rare hare wine & food store

went here for dinner, nice modern venue.servicewas great and staff were lovely. we got a few small shares plus the muscles as our large share plate. all the dishes were ok, but nothing spectacular flavour-wise. if you go, it’s for the venue.

getting to lunch in mornington, via two pickups, by 11.30am is a bit of a mission. according to our research, this level of commitment is required to secure a table at rare hare.

today it is really windy and quite wet, with the worst of the showers launching themselves over the famed jackalope statue right on 11.30am as we arrived. the bonus was a great part of a communal table right on the window looking out to the expansive vineyard. not a great deal of time later and the restaurant was indeed full with a diverse crowd including a large group of ladies that made their presence heard, adding to that festive type of sunday lunch atmosphere.

it’s a celebration, with catherine’s sister’s birthday coming up, and her mum’s not too long after that. whatever the occasion, there is a warmth in the room; a convivial nature; that reveals itself when you are out of the big smoke, and surrounded by all things wine.serviceis confident, with a style meeting the casual environment, different from the fine diner in the adjoining building.

⭐️ 5/5 stars -

🥝 food - the food at rare hare was absolutely divine! the flavours were unique but worked together really well. all the dishes were great, could not fault a single one that we tried. special highlights were the creme, salmon roe chive waffle and swordfish. overall, we spent about $200 pp for 3 people and we were super full. could have probably ordered less.

🥥 ambience - the venue was great with full glass window view across the entire winery. as i understand, rare hare is more casual than doot doot doot/jackalope.

🍓service - theservicewas great. our waitress, tessa, was super friendly and made sure we were well looked after.

would definitely return again in the future. great food and great venue :)

we came to rare hare last night and could not recommend them highly enough! the food was absolutely incredible, the staff were lovely, theservicewas amazing and the sunset was beautiful! first time in a while we actually sat back and said that food was incredible, thank you! we will definitely be back :)

3.5 ⭐️

so the views are simply stunning, and it’s a beautiful restaurant.

the food is very over priced for the very small serves although they did taste delicious. the egg plant and broccolini were the stand out.

there was a very long wait and they did forget a couple of our dishes but theservicewas very friendly and attentive.

they have an entire coat room made of hundreds of rabbit skins which i personally hated and imagine that the vegan and vegos out there would also feel the same.

looking at around $150 for two people without drinks to feel like you got a good feed.

was very impressed with this place. the setting is absolutely stunning one which you won’t see at many other places. the menu is a little on the different side but the food is absolutely terrific. highlights were the tomatoes, so fresh sweet and amazing, the lamb was so so good and perfectly cooked and the brisket simply devine. tried all of the deserts and the standout for me was the warm choc chips cookie... so gooey and warm. greatserviceand nice wines too.

i'm in love with this venue. everything about it!! the views are picture perfect. theserviceis warm, welcoming, attentive and friendly. the food tastes as good as it looks, probably even better. orders taken in an appropriate manner/time. food came out with no long waits in between dishes. it's so picturesque and has a relaxing vibe. perfect for a family outing, birthday, date...any occasion! we came here with young kids and it wasn't uncomfortable. first time visitor but definitely will not be the last. thumbs up

what an unexpectedly wonderful dinner we were treated to here at the rare hare. the interiors of the restaurant is quite similar to the four pillars distillary in the yarra valley- rustic, yet very much open and airy. the 180 degree vineyard views are stunning.

the food is amazing value for the quality without the pretentiousness of it’s sister restaurant ddd. serviceis quicker and you are in greater control of the portion sizes.

highlight: mushrooms, beef tartare, beef brisket.

beautiful views, wonderful atmosphere with the shares tables. the food actually tasted excellent and presentation superb. the cheese dish was a stand out and the salumi were good choices.

however it was quite expensive. a $28 salumi plate at many other places would be quite filling. the bread cost $6. yes they baked it in their oven onsite but seems a bit steep. $8 for one caviar waffle was a lot. theservicealso wasn’t perfect; they were very busy on boxing day so it was understandable, but charging a public holiday surcharge means i would have expected normal staffing. they charged the olives and bread twice, and forgot my beer.

looking at the other tables, some of the more substantial dishes seem better value and their wine tasting was only $5. an excellent setting but let down but a few issues they shouldn’t be hard to fix.

