My family joined us for lunch on a freezing winter Sunday! From a past experience years ago we were all very excited for the food! The menu has lots of tasty looking items and it was hard to make a decision! The bistro was actually quite cold with most of my family wearing their jackets inside. The food came out of the kitchen in good time, however 3/4 of the meals were over cooked! Main meals range around $30-$50 which is quite an expensive Sunday lunch for 6 people. The portions are huge however not sure that compensates the price... My brother had the ribs which he said were beautiful! Fell of the bone and moist. Other meals were mussels which were very over cooked, and my steak which was...
Really looked forward to Christmas Lunch as everyone does! Discussed over the phone before booking and pre-paying that I'm a vegetarian and what I'd be choosing for my main course-Veggie pattie with roast veg.Starter arrived as a shared platter with vegetarian food and seafood and ham mixed together...then they brought me back a plate of the vegetarian food which they'd clearly just taken straight from the previous plate as there was ham stuck to the bottom of it........the main course was a plate of vegetables, with no veggie pattie......helped ourselves to dessert from a trolley....of which 3 desserts had been mawled by someone already. $85 what a ripoff.
The waitress assured me the flathead was flavoursome and worth ordering. It was incredibly greasy, covered in thick batter and tasteless. But worth ordering. The chips were awful. Crunchy and greasy. Again no flavour or care. The side salad a token effort at having something green on the plate. I also ordered a side salad which lacked flavour and seasoning. In fact it was greasy too. My friends plodded through the tiniest piece of pork belly and hock. They were disappointed too. The waitress was more interested in her friend than serving us. So many other eating options and we chose this place. A real shame.
once we got past the fact our meal order was mixed up and one of meals were missed totally. My porter house steak was like eating a cold rubber boot. my "chunky" chips were lifeless and clearly out of a packet as were my vegetables. My daughters Spaghetti Marinara that was supposed to have a "hint" of Chilli tasted like a bowl of Chilli with some spaghetti mixed through it. There are so many better option for a meal around this location. suggest you try one of those !!
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Drinks were good, tasting plate was ok, waitress wanted to take it before we finished and had no clue what was on the Grazing plate, ordered surf n turf, surf was clearly out!! I ordered rare steak I got chewy over cooked piece of fat that was less than 10% consumable... beans were well cooked watery tasteless mash.... won't go back sadly.... wanted to stay for times upstairs but was too sad :(
It was fantastic to have a family lunch without any complaints about food, service or environment.This was a big group, and everyone loved what they ate. There was something for the teenagers, seniors wine and beer lovers alike.Big servings!Will definitely be going beck next time we all meet up. Parking was easy too!
I refuse to dine anywhere that has rude staff. The lady in the bistro was exactly that when I walked in so I turned around and went somewhere else. Considering that I was the only person in the bistro, you'd think it would have been s good idea to show some manners.tsk tsk.
Had a catch up with friends and happy with the setup. Food was average and drinks expensive. The share plate was definitely not worth the per head charge. To top off the night, one of the staff members was rude, will not be back.
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Really good dining experience The restaurant is actually called Bistro 289; the attached pub used to be known a hangout for shady types, I'm told.
On a freezing Friday night we rain into the Laurel bistro, escaping Melbourne's wet weather vendetta.
Wednesday: 'Free ' Quizzame Trivia In Our Sportsbar
Eggplant, Cous Cous, Cherry Tomato And Basil Gateau
300Grm 'Grass Fed Southern Gippsland ' Porterhouse
Our Chefs Rich Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding
Parmesan And Herb Crusted Veal Schnitzel
Potato, Chorizo And Jalapeno Croquettes
Our Famous 'American Style Pork Ribs '
Charred 'Peri Peri ' Chicken Maryland
Thursday: Parmarama Day – All Parma's
Laurel's Classic Chicken Parmigiana
