Zapfhall

Despite all reviews for bad service I should say our waitress was super nice and great. Actually everyone there was nice. Beer was really good. Food was also yum but really small portions. The environment also pretty good and a great location. We had vouchers and no drama at all.

Decided to try out Zapfhall on Sasturday night for a date night, without checking the reviews on Unilocal.Was only once I got to the venues that we decided to check Unilocal and see some of the other reviews so our expectations were low.
However, it was quite a good evening!
The manager running the show was super attentive and friendly, as were the rest of the starff that looked after us that night. We went on a Saturday night in October so there was traditional Oktoberfest music being played live, with an MC whoalso went around tables doing card tricks and the odd german compeition with a bit of limbo thrown in for good measure,
For the food, we got a special I saw on facebook of a Pork Knuckle for 2, with 2 beers for $ 40. The beer was the Zapfball house beer but it was still a good beer. The Pork Knuckle came with Blaukraut and a potato rosti and was really quite yum! I wouldnt go as far to say the best pork knuckle in town but still delicious and great value.
For dessert, we got the Apple Strudel and O.M.G. It was sweet, the pastry was light and flaky and it far exceeded my expectations. THis amde up for the entrée we had, where we got Pretzels. The pretzels came out, 3 for $ 9 and served with horseradish cream. The pretzels were dry and not warm. I think I was expecting something softer and fresher and with a bit more salt. I wouldnt recommend getting them to be honest!
All in all, I would go back to Zapfhall if I can be bothered making the trip from Joondalup to Fremantle again. The beer was good (althoguh a little pricy) and the food was good but the service and entertainment made it a great night.

So a group of us went here for a bit of a Sunday session for a mates birthday. Despite a table for 18 being booked for 2pm a week prior, when we got there we were told as they had a lot of walk ins that day, they no longer had a table for us. We were quite annoyed as when the booking was made there was no indication that walk ins took priority because if we knew this we would have booked elsewhere. We ended up nabbing a table for 10 and dragged up some extra benches and chairs for us to crowd around.
In regards to the drinks, on arrival one of my friends who was standing at the bar let us know they had already run out of cider. A few of my friends ordered the beer tasting board. This consisted of only four beer tasters with a couple of pieces of chopped up sausage for the ripe price of $ 20! (despite their website quoting $ 15). No value for money in my opinion however my friend ended up ordering the last board so even if I wanted one the bar tender announced no more were left. I ended up buying a pint of the Weihenstephaner for an overpriced $ 13.
For food I had the Kransky Currywurst Hot Dog for $ 18 which was quite tasty but had more bread than sausage. My boyfriend got the chicken schnitzel and potato salad which he was quite disappointed in. The schnitzel was tiny and the «potato salad» was a green salad with potato pieces in it– not what he had envisioned!
The place emptied out quite quickly (so could at least steal our long table back) and by 5.30pm it was dead. If it wasn’t for my mates shouting rounds we would have moved on to Little Creatures Brewery a lot sooner. Thank god this place is only a pop up.

