cleaning? If true, don’t knock it, sounds doubtful though.

Clown Killer2:23 pm 27 Jun 08

Do they have a bar? I’ll have to give subject it to my tried and tested bar exam.

marcothepolopony1:58 pm 27 Jun 08

For a Special Birthday I booked a suite at the Realm: the price included canapes and a drink at the cocktail bar – well, the drinks arrived but we were still waiting for the canapes when we booked out at 11am the next day!!! They just never arrived, nor did an apology.
The room was lovely however, and the bathrooms are exceptional. Breakfast was OK – Teething troubles?

Well I don’t know about the restaurant but I can’t say I was impressed trying to order some food off their bar menu at 5.30pm on a weeknight during a parliamentary sitting week only to be told that the kitchen was closed for cleaning and we would have to wait for about 20 minutes for anything that resembled cooked food.

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