If you haven't heard of Rick Stein before, then you are probably under 40 years old and/or does not watch a lot of cooking show on ABC. All of which categories that I fall under. My first introduction to Rick Stein was driving the Princess Highway on the scenic NSW South Coast. On a big billboard was a light blue slogan with white writings "Rick Stein at Bannisters". Who the hell is Rick Stein? My first thought was he is either a chef or a racing car driver. We found the restaurant perched next to the small hotel equipped with pool bar. Hotel guests gets priority bookings at the restaurant during peak times and bookings do fill up quickly particularly in summer. The restaurant has a full size glass window for viewing, outside undercover balcony seating, and garden view seating by a library/couch set up. Service was impeccable, perhaps the best. Restaurant Manager Zaf Tasci could end up being a better value for this restaurant than Rick Stein himself, and the other wait staff follows in his professionalism. Choosing to sit on the balcony, Zaf tells me he will check on me when the evening drought becomes uncomfortable He regularly checks in as promised, and planted subtle alternatives should my body climate defeats my stubbornness to enjoy the night stars. When this happened, Zaf sets you up on a new table swiftly. The seafood are fresh and the entrees are delicious, and great wine list. The fish pie at $44 was very disappointing, drowning in an overly rich creamy sauce and light crumb on top. The salmon was cooked perfectly however the sauce again is overly creamy. This is a restaurant best enjoyed at lunchtime for cost and view reasons. I wouldn't travel here again just for a meal at Rick Stein's but if I was staying in the area, would definitely visit here for lunch. read more

Mr Stein, I presume.... I have been an on-off fan of Rick Stein and his cooking shows, however he has some incredible Indian cookbooks based on his amazing travels through the sub-continent. And it is not just ABC BTW, he is a regular on Lifestyle Food!! Just sayin'... This is an interesting spot, Mollymook is a lovely if eclectic part of the world, and the Bannisters resort is in a great location on a point overlooking the ocean. In season whales and dolphins can be observed from the decks. The resort itself is small an intimate although a bit old-school in it's layout, the word motel-ish has been mentioned to me by others, but having had a tour of the rooms I can say there is nothing motel-ish about them, for sure! The restaurant is decorated in a neutral style, but the ante-room or relaxing area is in a lovely mix of Indian and Moroccan wall tiles and collectibles gathered by Rick in his travels. We were there for lunch, BTW, and we got one of those stunning autumn days that we had a few of this year. The staff were first rate, top notch fine dining service with a smile, and before long we were enjoying a mix of oysters, some chilled bubbles and a great view! The menu is interesting, with couple of good curries, some seafood, and fish pie. Ahhhh, fish pie!! For me, this was fantastic - rustic, served in a dish with a crumbed topping rather than pastry, with large dollops of sumptuous seafood in a delicious creamy sauce. I could have eaten two, no problem. At the table was also a red curry, which had my curry-loving friend in raptures and a sweat, and grilled something fish, don't remember, was too busy licking the bowl of my pie. Seriously good food, yes it is moderately expensive, but if you want something cheaper, then don't go to Rick Stein, or for that matter any celebrity chef. Highly recommended, look forward to more. read more

