Gecko Cafe - YULARA

Four of us came here for a late lunch after visiting the rock. We sat outside on the deck which was nicely decorated and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. Ou... read more Four of us came here for a late lunch after visiting the rock. We sat outside on the deck which was nicely decorated and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. Our young waiter was charming and provided us with great service. We all enjoyed our meals which included pasta marinara, soft shell crab salad, marinated beef ribs (which melted in the mouth) and a delicious wagyu burger. I don't believe it was expensive for the location in Central Australia. We had beer and wine which added to the cost. It was such a very pleasant atmosphere and we had a most enjoyable afternoon.

Mangiare un piatto di spaghetti nel centro dell Australia vuol dire essere alla disperazione più totale da una settimana mangio solo schifezze niente di buono m... read more Mangiare un piatto di spaghetti nel centro dell Australia vuol dire essere alla disperazione più totale da una settimana mangio solo schifezze niente di buono ma il posto vale la cena

My family and I stayed at Desert Gardens Hotel in June and Mangata is the hotel's restaurant. We ate there for 2 breakfasts and a dinner, and every time it was... read more My family and I stayed at Desert Gardens Hotel in June and Mangata is the hotel's restaurant. We ate there for 2 breakfasts and a dinner, and every time it was disappointing. Breakfast is a buffet, and we were hard-pressed to find anything edible. The eggs were soggy, bacon was all fat, and the fruits were hard as rocks. And trying to find a waiter to order coffee was a struggle, then there was always a 10-15 minute wait to get the coffee. Then, for dinner, we arrived at 6 pm; the restaurant was a quarter full, and the host asked if we had reservations. When we said no, he made a big production of sounding exasperated, rolled his eyes, then showed us to a table. The restaurant never did fill up. As with breakfast, our waiter rarely came to the table and had very little interest in taking our order. We ordered 2 salads with chicken, 2 pizzas, 2 beers and waters and the total amount was $144 Australian dollars! We couldn't believe how expensive it was for what little food we got plus the rude, ambivalent service to boot. But there aren't very many choices for restaurants in the outback so we were stuck with this. If we ever return to Uluru I think we would probably stay in the Emu apartments and bring our food with us.

This was the only restaurant available at Desert Gardens at the time of our stay so it was very busy with queues with only member of staff checking groups and s... read more This was the only restaurant available at Desert Gardens at the time of our stay so it was very busy with queues with only member of staff checking groups and seeing them out. Staff were friendly and the food was fine.

We had dinner one night here and thought it was good. We would come back again for another meal. We did come late and had to wait 10 minutes but everything here... read more We had dinner one night here and thought it was good. We would come back again for another meal. We did come late and had to wait 10 minutes but everything here is always busy.