Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard — Attraction in Lenswood

Thought we would try this Vineyard restaurant as it is a very short distance from another, Pike & Joyce, which we had attended for lunch last weekend. We had dropped in on the same day to Mt Lofty Ranges vineyard on the way back home as it has a enticing, picturesque landscape setting. It was very busy so decided to come back this weekend on a surprisingly cool February day. One could say parking is relatively limited once it gets busy so one should be careful to park as far off the road as possible. This establishment has a rustic theme with a great mix of old & new woods used throughout. There are indoor & outdoor tables with some on differing levels to take in the views of the vineyard. We arrived early, greeted immediately by friendly, smiling staff who offered us some wine tasting to start with. This made it easy to select a bottle for our lunch. The wines are predominantly white but there are a couple of lighter reds to try. All are of very good quality & priced accordingly. Our choice was the excellent Sauvignon Blanc. Menu choice is fairly small but sufficient considering the venues size & location. There are two degustation menus available if you so desire. Pricing for the regular menu is in high end bracket & portion size is small. Venues like these really don't have much choice as it is as much about the surroundings & experience as the high quality food. You have to have a point of difference & that costs a lot of money. Between our small gathering of four we had the bread for entree. Then for mains we had three of the four options. Two had the lamb, one the chicken & I took the Golden Nugget pumpkin. Sides are ordered separately. Both the chicken & lamb selections had some accompliments to them to make it look quite enticing. However, my small little pumpkin looked very lonely in the middle of the plate. Each selection was perfectly cooked, of excellent quality & taste. Top marks to the chef/s. All portions were small so large eaters might be left wanting a little. For us it was ok but then we weren't here for a "Christmas" feast. Desserts ordered were quite exquisite & excellent texture & taste. Again, very small. A venue for those that can afford it. ($225 for bread, 4 x mains, 2 x desserts, 2 x soft drinks & a...

We entered Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyard with an attitude of expectation and admiration for a place we had researched for our friendly group to enjoy a special lunch on a beautiful autumn day in the Adelaide Hills.

FIRST IMPRESSION - lovely setup with stunning views, delicious aromas. Staff not overly welcoming.

SECOND IMPRESSION - the wine tastings were very scant, hardly a mouthful served by a slightly arrogant male owner. Unfriendly impatience from the head waitress who was not at all interested in conversing with us as we asked a few questions and complimented the beautiful setting.

THIRD IMPRESSION - very polite and pleasant younger waiting staff seating us at our beautifully positioned table on the balcony overlooking the vineyards, explaining the menu clearly and taking orders efficiently.

FOURTH IMPRESSION - magnificent food, though tiny serves.....starting to wonder about the value - $60 pp for 2 courses. Delicious bread but only one tiny slice each.

FIFTH IMPRESSION - the Bill. Discovering we were charged $5 per head for wine tasting even though we were advised at the time of booking that this would apply only to groups of 10 or more. Only 8 of us took part in this as the other 3 arrived later just for the meal. The morsel of bread we had enjoyed lost its appeal when we saw that the 3 miniature loaves (the size of a small bun) added an extra $25 to the bill!

SIXTH IMPRESSION - it had cooled down a bit so we were glad to find some lovely hand knitted rugs supplied for the patrons. Our attentive waiting staff offered us coffee at $4.50 each and this warmed us up nicely.

So, all in all for $83 pp for a 2 course meal with one glass of wine we left with a very bad taste in our mouths. The overall feeling among our group was that we were deceived and 'ripped off'. Still a little hungry we headed for a local bakery to enjoy a much better value dessert than the one offered for $17.

Sorry to say we will not visit again, nor recommend Mt Lofty Ranges...

My family came to this vineyard for boxing day and was treated with the most rude and unwelcoming served i have ever come across. This older man (assumed he was a manager) was very hostile towards our family group of 14 together for christmas. when we walked in this older manager argued with my mother, who is a business owner of a company that does walking and wine tours around the area and brings a lot of business to vineyards like this one, this made our family so uncomfortable we had to leave due to the hostility of the environment he had made.

In response to your return to my review. We all definitely understand the struggles of hospitality work and shortages - i personally work in a number of jobs of hospitality and know about all the struggles that come with the job and public holidays. However, as a business in the hospitality sector your first rule is a good and positive attitude towards all customers. my family was more then happy to compromise to whatever you could fit and a number of us were not drinking and we informed the manager of this. the problem doesn’t lie with the customer because i personally believe that people will generally fit into what can be offered which is what we would have happily done. The only problem evident was the attitude of the manager. from the second we walked into the room his expression was evidently sour and extended no pleasantries or questions about who was wanting to do the tastings. everyone standing in the area was extremely off put by what this man said to us including his two staff standing next to him. i don’t think it is at all fair to assume we would ever stay and sit in the tasting room or at a table with such an unpleasant and rude presence. therefore, our family and money left and moved onto a much more friendly and happy winery called cobb hill estate which we...