millbrook winery

good but not great. location & setting excellent, friendly staff, v good service.menulimited given price & two of our lamb lunches served badly undercooked & inedible. a good experience overall but not worth a second visit.

called ahead to inquire aboutmenuand they said themenuwas more extensive than what was online - but arrived and themenuwas not more extensive. none of the starters were satisfactory to our group of 7 - that are not fussy eaters. we were advised that kids meals were sizeable, but they were not. the kids dessert did not arrive as expected and when queried, we were not satisfied with the response. having driven 1 hour to visit, we were not impressed and will not return.

we had a few failed attempts to try this place but finally got there today and glad we didn't give up because what a delight it was! we did the 3 coursemenubut could've easily been satisfied with the 2 course as the servings were incredibly generous and the food spectacular. there were 2 parts to the entree - stone baked bread with butter and pate with crackers firstly, then themenushared entrees came out - 3 different dishes to share between the table but they had 2 of each dish for a table of 7! we then all had a choice of main from about 6 options - something for everyone there including meat, fish or vegetarian option. we were absolutely stuffed at the end of main but had opted for the 3 courses (pretty sure you can change your mind if you're too full but we thought we'd push on) so we tried each of the dessert options - again all massive serves and very tasty and pretty dishes. my highlight was the chocolate parfait and honeycomb. reasonably priced, efficient and friendly wait staff and a beautiful location. we will definitely be back.

i've been to millbrook winery twice in the last month, the first time was for fathers day and i went with a group of people. the bill came to $600 which worked out at $200 per couple, which i thought was a bit pricey as the first course was a few different dishes for sharing. however, i had my own dishes as i ordered vegan.

millbrook prepared a seperate vegan menu, which was lovely and the staff were well informed of my eating requirements.  staff were all very lovely and didn't make you feel hurried. 

food arrived quick. everything was lovely and fresh as they grow their own produce on site which is a bonus, however they could try and be a little more inventive with their vegan options. i had a whole plate of lentils with some broccolini, which is great as a i love lentils and broccolini but its not really the sort of thing you serve at a restaurant as a main. 

my most recent visit was for their no waste monday, which i've been meaning to try for a while. the concept is really good and something i'd like to see more of. at $50pp you get 4-5 dishes i think were designed to be shared, so good job i'm vegan and my friend wasn't as i had my own dishes (i don't like to share my food!) it was all very similar to what i had here previously.

the fennel and orange salad was lovely and refreshing but the portion was a bit small for sharing. 

i had the chocolate orange dessert again, which was amazing! hands down the best dessert i've ever had, i wanted to lick the plate thats how good it was. i would definitely recommend this if its on themenuagain. 

most of the wines here are average, but the shiraz viognier was very good.

can also get a descent cup of coffee here too.

firstly, absolutely stunning grounds with views of the hills, vineyards and lake. a perfect lunch spot on a sunny winter’s day.

outstanding wines, all available in the beautiful downstairs tasting room. the knowledgeable staff are happy to guide you through a tasting of each wine. the viognier was an all round favourite amongst our group.

the foodmenuprominently features fruit, vegetables and herbs grown on site, carefully selected from the garden daily and lovingly prepared. they are very accommodating towards vegan and vegetarian needs.

don’t forget to grab a jar of house made orange jam or bottle of olive oil (all grown on site) on your way out and of course, a few bottles of wine!

my partner and i dined at millbrook for lunch saturday afternoon. this was our third visit, our last visit was over two years ago. i don’t know why we have left it so long between visits because each time we have dined here it has been a five star experience and well worth the drive from fremantle.

the restaurant is set in beautiful grounds, where you can often see wild kangaroos hopping by. you enter the restaurant through the cellar door where if you wanted to you could do some wine tasting and order some snacks to eat outside on the deck.

the restaurant is upstairs and was very busy this saturday afternoon, despite the business we were never left waiting for long periods in between courses or to get someone’s attention.

the chef is big on sustainable waste free food. most of the produce comes from the kitchen garden and is picked fresh on the day. i love the fact they do a separate veganmenuand it seems just as much thought is put into the vegan dishes as is into the rest of the menu.

although not cheap i think the three courses for $75 is good value for money. in addition to the three courses you get delicious sourdough bread and olives to start, a side with your mains and a granita in between mains and desert.

service was faultless, setting is as perfect as the food so it has to be a five start rating for me.

i’d recommend mentioning if you are vegan, or have any other dietary requirements, at the time of booking.

lovely country winery atmosphere and some really uniquemenuitems. many of them weren’t my cup of tea but i’d imagine others would love it. had their liquorice all-sort dessert which was beautifully presented.

we visited today for my dad's birthday. they serve a setmenufor $75 pp. this included complimentary bread & butter (delicious) followed by choice of entree, main & dessert with 2 side dishes & an extra dessert taster as well. the food was impressive in presentation & flavour.

service was fantastic!!! attentive, professional, no huge wait times either. i felt that i didn't need to worry about how far away our next course was as i have done at other venues. we were served by a tall gentleman with a very posh accent & he was lovely. it's rare nowadays to experience wait staff that do a fantastic job & are informed about their menu. ten points to him!

the restaurant is upstairs & was beautiful with a view over the lake & grounds. nice beveragemenuas well. enough choice to keep all tastes (wine, beer & soft drinks) satisfied.

the grounds are exquisite. we took so many photos.

i would highly recommended a trip out to millbrook winery!

