I've been a frequent diner at Hog's Breath Cafe since they first opened in 1989. I've dined at Hog's Breath Cafes all over Australia. It's my go-to steakhouse.... until tonight. I've been loyal through menu changes before and I've been to Hog's Breath Cafes with bad food and bad service (Perth comes to mind) but tonight I think I've reached the end of that 27 year journey.
There's been some changes at Hog's Breath Cafe, well now they're called 'Hog's'. The sports bloopers on the TV's have changed to Maria Carey and Taylor Swift music videos and the bartender is a Hipster with a man-bun. Something's not right.
The menu looks different and the branding is refreshing. The familiar dishes are still there with little changes. What could go wrong?
We were a family party of 4. We ordered a 'finger food platter for 2' for entree and while the food was excellent the wooden board it was served on made it difficult to share. Sadly, that was the highlight of the evening.
Our mains were two kids meals, the crumbed flathead and the Cheese Pizza plus the usually excellent steak sandwich and an old favourite, the Byron Bay Chilli Steak.
Sadly, three of the four meals were inedible. The fish was gritty and quite unpleasant. Two bites was all we could manage. The Cheese Pizza was a poorly cooked dough base covered in just ketchup and too much cheese. My daughter ate a small piece and felt nauseous.
The steak sandwich was different. Not the familiar sandwich with a steak in it, some lettuce, tomato and sauce. No, it was a bread roll with garlic butter. Coleslaw and a steak that was mostly gristle. It was horrible and inedible. The Prime Rib steak was OK. The side salad was a piece of lettuce covered in that awful coleslaw and the curly fries that came with every meal were undercooked.
We all left feeling a bit sick and $131.92 poorer. For that we got lemonade & Coke, 3 light beers, a finger food platter and a steak. The rest went in the rubbish bin. The staff were inattentive and undertrained. The decor was too bright and totally different from the formula that served them so well for the last 27 years. 75% of the food was crap. I gave some feedback to a heavily tattoed genderless human at the cash register who told me they would share the story with the Chef....like I'd care, then made no effort to amend the bill or make any effort to repair the relationship. So we walked out and started talking about where we were going to dine next week instead of Hog's.
If I was to guess, I'd say the Company has changed hands or changed direction. Either way they've lost their way AND a few loyal customers. It will be very difficult to ever go back.
In summary. Hog's Breath Cafe is dead. R.I.P. read more