rare hare is belongs to jacklope hotel, face to great vineyard view .serviceis excellent with contemporary interior design and outstanding food quality . baked cookie is one of favourite dessert in victoria ! you can’t miss that. they have variety of vege selection , all of them are nice and well present ! definitely go back

my key three pointers
* very homely and inviting, you will never want to leave
* communal tables, new friends after a few wines everyone is happy
* they may call it casual but the food presentation was better than some fine dinning restaurants.

mornington peninsula, jackalope hotels more casual dinning experience. this place is an experience and one that you will want to enjoy again. the most spectacular views of the vineyard, glass window interior brings the outside in. the vibe is very rustic with communal tables, some bench seating lots of timber, bricks and let’s not forget a fireplace . i feel away from the city life and i’m only an hour away. the mornington peninsula just stepped it up a notch and what a destination this place has created.
i loved the atmosphere, you could spend hours in the one spot. the food is delicious, they have designed the menu to be a share concept. they have a garden and i can only imagine what fresh goodness is coming from it. we tried a few things on the menu and i’m not sure how i was tempted to order the squid, as it comes with squid ink. i have never had a dish with squid ink, that i have enjoyed . well this dish was mind blowing and i loved it. the salmon was perfection and the side dishes are just as good. carrots how exciting, we’ll rare hare just made them fabulous and green beans. make sure you leave room for the signature cookie which is cooked in the wood oven. yum yum yum. all this, 2 glasses of wine, 2 beers set us back $150.00. it would have been nice to get the bread complementary but it was also worth the extra coin.
my wine of choice was the rose and estate grown, a very good drop.
theservicewas fantastic and the waitress we had made this 100 times more enjoyable, extremely friendly, had great suggestions and was happy to take some snaps for us. rare hare has lots of positives, if i have to nitpick i was surprised how small the toilets were considering the size of the venue, after a few wines i felt a little confined while waiting. i would also love to see a cheese platter on the menu, you could take this out on lawn and keep the drinks flowing , i’m not a huge fan of cold cuts.

such a lovely afternoon! the degustation was a excellent choice, flavoursome and great use of seasonal and local produce! wine list was modest the rose’ was perfectly matched & went with most dishes!servicewas proactive and fun!

i am a food snob, usually i wouldn't even dare think about going to a restaurant that was rated under a 4, but i don't know ... something told me that i should give rare hare a shot.
i think that the people who gave a negative review of this place were bitter because, although this is a "small place" in the "middle of nowhere" it is unbelievably popular - and well deserved might i add. i'm sorry but first in first serve - you snooze you lose - etc etc. i came exactly at 11 so i had no troubles getting a table.
theservicewas outstanding with the wait staff coming in to drop a few witty quirky lines that made patrons feel like not only are they a valued customer but they interacted just enough to make the dining experience enjoyable.
i love places like this where they take fresh ingredients, cook it to perfection and add just enough ingredients to highlight and not overpower the fresh produce that they are displaying.
things i ordered:
salumi selection 8/10  everything tasted delicious just wish we were told what our selection contained
oysters- 9/10 - creamy and delicious
deviled eggs - 9/10
kingfish- 8/10 fresh flavors, well balanced and not too overpowering
squid-7/10 cooked well flavours were not wow
whole market fish- 10/10 so goood butter herbs on a perfectly cooked fish - delightful
mussels - 9/10  in a thai curry sauce that was delicious but did not over power the freshness of the mussels

after visiting america this year i felt that nothing in melbourne could impress me with terms of simple flavours that would wow me... but i was wrong. my poor fiance can expect a few more 1 hour drives just for rare hare. oh i forgot to add - the views : spectacular - beautiful vineyards with very stylish decor - but just an fyi if you sit outside you will be visited by wasps.

thank you for putting back some hope back in my life that fine dining in melbourne is not as boring as i had envisioned.

dead set beautiful. stunning. excellentserviceand food to match from the wood fire oven was exceptional. would go back in a heart beat. squid and the eggplant were our fav dish

you need not to be in a rush to lunch at rare hare as it’s often really busy and quite a wait for a table.
but who doesn’t love to wait with a bottle of wine and an amazing view on the vineyard.
food is delicious, wine too andserviceis friendly. perfect spot for a weekend lunch. highly recommend always.