Upstairs At The Basement

I got the burger and thought it was good. I liked the meatball app but it arrived cold which put me off a bit. My husband and his co worker also enjoyed their meals. I would come back and would recommend that you do too! I can not remember what either of them ordered… the service was friendly and attentive. The meatballs were a fluke I think and didn’t bother us enough to send them back. There was a performance going on downstairs and I think that through the kitchen off a bit.

So, we tried this place twice as it was very close to our hotel. It was open until 11pm on Friday. This was perfect for our late arriving group. All at our table agreed that the Garlic/​Chili prawns, Greek salad, fish & chips were the favorites on the menu. The seafood chowder was like a purée and tasted ok with an addition of salt. Chips (aka French fries) and onion rings were ok, but nothing special. Services was solid, but not exceptional.

I got real excited when I saw the top part of the basement all boarded up. I got less excited when the boards came down and revealed not a new restaurant, but a revamped «upstairs at the basement».
They’ve redone the place all cabaret style and the venue looks pretty good. The outdoor area is great on a warm day, but be prepared to inhale more than a few lungfulls of second hand smoke.
A pint of Three Sheets will only set you back about $ 10 (the first time I went it was $ 8– a bargain for the area, second time I didn’t pay attention and just threw cash on the table).
Food menu is very limited — for mains you’re looking at two types of burger, steak, fish, or meatballs. Flavour was also limited. The chicken on my burger was more breading than meat and none of the promised chipotle came through. Beef burgers around the table were reported as «fine» and «good».
Service was patchy. Immediately after ordering they brought out two communal ramekins– one with tomato sauce and the other with a lovely aioli and asked if it was enough sauce for us. After the prompt sauce delivery, the food was slow and for a table with 4 burgers ($ 18/​per), I’m not sure why the food didn’t come out all at once. The server had no clue which burger didn’t have beetroot, and our second drink order never emerged.
I’ll head back to Upstairs again for an afternoon pint, but will keep looking elsewhere for my burger fix.