Nightelier Mitchelton The Brook in Brisbane

We held our engagement party at The Brook last Saturday for about 100 people and spent $6.5k. The food and atmosphere was good, but the management of the event itself was extremely disappointing.

We arrived at 4:30pm to set up and found the space allocated to us in complete mess (dirty tables covered in old glasses, plates with half-eaten food still on them). We had people sitting in our booked area because they hadn’t cordoned it off. When I approached staff for help, I was told they weren’t even aware a function was scheduled (not a great start).

We ended up wiping down tables and tidying the space ourselves while staff tried to sort themselves out. I spoke with the event manager, Sammy, who seemed largely unbothered because that lunch had been busy. That seemed like a poor excuse given we had this event planned for six months.

The lack of proper management continued throughout the night. The food service was poorly timed and lacked coordination. Sliders were brought out one tray of 20 sliders for 100 people, meaning they were still being served at 8:30pm. Tables in our space weren’t cleared out so old napkins and cups quickly piled up.

I had to chase up staff because our cake wasn’t brought out at the original agreed time. Of course since they were slow to bring out food, sliders were still circulating after the cake was served. Chips that were meant to come with the sliders were instead brought out alongside the cake.

Look we still had fun, but it was not relaxing and I felt like I had to actively manage the space. I would strongly reconsider if you are thinking about hosting an event here. We have some family and friends considering it, and we have told them to go elsewhere. The only plus side was that food was good (when they did come out) and the waitstaff were trying their best.