Burrowing Owl Estate Winery — Attraction in Area C (Inkaneep/Willowbrook)

Came for dinner, and this is my third time here over the course of a decade. I love the restaurant and it has never disappointed. I wanted to bring my mom and I have finally been able to share this amazing food with her.

Atmosphere: Airy lofty but cozy space with high ceilings and wood floors. It's very cozy in the winter and in summer, the big windows give you a nice view.

Service: very friendly and professional, explaining all the aspects of every dish and very accommodating for different diets.

Food: lovely and excellent as always. Mom and I don't eat seafood, or we would have gone with the tasting menu, but below are the dishes from the tasting menu that you can order on their own.

To start, we had the mushroom soup and the goat cheese salad. On first taste the soup seemed under salted, but as you take a second bite, you realise this is not true and it is just salted enough so the flavours can shine. This is the hallmark of quality, fresh ingredients and a confident master chef. It is cherry season, so the salad had lightly picked cherries with perfectly paired accompaniments (nuts, red cabbage, frisée).

Our mains were the chicken breast and duck breast. For the duck breast, the berry gelee was a surprisingly good pairing and the very fancy potato confection is somehow the highlight. It is very thinly sliced potato, curled into a spiral and then fried until crispy on the edges. It is showy but definitely deserves its spotlight.

The chicken breast is perfectly cooked and the chef managed to make polenta taste good. The long stick of pan fried polenta had excellent flavour and texture. I have never had good polenta before and now I'm thinking that everyone else just didn't know how to prepare it.

Dessert: Mom's chocolate terrine was everything you want a chocolate terrine to be: intensely chocolatey, like you took the best chocolate and in all its forms and compressed it until you get a bar of it with all 3 states (gas, liquid solid) melded together. Like you are tasting the Newton of chocolates, the philosopher's ideal of chocolates. The shards of neighbor and blobs of gelee make the perfect somehow even more perfect. You get the entire range of textures and flavours, like hitting every note on a scale.

We were also told that the chef had made black forest cake, since cherries were in season. This is my favourite cake. I was compelled, or I would have ordered the house-made sorbet. I am not sure what happened, because the flavours were perfect, the cake was beautifully simple (single decker sandwich of sponge, cherry layer, more sponge and cream with some chocolate shavings), the amount of cream was right, I have never had so many cherries in a black forest cake so I finally felt like this was the way it was supposed to be, but, and there is a very regrettable but, the sponge was a little dry. Everything else about it was so good, I am willing to forgive this but it seems like such a...

Beautiful Property, Exceptional Staff—But One Jarring Experience Left a Lasting Mark

My partner and I recently stayed at the Burrowing Owl Estate Winery & Guest House, and while the property remains as beautiful as ever—with stunning vineyard views and luxurious accommodations—our most recent experience was unfortunately overshadowed by one deeply disappointing interaction.

Let me start by saying this: • The check-in staff were excellent—warm, professional, and efficient. • The housekeeping and maintenance team were friendly and incredibly helpful, clearly taking pride in their work. • The room was immaculate, the views were breathtaking, and overall, the guest house still lives up to its reputation, for the most part.

However, our breakfast experience was uncomfortable and disheartening.

When I arrived at the breakfast room, I was greeted by the breakfast manager, who made a point of announcing that she had worked there for 9 years (though I heard her tell another guest it was 8—so the jury’s out). I was hopeful for the same great hospitality we’d experienced the night before.

That hope vanished when my partner—a—younger Filipino man with a degree in hospitality and years of experience working at high-end establishments in Dubai and Qatar—walked in to join me. The manager’s demeanour changed instantly. The warm welcome turned cold. No small talk, no eye contact, no kindness—just a visible shift in energy that felt personal.

We watched as every other table received friendly banter: “How was your breakfast?” “I made the jam myself!” “I’ve been here for 8 (or 9) years—my Boba taught me this recipe.” But for us? We got a flat “Are you done?” as our plates were whisked away—no warmth, no politeness. It was clear we were being treated differently, and it was upsetting to witness.

To make matters worse, we heard this same manager make a rude, unnecessary comment to another guest buttering her toast: “Oh my, that’s a lot of butter!” she blurted as she passed by—completely uncalled for and unprofessional.

My partner, who has worked in hospitality in Dubai and Qatar, immediately recognized this kind of treatment as a red flag. He also left his own review of the incident here, which I encourage you to read for additional context.

Burrowing Owl is still a special place to us. Most of the staff were outstanding. But no matter how stunning the setting, hospitality is ultimately about people—and one individual’s dismissive, biased behavior has a way of tarnishing the whole experience. We left feeling judged and unwelcome—something no guest should ever feel, especially at a place of this caliber.

We sincerely hope management reads this and takes it seriously. You have a world-class destination here. Please ensure every guest is treated with the dignity and respect...

I have scanned the reviews before writing mine. Clearly some people did not enjoy their experience. My wife and I did. We spent two hours enjoying the view and the meal. We ate inside as my wife does not enjoy outside dining. Scallops and a bread board to get us going. My wife ordered the steak and I ordered lamb (so we could share). The food was offered medium rare and we asked for medium. It was delivered as ordered. The meats were tender and slightly pink, the vegetables were varied and sufficient. All the hot foods (including the bread!) was served hot and not 'sitting on a serving tray for a while lukewarm'. When ordering, I specifically asked to have the meal delayed after the starters so we could enjoy our conversation, the wine and the view. Not only did that happen, but we were kept abreast of where our food was in the plating order to let us know we hadn't been forgotten. Our Finnish server Ingela (sp?), with fewer customers due to COVID, had time to speak with us, and made our experience even better. The meal was not inexpensive. The wine might have been less expensive coming from the basement, but in the context of the overall experience was acceptable and perfectly paired to our food. To those who did not have a good experience, I would only recommend you try again. People do have off days and the staff seem eager to make things right. My wife and I during 49 years of marriage and travel have eaten numerous five star meals on every continent. This meal, including service and surroundings is now firmly within our top...