Friday 5 April 2013

Mures Upper Deck 2013

2008 was the last time I ate at Mures Upper Deck, and was so disappointed with the food, I swore I wouldn’t go again. Well, I went back last night – and had all my fears realized, in spades. Not only was the menu unadventurous, but the food was very average, and the service severely lacking, with the prices being too high for the quality of food I got.

I watched two tables leave without ordering, leaving half drunk glasses of water and menus on the table, after being well ignored by the many totally disorganized waitstaff on duty. There was no rhyme nor reason to the way they seemed to be operating. All staff going in different directions, showing new arrivals to their tables then managing to forget or overlook them until a hungry customer stopped a passing waitperson and requested their order for food and drinks be taken. This happened to us and all the tables around us.

I had the Upper Deck Selection ($33.90). No matter how much wordage you devote to making menu items sound appetizing and delectable, the fact remains that when a simple plate of badly cooked battered scallops, crumbed fish, and two extremely chewy calamari rings, with chips, arrives at the table, you can’t help but feel ripped off!

The occasion was a birthday celebration for Rita – made not at all notable by the food and service at Mures Upper Deck.

Bad luck Mures that I was approached as I left by two tourists staying at Grand Chancellor, who had been told there was a one hour wait for a table in the Upper Deck, and wanted my opinion as to whether or not it was worth the wait for them. You can guess at my response!

Mures Upper Deck – you could do so much better. As Aunty Jack would say – “Get it together, cavemen!”


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a shame, Rita!
I've been a long-ish time reader but never commented. I myself had a birthday dinner with the fella last night (the fella being a chef) at Henry's. I can be quite fussy, however the food, atmosphere and service were fantastic. The food was the best I've had in a really long time - and I've attended some great establishments of late! I can't stop thinking about it! I think Andre tends to really only tweak the menu each time it's 'changed' - for example last years b'day dinner was a pea ravioli, house made goat bacon BLT, pumpkin velouté, and the white fish dish. All of these things can still be found on the menu, but have been varied.

I don't mind, I'm a creature of habit :-) Last years meal was so great I still remember every dish we had, and we had six courses (some of which were different to what the other ordered).

Anonymous said...

Ugh - I wrote a massive 'review' of our meal at Henry's, - a part two, if you will, but I can't paste it in, so will have to try when I get home.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Andres Mum

Christina said...

Must say I saw your pic on facebook and my first thought was "my gosh, what's Rita doing there"?
Well that's the polite way of saying what I thought.
Sorry your experience was crappy. Try the Seafood Plate at the Beltana when you can. Absolutely fabulous!!

Anonymous said...

Mures upper deck, lower deck and Kingston has been going down hill for years.

25% price rise last year - decreased quality, food is 95% frozen and service poor/disinterested.

With Fish349, Blue Eye, Flathead etc providing way better quality - I'm wondering why anyone would bother going to Mures.

Sir Grumpy said...

The Kingston Mures did jack up proces a while back, so we stopped going.
It was just past the point of decent value for us. That and the fact we got told (apology) that some of the fish we wanted that day was frozen. Service always fine for us there.
But, it is see ya later.
However, we may crack, as there are very few places to get decent grub in Kingston.
Sometime we drive round and round at lunchtime considering our options.
It's like...Chopsticks, nah, sickly sweet; Banjo's, you're joking; Subway, no chance; Praties, not in mood; Golden Tulip, maybe, but the pies last time were way too salty - even phone to complain; Kelantan Delights, don't like it; New Thai place ib Channel Court, boring, limited and sweet as; Japanese places, okay if you like sushi, but for hot meal such as Teryaki chicken, you wait forever; Breadd, fine now and again; Cafe Namaskar, fine (great Madras) but a dark, hot and horrible eating area and woeful service except if the owner is in; et, etc.
C2U fish shop has begun cooked fish and chips, with fresh fish only. Been three times and one was great, one disappointing, one okay.
One of the people there fries the fish a bit too brown but we have hopes for it overall.
What does a hungry person do? Well we go home and open a tine of soup or have something on toast!
Come on cooks out there, get it together for your southern suburbs brethren

Sir Grumpy said...

PS apologies Rita for poor typing above, I was in a rush and didn't take time to check.
Now get us good food for Kingston.
You know me and the missus often think we should take the plunge and go for it ourselves.
I'm sure we couldn't do worse!
Say a little, proper curry; special fried rice; Chinese stir-fry; pasta dish; good bread, butter; a beef or lamb stew; home-made soups; fresh fish and chips; wife's muffins and home-made pasties; rice pud or apple pie; nice tea and coffee; home-made shortbread.....hmmm

Anonymous said...

Sir G, many a home cook have deluded themselves into believing that have what it takes to run a cafe/restaurant.
Whilst you obviously have the requirements of enjoying food, doing it as a job can leech the enjoyment from it pretty quickly.
My advice, stay on the other side of the counter and keep us all honest.
However should you decide to go ahead, I applaud your self belief.

Sir Grumpy said...

Yes, anon,

I have heard advice such as yours given to many a would-be cafe owner.
Good advice it is too. My missus has talked about it for years, but I'll stick to the home range.
I wouldn't mind getting involved with a small place and ``helping
out''.
Sometimes you want to see them thrive but can see they are not putting it together.
Kingborough is stacked with such places. Frozen, reheated, refried shit day after day we won't touch.
Whatever happened to fresh fish at takeaways for example?
It's too easy for most to just shove the frozen crap in hot oil and serve it up.
We hate it.

tassieblather said...

Interesting to see an ad for an "Executive Chef" at Mures Upper Deck in today's Mercury. It's "undergoing a review, refresh and reshape". I'd like to think your rreview played a part in this decision, Rita. let's see if you can be wood back for am third attempt at a good review....

Anonymous said...

Such a shame to see Mures going downhill - been around for so long.
I've eaten there twice and vowed never to go back - food and service utterly appalling.
Has to be said though, that the Upper Deck is owned separately from the Lower Deck and despite the name 'Mures', they are apparently completely separate businesses.
Still, they both seem terrible and nothing at the moment would persuade me to eat at either again.
Susie

Anonymous said...

Mures Kingston is also terrible. Very druaghty and poorly designed lay out. Frozen deep fried fish and chips, nothing fresh and all very overpriced. This sort of food I can buy at a corner takeaway for a quarter of the price, same food, just cheaper elsewhere.

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Anonymous said...

Dear Dark MOFO Organizers:
Love the event, its magic, thankyou.
the Winter Feast was let down by not having enough people serving so the queues were huge and we didn't want to wait too long in the cold.