Pier Street — Restaurant in Barwon South West

Dinner on 24th Jan celebrating a 50th birthday with the family. Overall disappointing and not in line with the excellent reviews that I had read and the high hopes that we had. Calamari entree was delicious as was the bruschetta. The mussels that I ordered for a main were also delicious and faultless. However the fish and chips was hit and miss. 1 of the 3 serves was excellent. The other 2 serves were very very thin pieces of fish and so nearly all batter. The accompanying chips for all 3 were very light on but given the current shortages that was understood. The scallops and pork belly was also disappointing -the pork was very chewy and there were only 3 very small scallops. The snapper dish was dry and over cooked most likely due to the fact that they brought it out and started delivering mains while we were still finishing the entrees and so we sent them back. Rather than re cooking the snapper it was clearly thrown in the oven or under the salamander for 10 minutes to wait while entrees were finished rather than being re cooked.

The prices here are not cheap and are in keeping with Melbourne restaurant pricing. That’s ok - we are from Melbourne and so already pay these prices when we head out for dinner at home. However, if I am attending a restaurant that bills itself as a restaurant and not a cafe then I expect great food and at least good service. I don’t expect a restaurant of any quality to be firing and delivering mains to a table while entrees are still be eaten. I also don’t expect a decent restaurant to think that something like a fillet of snapper (at $42 for the dish) can sit uncovered under a salamander for 10 minutes after being cooked without suffering for it. After attending expecting a great meal and evening we were left very disappointed. Not the memorable 50th birthday dinner we...

The Manager is very rude & unhelpful with dietary requirements . We were a party of 5 with 1 child that is celiac so needed Gluten free foods. Small amount of GF choices & none for children. Most restaurants have chips but the manager says chips have fillers which is a load of rubbish as they are potato, however as they were beer bartered chips they were not gluten-free. So the only thing we could order for child was grilled fish. We were ordering over $200 of food for the rest of the party, and as there were no veggies on offer for GF child , we asked manager if we could bring in some chips for the child to have with her grilled fish, but the manager flatly refused to allow this and said give her salad! As if!! We explained to her again that we are ordering food for the adults & grilled fish for the child, but a small piece of fish is not enough to eat, however the manager became very rude and loud and still flatly refused. So we left, had dinner elsewhere, that were helpful with dietary requirements. There are many eateries in Portarlington, that would be happy to have the business, obviously not Pier St restaurant. If I could give zero stars I would. The manager is ill informed and rude. Will not be returning , and being local will tell others of...

Pier St is a family-friendly waterside cafe located on Pier St in Portarlington. It is brought to you by the team behind Noir (Richmond), Peter (ex Gordon Ramsey’s Amaryliss in Glasgow) and Ebony Vagg. 🌊

Everything on their Contemporary Australian brunch and lunch menu, where possible, is sourced locally or from the Bellarine Peninsula. All of the fish comes fresh from their local fishmonger Jenkins & Son every morning. 🐟

They are especially known for their Portarlington mussels, which they serve three ways: in a chowder, garlic and white wine or chilli and tomato. 🌶️

⭐️Chilli Tomato Mussels - a fantastic spicy, creamy sauce. A plentiful serving served with a bowl of crispy beer battered chips. ✔️ Salt n Pepper Calamari Salad - light yet a big serving! ✔️ Seafood Platter - Great, felt like the value could have been a little more for $80, but the quality IS fantastic.

Such a great spot to visit if you’re in town on a nice sunny day, they have a fantastic alfresco area at the front which gets super vibey and busy. We will definitely be popping back in for...