Whalers Restaurant

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#2 of 17 Restaurants in Exmouth$$ - $$$, Seafood, International, Vegetarian friendly

+61 8 9949 2416+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Mon

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Tue

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Wed

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Thu

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Fri

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Sat

7:30 am - 10:30 am11:30 am - 2:00 pm5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

1,544 reviews

#2 of 17 Restaurants in Exmouth

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, Seafood, International, Australian, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options

“I had a great cocktail … Grand design, then a dozen prawns, then a crème brûl...”

“Both our meals were delicious, the seafood pasta was generous with seafood &...”

“For mains we had the seafood pasta and gnocchi.”

Location and contact

Crn Murat Rd and Welch St Within the Emouth Escape Resort, Exmouth, Western Australia 6707 Australia

+61 8 9949 2416

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Does this restaurant specialise in New Zealand style food?

Yes

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Details

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About

Whalers Licensed Restaurant is located in the beautiful township of Exmouth. We offer the perfect relaxed dining experience to complete your visit to Western Australia's world famous Ningaloo Reef. Breakfast, lunch (during season) and à la carte dinner is available. The Restaurant is part of the Exmouth Escape Resort with a comfortable, modern and lush setting for the diners' pleasure. We pride ourselves on fresh and delicious flavours and source the finest local seafood, steaks and produce available. Live music is a regular feature at the restaurant with solo or duo acoustic acts playing on the deck while you enjoy your meal. Whalers also caters for weddings, birthdays and business functions which can be catered for off site or at the restaurant.

PRICE RANGE

$24.00 – $45.00

CUISINES

Seafood, International, Australian

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Dinner

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Parking Available, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Mastercard, Visa, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music

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4.5

1,544 reviews

Excellent

896

Very good

447

Average

113

Poor

Terrible

Aladdin1

Perth271 contributions

The restaurant was quite busy

Mar 2020 • none

The restaurant was quite busy for a holiday Monday. The service was reasonable. The evening didn’t start well. It said on the internet it was bYO at $3 per person corkage. On arrival we were told no byo. So be it. The wine prices were at least reasonable. We decided to have cocktails and requested long drinks. The margarita and Tom Collins came out in a glass half full. They had decided the martini glass volume was to fit in a drinking glass. Wrong. If they had said a long drink will cost more ok but what was supplied was pathetic. Our small child had looked on the internet and decided bangers and mash was for her. Wrong. No sausages. Really? The stuffed jalapeños were good. They were suitably cooked and spicy. The gumbo was tasty and had an array of seafood but lacked the traditional spice of a southern dish. The steak was beautifully presented and tasty but was more rare than medium. Deserts were tasty. Our waitress tried hard but was stymied by management. Yes would go again but wish the management would loosen up and ensure basic ingredients are available.

Written 2 March 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kimba6436

Perth12 contributions

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING SEAFOOD

Aug 2020 • couples

Our group of 7 booked dinner to celebrate our final night in Exmouth. Service was brilliant and doing an amazing job considering the shortage of staff being experience right now. We ordered fish of the day (Pink Snapper) served with sweet potato gratin and the fillet was practically an inch thick. Without doubt it was the best piece of fish I have eaten in years... and I'm fussy. Our table also ordered the 'Seafood Medley which is served on a 3-tiered plate and at $95 was incredibly generous and more than enough for two people. It was packed with fresh local Exmouth produce and worth every cent. We also ordered the Seafood Gumbo and that was apparently equally impressive. Don't be put off by the fact this is a restaurant inside a resort. The restaurant itself overlooks a tropical pool, has timber decking, and has indoor and outdoor seating. Treat yourself. It's worth it. Bookings essential.

Written 15 August 2020

barneyoskar

Perth34 contributions

Long waits for good food

Aug 2020 • none

I really want to give this a 5/5 but the length of time waiting for our food just doesn’t quite meet the mark. Atmosphere was brilliant, staff were upbeat and helpful, food was GREAT, but took 1.5 hours after ordering for our mains to make their way out. That wait didn’t make a lot of sense as the restaurant wasn’t full and it was just off the peak dining time and on a Wednesday. The table beside us ordered before us and didn’t get their meals until we had finished and were leaving (2 hour wait). Like I said, the meals were fantastic and you’ll get top quality seafood but just don’t head in hungry because you won’t be fed right away.

Written 5 August 2020

Julie and Marti... W

Greater Perth288 contributions

A little pricey

June 2020 • couples

Whilst Staying at Exmouth Escape Resort we enjoyed 2 nights eating at the restaurant. The menu served is mainly seafood so expect a main to be around $39 upwards. My meal of pork loin was a little dry and my husband’s snapper was also slightly overcooked, so a little disappointed. Lovely atmosphere and surroundings, staff were attentive and friendly.

