Billy's Kitchen Knox Ozone — Restaurant in Melbourne

THANK YOU so much from one of my best friends and I to our two waitresses, waiter, chef and owner or owners of Billy's Kitchen at Knox O-Zone for their flawless fast and friendly service, first rate food and drink and such a beautiful and cozy atmosphere! We both are immensely grateful to each and every single one of them! My aforementioned friend had previously visitd Billy's Kitchen at Knox O-Zone but as for me it was my first ever visit and it was the absolute BEST first impression I ever had of a restaurant from start to finish!

My friend so kindly insisted on so generously paying for absolutely EVERYTHING including both their dinner and my dinner as both their drink and my drink and they paid for my dessert too. I thank them so much and deeply appreciated all of it; our dinner, drinks and dessert are all amongst the absolute BEST we ever had in my entire life and the same can be said by both of us for the service and atmosphere of Billy's Kitchen.

Both my friend and I took multiple photos of our food, drink and dessert as well as a couple of the menu and the outside of the restaurant; deepest apologies it should have occurred to us to take photos of the inside of it but we can honestly say the restaurant insisted was indeed so beautiful, elegant and modern in every way, befitting for all occasions including the most special ones such as the birthday we saw being celebrated! All the aforementioned photos have been uploaded with this 5-stat Google record as you can see below as well as in the general photos section of Billy's Kitchen Knox O-Zone Google reviews page.

As I recall, earlier tonight we entered Billy's Kitchen at Knox O-Zone earlier tonight at around 6:20pm; we didn't have a booking but we were so warmly welcomed by our waitessses who I think was also the maitre'd and she let us have our choice of seats. So many choices on the menu, when our waiter approached us we apologised for needing a few more minutes and he so kindly said not a problem and to give him a wave when we are ready and when the time came, he cheerfully and conscientiously took our orders...he served us our drinks and so kindly provided us our napkins forks and knifes in a ceramic holder, and our other waitessses so kindly served our dinners and my dessert.

I had my first ever Brisket Burger that came with tomato dipping sauce and chips; the unbelivably tender brisket inside was exploding with absolutely BEAUTIFUL smoky flavour complimented by the BBQ sauce, cheese and vinegar it was placed with in-between two halves of lovely sesame seed bun! The chips were perfectly crisp and delicious and the tomato sauce beautifully sweet, first rate sides with it! My friend absolutely LOVED how unbelievably fresh and tasty their Salt And Pepper Calamari was, further enhanced by the accompanying tartar sauce, Asian salad and chips. Both our aforementioned mains were elegantly presented too! My Strawberry Milkshake was perfect! My friend's pineapple juice was so lovely and refreshing! And my dessert, soft serve ic3 cream was the absolute BEST soft serve ice cream I ever had, further enhanced by the Mini Marshmallows...my friend said they loved how amazing my dessert looked that they would marry it if they could, it look so STUNNING. Deepest compliments to the chef, judging by the quality of the our food their cooking skills are absolutely INCREDIBLE. And deepest compliments to whoever made our Strawberry Milkshake and Pineapple Juice, they are absolutely AMAZING at making beverages!

It's official...we declare Billy's Kitchen to be one of our two absolutely FAVOURITE go to restaurant at Knox O-Zone, we very highly recommend it and we look forward to...

What immediately catches your eye is the decor. It’s well done which takes into account the slope outside the shop. That has been the bane of that location for as long as I have seen there. You would not believe the number of people I have seen trip over that damn thing before these guys came along. Furthermore, the outdoor design ensures that you are blocked from the main traffic that runs through as the divide between the shopping centre and Ozone.

The service was quite quick. It took 2 minutes to be seated and 2.5 minutes for someone to come see if we were ready to order. I was super impressed! However our hostess had to come back and re-verify my order because of the speed she was moving at. I honestly believe that in their haste to be quick, they came across looking a little clumsy. Maybe I am reading too much into it but when the cost of the meal is the same as you’d expect to pay in the city, you want to ensure you match every aspect of it.

The reason I mention cost was because I noticed that there weren’t too many mains below $20 on the menu. This did come as a surprise but I was excited to see whether they would rise to the challenge. You must understand though, when Westfield took over the Knox shopping centre, they were going for the upmarket feel. As such, everything will be a little bit more expensive, including the rent that new shops will need to cover. And this invariably will flow on to the end customer.

With the city experience framed well and truly into my mind, I was intrigued. We decided to do the Pork Belly for entrée and were enticed with 3 pieces of pork belly.

I found the cut to be fatty yet the crackling was cooked perfectly! I didn’t know what was going on in my mouth… I felt the crackling could have been thicker, and the meat a little leaner but it was an exquisite choice and one served up well for Knox.

My steak was cooked just the way I liked it.

With all the recent steaks I have been sampling, I have become accustomed to my steaks having marble.

And I enjoy my mushroom sauce a little thicker.

The steaks were cooked to a clinical sort of precision. It was cooked well, but I guess I wanted to see their flare to it!

I don’t believe that the steak is their strong point and perhaps I should have chosen the parma. My dinning partner’s calamari and chips looked to die for. And sampling some of those chips, they confirmed my food envy.

Look, to be honest, I have been dying to try out Billy’s Kitchen and had high expectations for it and I should have not done steaks there… And I acknowledge that this was my fault completely. What I did like though is that they have a chance to evolve and grow with the new changes in the shopping centre landscape. And that’s what excites me most about the place!

Perhaps they do know their customers well because if those chips were anything to go by, then the traditional styled pub fare is what I should be trying next.I will be back soon and a review of the traditional fare...

Do not go to Billy’s Kitchen at Knox if you want to have a nice meal with good customer service. The customer service is terrible (the waiters ignore you, eyes to the floor, not watching the tables), the food is overpriced and slapped together with very little thought, and if you raise the issue on either point, the feedback is not taken well by the Manager. Don’t bother providing them with feedback… they don’t care. And the apathy is made blatantly clear in the body language (eyes glazed over, head tilted in a feed-up sort of way…”yeah?! Now what?)) They just want your money for minimum effort. I would not recommend this restaurant, in fact I would encourage active avoidance especially as there are so many better options at Knox Ozone now.

Update: In response to BK’s reply, you actually offered me a take-away coffee this very morning! The only reason you wrote your response is because after I declined your offer, I went next door, had a coffee, THEN walked out with 3 pizzas and 4 additional coffees for my friends, which you saw (yes I noticed your side-ways glance) as I walked past YOUR restaurant. The incident to which you are referring to happened over 3 years ago (just after COVID). I also disagree with your version of events (you weren’t there, and whatever information you heard was second-hand and told from a biased, one-sided perspective). Furthermore, since that time, you have gladly served me takeaway coffees and diet cokes. By the way you didn’t seem to have a problem with: me, the orders I placed and more importantly my money when you were struggling to retain customers during Covid. Yes! I am calling you out on your deceitful response, but more importantly I’m highlighting your underlying motive - Money! Or rather the absence of it! The resentment. But more particularly, resentment towards those customers who help facilitate the absence of it.

P.S. Would your response have been different had I instead, accepted your offer of coffee this morning? Not gone to your competitor next door? I think so. It would have been the same as it had been all those other mornings in recent time when I have ordered coffee from you, and you have gladly taken my order with a smile.

P.S.S. For all Google Viewers of Reviews 🥰, please refer to the attached photo to view BK’s original response which they have...