red hill epicurean

unfortunately no. so we are 4 months in now since the opening and this was our 6th visit but the first time for dinner. what a shame! the poor service on the previous visits has been partially rectified with attentive staff but i still dont understand why ere are so many staff walking around trying to lokk busy. its gives an air of confusion. not the right atmosphere for dinner. and while they we very attentive its a pity they still didnt get the drinks or meal order right. how hard can it be? to the food.....in the past we have had the pizzas which are sensational. last night we went for the a la carte dinner menu. not sure what the gnocchi was like as they bought out ravioli instead. the pork filling wasgoodbut the shells needed more time in the pot. the rack of lamb was a shocker. ordered it medium well done and when it arrived it was still bleeding. well.....what meat there was. it was the fattiest lamb ever.. and because it was undercooked the large fatty slabs were inedible. the accompanying beans with bacon were incredibly fatty and rich as well. if you like fatty food you will love it. given we are locals we have been hoping that this would work a treat. its a wonderful renovation and the wine list is superb but the service stills needs a lot of work and the food weve had apart from the great pizzas certainly dont match up to the many options in the area. overall.....if you can handle ordinary service call in for a pizza. if you want something more...definitely go to the many other places in the area. for us...we will wait another few months and try again.....we so want this place to work!!!!

went to epicurean unsure what to expect. huge warehouse seating area and very well setup. we had the bread sharing starter with dips (very tasty - olives could have been better!). then we had sea food pasta dish and a special sausage pizza. the pasta dish had some delicious seafood in and wasgood(perhaps just a bit too garlicky but still v good!). the pizza base was fantastic...the toppings i was unsure of. yet again not taking anything from the dishes as done very well. wine tasting was slightly disappointing as we were just served the wine with no explanations or descriptions. overall it wasgoodand i recommend a visit.

disappointed. friendly staff, prices were overrated as the dish had minimal food on it. pizzas there are a joke as topping was scarce, can't believe i paid for a wood fire pizza with next to nothing toppings.
don't waste your money there as you are slugged with a 15% surcharge on holidays and they corner you with tips on their atm machine. was very disappointed as i use to go their often and the menu was reasonably priced. who ever now runs the restaurant is cheeky and unreasonable in pricing meals with minimalgoodon the plate. i've been to better places in the area that have more food on the plate at their prices. do no recommend unless you don't care about eating and paying for air.

i took my partner her for our first date. i had already been here a few times. the place was buzzing alive with activity. we didnt make a booking so we had to wait. we had a wine in the waiting area. we ordered antipasto platter, half roast chicken and the gippsland scotch fillet. the food was reallygoodwell presented and full of flavour. the service was good.

great food offset by very poor service. we were made to wait for 35 minutes for our booked table. no apology no welcome drink - just stand aside for half and hour. once seated our 1st round of drinks took over an hour and only then we went directly to the bar after 3 follow ups with waiters. the starters came after the pizza the salads came last.
the food wasgoodthough and is worth the asking price.
need to pick their game up as we won't be rushing back.

had a wonderful lunch here with friends last friday. the setting and food were lovely - verygoodquality. the staff were both friendly and efficient. had a fantastic time in a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. thank you

real score 3.5. just a coffee stop today. the dining area is unexpectedly huge here. it looked prettygoodin there i must say particularly with the roaring fire. when the weather turns in melbourne and nearby, a fire is much appreciated. we decided to have our coffees in the front cafe area. a dromana brew which while not top draw was quite acceptable. there’s also a range of johnny ripe foods available here too and they looked pretty prettygoodi’d have to say. we settled for one macaron which was tasty as well. service was fine here. nice spot on lovely red hill. we will return for a meal at some point.