Written 19 June 2020

Gabsy77

Perth2 contributions

Highly Disappointed

Jan 2021 • couples

We booked dinner here as our friends had been here in the past and loved this place. Sadly it wasn’t the case this time. We arrived at 810pm for a 8pm booking and were seated promptly. They were very busy so it took a bit of time to order, but we managed to order some starters and drinks. When we tried to order oysters, we were told that they had sold out of oysters, which was disappointing but fine.The waitress was happy to come back to take our order for our mains. Our starters came out and we still had no drinks, which we could see sitting on the bar while staff walked past it, so we asked the waitress if she could possibly get our probably warm drinks now as we had almost finished our starters. While we waited for our mains to be ordered, we noticed a table a near us had oysters on their seafood medley which was very disappointing because that table arrived and ordered after we ordered our starters. We finally managed to get the attention of a waiter to order our seafood medley and also tried to order the Asian slaw requesting no coriander not realising it was 9pm. When the waiter returned after our query, he told us it was his bad and the kitchen was closed so we could only have the medley with no oysters on there, but would be compensated with extra prawns. We asked him why we weren’t advised by the two previous waitresses that the kitchen was closing at 9pm. We then ordered a bottle of white wine and they gave us a bottle of red in error. They returned with our white wine and no glasses which we had to ask for twice. The seafood medley came out with maybe two extra prawns and was quite disappointing.My friend asked to speak to the manager, who eventually came to see us and boy what a mistake that was. He was very argumentative and would not acknowledge the fact that his staffs failed to tell us about the kitchen closing at 9. When we asked him about not being able to have a salad with our medley, his response was he can’t control what the kitchen does.. he didn’t even apologise for all the issues for the night. I had to ask him for an apology. He took $10 for the lack of oysters and when we got the bill, he tried to charge us for the red wine we didn’t order and questioned if we had it with the staff. Very bad management and very bad customer service as a manager.. would not return there again under his management.

Written 8 January 2021

Climber50111190842

Thank you for your review and we are indeed very sorry that your night turned into such a disappointment. We apologise for all the miscommunication and mishandling and we have addressed all of your concerns with our team to ensure this won't happen again. The Christmas & New Year holiday season was very busy while we experienced severe staff shortages as well as supplier & delivery shortages due to the public holidays. Ohh the joys of operating a business in a remote area such as Exmouth ;-) We hope you would consider our restaurant again in the future and allow us another chance as bad experiences such as yours are very rare at our venue and the majority of people leave happy and satisfied. Wishing you all the best!

Written 1 February 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Denise J

Cherngtalay30 contributions

Disappointed

Oct 2020 • couples

Came here on our last night in Exmouth and was very disappointed. We’ve had amazing food since being in town and this was such a let down. Service was slow. We ordered the cod dumplings for entre to share, they were served with a bland slaw and sauce. I ordered the fish of the day wild barramundi served with potato gratin and vegetables. The potato was undercooked and fish had no flavour at all. My husband ordered the chicken parmigiana - surely that’s a safe bet. It came out overcooked with a very dry, limp salad on the side. Lucky the chips were OK. wouldn’t recommend dining here - lots of other good options.

Written 25 October 2020

hospo reviews hospo

2 contributions

awful experience

June 2021 • couples

If I could give 0 stars I would. My partner and I’s booking was at 7pm for our anniversary dinner, and we ended up leaving by 8:15pm. First of all, the service was terrible. My partner and I both work in hospitality and are definitely not picky customers, but this service was the worst we have ever experienced. We usually enjoy making conversation with the service staff and have a great time at previous restaurants we have been to together. At Whalers, I felt like my money which I had worked so hard earning by pleasing customers during my own service experience, was absolutely wasted. It look 30 minutes to order a couple of drinks and some entrees. When we had finished I walked to the bar to get a drinks menu since the second waitress who approached us after we told our first waitress to hold onto the drinks menu didn’t listen, and the waiter who I spoke to told me he would bring it to the table. Basically, I was made apparent that the front of house staff were not given sections and the whole service was whimsical and disorganised. After further miscommunication between service staff, we waited 45 minutes to order mains, and didn’t end up doing so as no service was offered. After 1 drink each and a couple of entrees, my partner and I left. The only enjoyable moment was whilst drinking the Bloody Mary oysters. Disappointingly, along with the oysters, we paid $15 for focaccia with dukkah, olives and olive oil which was worth $8 maximum. The dukkah was super scarce as it was dotted around the wooden board, the focaccia tasted like garlic bread from Coles and the oil was very minimal. Whalers is by far the worst restaurant experience we have had in Exmouth or even Australia for that matter. If you have the chance, avoid this restaurant and eat at Adrift, Froth or the LOCAL BAKERY for that matter which is far more impressive. We were expecting more from this restaurant after reading the positive reviews, but I can assure you that as of June 30th 2021, this restaurant performs way below sub par. The waitress who took our payment didn’t even ask how the experience was which was quite obvious by the frustrated looks on our face. We will never be dining here again.

