paringa estate winery & restaurant

mixing and matching between ourselves, we shared the poached marron with artichokes and the golden plaines suckling pig with pickled cabbages and apple. the marron was tender and juicy, bursting with flavour. complete with the varying textures of the artichoke puree and nuts served on top, it was indeed a delectable dish. on the other hand, the sucking pig was a touch sweet for me, but the flavours were well balanced with the pickled cabbages and apple accompaniments cutting through that sweetness.

i went here for lunch with three friends. everything was beautiful except for the service!! something so basic was almost non-existent. our waiter left us sitting at the table for 5 mins without a menu. the wine was taken off the table (which is fine) but she was not attentive to re-filling our glasses, on a couple of occasions we had to remind her. even at the end of lunch, it was almost impossible to get our waiter’s attention for a coffee order and to subsequently pay to bill. this is in circumstances where we were the last group in the restaurant from the lunch service that day! very disappointing because the food, wine and atmosphere is beautiful. with so many other options in the region that tick all the boxes, i do know if i would come back to paringa.

actually, it wasn’t the first time we feasted on foraged mushrooms that day. paringa estate’s recently appointed head chef julian hills took us mushroom-hunting that morning and we came back with a basket brimming with pine mushrooms and slippery jacks.

friendly service. the food was really special - very delicate and every element was skilfully prepared. the scallop carpaccio was divine. great wine. great view and ambience. an overall excellent experience. can't wait to be back!

one of the best places to have a dinner. food was great, service amazing, and the wine was great too. 94% like'd on urban spoon was never more deserved. do yourself a favour and get there, i will definitely go back!

the food was just delicious! we really loved how cosy the dining area is and the wines aren't too shabby either. the wine tasting is right where you pay and so we tasted and left with a heap of new wines!

paringa estate in red hill on the mornington peninsula, victoria has been racking up awards and accolades for the last 10 years. the relatively young 30 year old winery has become one of australia’s most awarded wineries in a short space of time thanks largely to their popular pinot noir and shiraz both of which are now recognised the world over.

good honest food. my partner enjoyed lunch here more than i did, i think. i found the menu options limiting, i'm not a huge seafood eater, and a steak for lunch when i'm keen to try the region's chardonnays wasn't really my first preference.

produce was wonderful, winelist was fair (by the glass) and service was good.

make sure to request a table by the outside windows, we got put up against the window where you can see into wine production shed area, i'm tall and long limbed so i felt a little claustrophobic elbowing the wall everytime i went to cut my food.

had a quick 4 course meal at paringa for lunch- we really couldn't complain. food came out quick, we had roast pork, squid/oyster, duck and a dessert. my husband had cheese instead, and we could barely finish our food. everything was delicious and as the restaurant has been renovated, we had a spectacular view of the vineyard. also did some wine tasting before our lunch, bought some tasty olive oil and an amazing bottle of shiraz.
$90 pp for 4 course lunch.

great food and service. we just had a beautiful lunch at paringa estate.. original delicious menu, great presentation, nice view and really lovely service. will definitely go back!

fixed price, four course meal - expertly crafted authentic ingredients, beautifully presented. delicate aromas and exciting flavours. the barramundi was fresh and cooked perfectly. i don't usually eat four courses and drink wine at lunch these days. too many over over indulgent long lunches in my youth have taken there toll! but the size of the dishes was ideal. even so i was apprehensive about the desert which when it arrived looked heavy. it turned out to be deceptively delicate and thoroughly enjoyable. appropriate high level of service. i hadn't seen the price on the bottom of the menu so i throughly enjoyed the experience. i had mentioned to the friends at the table that it was worth whatever it cost and i think that was true. oh yes, the estate chardonnay, similar to a modern chablis, was perfect match for my selections. according to my friends the estate pinot was equally good with the lamb.

we were very excited to finally try paringa, but were sadly left very disappointed.
the food was nice, but we got the sense the staff couldn’t care less about our experience.
my partner booked online and wrote a request for a window table and champagne to celebrate a special occasion. he called immediately after and then the day before just to be safe because he had wanted to surprise me.
this request seemed to have been forgotten/ ignored. once we were seated i asked if it would be possible to move tables when one opened up and gently reminded them of our request. we were told that “it was just a request, with no guarantees”. the request was then promptly ignored again despite a window table sitting empty for most of our meal.

amazing seafood menu. all food perfectly cooked, gentle flavours, great combinations, everything worked beautifully. great and underrated restaurant in red hill. service was also excellent with a knowledgeable and friendly sommelier.

amazing wines. lovely venue looking out over the vineyard. lovely food. portion size for main is rather small. the waiters also had very limited knowledge on the menu when asked. overall a lovely experience.

we were really looking forward to our meal at paringa estate.
i’m hopeful that the recent pandemic is the reason for the below par food but the menu was extortionately expensive given the food we received.

we started with a “scallop” dish; this wasn’t really a scallop, i still can’t find a way to describe the texture of this dish. i think they blended a scallop and then cooked the mousse type ingredients to the texture of halloumi.

then we had a mushroom dish. this was ok but was drowning in butter. there was an unusual overcooked hash brown type feature at the bottom of the dish.

for main a kingfish, heavy fluorescent sauce was ok but the fish was raw in the middle.

and finally dessert: a weird concoction of perhaps cheese apple and pear. i don’t think i can describe this dish either other than one bite and inedible.

i feel sad to write this review as the staff were lovely and the wine was beautiful. but for such an expensive menu i expected a lot more.

hopeful things will improve and we may consider trying again one day.

definitely not yummy.