the recent dining experience at the epicurean red hill was a very disappointing one, shocking to be exact. it was one of our favourite restaurants and go-to place for a nice lunch whenever we visited the peninsula region. the service before this wasn’t one of the best but decent enough to have us returned for many many times over the years. but last week was horrendous. it was the first time we visited after all the lockdown dramas. waited at the entrance for 10 minutes without anyone greeted us. all the waiters and waitresses were aimlessly walking around and no one cared to lead us in. i had to wave a few times and finally someone at the wine tasting area directed us to the rear section of the restaurant for ala-carte menu. again no one cared that we walked in. and when someone finally saw us waiting awkwardly in the middle of the room she asked if someone directed us there (what?!). they have changed the menu and the entire ordering system (probably post-covid lockdown). the main area is now reserved for set-menu diners only and if you wanted ala-carte be prepared to be deserted into the back area without much attention given. they got rid of those usual staff and hired a bunch of school leavers who don’t even understand the menu at all. and you have to walk to the counter to order and pay (for the $$ you pay yes you have to walk to the counter and order, what a joke). the new ala-carte menu is so minimal (only have pizzas as main) compared to the really extensive and interesting one they used to have. brought us the wrong food and had to ask us a few times what did we order. it seems like there’s no communication between the counter, kitchen and waiters at all! food standard has dropped too, bad presentation and the taste just wasn’t asgoodas before. gave us a few pieces of prosciutto when we ordered charcuterie and cheese board. asked one of the staff if that was the right thing and if so where’s the cheese and he answered “i have no idea”.

very sad to see a bunch of people who don’t know what they are doing managing the restaurant. what a crap system they have now! understandable it’s been a very difficult time for the fnb industry. however bad service is definitely something that is going to ruin it forever. bring back thegoodold epicurean, if possible!

there are not that many places open for dinner on weeknights near the hot springs but this was still agoodoption. they had a nice roaring fire in the fireplace and our food was nice. we got the brisket special and a fancy margherita pizza. the crust was nice and thin and the brisket was nice and tender.

this is the second time checking out the popular epicurian and feel i had a very similar experience with thegoodbits and the not sogoodbits!

thegoodbits: the vibe and ambience on a saturday or a sunday is awesome - everyone seems to have having agoodtime and the vibe is just cool with nice lighting and big open seating area that feels like you’re in a big barn. the food is delicious and prices are reasonable.

not sogoodbits: the hidden, sneaky prices of the bread! we got caught out with this the first time we came here so the second time we were very keen to hear how they proposed the bread option. our waiter who was super friendly and charismatic - said “do you want to have some bread to nibble on while you think of what to order?” sure soundsgoodwe replied - out comes a quarter loaf of bread (which is amazing) with olives and oil....so it’s not just to nibble on and they forget to explain you’re actually ordering this as a starter for $17. bit sneaky and probably not a great way to pitch it as then it put us off ordering starters that we genuinely did want because of the bread. so if you were none the wiser - you’d perhaps think maybe they were very generous on their free bread - however it got to half way through mains and we were still nibbling at the bread and along comes the waiter who clears it away...again if complimentary you wouldn’t be worried but after paying your $17 you’d kinda want to be asked whether you were done with the bread.
finally, as the barn open space has large tables - we were placed on the end of a table with other people so our romantic intended dinner for two wasn’t so romantic. we noticed many other couples also were seated the same.

overall i still love this place and i would definitely return but feel the bread thing is a tad sneaky in how it’s offered and would warn others if you’re not expecting it. although it is delicious!

this is my fourth time been here! food is nice as all the time, andgoodservice. they have best pizza and pasta in mornington range! must try! and kids friendly!

great wine,goodfood if you want pizza, then order away. however don’t order above this. $38 barramundi was entree size at best with a lemon wedge. menu suggested “mary’s greens” would be served, but nothing green on the plate. piece of fish with lemon wedge no bigger than 8cms! yikes! worse was the coffee, the short blacks were
so bitter, never tasted worse coffee ever, and we drink daily, we asked them to check, but they served just as bad. poor girls we tried to tell them to check machine. they kept serving us syrup. so order pizza and local wine and you’ll be happy! don’t do anything more than this.

slick looking place, withgoodstaff...but the food is a bit disappointing. bland, over salted offerings that are overpriced. we would not return.

a very large establishment with separate sections to make it more intimate. the menu has basic options of pasta, pizza, meat dishes and salad. nothing out of the ordinary but all verygoodfood and generous servings. we enjoyed the local wines they served. there is a very dark and sexy separate function area that would be great for a wedding and other private function spaces for weddings, engagements, birthdays etc. an excellent venue for groups and celebrations. probably not somewhere i’d go for an intimate dinner for two.

i really enjoy this restaurant! amazing space. the vibe is awesome, with three different big sections.
food is simple and classic. service is friendly and efficient! red hill epicurean caters for everyone.
love the cafe at the front. keep up thegoodwork!