Maxwell Wines — Attraction in Adelaide

We were lucky to get the chance to have lunch at Maxwell's with the family and went for the 10 course menu (+ supplement course). Arriving here with high expectations due to the rewards that the restaurant won and some friend's recommendation, it was certainly not the easiest position the team of the restaurant was in. From the booking until the last petits fours, the experience was good. We first booked for 2 pax, then extended to 6 pax, and needed to change to 5 pax one day in advance due to some illness. Despite the late notice and frequent changes, it was not a problem at all, which I really appreciate. Thanks again for your understanding! The lunch itself is in a slow pace, which is stated on the website. However, it was almost 5h that it took for the menu, not 3-4 h, so at some point it became a bit tiring. This slow pace affected the service (we were seated not earlier than 10 min after arrival) and the food itself. Especially the first few bites could come out of the kitchen a little bit faster – if someone is taking 11 courses, you could assume they are looking forward to the food. :) The menu itself is very innovative, well prepared and beautifully plated. The team uses state-of-the-art techniques to create a menu with many surprises, both visually and regarding the taste. The ingredients are of a high quality and one can tell, they love their espuma and caviar. Talking about espuma, there was unfortunately one dish (a mud crab with a melon foam) where the consistency of the foam was not really pleasant. Instead of supporting the taste of the high quality ingreadients, as the lovely and delicious crab, the unpleasant foam was too overwhelming, which was quite a shame. Despite this little flaw, the other dishes were great. Certainly, not everyone liked every dish, but that was more to the individual taste and not the fault of the restaurant. Coming back to the front-of-house team, we experienced an attentive, smooth service. They were not necessarily talkative or interacting, but behaved professional. However, I was a bit confused that at some point, when I went to the bathroom, my glass was taken away, with a little bit of my drink left, and no one ever offered me any further drink. Since I am currently not drinking heaps of alcohol, I started with a non-alc drink, but neither I was offered to participate in the shared bottle of wine, nor I was asked if I wanted anything else. That was a bit confusing, and I was asking myself whether a winery does not necessarily want to sell their wines or other drinks during a meal? Especially compared to other restaurants in this segment, that is not what I am used to. All in all, it was a descent experience, certainly with some positive surprises, but with room for improvement for a fully satisfying...

We had Sunday lunch at Maxwell’s to celebrate a birthday. Arriving twenty minutes early, we were warmly welcomed in the tasting room by two lovely staff who poured us bubbly, added it to our bill, and said someone from the restaurant would collect us shortly, so far, a seamless and promising start.

Ten minutes past our scheduled sitting, we ventured inside ourselves. We were greeted by a rude man who immediately ushered us back out of the restaurant so he could “go and check” our booking, seemingly unaware we’d been waiting for him. When we showed surprise at his tone and sudden eviction, he snapped, “Relax, I need to check.” The room was almost empty, so the theatrics felt unnecessary and unwelcoming. Throughout the meal he remained knowledgeable, but we didn’t enjoy his ‘humour’.

Once seated, we spotted a custom-printed “Happy Birthday” menu was a lovely touch. We chose the longer degustation and added the optional marron course at $38 per person. Drink-wise we started with refreshing gin cocktails, followed by a bottle of sparkling that arrived disappointingly flat and served in ordinary wine glasses rather than flutes.

There was pleasing theatre in the food: liquid-nitrogen mist under the oyster opener and a fog-filled cloche for the marron. Individual courses were small, but the sheer number meant we left comfortably full, helped by a generous hunk of sourdough served with the wagyu.

When ingredient sources were mentioned there were a few from Western Australia. While we appreciate Australian produce, dining in McLaren Vale we expected more South Australian provenance; one server couldn’t confirm where the wagyu came from (only that it wasn’t Mayura Station).

The cooking itself was strong: several dishes deserved a 10/10, while our least favourites, the mussel and spaetzle courses landed closer to 7/10. A few listed ingredients never really surfaced in flavour, and the umami punch felt heavy, almost MSG-like, leaving us both very thirsty and with mild headaches by the end. A surprise citrus-cream “taco” dessert ended things on a bright note.

Pacing was sluggish, and slow to start. Lunch stretched to four hours yet could easily have wrapped in two-and-a-half or less with tighter service. When we finally asked for the bill, it failed to arrive after fifteen minutes, so we returned to the tasting room to pay, only to be charged for the wrong table, leaving us $700 out of pocket until the refund cleared two days later.

Overall, the food and a few thoughtful touches partly redeemed the experience, but the rude initial reception, slow pacing, and billing mishap were hard to ignore, especially at this price point. We’re glad we tried Maxwell’s, yet for the next special occasion we’ll...

We visited Maxwell Wines to celebrate our 10 year Wedding Anniversary. This was a really special celebration for us so we opted for their longer 10 course option with all the extras. One of the highlights was my hubby treating me to a really special bottle of champange so the mood was flying with excitment. I must say the kitchn have their craft well perfected. All the dishes were beautifully presented and absolutely delicisous. I really appreciated the effort and love that went into every dish. The ambience was also very lovely and wine list very impressive.

The dissapointment began when I needed to look for staff to have my glass topped up. As the staff member was filling my glass I also noticed the bottle was nearly empty so I queried her asking to check our order and make sure this was our bottle. She confirmed they in fact thought I only ordered a glass but that it wasn't an issue. This was the first hurdle that took us away from the flow of our experience, but whilst slightly dissapointed, I was very understanding. At this point I assumed they would bring our bottle to the table but it never happened which was annoying, especially after a while when I found myself with an empty glass needing to find staff AGAIN. I felt really frustrated here. When you are spending $$$$ on lunch you don't expect to be looking for staff to top up your glass. The champagne we ordered was a really special treat for us so it was dissapointing that the staff downgraded the experience with their lack of attention and presentation.

Overall, whilst Maxwell Wines had serious potential, the wait staff's flaws took us out of our experience on multiple occasions and downgraded what could have been the...