The idea is great but the delivery is not …
So I have been here twice lately, the first time to just drop in for a drop of German beer (which is quite delicious I might add) last week and the second time to actually test out the venue properly during a dinner service last night.
I might start by putting all my cards on the table. We attended on a Scoopon voucher as most reviews so far haven’t been the kindest so we thought this would be more of a safe bet.
I didn’t witness this first hand but when Susan booked our table yesterday and received no response on a booking confirmation she was left with no choice but to go there in person (during lunch break) and was informed quite rudely that they are too busy to be on the computer all day as justification for no response.
No sweat at this point as the booking was then confirmed. We arrived on time and made it clear that we were on a Scoopon booking so that there would be not nasty surprises later on. Unfortunately it turns out the surprises came from the off and none of them were the type you hope for. The manager behind the till stressed to our waitress we were on a voucher.
The voucher and webpage that was promoting it made it clear the whole drink and food menu was available under the meal deal ($ 50 for a share plate, 2 mains and 2 drinks) with the clear exception being that the ribs was considered as 2 mains as it is apparently a large dish (cannot confirm this as we ordered something else).
Yet to our surprise, whilst being seated the pleasant waitress informed us that in fact the pork knuckle is considered two mains, not the ribs as in the print on the voucher and that I could only have 0.5L of one particular beer. I am sure I was only given a 0.3L serve of this later in the night.
Also for the cocktails that were on offer, there were only three available, yet this wasn’t stipulated on the voucher fine print and people in the premise were clearly ordering other cocktails that apparently couldn’t be made (even though we saw them being brought out with our own eyes).
At this point I have to say a lot of the negative marks from me are because of a lack of ethics and honesty on behalf of Zapfhall as well as wait times which I will touch on soon.
We ordered promptly as we had read wait times are a bit of a sore point here, yet we were very surprised when the waitress came over 10 minutes after ordering with our mains even though we hadn’t had our starter (tasting plate) yet or any drinks brought out (the exception being water and glasses).
The story from the waitress being that they were going to be «doing it differently tonight and doing the mains first if you don’t mind». Odd but we thought we would be reasonable and let it slide asking only if it was cooked with crispy skin as per our initial order request which brought a reply of «yes of course, enjoy it!».
Well it turns out that pork knuckle did not have crispy skin yet was cooked rather well otherwise. My honest thought being it was a mistake in the kitchen and we helped out Zapfhall so you would think there would be a bit of give and take for us not causing a stink over the matter.
At this point we noticed some other patrons swanning around the premise with what was definitely espresso martinis, something the waitress assured us wasn’t on the menu. Ethics and honesty … 20 minutes into the meal our drinks finally arrived (geez I thought to myself it would be nice if I could wash down this pork knuckle with some German beer), alas it came as we were almost done.
The tasting plate came out around 50 minutes after our initial order was placed. This consisted of a sausage (one), two small chicken wings, some sour kraut, two small thin slices of bread and some sauce (tasty but very small serving). I believe this was a heavily slimmed down Scoopon version of the tasting platter also.
I would hate to try and imagine how long our dining experience would have dragged out for if we had not accepted the kitchen mix up pork knuckle earlier in the night.
In fairness the food was all quite tasty and the German beers speak for themselves with the exceptions in drinks being the appletini cocktail we had, which was quite uninspiring. Service was friendly too but little things let down the team here also.
The knuckle was brought out to share and no plates provided. I had to actually get up and ask the manager for plates. The two waitresses were flat out all night whilst we were there. I believe the issue here is not bad service but more a lack of appropriate staffing levels which is leading to enormous wait times and frustrated patrons. This then leads to dissatisfied customers who vote with their feet.
All in all, a pleasant environment for a drink during the quieter evening hours but I wouldn’t come back during peak times for food as this can definitely raise your blood pressure levels and test your patience.

The German beers are great (obviously). We fancied a snack to soak up the beer and didn’t want a main meal. No crisps or peanuts so ordered a $ 5 pretzel. Mmm come here for the beer is all I can say. A hotdog costs $ 18 which seemed a lot, hence the rather chewy pretzel option. Very nice view from the first floor balcony.

Good beer — average /​bad everything else. $ 5 for a soggy pretzel or $ 18 for a hot dog — are you bloody kidding me?!

Terrible, terrible TERRIBLE service!!! No one greeted us, I had to ask a waitress if we could sit at a table. After a few minutes a waitress came over after I waved at her, she came over and said she’d bring us menus and water. She came over with water and then menus a few minutes later that she took from another table. Then a little while later when we had decided what we wanted, I grabbed the attention of the another waitress. I asked if we could order. She said she’d ask the other waitress. WHY? The other waitress was running around taking orders and having people pay.
1 iPad to take orders that has to be returned to back of house for orders to be placed is not the recipe to a successful business.
We waited over 20 minutes and then walked out. No one stopped us, no one seemed to take an interest in us at all. I am disappointed because I really wanted to try this place.

Decent location, REALLY bad service.
OK so our table didn’t end up loved by all. But the service in this place was laughable from the start. Steer clear from the food. The $ 14 hot dogs took between ½ hour and an hour to arrive, the shot glass size, chocolate mousse was $ 12 and took 1hr after going back to ask about it. Most of the staff didn’t even know how to use the ordering system, and some just walked around looking at the floor. If you don’t go back to chase up your food or create a disturbance, no one will come to your table and you’ll never get served.
The bar staff were completely disinterested in patrons. When the guy next to me at the bar was confused by what beer he should order, the girl just replied «I dunno» and stared flatly, I actually ended up suggesting a beer myself to the poor guy. On the topic of beer, after ordering a beer I had to wait ½hr, then go back and ask again to get mine. In a beer hall.
After many long waits for food and ridiculous service our table got bored and rowdy and started whipping beer coasters around to get attention. Pretty poor form, and the beleaguered staff where ready to crack.
On the upside, the location is nice, the beer selection is interesting and it’s a lot of fun, but it’s mired by the fact that not one of the staff seems to have worked in hospitality before. I never saw any staff member smile the whole night and even the manager didn’t know how to open the till or put an order through. If they started the whole thing again with some decent people and changed their ridiculously priced food it might actually work.
On the bright side, I’ve never been ripped off so badly but laughed so hard as when they delivered the tiny tiny $ 12 chocolate on the giant plate. Being fleeced never felt so good.
In summary, has potential, but Würst. Service. Ever.