Paradise Valley Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

The Paradise Valley Hotel, Friday Night, 19-02-2016

This hotel is in a great location on the very end of Wellington Road in Clematis where the Puffing Billy train line runs along the back of the Hotel and with some gardens between the hotel and Puffing Billy this would be great destination on a sunny day. My family has been attending this establishment for many years and on this occasion it was for one our family members birthday.

The entry to the car park has a descent gutter bump and is not smooth as it is mostly not formed for most of the car park. There is a small flight of stairs from the car park to the bistro or for anyone who has walking issues the front bar would be the entry then to the bistro.

We were seated as per most of our dining events on the enclosed deck which gives great natural light into the bistro and with the outlook over some green hills and the occasional pass from puffing Billy it is the preferred seat in the bistro.

I started with the lemon & pepper calamari, then the pork belly from the specials. For the Calamari, the lettuce salad was from an open container as it was not crisp or fresh and it was topped with a balsamic reduction with no oil which made it an unimpressive salad garnish. The Calamari was good with good lemon & pepper favorers, tender, plenty of tartar sauce on the side but this was made from a bulk mayo with additives was disappointing as a homemade mayo is not hard to make and is a far better alternative than a bulk sauce. The lemon wedge was not freshly cut and starting to show signs of dehydration.

The pork belly that I was presented with has two pieces of belly with a thick hoi sin style sauce drizzled on top, beans and corn as I requested vegetables with my pork. The pork itself was very good, well cooked but no crispy skin, the sauce was over powering the pork and not complementing as it was sweet with no balance of other flavors. The beans and corn was appreciated but I was not served with any carbohydrate such as steamed rice.

I noticed that other family members that ordered the pork received an array of different combinations of pieces and sizes as the kitchen team put together something like portions for our table. Similar to my fellow pork main eaters it was a bit of hit and miss on the table for the meals on this night and as previously stated we have been here many times before with the meals being of much better quality, quantity and presentation

The waiters were polite and at tentative in good bistro attire, but as the night progressed their attention was focused on other duties, and our entrée plates were left on the table for some time before being cleared. Then after our main course some of the main course plates on the table were cleared soon after we had all finished but there was a pause of attention to our table as other plates were left on the table for about 45 minutes until being cleared from finishing our main courses.

As we dined on the enclosed deck we noticed the cobwebs are covering the pendant lights and around the windows which brings the whole establishment down and shows a lack of care from management to the front of house team.

There is a collection of white boxes in the middle of the dining room near the front register which I do not comprehend the reason for them being there, apart from collecting dust and blocking the free access flowing around a good size dining room. The lounge suites have been moved from the fire place near the sports bar door to the fire place in the middle of the dining room, which with the white boxes seams like an attempt by someone to try something new, if another placement works. Try something new, yes, but if it does not just put it back and remove the white boxes.

We will return as it has been a family favorite establishment for its location and food on previous occasion, I just hope that the whole team at the Paradise can bring the...

Dear Nicole

RE: Damaged Flower Wall for Event on Saturday 10th November

I must say I am terribly disappointed with your phone call to me on Tuesday 13th concerning the damage of my flower wall.

As I mentioned to you, the flower wall was hired by our client and was to be set up in the function room on Saturday morning, and we were told by our client that we could pick it up on the following day.

When speaking to you and informing you that my wall has been damaged, you mentioned to me that I should have a liability disclaimer explaining what instructions/consent I give to the venue regarding moving/tampering the prop. Thank you for your advice and I will take your suggestion on board for future events. However, in the absence of a disclaimer, you would think common sense should prevail in the instance. If there are no instructions that the staff are allowed to move/touch the prop, then simply don’t move it. But if you need to move it because you have an event the next day, then that’s fine, I totally understand and accept this – but do this carefully and don’t damage the property in the process. This is basic common sense and logic and I would expect this courtesy from your staff working at a hotel as big as yours.

You have told me that you asked your staff ‘did they take it apart?’ and confirmed ‘yes they took the wall apart’. Nicole, I reiterate to you that the timber walls were screwed together by 2 x 40mm long screws. There is no way the screws can come apart unless being unscrewed (common sense). When asked how did your staff take it apart? Your response was that the staff ‘probably just winged it’. Well, the ‘winged it’ action meant they forcibly pulled the two walls apart until it separated. This is evident as the screws are still inside one wall, and timber has been split in the other when I went to pick up the wall. The careless and reckless actions by your staff have shown they do not respect other people’s property and the fact that you know they did this but not take any responsibility is astounding for someone in your position.

Your response ‘I did not see them do it or cannot vouch for it’ is not good enough and is a poor response from yourself as Manager. Let me reverse the situation Nicole, if I had an event at your hotel and my kid threw a ball and broke your hotel window, and I turned around and said, ‘he probably did it but I didn’t see him do it so I can’t take responsibility’ – I don’t think you would accept this response right?

Needless to say, I am appalled by the way you have handled this situation. I also believe your staff need to know how to respect other people property and treat them with more care. Most importantly, the lack of ownership and responsibility from Management does not give me any confidence to do further business...

Unfortunately I went against my better judgement and instead of listening to the other bad reviews I made a booking for 6:30pm and came here with the family. I knew when I saw the dodgy and dated entrance I should have turned around, but in we went. After waiting for someone to show us to our seats, we are taken to a table for two with another two seats squeezed in to make up the seating for four. Unimpressed we ask to be seated at a larger table to which we are told "um not sure, we are very busy tonight all the other tables are reserved". Seconds later my wife spots a larger table that was not reserved and we relocate. We order our kids meals (fish n chips) and entree garlic pizza to come out first and mains (Paella and Pot pie) to follow closely. Pizza arives (only meal that was edible but so so so oily). Kids meals follow, fish is flavorless garbage and such a tiny piece you would have thought it was a whitebait in batter. Then to the mains, the Pot pie was a mixture of fat, sinews pathetic cuts of meat and salt! with gravy, I must credit them on the puff pastry though they didn't totally destroy the meal. Finally the Paella, what an absolute mess, I am sure the chef used Arborio rice as a substitute for Bomba rice, they have stirred and stirred the mixture to speed up the cooking process but have made it so gluggy and sticky like a risotto and the seafood must have been found at the bottom of the freezer. If that's not bad enough there was enough salt in it to use it as a licking block for livestock. After sitting for 40 minutes and receiving no further table service we decided to leave.

The icing on the cake was when we went to pay the waitress asked how the meals were to which I responded "terrible, the kids meals and my paella are still on the table with one mouth full missing" to which she apologized and then proceeded charge me full price.

I am so disappointed because this place has the potential to be a great place due to it's location, views and no direct competition....

Or Maybe that's what is...