Pinelli Estate Winery Restaurant — Restaurant in Caversham

A quaint small vineyard and restaurant tucked away in Caversham. This was a surprising hidden gem with an amazing ambience and menu to match! Service let them down slightly with it being an extremely busy Sunday lunch service with limited staff. Staff never came to check on the table once, or ask for our orders- I had to flag someone down any time I was in need of service. We also flagged a waitress down to order starters to which she explained that she couldn’t take my order unless we were prepared to order drinks, starters and mains at the same time because they were too busy. This was extremely disappointing, as we hadn’t decided on mains yet and wanted something to nibble on as we went over the menu. We ended up having to ask her to step away whilst we decided on everything before having to try and flag her down again to order. We ordered the fries, Camembert and garlic bread for starters. The fries and aioli were nice but at the end of the day chips are chips! The Camembert was delicious however did not have enough toasted bread pieces to go with the enormous amount of cheese that was served. The garlic bread was delicious and full of mozzarella which paired perfectly. For mains we had the chicken Alfredo, sizzling garlic prawns and one of the specials of the day - roasted pork belly with cauliflower cheese and roasted vegetable in jus. The mains were plentiful, delicious and well balanced as far as flavours go! The portion sizes were big enough for us to take home quite a bit of left overs! One of our party was a bit of a fussy eater and the only meal he was interested in was the kids fish and chips, however it strictly stipulated that the kids menu was for 12 and under so he ended up purchasing just fries as his main. We did have a reservation as it was my daughters 21st, we were asked if it was a special occasion during the reservation process but was not given any attention (which a lot of fine dining restaurants do, with a small desert or plate with a happy birthday message etc) regardless of requesting it. Over all the food almost made up for the lack of service, however I would suggest attending a weekday lunch to avoid big crowds and limited customer service. As a side note the house Chardonnay...

Obviously we chose the wrong night and time! After calling ahead to ask if they could accomodate a carbonara dish (it is an Italian restaurant), they grudgingly agreed to modify the alfredo to suit (this did take 3 phone calls). Of the 8 at our table, not one dish was great. In particular the pork belly ordered by myself and partner (we shared our meals) was terrible. The fat still thick and rubbery and the meat tough and overcooked. After lodging our problem with a rather sarcastic waitperson, she took the plate away. She returned a while later to say that of the 2 pieces on the plate, 'I tried the second piece myself and it was perfect'....hello, 2 pieces on the plate? Anyway, the chef came out and was very apologetic and we received another dish which was 'ok'. We decided we'd come back as requested by the chef to give them another go. Unfortunately the 'waitperson' who had tried our 'other piece', a lady who seemed to be in charge, made a point of coming over and asking if I was the one who had phoned with the 'special order' for carbonara and why did no one order it. I explained that those people in our party did not want to put anyone out and were happy to just go with the alfredo. She actually said 'we had to order in 'special ingredients' for that.....seriously, this is an Italian restaurant first of all. Second of all carbonara consists of pasta, cream, eggs and bacon....all of these ingredients were in other dishes. All in all, she has essentially cost Pinelli Wines any future patronage from anyone I know (I live in the area and know many people) and also this review. As a seemingly senior staff member, she could do with a lesson in customer service! If you want tender gnocchi, you won't get it. If you want tender pork belly with a crispy skin, you won't get it. If you want a seafood pasta dish with tender seafood, forget it. If you want a fork for your chicken, be prepared to wait at least 10 minutes after your...

I wish I could give them 10, even 15 starts ! They did save my day , as I was thinking there would be plenty of options to have a late lunch on Thursday at about 3 pm, but I was wrong. I did call at least 5 other estates , all of them closing their kitchens from 2 pm to 2:45 pm . I thought I was going to get grilled by my 10 lovely friends visiting Perth from Germany ! And what a luck ! Pinelli Estate restaurant , aswell the cellar doors were open till 5 PM ! I was quick to book a table . Jaymelee met and greeted us with a great smile! She is the best supervisor I have met in Perth during the last 10 years in Perth . I have worked 15 years in hospitality in Yerevan ( Armenia ) , Saint Petersburg ( Russia ) and here in Perth as a waiter , head waiter , assistant manager and manager and I do know what a great service means . Even though we were a big group people of 11 and put different orders , the kitchen was quick to send the orders out . The drinks also came out quickly . When the food was served, Jaymelee gave us a couple of minutes to take the first bite and checked on us whether everything was to our liking , which is very rare in many restaurants in Perth . She kindly agreed to take separate payments . We were inside, and the room temperature was very accommodating . They have a lovely terrace open for dining aswell .

I do recommend this place, and I will start my wine tasting tours in the future ( when I register my ODBS and start my wine tour business) from Pinelli Estate .

Jaymelee, thanks from the bottom of my heart for saving my day and reputation !...