Pacific Hotel Yamba

Group of 6 for Friday night dinner in the school holidays. Friendly service, amazing views, packed restaurant. Our meals were excellent, generous portions and delicious. It's a basic set up here, order at the counter for food, walk over to the bar to order drinks, self service water station, but works well enough. The potential to make way more money with table service for drinks is there (QR code perhaps even though I hate it 😆). Can't go wrong with a meal or drinks here, but it's always busy!

A very disappointing experience today. Queued for drinks at about 11.45am on a Saturday morning. One (nice) lady behind the bar, while standing in the queue other staff members walked behind her in the bar area, looked at the queue & continued on (I’m guessing they had not started work), then one of the staff came back around & stood in front of the bar with another local - don’t worry about serving & helping, instead, queue jump in front of others & orders two beers. Meanwhile another staff member starts & serves at the TAB (I get that), but then proceeds to serve locals, disregarding those queued or on the other side of the bar in the restraunt. Staff member in the bistro seemed to be under the pump, & made us know it. Food was very ordinary for the price. Buffalo wings smothered in a sauce from a jar that destroyed what seemed ok wings (although they had just been deep fried). Men’s toilets at 12pm already unclean & badly need to be refurbished. Water streaming non stop at the urinal. We had decided to give the pub a second chance follow our previous disappointing meal. Next time we will buy fish & chips & enjoy the view from the park. Won’t be back for a third time unless we see better reviews in the future.

We were really looking forward to our visit to the Pacific Hotel Yamba, especially given the incredible view — which truly is the best thing about the place. Unfortunately, everything else fell short. The food was very disappointing. I ordered the prawn gnocchi, but there were no prawns in it at all, there was the flavour of prawns, maybe 5 whole prawns sitting on top of the dish would’ve been nice for the price. It was also unexpectedly spicy, despite not being listed as such on the menu — a real letdown for someone who doesn’t enjoy chilli. Another meal at our table, the tofu Thai salad, was equally underwhelming. It hardly resembled a Thai salad, and there was maybe 50 grams of tofu in the whole dish — not good value at all. Service wasn’t much better. Even after queueing up right as the bistro opened, we waited a long time for our meals, while other tables that ordered after us were served first. It made for a frustrating experience. The view is undeniably stunning, but everything else — the building, the menu, and the service — really needs an update. With some care and improvement, the Pacific Hotel could be great again, but right now it’s trading entirely on its location.

We ate there on Monday the 5th Jan at 6.30pm and let me be clear. It was horrible! Not worthy of feeding to animals. We paid for 2 x Garlic Prawn dishes $36 each and received absolute crap. These people don’t deserve the license to sell food. The rice was old glug. The prawns not cooked. Zero garlic flavour and the sauce I’m certain was from a can. Absolutely tasteless. The staff couldn’t give a toss nor did they understand what they were serving up. Go and enjoy the view with a drink by all means but avoid the food at all cost. Sorry but very true.

Stayed 1 night on NYE, the location is absolutely perfect! There is no better place to stay for NYE fireworks. My husband and I were very lucky to get a room for NYE last minute. The lady at check in was awesome, super friendly, and accommodating. The rooms are very dated but overall quite clean. We had the shared bathrooms which were generally clean, but in a pretty bad state of repair, nowhere to put shampoos and soaps and one of the shower heads didn’t stay upright, so was difficult to shower. I would look to stay again if we could get a better room without shared bathrooms. It was a last minute booking so we took what we could get.

Luckily the view is spectacular. We pre booked for dinner, our details were taken right down to our phone numbe. We arrived 30 mins early for pre dinner drinks. Place was extremely busy with lots of tables with reserved labels on them. When it came time for our reservation we enquired after not been able to find it ourselves. We were told there was no reservation under that name! And no attempt to find anything or no attempt of an apology. We left and ate elsewhere.

We went to The Pacific Hotel two nights ago for my mum’s birthday, and the experience was so poor it deserves to be shared as a warning to anyone considering dining there. My mum ordered the confit duck, which arrived as a tough, uninspiring breast - something the menu didn’t bother to clarify. Confit is supposed to be tender and fall apart effortlessly. This was the complete opposite. When we questioned it, the kitchen’s response was nothing short of astonishing. The chef doubled down, insisting we “didn’t know” what confit should be, as if the problem was our ignorance rather than the dish in front of us. It’s hard to think of anything more unprofessional than a chef lecturing customers instead of simply listening. In stark contrast, the wait staff were polite and clearly uncomfortable with the attitude coming from the kitchen. They were apologetic and doing their best, but it was obvious they were being forced to pass on the chef’s defensiveness. I felt genuinely sorry for them, and I’m not proud that my own frustration spilled over - they didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of it. After sending the duck back, my mum ordered the Thai beef salad. It took 45 minutes to turn up. By the time it arrived, everyone else at the table had long since finished eating. Watching the birthday guest sit there without a meal while the rest of us were done was embarrassing for the venue and unacceptable in any restaurant, let alone one trading on its reputation and location. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t the only disappointment. The whole venue feels rundown, tired, and in desperate need of attention, a far cry from the polished, welcoming environment you’d expect. Overall, The Pacific Hotel gave us one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had in years: an arrogant chef, mediocre food, long delays, and a venue that coasts on its views instead of its service or quality. Yamba has many great places to eat. This simply isn’t one of them.

Lucky for them they've got a good view. Disappointingly the service staff weren't really that sold on providing a good customer experience or interested in making you feel welcome. We went on a Thursday afternoon and there wasn't that many people in the place to give the excuse the they were too busy to care. The place itself is in desperate need of some love and a facelift plus lessons on how to engage customers to really make this place worth a return visit. Like I said, lucky this place has the views.