Written 30 June 2021

Climber50111190842

Thank you for your review and we have not much more to say other than apologies and that we will address your experience with our team. Running a busy restaurant unfortunately means that sometimes things go wrong and if you would consider our restaurant again, your experience could be entirely different. That's the joy of dealing and working with humans. We wish you all the best!

Written 16 July 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nick

Perth2 contributions

Disappointing customer service

May 2021 • couples

We had booked this restaurant well in advance based on positive feedback from friends. Good food and great setting, however the main let down for us was the customer service, or lack of customer service. We had a 3 course meal, including drinks and the food was not amazing, however enjoyable for the most part. Over the course of the night, we had 4 different wait staff who seamed extremely busy and inattentive to our table. We were not sure if this is consistent with other tables, however minimal requests were made to offer us further drinks and post our dinner we sat for 15 mins before we asked a new wait staff for a menu - she then assumed we were ordering mains (not her fault as she had not been serving us all night). Following our dessert we did not even consider asking for the bill as we would have been waiting a while. Instead we went up to pay at the main bar, with no “how was your meal” in sight from who we assume was the rostered Manager on shift. We then were asked if we would offer a tip to which we quickly declined. Great setup for what could have been a much better night. Unfortunately I do not think we will be dining here again and recommend a bit more focus on the customer is given in future

Written 8 June 2021

Climber50111190842

Thank you for your review and we are sorry to hear that the service did not meet your expectations on the night. We will certainly address this with our team to not have this happen again in the future. Exmouth has been a bit overwhelmed with the extra tourism we have experienced and we didn't have our normal off season since the borders closed. Your next dining experience could be completely different to your first as it depends so much on how well everything flows during the dinner service when the entire restaurant is booked out to the max. We wish you all the best!

Written 14 June 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

OneGrievous

10 contributions

Seafood scam

Jan 2021 • couples

Ordered the seafood medley. Clearly stated oysters on the plate. The restaurant was busy so our questions during eating as we noticed no oysters were not attended to. The waitress at billing time said they had no oysters. I doubt they ever have any fresh oysters in exmouth, yet they continue to advertise they have them. Really poor.

Written 8 January 2021

Climber50111190842

Thank you for taking the time to write a Trip Advisor review about your dining experience at Whalers Restaurant. We apologize you weren’t fully satisfied. Our Seafood Medley is fully packed with chilled Exmouth Prawns, Rottnest Half Shell Scallops, Coffin Bay Oysters *subject to availability, Pan - Seared Fresh Fish, Grilled Exmouth Prawns & Crispy Soft Shell Crabs. Exmouth is located very remotely 1200 km north of Perth. The town, both supermarkets, all restaurants and food suppliers are getting food & beverage deliveries twice a week from Perth. Exmouth is famous for their delicious & juicy Prawn, however Exmouth has no Oyster farms. Hence we are sourcing premium delicious, world famous, fresh Pacific Oysters from Coffin Bay as clearly stated on our menu. Over the past 2 weeks of Christmas & New Year and due to all the Public holidays, Exmouth got only one Food & Beverage delivery per week. Our Restaurant was buzzing and unfortunately due to limited supply we tend to experience produce shortages due to high demand. Oysters are a delicate seafood and are best consumed as fresh as possible. Hence we can only store a limited stock level to ensure the freshness and minimize waste. Oysters can also sell out during dinner service depending on people's food choices, hence why the communication regarding this can sometimes fall through the cracks during a busy night serving customers. However we mention the following on our menu: Oysters *subject to availability*. We apologize that your waitstaff has missed informing you about the shortage of Oysters when you were dinging in however we always substitute Oyster shortages on our Seafood Medley with extra Prawns or Calamari. We hope this clarifies your concerns and we wish you all the best in the future.

Written 9 January 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lesley W

Perth206 contributions

Terrible Service

July 2020 • none

Would not go there again. The menu has a good selection of food but the time you have to wait for it is not acceptable. Plus the wait staff were inexperienced. One waiter plonked a bottle of wine on someone's table without even opening it let alone pouring it into a glass.

Written 1 August 2020

Keith M

Perth131 contributions

Be prepared for a long wait

Aug 2020 • none

We booked for 6.30pm and arrived on time. Orders were taken promptly, and it took several requests (and finding one excellent staff member) to get some water for the table. Entrees arrived at 7.15pm, and eventually, after asking, mains arrived at 8.30pm. The seafood platter for two was lovely, but the other two meals arrived about 5 minutes later, meaning it was then cold. It wasn't overly busy, and these wait times are just beyond reasonable, and if something goes wrong, then an explanation and interim measure is essential, which can be as simple as an honest response and a basket of bread.

