Salsa Bar & Grill

Rude waiter who thinks very highly of himself. Skip this one.

Based on a recommendation from a local, we walked into Salsa Bar and Grill for a Saturday lunch during our day trip to Port Douglas. I was surprised the restaurant was not full but very glad that they could accommodate walk-ins. We were warmly greeted and seated indoors adjacent to the windows. There was a lovely view of the beach in the ...read more

What a great find in Port Douglas. On a recent trip we stumbled over this place after a recommendation from a local. The real surprise here was the service. Outstanding - all the staff were terrific, very friendly and professional. We started the night with some cocktails in the bar which were outstanding. The menu is pretty extensive and there are a range of specials. We were so impressed with the friendly service and menu options we ended up eating here three times - twice for dinner and once for lunch. Each time it was consistently good.

The food here is really quite good but the service let's it down. It seems to be run by a group of people who are there for fun. Improperly dressed, over casual ... Even one told me not to order a desired wine TWICE... Although his choice of the house white was good. The meals were slow to arrive and despite being overstaffed, was difficult to get anyone's attention for more wine. One staff topped up the sparkling mineral water in our glasses with tap water. Upon realizing he said oops and walked off. The food great but the service let's it down so much. At $110 per head I'd expect a little more.

So let me set the scene. As soon as I told people I was going to Port Douglas I was faced with a chorus ofyou have to go to Salsas. I was reminded of that Seinfeld episodeyou have to visit the baby. Literally, everyone harped on about Salsas. Based on this peer group pressure I booked a table months before our trip. Apparently you had to. Apparently tables were hard to get. This place had to be great I thought to myself. Expectations were extremely high. Generally with me that spells trouble. High expectations are rarely met. On this occasion, as tough a job as it was, Salsas delivered. For entre I shared the Thai Style Duck Pt with bread. For main I had the Salsa's Jambalaya, with fragrant rice, tiger prawns, squid, yabbie, smoked chicken, crocodile sausages. Both were impeccable. But dessert was the surprise. I had a pumpkin & chocolate mousse. Ive had the pumpkin & chocolate combination before & tried this more out of curiosity than any sort of desirebut ...read more