Aurora V.
Google
Unfortunately, I have to give only one star to this restaurant. The issues started even before the reservation. In early December, I went to the Woodend website to book a dinner for the evening of December 31st because my partner and I wanted to celebrate both our anniversary and New Year's Eve there, as they fall on the same night. However, when trying to make the reservation on the website, there was a notice saying that the table would only be available until 11 PM (I was trying to make the reservation at 9:30 PM). For this reason, I called the restaurant, and someone reassured me saying that there would be a special New Year's Eve event with a special menu and fireworks or some kind of celebration at midnight. The person told me they would send an email with all the details for the reservation as soon as possible. A few days later, not having received any email, I tried calling again, but the line was busy. I went ahead with the reservation anyway and wrote in the notes what had been told to me, meaning that we would stay to celebrate midnight.
The day before New Year's Eve, I received an email (attached) stating that there would be no special New Year's Eve dinner. Okay. Since I couldn't find anything else last minute, I confirmed the reservation. We arrived about ten minutes late (usually there's a 15-minute grace period, so it didn't seem unusual to us, given that the roads are very dark and dangerous), and the first thing they told us was that they only take orders until 10 PM, so we had to hurry to order. But if the website and the email stated that the last available slot was at 10 PM, should we have ordered before sitting at the table?! Anyway, we ordered, and they brought everything at once, causing the dishes to cool down. Everything was good, but of course, it would have been better if it had been hot (aside from the raw fish, of course). We finished dinner at 11 PM, and out of courtesy, I asked if, as initially promised, we could stay until midnight (I would have also ordered something to drink, considering the fairly high dinner bill of around $100 per person). The waiter told me he needed to check with his manager since there was still a lot of time until midnight (what does that even mean?!). After 10 minutes, the manager came over and said we couldn’t stay because the restaurant would be closed at midnight (there were about 9 other people split into different tables around us, what did they do, kick them out?). She said that if we wanted to celebrate at midnight, we would have to go to the restaurant next door (same hotel, literally 5 meters away, facing the same beach), paying another $100 PER PERSON just to watch the fireworks. Stunned, I asked for an explanation since we had just spent the same amount on dinner, and certainly, even if I had ordered a bottle of wine to drink by myself or to take away (since my partner had to drive and couldn't drink much), I wouldn't have reached that amount. Meanwhile, my partner had gone to the bathroom and asked another employee at the entrance the same question, and he was told there was no problem staying. As time passed, we found ourselves practically kicked out of this luxurious restaurant around 11:30 PM, and we still left a 15% tip, only to have our New Year's Eve ruined in such an utterly disgraceful manner. I absolutely do not recommend this place!
