max's at red hill estate

53 shoreham road red hill south, vic 3937 ph: 5989 2838 website: www.redhillestate.com.au this post is part of my mornington peninsula weekend courtesy of mornington peninsula tourism and q strategies . check out the other posts here: - heronswood gardens after my first stop at the beautiful heronswood gardens, it was lunch time. lunch was to be eaten at the famed max's restaurant, the first winery restaurant in the area, as well as winner of the best tourism restaurant in the 2010 qantas national tourism awards. i met michele for lunch, and you can read about her views on our lunch experience . red hill estate is set in a prime location, with views of the bay inter-mixing with the rolling hills and grape vines. it's such a beautiful location that there are a whopping 40 weddings held on the premises a year. i can definitely see why people would want a wedding there. you can have the ceremony and then go straight towinetasting and lunch or dinner. as well as just looking beautiful, t

seriouswinetasters only - welcomed!!. if you are not a seriouswinetaster then this is not the place to visit!! the staff are unable to see between the grapes as to people having a good fun time. max's - if you are only after a certain cliental then i suggest you put up a sign - saying seriouswinetastings only - that way all the fun people will spend their money at all the other friendly and welcoming wineries in the area instead! pietrina

max's is definitely in my top 5. i love everything about this place. the food and service is consistently excellent and the setting looking over the vines to philip island is beautiful. thewineis sensational too. on last visit started with a stunning trio of seared scallops that were cooked perfectly and came with tiny roast parsnips and celeriac purée which was all such a classic combo done perfectly. the tuscan pork main seems to be a mainstay on the menu and was full of flavor. tender pork with crispy crackling, sitting on kipflers that soaked up all the flavour. the chocolate fondant pudding to finish was faultless. gooey in the middle to perfection! a perfectly structured 3 course lunch executed with skill and some of the best service you will find. max's is a massive hit for me.

nice place with great view. we ate here quite a few times.

the food is good, as for main; i recommend the beef and duck. and advises against the burramundi, which is a bit bland.

if you are there on sunday, then you have to go with a 'set menu' that includes entre, main, and dessert of your choice. other days you can order whatever you like.

the best thing about this place is the view, it has a commanding view over thewinevalley, and you can see all the way out to the ocean. on a sunny day, it's wonderful to grab a table outside.

greatwineat red hill estate. food is good too:)

sunday lunch $80 set menu was great. heat the muscle entree which was very good, and thumbs up for the beef main. my partner had the pulled pork main which he was happy with. we did somewinetasting too, there's a decent selection of wines so worth a visit if you're in the area.

terrible. slow service and terrible food. asked for the bill and even had to ask for that 3 times. $650 for 7 people was a bit rich given we only purchased one glass ofwineeach.

amazing view with disappointing service. we visited red hill estate on easter saturday with our family. we arrived at 2.30pm excited by the beautiful views. the excitement ended there as we were swarmed with wasps and had to pay $5 person to use a plastic glass on the grass. we paid $90 for 2 bottles ofwineon a fairly warm day and we requested an ice bucket, the staff response was "we don't have any, you will have to drink fast" needless to say after the second glass thewinehad warmed up. two of our platters were then completely forgotten. we watched the chef running around the grass sweating with meals in his hands because they had no staff. establishments such as these should surely predict a busy day on an easter long weekend, i felt sorry for the couple of staff members left to run the whole outside area while several waitresses walked around serving the restaurant with ease. we ended up asking for our money back on the platters which weren't delivered because we still hadn't been given priority after we alerted them of the mistake.

glenda. if going to max's, avoid the restaurant and just stay outside with a glass ofwineand enjoy the spectacular view. we ate at max's on a sunday, with a set menu....never to return! maybe for the view and a quiet glass only.

good coffee goodwineshame about the food. just finished lunch had high expectations well 5 fails oyt of 5 courses would not waste my money again great views but i came for the food good service but i came for the food what else to say .... get a cook w u o can deliver tough scallops tasteless duck crab with no style or flavour chocoalate plate with no chocolate jusr poor poor poor

nice view- overpriced. when you walk into max's you will taken away with the view, spectacular! unfortunately this promising beginning was marred by the poor service and average food.

we had two courses, mains and desert and a bottle of their pinot noir, which was very nice. the mains were disappointing, the duck course was cold and tough. our waiter was very inexperienced and much of ourwineended up on the table, on the cutlery and on us! we thought it was funny to begin with, but then realised this restaurant charges $50 per dish of food, it was pub food at best.

the desert was a chocolate crackle, like the ones you would have had at preschool, only this one was stale. it was pretty bad.

very expensive. $50 for a steak, it was cold and average. poor service. poor food. expensive. will not return.

serving sizing very small & meals not outstanding for the prices ($50 per course, $70 for two courses). $30 would be more appropriate for a main. beef meal was severely undercooked. fish main was boring and undersized. the view is lovely, thewinenice but
unfortunately this restaurant is over-hyped and disappointing.

my third time to maxs and won't be the last! the food just keeps getting better! i loved the pork and my partner had the venison, he loved his as well, fantastic out look over looking the bay, we will be back soon


-----25 dec, 2013-----

thanks again to the team at maxs for making or christmas day one to remember


-----20 oct, 2013-----

this is where we love to come and enjoy a glass ofwineand fab food, 3 courses for $80 including a glass ofwinehas to be the best value in town, not to mention the staff and the view!! we will be back


-----30 mar, 2013-----

what a way to spend easter. my family and i went down to the mornington peninsula for easter and had lunch at max's! the staff here are so friendly and the food was amazing, we had the three courts option for $80, what value for money. can't wait to go back again. well done.


-----14 jan, 2013-----

this restaurant just keeps getting better, well done. we will be back, please don't take the pork of the menu


-----17 nov, 2011-----

i had dinner at max's last night, once again the food was fantastic, and the service excellent, max him self was there and announced that he just won victotiain tourism restaurant of the year!! viva max. well done

price tag for a view not the food. celebrated a 50th here this week and was disappointed with the prices and the corresponding quality of the food. while there was nothing wrong with the taste of the meal, presentation was below par. max's was definitely not up to the $50 for one course price being charged. barramandi was cooked in the sous vide method and looked brown, dull and unappealing and the asian green's' that were supposed to accompany it was just one variety - some steamed pak choy, i believe. disappointed also that there is also a charge for water. we were informed there is no mains water on the premises which may be the case but why is water offered freely in thewinetasting area next door.

this is a great tourist destination, for the view, and max's would serve itself well if it didn't try to compete at the high end but offered more simple, quality fresh food, cooked well at reasonable prices.

the experience in thewinetasting area was also not so friendly.

lovely view, good food..... happen to dine here after visiting the cellar door for awinetasting and it was a very enjoyable experience. the food was lovely bar the desserts. entree of scallops and the lamb were lovely as was the gippsland eye fillet. however the dessert left much to desire. the view on the other hand made up for it. i could just sit there all day and dream.....but then theres the bill. it is more on the expensive side but if they improve on the desserts i think it is well worth it...