very impressed! beautiful location with food and service to match. the food is expensive, but it's not your average restaurant, and all the dishes we ate were delicious - rabbit risotto, pork with sauerkraut, jam doughnuts with cinnamon cream and berry ice cream - yum! my only complaint is that there is no beer whatsoever on themenu- i realise it's a winery, but not everyone is a wine drinker and it would be a nice option for a hot, sunny day. that aside, i would highly recommend this place for special occasions

disappointed. i went to millbrook with a girlfriend recently, lured by the magnificent views. it was a lovely sunny autumn day and we anticipated sipping delicious wine and eating sumptuous food whilst enjoying views over the hills and lake.
we were mistaken.

we sampled some wines at the cellar prior to lunch so we knew what to order with lunch. unfortunately we didn't like any of the wines - too dry for our palate. the service at the cellar door was dismal - the lady serving us looked disinterested in our business and pained to be serving us wine.

we headed upstairs to the loudest dining room i have been in - the complete opposite of the peacefulness downstairs. we perused themenuand decided to abandon the noisy restaurant for the cellar. we picked a spot outside and again were served by the disinterested lady, who was heard whining to her colleagues about a broken dishwasher. we ordered the 'bits and bobs' - olives, almonds, jam, bread, butter, olive oil and dukkah. despite the length of crusty baguette, we were given two tiny slivers of butter. seriously. all the food was delicious but we quickly ran out of bread. i returned to the cellar door to ask if i could purchase more bread and was told the bread wasn't sold on its own and i would have to purchase another meal to get more bread, which i reluctantly did despite not needing anything else but bread. i was given the bread, but not anything else. we finished our bread, enjoyed the sun and magnificent views for a little longer and headed home.

great lunch. this restaurant was recommended to my husband and we thought we'd give it a try. we attended with 3 generations of the family. there was a lovely area for wine tasting downstairs with views across the lake and forest and the restaurant was upstairs. the service was excellent. themenuis quite limited but lots of the items sounded appealing. there is a separate children'smenufor under 12s. the kids had the fish with mash and the homemade pasta and bolognaise. the fish was grilled, rather than battered and the mash was tasty. more picky eaters might be put off, but on this occasion my 4 year old ate most of it.

between the adults we had the chicken pate, rabbit risotto, nasturtium pesto pasta and the squid and chorizo salad. all the food was delicious and the portions were quite big. we didn't have room for desert but were very tempted by the options.

i have to admit that the negative reviews on here almost put us off going, but luckily we had excellent meals and service. the location is also beautiful and peaceful, making our whole dining experience a pleasant one.

not worth the long drive. having had a very nice lunch at this restaurant a couple of years back with friends, we decided recently, despite the long drive, we would give it a second visit. unfortunately, we were disappointed.

while the view across the valley and dam is still just as spectacular as we remembered it, i have to agree with the previous reviewer who noted– “ pricey and pretentious disappointing menu'.

we share what was described on themenuas "a taste of everything' for two. wow, that sounded interesting. for $39.00 we were served three small plates/saucers - one with a layer of capaccio, one with three small pieces of raw trout, and one with two tiny pieces of toast with peas, garlic and mint - a big price for a big let down.

for a main i ordered the “fish of the day”. while the vegetables it was presented on were lovely and fresh, the fish was rather dry and had that fishy smell that it gets when it’s just simply not as fresh as it should be. and, i am not sure why, but it all came served in a slop of vegetable water.

my husband ordered the pasta which he was quite happy with, but not overly excited by.

we won't bother going back.

the whole experience.. millbrook is not just about the food it is a whole experience. we started by walking in through the gardens, then onto some wine tasting, a short stair climb up the tower to check out the view from the highest part of the building and then onto a luxurious lunch where time stood still.
funnily enough, on first glance themenudidn't appeal to me. but between the courses my husband and i ordered, we were absolutely smitten. every mouthful endorsed the freshness and "homegrown" stories we had previously heard. does it sound ridiculous to say the heirloom tomatoes were amazing? i didn't know tomatoes could taste so flavoursome.
i wasn't game enough to try the lambs tongue. but if any restaurant could tempt me, millbrook could.
whatever you guys are doing there, keep it up. awesome.
(ps i really loved having our mains served by the chef that created it. a very personal touch that suggests he loves to cook for friends rather than customers.)

oh, and $4.80 for a 220ml soft drink. that is totally ridiculous.


-----17 mar, 2013-----

beautiful location. very limited menu. i shared the tasting platter, the pumpkin flowers stuffed with crab were very bland. no seasoning, no flavour really. came on some sort of white sauce, that had no flavour. some rock salt and some lemon? some chives in the crab stuffing maybe? broadbean felafals were crisp, but agsin under seasoned. nil salt. nice yoghurt and mint dressing. pork shoulder with grapes was tasty and well seasoned!!

i chose the ricotta gnocchi for main. the basil leaves were bitter? not sure what it was but something was very very bitter. the gnocchi were rubbery and not like any ricotta gnocchi i've made or eaten. very heavy, and doughy.

we had a table of 8. everyone was underwhelmed by their meals. a few guests ordered the tongue and quail eggs. the tongue was grey and thickly cut. there was also an odd thin red sauce. it just looked unappealing. another guests steak was well overcooked. for $42 the kitchen should be sending it out perfectly. it was a lovely piece of meat.

the side salad was shaved cucumber and grapes essentially.

i didn't do dessert.

overall i'd say 5/10. it was unimpressive, nor was themenuparticularly enticing. pricey for the quality and serving sizes.

disappointing experience. 4 of us thought it would be worth the 1.5hr drive there for sunday lunch as we had previously enjoyed the food. limitedmenuand nothing to really get taste buds going. all tried different entrees and mains but none were good. nice barramundi floating in a soupy sauce? steaks dry and pork tasted and looked like chunks of ham. a salad consisted almost solely of cucumber. only redeeming item was choc terrine. cheese board very average for $33 with 3 small pieces of cheese. service was slow although waitstaff were friendly. sadly wont return unlessmenuis overhauled.