Meletos — Restaurant in Melbourne

On my 2 week holiday in Melb, I went to Meletos 3x. I drove straight to the restaurant from the airport to meet my family there, where we had the King Dory (top right of 1st pic) and the texture was amazing. Our memory of the KD was so fond that we scheduled another visit a week later where we were disappointed to hear that the KD was currently being replaced by Barramundi. Still, we ordered it to try and as expected, it was not as good.

We decided to make another visit on the day I was to fly home and called ahead to ask if KD was on the menu for the day - the lady on the phone said no. We decided to go, nonetheless, and order other dishes like the duck ragu and the lamb neck which were really good the previous visits. Upon arriving, we asked the server if KD was available, and she said yes. We confirmed not once, not twice, but a total of 4 times including when the dish arrived and even after we had started tasting it to know it was for sure not KD. The server was adamant that it was KD even though we knew that it was Barramundi, but she said she would check with the kitchen. When she came back, she had claimed that the kitchen had made a switch to the menu and that she 'was not informed' by the kitchen - no apologies offered. She then said that they could have the items removed from the bill and that we could order other items if we should so desire - we decided to return one of the 2 plates of Barramundi (2nd and 3rd images). Her manager came to our table around 10 mins later and told us that while it is unfortunate that our items did not come as expected, because we 'have eaten' one of the plates, they would be unable to remove that from the bill. I would think that after asking them 4 times whether they are serving the correct item, that the very least they could do is leave the dish while writing it off. This is still not considering the fact that they were trying to substitute a cheaper fish for a more expensive dish. I did a walk around the other tables before we left and saw that a few other people had ordered the fish as well - no telling whether they were told it is King Dory or Barramundi.

My sister resides in Melb and has been to Meletos no less than 10x in the past 3 years. I myself have been there a total of 5x in the past 3 years. It is disappointing to see an establishment that serves such good food be let down by this atrocious level of service. Both the server and the manager were not apologetic in the slightest and the manager was not subtle in hinting that the restaurant 'reserves the right to swap the fish'....

One of my best dining experience was in Yarra Valley, an area famous for its wineries about an hour drive from Melbourne city. In fact, I'd planned my lunch here even on my way down from Mt Buller to Melbourne. The idea was to reach Yarra Valley for lunch so we checked out earlier and drove about 2.5 hours to reach our destination.

Two days earlier (the day I arrived at Mt Buller) I texted a dear friend of mine, Choong, to ask on his opinion, as he was also in Melbourne to attend his sister's wedding. "Bro, don't go to those mainstream and touristy wineries la. Forget about Domains Chandon. I can recommend few places for good dining experience" so he proceed to pass two names - Oakridge and Meletos. I tried to book the former first but surprise surprise it was fully booked despite being weekdays.

But luckily I managed to get a slot for Meletos so off we went with high expectations (with hope that it didn't give me flip car experience). Love the dining area utilising the natural sunlight to brighten up the whole space; in love with their fresh out-of-the-oven bread which was so intoxicating (smell); they have their own bar; and the service team was quite efficient. We've got ourselves a table right next to the exit to the open field where the grape trees were planted but nothing much to see as it was winter season - the wind was quite chilling especially when someone pushed the door open.

From the moment the first dish was served, everything just kept getting better and better. ◾freshly shucked oysters, shallot and red wine dressing. ◾char-grilled Hervey Bay scallops with pea puree, mountain ham crumb, dill and pink peppercorn ◾Guanciale or air dried pork jowl served with fresh baked bread, Meletos olive oil, and cornichos (pickled cucumber) ◾Cone Bay barramundi, asparagus, hummus, burnt lemon, butter emulsion, puffed quinoa ◾Pizza in the form of Calabrese salami, San Marzano tomato, roasted red peppers, and Shaw River buffalo mozzarella ◾Hand cut chips with aoili ◾each of us only had a glass of wine because we didn't want to risk being stopped by the police. Of course we opted for a better white wine to pair with the food.

Apart from ala carte, they do provide a set menu at AUD65 per person (min 2, max 7). Shortly after the meal, we ventured out to the open area where we took a lot (I mean A LOT) of photos, explored around for another while before continuing our journey to Melbourne where we stayed for the last 4 days.

P.S:...

My partner had booked ahead for a birthday lunch and while the setup is very beautiful as are the grounds upon entry but it ended there. While she had made her allergy known on the booking and calling ahead our waitress was not prepared and didn’t know a thing about the menu. Shortly after we started with the focaccia, only for the mains to be placed on the table at the same time as we were still having bread and butter. The mains were still 3 other dishes away from being eaten and at this point are sitting to get cold. Following as such our waitress couldn’t have cared less and the host was more or less condoning the behaviour while us and other tables failed to even be able to order a drink during our meal with empty glasses and waters on the table. From here my partner had fish bones cut her mouth with the trout ceviche cutting her gums and between her teeth, the only reason for no complaint is she is far far too kind to even so much as speak out against a restaurant when asked about it. We continued with the waitresses visibly stepping over dropped table napkins and empities. The waitress finally returns only to come back to offer dessert - of which upon seating my partner had sneakily asked for a birthday surprise to be brought to the table, only to be hastily ignored by all staff for the next 25 minutes while we waited and waited for it to never come. This was all while the restaurant was barely 1/3 full with NO outdoor service. We are talking 3 tables to a waitress. Despondent and disappointed we left, my partner beaming and offering thanks. As someone nearing 10 years in hospitality I am lenient to a point and never complain but the level Meletos may have been 5 years ago seems long gone. These ratings are above my choice on food and service as there are no half stars available. On a plus wine list was lovely and the chardonnay was...