This my second time visiting this restaurant. Rick Stein's at Bannisters is a perfect spot for a week end get away or way to break up a trip down the south coast of NSW. In this instance it was to take a break on the way down the coast. The restaurant is located in a beatiful bush setting and the hotel has ocean views. Unfortunately we were unable to enjoy the views as we stopped in for dinner this time. With a restaurant bearing Rick Stein's name and being on the south coast of NSW, you find yourself thinking of his TV series and an eclectic mix of seafood based meals. That is exactly what you get with the menu at this restaurant. We arrive at the restaurant it is night time and I take in a breath of fresh south coast air, this immediately removes all of my built up frustrations from a long week at work and from battling the Friday peak hour traffic. The restaraunt on first impression is formal with waitstaff being uniformly dressed in white shirts ans aprons with boat shoes. We were escorted to the table and that is followed by the usual routine that accompanies a formal dining experience. The waitstaff providing a choice of water and the wine/drink list. The table is set and candle lit. There are couples enjoying a meal, in what could be cosidered a romantic setting. There are a groups enjoying the experience of dining together. Once settled and the formalities are over, I have a sip of my cold beer. I look around the restaurant, it is decorated with some coastal themed art work, the tables are of wood and are not covered with a table cloth. This pares back the formal feel of the restaraunt, in a good way. I find my self with a pre conceived idea of ordering the fish pie, remembering this dish from last time I had visited the restaurant. The dish with a medely of perfectly cooked seafood, a thick decadent fish veloutè sauce with black truffle and gratinated with bread crumbs and parmesan. The waitress takes our order, the service is formal yet has a relaxed south coast feel. We order dishes containg fresh local seafood. To start Oysters charentaise, gezpacho with salmon and kingfish tartare. This was a nice fresh start to the meal and went down well with the beer. For the main we order the whole snapper with a citrus sauce of orange and of course the fish pie. The snapper was perfectly grilled with a smokey barbeque flavour combining well with the sweet tasting orange and macadamia sauce. Now on to the much anticipated fish pie; it was how I remembered it, maybe even a little better. Digging into the pie dish with the fork, it was like a lucky dip. Picking out delicious pieces of seafood all perfectly cooked; prawns, squid, mussels salmon all coated with the delicious sauce and crumb. Somehow we even managed to fit in desert, the pannacota and the affogato. This was a nice way to finish the meal. In all a great experience, highly recommended. Worthy of stopping by for a meal or even a romantic getaway. read more

Rick Stein at Bannisters - Whole snapper with orange and macadamia - Seafood Near Me - Mollymook, NSW

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All up a very disappointing evening with indifferent and unprofessional service, mediocre menu and several failed expectations. We won't be rushing back Rick Stein. We recently drove up from Sydney for what was anticipated to be a great dining experience at Rick Steins Bannisters Restaurant taking advantage of the "Taste of Port Stephens offer which includes accomodation and a "Two course meal at Rick Stein at Bannisters Port Stephens" at the cost of $725.00 After Arriving at the Rick Stein restaurant, we were duly seated, handed menus and a wine list, ordered some wine and informed our waitress that we were there on the "taste of Port Stephens" offer. She said she would need to speak to the manager, who duly turned up and removed our menus and said he would check but he thinks we need to dine at "the terrace" rather than the restaurant. He returns saying that we are in fact eligible to dine at the restaurant, but hands us different menus with half the options of the full menu we consulted previously. This adjusted menu does not include any of the delicacies we were wanting to eat. Since we are there for the dining and food experience, this was a major disappointment. We proceeded to order entree's, the fish soup and the oysters. These duly arrive but the soup without the croutons which according to the server would be arriving shortly. My husband finished his oysters and I while I waited for the promised croutons, I eventually managed to get the waitresses attention and the croutons finally arrive to luke warm soup. I ordered another glass of wine to accompany my John Dory main, ten minutes later it had still not arrived, by which time I have finished my meal sans wine. I saw the glass of wine waiting on the bar counter, so I went over to the bar and asked the barman whether that was for our table, he says it was, he then offered to bring it over to my table so " I can feel special". I said I'd run out of patience and I'll took it myself. All up a very disappointing evening with indifferent and unprofessional service, mediocre menu and several failed expectations. We won't be rushing back Rick Stein. read more

Went to Bannisters Pizza Bar for dinner with 2 friends on a Friday. Overall the experience was a good one. The atmosphere was very nice for friends or for a hot date. The live music was too loud for my taste so talking to my friends was made difficult and i was as far away as one can get from the musician. The food was good but not amazing for the price or what you'd expect from a Rick Stein restaurant. We had the pizza's which were very tasty although they looked to be thrown together rather hastily. I would recommend this restaurant and want to come back for lunch in the summer to take advantage of the amazing pool area and view. read more

I really wanted to like this place and there is much to like. The view during the day is beautiful, the sea food is good quality and the service is pretty much ok, but the prices for what you get are exceptionally high. $45 for a fish curry is steep and whilst the curry was delicious, the price detracted from my overall enjoyment. I also think for the prices being charged a little more space between tables is a reasonable expectation. So whilst there was nothing to dislike, I just didn't feel I was getting value for money - for the same prices in Sydney I would expect and have received more. read more