ten minutes by tractor

gorgeous food, great atmosphere and superb service. not the little lunch stop we had expected but were blown away by the amazing meal. pricey but the wholeexperiencewas terrific.

couldn’t rate ourexperiencemore highly! everything was perfect- from the incredible food, to the attentive, friendly service and beautiful setting and atmosphere. they were extremely accomodating of our dietary requirements.
worth every cent.

high court of consumption

betty cocker cj

background

1. in 2020, 28,000 unfortunate souls caught the vid-19.

2. back in january 2020, the judge caught a ripe and juicy puerto rican off the coast of the mornington peninsula. after a few bottles of georgian wine, their bodies intertwined along the sands of shire hall beach.

3. cut to 2021, and for the anniversary of the judge x puerto rico, the longaniza took the judge to 10xt for a night of debauchery and glistening excitement. needless to say, expectations were meteoric.

judgement

4. the judge has been around the traps. #trapcard. and that's not to say she doesn't have a few of her own; like the one between her leggggs. at least with her traps, you know what you gon' get. this place's ultimate trap? not one sign of a tractor anywhere on the property, in sight from any vantage point, through any window, in any manner of a sculpture within the interior, except for the miniscule stamp on the leather pouches housing the menus. disappointing.

5. side note: the views are lovely, v romantic, v gorgeous, v beautiful.

6. the court honourably sights the evidence presented regarding costs of $500 for a dinner for two, including wine flights. whilst the judge has finally paid off the mortgage on her toorak mansion, she still expects a level of quality when forking out five watermelons in exchange for putting things in her mouth. the restaurant game is a tricky business. adam sanderson, props for your efforts. it’s difficult to tell what influence you have on the restaurant when you’re not at the restaurant. you win some, you lose some. tonight, the judge x puerto rico lost more than they won. it’s the little things. maître d absence of solid morale boosting ambience? check. maître d lack of personability? check. use of french waiters to create a false sense of a european restaurant? check. failure by chef to interact with guests? check. instance of pouring still water into a glass of sparkling water? check. absence of memorable standout dish? check. explanation of dishes by waiters cut off by maître d? check. sour dish presented as palate cleanser demonstrating little-to-no evidence of neutrality? check. no offer of additional bread? check. the judge is trying to be less nit-picky. her psychiatrist says it’s not healthy.

7. speaking of bread: the court must acknowledge this to be the most memorableexperienceof the night. but the judge didn’t take an uber black from toorak to main ridge for bread.

8. one thing's for sure, the judge enjoys her sexy waiters. she's all about those cute eyes that sit atop our era of covid masks. the judge acknowledges the evidence presented. the judge acknowledges it as subpar. diners are hereby ordered not to write anything home about it. masks are great but it’s unclear whether they have much utility when staff remove them whenever they speak with guests.

9. in these trying times, the judge has grown soft around her curvy edges. to that extent, the judge acknowledges the fair efforts of the wait staff (exclusively those in green; the judge is looking at you martin, you sexy beast) and has decided to grant an award of 3 stars, otherwise known to the court as “fair effort. please try again. red hill loves you and knows you can do better. looking forward to future efforts.” it appears much has changed at 10xt since its glory days pre-fire. it appears too much is relied upon in the realm of pre-existing goodwill and reputation. it appears much further work is required to return to the frontpage of good food let alone mfwf.

10. prospective patrons, take it as you will. the judge jests but the judge also speaks the truth.

note:

11. see zomato review by gee for further information.

we’ve been eagerly waiting for the last 19 odd months for ten minutes by tractor to be rebuilt and open for business! i’ve been here 6 or 7 times myself (pre fire), and have fond memories of amazing food and faultless service. it was their second week of trading since the fire and we were there for a birthday. alas, it was fairly disappointing. the menu is either 3, 5 or 8 courses. there are only three choices for the 3 course option. it’s a new chef and most of the staff were new and didn’t have much idea. it was very amateur. kudos to nikki who tried her best and jacques (who i think was there prior to the fire). it wasn’t all doom and gloom, but it’s annoying to be paying top dollar to be a guinea pig while they’re still sorting things out. surely soft launches could fine tune everything? main course was a choice of fish, duck or a mushroom dish. the fish was ok, the duck was undercooked and underwhelming with soggy skin. nobody at our table had the mushroom dish. one of the desserts was panacotta with coriander and green peas. it just felt like they were trying too hard, regardless of ‘feedback’ they’ve had about that dessert. we voiced our disappointment and they knocked 10% off but it’s not about that. it was a special occasion and it was a real let down.


below is a 5 star review from a years back:

magnificent food and service, amazing attention to detail, everything about this diningexperiencewas top notch. fine dining without being over wanky. had the spanner crab with fish to start. the serving was much bigger than expected and everything about it was delicious. all entrees at the table looked perfect. sirloin for mains and the rum caramelised bananas for desert. i can't stress how good thisexperiencewas.

