Torba Restaurant & Lounge

I typically only write reviews when I am very pleased with my experience, but this time I was quite disappointed. We visited this restaurant last night before heading to the theatre. The location is lovely, near the parklands, theatres, convention centre, and parking. The venue itself looks nice and was comfortable. We were told that all entrees would be $10 for the evening, but this included the bread and butter, which was listed on the menu for $6. We shared a trio of dips and bread. The dips were tasty, but the bread was too hard. My main dish was the goulash, which came in a very small portion and the mash was watery. At $28, it seemed quite pricey. My wife had the beef cheeks, which had a larger portion and she enjoyed it. The food was quickly brought to our table after ordering, but the overall experience did not seem very professional.

The Eastern European cuisine at this restaurant was delectable, the service was top-notch, and the violinist was truly remarkable. The location is ideal for those looking to explore Parklands or for attendees of events at the Conference Centre.

I really enjoyed the Hungarian goulash and beef cheeks at this restaurant. The mashed potatoes that came with the goulash were disappointing, though, as they were too runny. The electric violin entertainer was fantastic.

In case anyone thought that things have changed here since Samantha G did her review back in April this year - think again. We had exactly the same type of wine experience: ordered a Pinot Gris and a red; bottles brought to the table and the red opened before we realised that it was a St Hallets and not the Tatachilla we'd ordered- no prior warning at all. We looked at the white - this time before it was opened: a cheap $10 NZ Pinot Gris and not what we'd ordered; when we said we didn't want it, the owner came over to tell us it was the same. No attempts to explain the obvious - that it wasn't at all the same -were successful: the repeated response was that it was the same price. This meant we were going to be charged the same price for two very different wines of very different quality!When pressed, she was forced to admit that, despite the long list of white wines, they only had the NZ Sav Blanc, the not listed NZ Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay. Of course - our waitress did not say when we ordered the wine that it wasn't available.Until we checked TripAdvisor this morning, we were almost prepared to accept the explanation that the restaurant is just about to introduce new wines, about to happen next week etc etc. BUT, Samantha Gs review makes it really clear to us that this is how they roll.Food was incredibly underwhelming for the price: two small Coles looking bread rolls cut in half accompanied three small serves of dip; cabbage rolls ok but barely warm, as were the bland dumplings.When we asked what the fish of the day was, we were told: 'White'.Thankfully we hadn't ordered mains so we could escape what was a really really disappointing experience - and we had been so happy at the thought of tasting Russian/Eastern European food.Hate to say it but do yourself a favour and give this one a miss until they change what is clearly a deliberate 'bait and switch' routine with the wine.

My spouse and i spontaneously decided to eat there on a Saturday night. Thoroughly enjoyed the food, waiter service was attentive, ambience was pleasant and the live violinist was a plus. A bit overpriced perhaps