Sienna Marina Italian Restaurant

For the record I ate here as a guest of the owner but I’m still going to provide as objective of a review as possible.
The owner just ordered for us so I didn’t get a say in what came out. For the entrée I had the scallops in shell. For me I feel like they were lacking flavour. It just made me want a do over with chinese style scallops with ginger and shallots. This was probably more of a 1 or ²⁄₅ dish for me.
Next came the steak. They only serve Australian AAA Black Angus 120 day grain fed meat. Nom nom nom the steak was delicious and the mash complimented it perfectly. Only thing was the sauce that came with it. I have no idea what sauce it was but it tasted like it could have some soy sauce in it which was weird. It’s like they heard my earlier plea for chinese style scallops and so made the steak sauce a bit Asian tasting. Not a fan of the sauce.
Finally dessert time. What I’d been waiting for as I heard it was their specialty. A New York cheesecake and Ferrero Rocher slide was presented in front of me and gobbled up in no time. Of the two I would pick the Ferrero Rocher over the cheesecake. If you love Ferrero Rocher you’ll definitely love this dessert. I can now understand why they are able to wholesale their cakes out.

Sienna was fighting an uphill battle from the moment we walked in. But rather than draw its sword, Sienna simply bowed its head and succumbed to the Seinfeld episode that was my lunch hour.
Earlier in the day I had given in to peer pressure to go to Moe’s Tavern at Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel for some Duff Beer and Krusty Burgers. This was something I was planning on doing the following day for dinner, but hey, it’s a limited time offer and I thought I could Double Duff. We got to the Hotel and were informed by the many many signs that Duff Beer was only available after 5 pm. It would have been helpful if that little bit of info had also been listed on the many many advertisements, but oh well, its a nice day, we’ll make do. We decide to head to the nearby Tilbury, where we’re informed the kitchen isn’t open for lunch Mondays. Its either a pre-​made sambo or nothing.
We had passed by Sierra Marina on the way. It seemed popular for the area (read: there were 2 or 3 tables occupied outside). We decided to check it out. The menu had a bit of everything (burgers, schnitzels, wraps, pasta, salads & pizza) and seemed reasonably priced ($ 15-​$ 20).
The service at Sienna Marina can only be described as clueless. It’s not appalling or shocking as these people really simply appeared to have no clue. They mean well (I think), they just don’t appear have the means to do well. So many things went sideways — due to a misunderstanding, the server walked away half way through our drinks order and we had to call him back. «Oh, I thought that was it» (even though only half the table had ordered). The poor kid had no knowledge of the cost of menu items where the prices had been blacked out, but said he would ask his manager. A few minutes after he left another server arrived and offered to take our drinks order — he at least knew the price missing from some items — its a shame I couldn’t bring myself to pay the $ 26 for a greek salad with beef at a place that charges $ 16-​$ 18 for nearly everything else the menu. Shortly after that the first server returned to tell us the beer we had ordered was not available. Shortly after that, the wrong beer arrived (bottle v tap — a minor slip this time).
The wait for food was a bit much considering the only other tables were those outside who (as far as I could tell) were already eating. Timing was non-​existent — the wrap came out a few minutes after the burgers, but well in advance of the chicken burgers. Hrm, wait a minute — those aren’t chicken burgers. We called the server over «sorry, I ordered the chicken burger, and I don’t think this is what I ordered». «Sorry, I couldn’t remember» was the helpful — and surprisingly honest — response received. There was an offer to replace the items, and later some complimentary macaroons, but I couldn’t really get over the fact that when the server couldn’t remember what two people had ordered, he simply guessed. And that seemed to be acceptable.
Overall, the food was average. I had one of the first burgers to come out, so by the time everything else arrived my pre-​made chips were a bit cold and the sweet brioche bun had been well soaked with beetroot. The patty was thick and overall not bad. We had been given a choice of medium or well done, which was nice — and the burger I received was well cooked to a juicy pink medium. I’m told the chicken schnitzels were good, even though they weren’t the burgers that had been ordered.

The food was yummy but pricey — we each ordered 2 entrees and that was the wrong approach. The $ 5 cokes came in a short glass with ice. I nearly cried as I was pretty thirsty!