what a delightful fine diningexperiencein flinders! the cocktail serves of salmon roe and lamb cutlets beautifully foreshadowed the exquisite three course meal that followed! even the brown butter beer roll - crisp and crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside with in-house churned butter on the side - was so good! food heaven. they make a really good cappuccino, too. the wine list was extensive, although the absence of nz marlborough choices was notable. the service was great! the high ratio of wait staff (quite a few of whom are french) to guests ensured a seamless experience. very happy to recommend @10xtractor!!

the service was fantastic and the food fabulous. as someone who can't eat dairy and doesn't eat meat they not only catered for me in every dish but went over and beyond to ensure myexperiencewas just as good as everyone else's. we had the 5 dish digestation and it was superb. great place, want to go again.

the diningexperienceof a lifetime. i rate this as the greatestexperiencei have ever had and that's a massive call. started off with a wine tasting before moving to our table on the window with a breathtaking view. the amuse bouche was a great little kick start followed by perfectly warm bread with like a whipped butter and olive oil... 10/10 entree for me was the skull island prawns, so fresh and the passionfruit and dill sauces worked perfect... another 10. i was then tossing up between the duck and the lamb for main when graham the restaurant manager took my menu and said leave it with me... to my delight he brought to the table a half serve of both the lamb and the duck... it's that sort of service that makes a visit to this place so amazing. the waiters are absolute professionals and anyone running a service related business should come here and witness poetry in motion. 100/10 from the moment we walked in to the moment we left. already planning the return visit... oh and the wine is also top class

what an incredible meal with a gorgeous view and exceptional service! a 3-inch thick wine list is a work of art in itself. our 5-course tasting menu has very interesting dishes with amazing flavours using fresh ingredients. theexperienceoverall definitely lived up to its 2 hat reputation. what a treat!

what an epic culinary adventure of eight beautiful plates with eight paired wines that, in our opinion were perfectly paired. the service is 'fine dining' & 'prim & proper' but never did we feel that it was ott or snobby. professional and attentive. all staff showed love for their restaurant which translated into the diningexperiencebeing a very very memorable one. hands down best restaurant on the peninsula by far.

magnificent food and service, amazing attention to detail, everything about this diningexperiencewas top notch. fine dining without being over wanky. had the spammer crab with fish to start. the serving was much bigger than expected and everything about it we delicious. all entrees at the table looked perfect. sirloin for mains and the rum caramelised bananas for desert. i can't stress how good thisexperiencewas.

amazing place to have an extraordinary meal. just remember to book days ahead in advance because they pack up quite quickly. before the exquisite meal, there will be some wine tasting session if you want to. the staffs really make your diningexperienceimpressionable. of course to top that will be the meal. the food comes in perfect timing, not to slow or too fast. colourful presentation and every bite was full of flavours.

this restaurant is all class. from the welcome to the farewell theexperiencecould not have been much better. set with views over the vineyards, the dining room is sleek but confortable. we opted for the full degustation - 8 courses with a couple of surprises, with the wine match. exceptional value, all things considered - $144 for the degust, $88 for 8 glasses of wine. each and every course was delicious and well balanced. the wine match was particularly impressive, made up of less known varietals and smaller producers. they were all delightful and interesting and perfectly matched to the food. the service was very professional yet warm and friendly, with special mention to the fantastic sommelier who took us through the journey.

worth the drive !. 

went to 10 minutes by tractor for my birthday - yearly splurge on fine dining. had the 8 course degustation menu because you are there so why not go the full monte!. 

the food is excellent as is the presentation but what i actually liked most about theexperiencewere the waiters and the service. the restaurant is not at all stuffy. when i arrived i was starving and told the waiter who even before bringing out menus ect, got me some delicious freshly cooked bread. having tamed the hungry beast i could now focus my attention on the menu, the surrounding and on enjoying the evening. 

the pace of each course for us was absolutely perfect. not too fast yet not too slow because when you have a degustation menu it can sometimes feel like an eternity between courses.  the waiter asked once if we wanted a break and we said no that was fine. 

i had wine by the glass rather than the full food wine matching and that was plenty for me. 

overallexperiencewas warm and friendly with a variety of food for all tastes - quail, fish, beef and chocolate desert. highly recommended.

just had lunch there - an excellentexperience- very professional and attentive staff, extensive and impressive (main) wine list (their 2014 pn ok to pretty good, but the 2013 coolart is superb - interesting no bordeaux on the main list!), food very glossy and delicious (and beautifully presented) without being silly or over the top, and it came quickly, while the view and ambience was relaxing, rural and interesting (fat sheep slowly grazing up and down the vineyard rows).  not cheap, but absolutely worth it and certainly one of the top places on the peninsular. strongly recommended.

had a great meal at the ten minutes by tractor restaurant this week. we were a (slightly rowdy and very hungry) group of eight, which can be a little challenging, but the crew looks after us brilliantly. adding a couple of small tasters to our three courses meant we were able to get a good sense of the menu breadth. my quail entree, beef main and deconstructed apple pie desert were stunningly presented and equally tasty. service was five star. we really are blessed to be able toexperiencethis quality of restaurant in almost every corner of the state.