Crooked River Estate — Attraction in Willow Vale

If I could give a 0 star rating I would. Although the one star can go to the nice view.

Came here for a Hens party over the weekend which I was a Bridesmaid for (so doing a lot of the organising). We were booked in for a wine tasting followed by a two course lunch.

The two courses included EITHER a main and dessert OR a main and entrée for $65 per head, as seen in the screenshot attached. Just before lunch started, a waitress told us that they had changed the meal set up for us and we would be getting all three courses rather than two, which we were super stoked about!

Turns out that when we went up to pay they had charged us for all desserts eaten. Not only that, they charged us $69 per head rather than only $65. For 24 people this really added up, and us Bridesmaids were covering any extra costs associated with the lunch (which we were happy to do as it was our responsibility, but we are five women aged between 25-27, two of which have young children. None of us have money to just throw away). I questioned the lady at the front about both additional costs and she was completely condescending and was trying to make me look stupid. As we already had a budget however for the lunch and knew it would be very expensive, we didn't need to put in THAT much extra to make a big fuss over. So I just paid and then collected everyone to leave.

A few hours later however we got a call from the winery stating that we needed to come back to pay for 8 extra bottles of wine that they forgot to add onto our bill. The wine here is MINIMUM $45 per bottle (yes, a complete rip off) so this was a very hefty amount left to pay according to them. The gentleman on the phone was using intimidation tactics to the bridesmaid he was speaking to in an attempt to get us to come back in and pay. Luckily I have 8 years of experience in the hospitality industry and know that's not how things work, so I took over the phone call and explained out right that wasn't happening.

Crooked River Wines if you are reading this; sorry for your disorganisation (especially to Mrs lovely condescending manager on shift) but that's your own fault. We came up to settle our bill and if you did not count all items consumed thoroughly enough then that's something you have to take on the chin. otherwise how can you prove we even ordered the extra 8 bottles of wine? For all we know you are trying to rip us off even further. And I'm sure you have enough additional money from us with the extra $4 per head and cost of the desserts that it has evened out.

One star for the lovely view. Otherwise don't hesitate to give this place a miss and support one of the smaller, less greedy and not so overpriced establishments in the area.

UPDATE: I would like to mention that the staff who served us were all lovely and handled the serving of 24 people amazingly. There is just obviously a huge problem with management that could not be overlooked...

I have never posted on Google reviews before, but this needs to said.

My husband, son and I had booked lunch at this venue on a weekday (during school holidays). We arrived promptly at our allocated time, and were greeted by a lovely, friendly waitress. We were seated, and within a moment (literally) of sitting, were asked what drinks we would like. We politely asked for a few minutes, and within 30 seconds, a second member of the wait staff requested a drinks order. Again, we politely told them that we needed more time. On the 3rd go, we ordered a Rose and a hot chocolate, both of which we received promptly. Something so odd for a winery however, was that the waitress seemed totally disinterested in selling the wines, and could only provide scant information about the Rose. When received, the bottle was plonked on the table, not even uncapped, nor a glass poured. Really ordinary service.

We ordered our meals (oysters for entree to share, and 3 mains). The oysters arrived. They looked amazing, but again, 30 seconds later, the mains were plonked in front of us. We had not even started the entree, as we were dressing the oysters. When we said to the waitress that we had just received our entree, she shrugged her shoulders, and in a completely flippant way said, “Ok”, before sauntering off. Scampi linguine was ordinary, duck over cooked, and eye fillet also over cooked (medium well, definitely not medium). Such a disappointing service and food experience - absolutely not worth Sydney prices ($36 for a dozen oysters, $36 for mains).

When offered dessert, we promptly said no, paid the bill, and offered a little feedback, which has probably gone nowhere, and left. Originally our intention had been dessert and some wine tasting (and buying).

Your restaurant has a great setting, and a lot of potential, but the service is the worst I have ever experienced. At the moment, I would not recommend to anyone.

Also, perhaps take a minute to read all of the reviews, and comment on them all, not just the good ones...

I am very disappointed with my recent experience at Crooked River Winery on Father’s Day. We waited over an hour for a charcuterie board and then nearly two hours for two burgers that never arrived. Not to mention countless people complaining about delayed food.....When I approached a young male staff member dressed in black (working mainly behind the drinks bar with crew written on his sleeve) to ask for an update, his response was, “They are busy, there isn’t much I can do.” When I explained that this was not a sufficient answer and asked him to please check and also advised him that his customer service needs work, I was met with cheeky, dismissive remarks. He even went so far as to say, “My customer service is exceptional.” Instead of helping, he continued to interject with sarcastic comments while I spoke with another staff member. As someone who works in hospitality, I found this behaviour completely unacceptable. If any of my staff spoke to customers in this manner, they simply would not have a job. I asked to speak with a manager only to be told that the manager was not on site. I understand that it was Father’s Day and very busy, but that should have been expected and planned for. To make matters worse, when I stood near the kitchen waiting for an update, I overheard the head chef saying, “It’s not my problem.” It was also very clear that most of the staff need serious training not only in customer service but also in the basics of pouring wine and serving guests properly. For a winery with premium pricing, the standard of service delivered was far below expectations. We ended up having to request a refund for the burgers after spending almost four hours there with no resolution. For the prices charged here, I would expect far better service, not childish behaviour and a lack of accountability. I have been to Crooked River Winery before and enjoyed it, but this experience was beyond disappointing. If I could give zero...