Ilkari Restaurant - YULARA

Ilkari is a buffet restaurant located in Sails at Desert Hotel. Breakfast is priced at $48 per person and dinner is $89 per person. The buffet offers a variety of dishes including prawns, oysters, steak, and vegetarian options. Personally, I preferred Arnguli, the restaurant at Desert Sands Hotel, as it offers table service. The staff at Arnguli was efficient and friendly.

We enjoyed the breakfast and dinner buffet at Ilkari. The variety of options catered to every palate, including vegan dessert choices. The staff was attentive, constantly clearing dirty plates and refilling drinks.

We decided to try the buffet for our last night at this restaurant, knowing it would be expensive based on reviews. However, we were surprised to pay $225 for a meal that, while lovely, was not exceptional. The restaurant itself is beautiful with many tables, so reservations are necessary. Prices for drinks were high, with a bottle of Pale Ale and a small beer costing $15 each, and a bottle of water costing $10. It's important to be cautious with your spending here, unless you plan on indulging in endless amounts of food each night. The staff was attentive, polite, and friendly, although we were unsure how tip pooling and distribution worked. It would be helpful to have more transparency on how tips are handled to ensure that the waiting staff receive their fair share.

In the first night we had booked this restaurant for us, but we enjoyed it so much we went back to the 2nd night. A lot of choice, good service and an ambience are also good.

When you go to Central Australia and they talk about bush tucker, you expect to get some different flavours. This restaurant doesn't deliver. We visited once for the buffet dinner and once for breakfast. At tge dinner The smoked kangaroo was delicious. The buffalo steaks...chewy. The lack of bush spices was very evident. Yes there was a good amount of food. Curries, Asian, charcuterie, a little seafood but nothing to rave about when the cost is $90 a head. Then the water was $12. And my one cocktail cost $27. They missed the mark on showcasing amazing bush flavours. But we had to do it once. Breakfast was the usual food at buffets. Nothing special except the bread and butter pudding was to die for. Once again pricey. $49 a head. The chai pudding was disgusting and fizzed on your tongue like it was rancid. Don't try it.