What an excellent view whilst having lunch. We did pop in yesterday to make a booking so that we got a window table today. Two of us went for the light lunch with calamari.....very nice and a good size. Our other diners went for the blue eyed cod and fish & chips. They were suitably fed too. We drank the local beers and they were good. The service was attentive too. Parking can be a problem so go for an early time.

WHAT A GREAT SPOT ! Yamba is a town in Northern New South Wales, Australia at the mouth of the Clarence River. At the 2016 census, Yamba had a population of 6,043 but as a popular tourist destination, it can triple its population in the holiday period. In 2009 Yamba was voted the number 1 town in Australia by Australian Traveller Magazine. The town has a relaxed lifestyle with access to two pubs and two clubs, the Pacific Hotel and Yamba Shores Tavern, a golf club and a bowling club all with regular live performances. Yamba also has sporting and recreation groups such as the Yamba Buccaneers Rugby Union club and the Yamba Breakers football club, the Yamba community heated pool and Raymond Laurie Sports Centre plus restaurants, a youth hostel, eateries, cafes, Internet facilities, cinema, primary schools, churches, golf course, library, post office, banks, bowling greens and a large deep-water marina. Fishing and oyster industries were established in the 1880s, with prawn trawling pioneered in the 1940s. THOSE ARE THE FACTS ! Yamba first came to our attention in early 2005 when my wife and I planned a visit to Iluka in Northern New South Wales. I had very fond childhood memories of an Easter long weekend vacation in Iluka with my best school buddy and his family. My wife being the research queen who books our accommodation wherever we travel said there was not really anything of note available in tiny Iluka but a stone's throw away on the other side of the Clarence River was the town of Yamba. We booked an oceanfront studio apartment at a place called The Rocks around the Australia Day weekend. At the time we were living in Brisbane...in the bayside suburb of Cleveland. We made the 200 mile drive in about 4 hours in my 2003 Nissan 350Z Touring Coupe ( 6 speed manual )...ideal for this picturesque hilly drive. Our good friends who lived in the same oceanfront townhome complex also came along in their Jaguar XJ8. We arrived early on Australia Day ( Wed, Jan 26th, 2005 ). The owner of The Rocks apartment complex was very friendly and loved our sports cars. We both had reserved parking spots under the building and as it turned out we were parked next to another guest's sports car....a red Maserati convertible owned by a doctor. The owner of The Rocks was tickled pink to have 3 beautiful sports cars in the underground garage and took the photos you see. After unpacking our gear we headed into town to buy some lunch. Now Yamba is essentially a small fishing village with prawn trawlers supplying their catch to lots of markets. We bought fresh cooked prawns ( shrimp ) at a seafood store and fresh baked bread rolls at a cute bakery. Some amazing King Island Camembert Cheese from a small supermarket and a case of stubbies from the pub. Lunch was a real treat sitting on the patio of our apartment watching a pod of Dolphins surf the waves barely 100 feet away. THIS IS THE LIFE ! The next day on Thursday our gang took a excursion on a boat along the Clarence River..DOLPHINS EVERYWHERE ! On Saturday after chilling out with a few beers in the afternoon back at the apartment it was time for dinner at the Pacific Hotel. WOW...did this iconic pub have an ocean view or what ! We had a few drinks of course...Jack Daniels & coke for me and Maker's Mark on the rocks for my buddy. Dinner was pretty decent...fish & chips, risotto, steak & salad. I read on their live music poster inside the entrance that 2 members ( Rick and John Brewster ) of the famous Aussie rock band THE ANGELS were performing on Sunday night. BUGGER...because we were heading back home to Brisbane on Sunday morning. Breakfast in Byron Bay at the world famous Beach Cafe of course. GOTTA WORK to pay for this stuff. WHAT A GREAT TIME !

Great pub meal with a view. Typical country pub atmosphere. Friendly staff and bar staff

Awesome meal and live music tonight. I had the soft shell crab and it was amazing! Live music Friday, sat, sun eves and amazing view During the day.

Is there anything better than a pub sitting on a cliff overlooking the beach? Probably, but a lazy Sunday afternoon sipping bubbles whilst you watch the waves crash against the shore is pretty darn good. The Pacific Hotel which sits just above Main Beach in Yamba is one of those country town gems that has the best local feel. There's a bar in the front and a bistro in the back with a main stage in the corner where bands from all around the Northern Rivers come on various days, check their website if coming to see some live music is your thing. Or if you're like me and just want to have a relaxing lunch overlooking the ocean grab a seat in the bistro. All the tables are by the giant glass windows which overlook the cliffs and beach. There's a great bistro menu with classic pub fare as well as fresh seafood from the area (oysters from Wooli and fish from Yamba). The food is great. I had the salt and pepper squid which was tender and fresh, Dad has a steak sandwich which was cooked perfectly on turkish bread (a nice light alternative if you want my opinion) and Mum had pork skewers (an entree but came out the size of a main). Topping off the food I had sticky date pudding for dessert which was the only thing that was a slightly let down. Great flavour but a little dry, thankfully there was plenty of butterscotch sauce and ice cream to remedy that. The fact that the food and service are great is just the tip of the iceberg with this pub. You really want to just come for the view. Any day it's going to be great, rain or sunshine.

Best views in town! This was our go-to spot for incredible beach views and fun pub atmosphere. You can even see whales breaching from the restaurant. We ate here over the course of several days. One time we even had lunch and dinner here in one sitting while chasing back some beer. The food is pretty standard for pub food. You're not going to get the most amazing meal, but it's decent. You'll quickly forget when you're overlooking the beach from the steep cliff it sits on.