Gazebo Wine Bar & Dining

We were on the harbour cruise and got off here to view the fort. Saw the restaurant and asked to book for 6. The very helpful manager asked us to go and watch the 13:00 gun go off, another worth see event and come back. We went down to the restaurant and a table had been found and we had a wonderful meal taking in the great views of Sydney Harbour. We ere lucky you would have to book most days I think, great venue for a party or group for lunch etc.

We visited Fort Denison Island, did the tour by the National Parks which was very interesting. Having lived in Sydney for a lifetime, we had never been there before and did not know the real history of the place! It was an eye-opening experience. Easy to get there by ferry from Circular Quay. The restaurant was a hidden gem. The food and service were excellent. The views and atmosphere were superb. Highly recommend.

I tried to work something out with the restaurant owners privately via email, but didn't get much more than a "sorry, we'll discuss your comments with our manager". When you advertise that the dining experience will be something that will "showcase the spectacular VIVID Sydney Festival", you'd expect to see the lights (or at least be allowed to see them). The view was non-existent due to a thick and dirty plastic shield preventing anyone from seeing a thing. Their disclaimer states that the "booking is made on the understanding that there is no guarantee that any lighting associated with the VIVID 2017 festival can be seen from Fort Denison." and that "The eastern side of the Opera House & the eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge may not be illuminated during the VIVID 2017 festival. " However, from where we were sitting on Fort Denison, the lights (of the eastern side of the Opera House & the eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge which were very much illuminated during the VIVID 2017 festival) could clearly be seen (hence why we booked in the first place seeing as that was what was clearly advertised), but this was obstructed by a thick plastic tarp - so it felt like we could have been sitting in any restaurant, except we were going to pay $160pp and eating below average food. So onto the food...Although the entres and the drinks were good, the service became slow after entres. The mains took too long to come out, and when they finally did, they were cold. By this stage we were too hungry and angry that we'd spent so much money on virtually no 'spectacular experience' and an underwhelming dinner, and we didn't want to wait again so we just ate them with the hot chips (probably the best thing on the menu) in order to even out the temperature. Thirdly, the duck dish tasted like dirt/earth. We weren't sure what to do, thankfully there was mayonnaise to fix that. You'd think that by giving that much of your money to a restaurant, you would get quality food and service. Not the case here. Very disappointed and upset to have wasted our money and time on this below average dining 'experience'. Won't be recommending this to anyone. What a shame...

Got the Vivid dinner package as a gift for my birthday and was quite excited to check this place out. Unfortunately it really just didn't meet the hype. Any "to die for views" were obscured by the old, barely see through and mouldy plastic sides on the marquee style dining area. The marquee style dining room and the fact that all the guests arrive at once from the boat made this feel like a poor function or a wedding. We had kingfish and pork belly starters which were ok, kingfish was a bit ruined by a dollop of what tasted like mayonnaise straight from the jar. The mains (duck, beef cheeks) were cold - must have been pre cooked earlier in the day, not really sure what was going on or how they managed this. Honestly the best thing about the meal was the huge portion of hot French fries that we ordered as a side, which were delicious. Staff were lovely- interestingly not one person asked us how our food was, maybe they didn't want to know... perhaps fort Denison is best left to summer when it's warm enough to have the sides up on the marquee. I won't be going back to try it anyway!

Got to say we loved our experience at Fort Denison last night. Before I start on the review of the night I do want to mention how easy it was to use the website and make the booking. Loved the information about how many seats were available. Whoever designed that site needs a pat on the back.The weather was against us – it was pretty wet and soggy – and the views were a little ‘soft focus’ because of the rain. The restaurant has those plastic curtains to keep out the wind and rain, and they were very effective. They had gas heaters burning to keep us warm. But, as we know, the weather cannot be helped and the three of us had a lovely time anyway. The water taxi ride across from the Man O'War steps right beside the Sydney Opera House was great – boat was clean and comfy seats, plus a friendly captain, so we were off to a good start. After disembarking it was a really nice surprise to be given a little tour of the Fort. We had not been expecting this (perhaps I overlooked it when I made the booking) and it was very very good. We were shown to our table by a very friendly waitress, and this continued for our whole night. The staff could not have done enough to help us enjoy our evening, and they were chirpy and friendly. The food was delicious! We had trouble making our final meal selections because the menu seemed to offer such a good range of choices. They cater for meat eaters as well as vegetarians, and all meals had a gf beside them where gluten free was required. We enjoyed a beers and cocktails at very reasonable prices and my husband had a coffee at the end of our meal. Overall our night was a 10 out of 10. The toilets are close by the restaurant, and very clean.I am now trying to work out how I can arrange to make it back in better weather for a lunch time visit and a longer look around.Well done to the team.