Written 9 August 2020

Joe

Exmouth2 contributions

Turned away on our Anniversary

Jan 2021 • none

Me and my wife have been coming here for years even before whalers moved location from town centre. And always got great service from paully and his staff, since its changed owners it has dropped significantly. my wife and I went to dinner on our anniversary on a quite night on a Tuesday in the low season here, and were turned away even though the restaurant was at quarter capacity at peak hour 6.30. We were shocked with how rude the manager was turning us away especially when looking around and only seeing maybe 5 tables full. We didn't get offed a table to just have a drink to enjoy our anniversary . We both have hurt feelings, and are sad that such a warm environment has become so cold.

Written 12 January 2021

Climber50111190842

We are sorry to hear about your experience. Our restaurant was extremely busy and booked out to the max until mid January with all our tables being double booked for the night. We are sorry that you weren't able to dine with us on your anniversary and we highly recommend to book ahead next time especially if it is for a special occasion such as an anniversary. This way our team can plan ahead and make your dining experience extra special and meet your expectations for the night. On a personal note, the same person that has managed Whalers since 2014 is now owning the restaurant which means that management hasn't really changed since the handover and we haven't made any drastic changes to the overall business so we hope that you consider our venue again in the future. All the best, The Whalers Restaurant Team

Written 1 February 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nicole

2 contributions

What a flop

Aug 2021 • friends

We had heard so many great things about this restaurant and it did not live up to what we had heard. The entrees were nice enough. Indian seafood curry came out with uncooked seafood, was taken back & came out without prawns and a completely different sauce, was not nice. The New Orleans Seafood Gumbo was not enjoyable, undercooked seafood. Spicy Fried Chicken should be called over salted fried chicken. Exmouth Tiger Prawn Gnocchi was average. We were given 2 free wines to make up for the bad food, there was nothing wrong with the wines, I would rather have not paid for the bad food but that was not an option even though we had expressed our disappointment in the food halfway through the meal to the manager. We will not be dining here again.

Written 31 August 2021

Jason S

Brisbane90 contributions

What a massive disappointment

May 2022 • couples

We had a booking for 5:30PM on rainy Sunday night in May 2022. Arriving promptly, we were seated at 5:40PM and immediately told that we had to vacate the table by 7:00. Our food order was taken at 5:50PM, when we also asked for water. At 6:10PM, after multiple passes by our table by staff (who all avoided eye contact with us) I had to walk to the bar and ask for water. We finally received our food at 6:25PM. I ordered the Reef & Beef. My steak was well done when I had ordered Med-Rare, and it was served with a salad of limp lettuce, salty wedges and 4 small prawns drowned in garlic sauce. The meal was very mediocre for $48, but I just ate the meal because I was starving and was not willing to wait another 45 minutes to get the steak I actually ordered. Every single staff member was aloof and full of attitude. Only one person (excluding our waiter - who had no interaction with us after taking our order) asked about the food. Overall, the entire experience was exceptionally disappointing. Food orders sat on the pass for 5 minutes while the wait staff wandered around looking lost. Essentially, Whalers provided us with the worst dining experience I had in Exmouth: rude and aloof staff, dreadful service, over priced food. The restaurant was not even half full and the staff could not cope, even though the waiter to table ratio was 1:1 when we arrived. We are very easy to please when it comes to dining, but Whalers was just too much for us. I cannot fathom how the restaurant receives such stellar reviews here. One Star for the food. No stars for the experience. There are much better options in Exmouth than this restaurant, which does not seem to care about customer service.

Written 28 May 2022

maxi211

Perth9 contributions

Incredible Seafood for 2

July 2020 • none

A wonderful evening at Whalers. We luckily got a spot here one night we had free in Exmouth and we are so glad we did! (Definitely book online) It's nicer than most restaurants in town, so you can feel a little fancy, but the food is such a decent price for what you get. We ordered the chilli mussels that were on special for entree which were delicious! And for main we ordered the Seafood Medley for 2 - which was incredible. It comes out in 3 tiers of seafood, a cold, medium and hot section - so it not only is a great feed but looks awesome. Seafood on there was beautiful and fresh and cooked to perfection. Only thing that could be improved would be the practicality when eating: to bring the seafood out separately as you kind of want to start at the top with the lighter and cold bits (prawns and oysters) and then make your way down to the crayfish and crab and potatoes that are hot, but by the time you make your way down the potatoes aren't too hot anymore. But I guess the dilemma is that its way more impressive to bring out all together so I'm not complaining! I would definitely recommend trying it! Everything else on the menu also looked amazing coming out of the kitchen - I wish we had more time to go back and have something else off the menu! Drinks menu was also very reasonable for some great wines (plus cheap cocktails!).