Holy Smoke Gourmet House Ferntree Gully BYO WINE & BEER — Restaurant in Melbourne

Please read this review very carefully before you consider this restaurant and waste your time and money. We were family table of seven, there was only two other tables in service when we arrived for our bookings Service and professionalism was worst I have ever experienced and when I gave feed back to the waitress, we did not even receive an apology. The waitress then in formed the owner/cook who simply didn’t care and again didn’t have the professional courtesy to offer his apologies, he simply didn’t give a dam. Table was booked for 7.30pm and at 9.30pm we had just received the last meal order of a Cuban pork burger which was over an hour after the first food had come out and we had all finished. The first food brought to the table wasn’t even ours, (brisket burger) it was for the table next to us as was the fries which were for another table. Then when they had realised the burger had already been eaten , the other table had to wait another 30mins for theirs. They then brought out the sides and no mains, why ! I’m dumbfounded as to why you would do that. The chilli beans side was stone cold as it arrived, the mac n cheese is just pasta with melted grated cheese on the top and no sauce. Finally after an hour the meals came out in dribs and drabs . Food on the whole was dry and aweful. The cook / owner was just one person with only one waitress, clearly they could not cope. Then as one of our party was still eating the last meal after two hours at this stage, the waitress had the audacity to come and ask us to settle the bill. All in all, the worst restaurant experience have ever experienced and staff and owner that offered no apologies or even justification, simply they don’t care. On top of this they are trying to do takeaway meals which we saw three different people told to come back as their food wasn’t ready. In one word this restaurant...

We ordered the chicken wings, smoked beetroot salad, crispy pork knuckle, and the platter for two—and everything absolutely delivered.

The wings came out perfectly grilled: crispy on the outside, juicy and tender inside, with just the right touch of smoky BBQ sauce. They made for a fantastic starter, though I was too hungry to snap a photo before diving in!

Surprisingly, the smoked beetroot salad became one of the highlights of the night. Lightly smoked and refreshing, it offered a great contrast to the richness of the mains and really set the tone for the rest of the meal.

The platter for two was generous and packed with flavour—slow-cooked beef brisket, pulled pork, crispy chicken, baked beans, potato, mac & cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread. Everything was delicious, but the brisket stole the show. It was so tender you could pull it apart with a fork.

The crispy pork knuckle also impressed us. It was seasoned just right, the skin was perfectly crisp all the way through, and the meat could easily pulled off the bone.

We were a group of four, and even after eating to our hearts' content, we had enough leftovers for at least another meals. All of this came to just $150, which felt like great value for the quality and...

Food had no flavour. The brisket was nice and tender but tasted watery and like cheap tofu. No meat or smokey flavour to it at all!

We also had the Mac and cheese and it was appalling. Just bland and tasteless. Not edible at all. The cheese was particularly tasteless.

The loaded chips had dry chewy meat on them which seemed old and reheated. Chips themselves were cooked ok, but tasted like they had cheap bacon seasoning sprinkled on them.

The sweet potato fries were good, as was the simple tossed salad. We at least could eat them to put something in our stomachs! Service was friendly and efficient.

Left most of the food uneaten after sampling it. Probably the worst meal we have had for a VERY long time. I hope the one other occupied table had better value than us.

A waste of $80+ and we certainly weren't going to take the uneaten food home as was offered to us.... I suggested to the manager a visit to the USA to taste how these dishes should be ....... it was far from authentic and overall a very disappointing evening. Won't...