RidgeView — Restaurant in Belford

Wow! Where do I start...Myself and my Husband chose Ridgeview as our wedding venue in early October this year. From the very beginning to the very end- communication and service was beyond excellent. On behalf of Nicholas and I, we would like to say a massive THANKYOU to Kris, Jasmine, Tom and the team for making our wedding day perfect. Your eagerness, detail for perfection, kindness and willingness made our wedding day a fairytale that was smooth and effortless. Jasmine assisted our wedding planning/organising for the first half before heading off on maternity leave- her communication and organisation was perfect. We were then moved into the hands of Kris, who is absolutely remarkable. Not only did Kris and the team assist with the set up of our whole reception- but ensuring that everything ran smoothly from having food menu trials/organising meet ups before the wedding. We cannot recommend high enough!

Nicholas and I cannot thank the chefs high enough. All of our guests are still talking about the confit duck- and all of the food! All of the guests have stated that the food was the best they have ever had. I could not agree more- the chef's went above and beyond to ensure the presentation, taste and quality of the food was absolute excellence. Thank you for going above and beyond.

A massive thank you to the wonderful Bar staff- not only does Ridgeview have the best wine (I absolutely love the Moscato) but also the best bar service- quick, effective, polite and just beautiful staff who clearly enjoy their job. Thank you.

Thank you to the whole of Ridgeview for letting us have access to the whole property for our wedding location photos. They are absolutely perfect- October was the best month for a wedding with the vines in bloom, the roses all flourishing and bright and the grass super green and fresh. The whole venue presented clean, well maintained- fresh and well cared for.

Myself and my family then spent our nights in the Villa's on site- WOW! 4 available with 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom options. Nicholas and I stayed in the honeymoon suite "Jingella"- it was absolutely amazing- 2 bottles of wine on arrival and chocolates- followed by a very clean, neat and well maintained villa. We absolutely loved the Spa, Jacuzzi and Sauna- and the massive verandah with sun lounges! We wished we stayed longer so we could have explored the tennis court, infinity pool and the massive dam! Oh and waking up we were greeted by Kangaroos sleeping on the grass- perfection!

We then went to breakfast at Ridgeview, and of course it was perfection. I have no faults at all with Ridgeview- it was honestly a dream and made my wedding day an absolute fairytale dream. I cannot thank Kris and the team high enough- you are absolutely amazing and I could not recommend you high enough.

Nicholas and I cannot wait to come back soon for a cheese board and some wine on the deck! Oh.. and do not forget to buy some olives/mixed vegetables they are absolutely incredible- our wedding guests are all still talking about the olives (they did buy the venue out of olives they were that great).

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Massive thank you to Kris and Jasmine- if you are planning on getting married and are looking for a venue- do not hesitate to get into contact with Ridgeview- you will...

Came here for lunch recently, got 3 sets of degustation. Hugely disappointed We ordered 3 oysters to start. They looked really great, but no lemon... or anything to add to it. Was literally just a shucked oyster with some dill/fennel can't remember which and some roe.

Then comes the Olives, again look amazing. Tasted super salty... nothing to eat them with. We waited expecting maybe bread to at some point come out. No bread. So we start muching down on these olives, on their own and downing that with water because they really salty. After awhile, arancini balls come out together with the octopus. Octopus came a nice sauce but was cooked to the point that it felt like i was chewing mixture of rubber bands and plastic.

Arancini were decent, nothing mind blowing, but i'm not a huge fan of arancinis anyway.

Then nothing... Over 45 minutes of us munching on olives again (we were the only ones in the restaurant so they definitely weren't busy)

Suddenly the entire table is covered with the remaining dishes. Lamb, Wagyu, paella, a salad and BREAD! None of these portioned per person, just a dish of each and up to us to cut them up and split them between us. Really made me wonder if the portions change depending on how many people ordered as the "wagyu" was just a slab... who knows

Waitress dumps it all on our table and walks away without saying a word, with me yelling "thank you" to her retreating back without a response.

Lamb was excellent, can't fault this one, the only redeeming dish they served that day. Although still had to divvy it up ourselves using the same plates we'd eaten on for every course so far. Not a huge issue, but worth noting as they were starting to get messy and flavours mixing together

Paella had NO flavour and barely any colour. Tasted exactly as it looked... Bland

Wagyu, star of the day? looked AMAZING... Also just looked like an alacarte menu item not intended for 3 separate people to eat Upon cutting it to three portions, immediately noticed. Zero marbling. Cut a piece and put it in my mouth. Chewy, watery... tasted like a sirloin at best. Looked up to see my wife and mother all with the same confused look. We all agreed that was not a wagyu. Again... no marbling whatsoever

Ended things with the panna cotta

Came out in a large dish. This had me VERY confused at this point. Panna cotta's a premade and then left to set. How could they have known at what size/quantity to make this panna cotta at to serve 3 people?

Now i'm feeling super ripped off...

Went to pay the bill, rude waitress from earlier asks how everything is. Said it was good (knee jerk reaction tbh) then i said, "actually, the wagyu was pretty lean... like a rump or something" She responds with "Well it's DEFINITELY a wagyu"

I don't know how things could go so wrong that day but i definitely wouldn't recommend anyone...

Food: 2 Service: 3 Venue: 2 Vibe/Ambiance: 2 Accessibility: 3

TL;DR: Don't waste your time and money. You'll have a better experience at an RSL for half the price.

As far as venues go in the Hunter Valley area, RidgeView gives off a strong Motel lobby aura with the decor, menu options and overall vibe. The music was almost entirely unnoticeable. We had a group of 8 and for our entire lunch there was only ever another 4 customers in the venue. This made the lengthy wait times for food a little concerning.

The online menu was not the same as the menu in the restaurant. The restaurant menu was their Autumn menu, still in use in Feb, which makes me think that their offerings either aren't seasonal or they import a lot of ingredients.

The specials boards were hidden behind the door and the waitstaff were unaware if those specials were even on offer. Turns out they were.

We ordered some starters, including aranchini balls and bruscheta. The aranchini balls were hollow and were reminiscent of the large from packets you can buy at Costco. The bruschetta was either forgotten or left til last because it came out after all the hot food, despite being the simplest of the dishes to create.

The food never came out at the same time.

Half of our group ordered the ribeye, which was $40. It took another 30 minutes for the mains to start coming out, then another 10 minutes for all the steaks to come out.

The steaks looked no better than an over the counter pub meal and lacked the palatability. The sauce was genuinely dreadful and tasted like high-proof port mixed with Worcestershire sauce.

My partner ordered the Thai beef salad but asked the waitstaff if she could order it without chilli. She was told that the beef was marinated in chilli but there was no actual chilli seeds or plant in the meal.

She received the meal with what looked an entire chilli spread through as well as the beef being marinated in it.

This is by far the most disappointing outing I've ever had in the Hunter Valley and will have no hesitation when suggesting friends and family avoid this venue.

Do no waste your...