Cello's Restaurant - Castlereagh Boutique Hotel

We went there for a romantic Valentine's Day 3 course dinner. Would not waste my time going there ever again. The dining room is beautiful but the food leaves a lot to be desired!!

Just like people, you should never judge a book by it's cover. Whilst the hotel oozes old world charm, sadly, the food here does not. My friend and i ordered a soy cappuccino and a skim flat white to start. Whilst my friends was drinkable, mine was not. The smell that emanated from the cup would only rival a tradie's armpit on a 40 degree day. Two sips later and with my tastebuds bellowing at me to stop the torture, i put down the cup as an act of kindness. Alas, the pain was to continue. My friend and I had ordered the Vol- au –Vent filled spinach, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and hollandaise. Time of death should have been called on this dish well before it left the kitchen. Putting aside the store bought vol-au-vent cases, the scrambled eggs were so bland, a cardiologist appointment is now on the cards due to the amount of salt required to resuscitate any last vestige of taste that may have been hiding in it. The smoked salmon was the only salvageable morsel on this plate. Needless to say, the hollandaise was the hardest working ingredient in the dish, trying desperately to pardon and cover a multitude of sins occurring all at once (dry cases, bland eggs). The horror continued when the time came to pay the bill. The waitress/cook/greeter asked 'how was the breakfast?'. I uttered 'not great' and my friend 'disappointing'. It was like nothing had been uttered at all. Nada acknowledgement of what was said only the bill amount of $47 and a question of 'cash' or card' offered up as an answer. Like everything else in life, if you don't wish to know the answer, don't ask the question. Or in this case, ask the question, and totally ignore the answer.Play on!. Needless to say, if you wish to enjoy the old world charm of a yesteryear period hotel with food that tastes that was cooked from that era and re-animated for you taste buds (dis)pleasure, treat yourself at Cellos. Just make sure that you give your taste buds a respectful send off after.

Just like people, you should never judge a book by it's cover. Whilst the hotel oozes old world charm, sadly, the food here does not. My friend and i ordered a soy cappuccino and a skim flat white to start. Whilst my friends was drinkable, mine was not. The smell that emanated from the cup would only rival a tradie's armpit on a 40 degree day. Two sips later and with my tastebuds bellowing at me to stop the torture, i put down the cup as an act of kindness. Alas, the pain was to continue. My friend and I had ordered the Vol- au –Vent filled spinach, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and hollandaise. Time of death should have been called on this dish well before it left the kitchen. Putting aside the store bought vol-au-vent cases, the scrambled eggs were so bland, a cardiologist appointment is now on the cards due to the amount of salt required to resuscitate any last vestige of taste that may have been hiding in it. The smoked salmon was the only salvageable... read more

Its almost Christmas and not a single other patron in sight as we sat rather uncomfortably in an environment that seems newly completed but still retains the boring, sorry very boring style of a bygone era. One can almost smell the faint perfumes of lavender, which suits the this style of place. The food arrived rather late, and one can only assume it was not because the place was packed. A menu befitting the place was UN-inspiring collection of the bits of this & that delivered joylessly to a table bursting with desire to escape back to 21st century, which we did with great vigor

Old world charm meets mouth watering food, with a live piano player to boot. Compliments to the chef as the duck was the best I've ever had. The glaze was first rate and it was so fall-off-the-bone tender that all I needed was a fork to devour the bird.