Pelicans Landing — Restaurant in Melbourne

It was time to celebrate a birthday and anniversary and wanted something that lived up to last year's venue - Sebastian. I chose Pelican's Landing as it received many positive reviews and the menu was comprehensive. But I missed the mark. Don't get me wrong. Pelican's Landing was good but not the calibre of what I was hoping for. I booked a table in advance, letting them know it was a birthday / anniversary and was promised a small birthday cake. I saw a few people receive these but alas, ours did not arrive. As we walked up to the restaurant, I realised this was a popular and entertaining place to dine. But the first thing to hit me was the smell of cigarette smoke. There is an outdoor area for smokers but that odour does leak into the front part of the restaurant. The second thing to hit me was the music. Two people singing and playing for the crowd. No matter where you sat, you couldn't get away from the music. However, many patrons were singing along and up dancing. How can you knock that? The duo played all the classics that inspire people to shake their booty on the dance floor. As we left - Abba's Dancing Queen was played. A classic hit for everyone. We were seated on the enclosed balcony which has heaters but if I hadn't worn my down jacket, I would've been very cold. I imagine in summer this area would be delightful with views across the bay to Melbourne. Inside however, it would've been way too noisy for the two of us. Not for intimate dining on a weekend. My entree was saganaki and for my friend he ordered prawn / crab bruschetta. The saganaki was well cooked and portion size reasonable for an entree. The bruschetta consisted of 3 small pieces of bread with blended / pureed topping, similar to baby food. The bread slices looked like they came from a baguette that was around the diameter of the size of an egg. The sides of the bread were slightly burnt. However, the taste was what he expected and as a lover of seafood, found it enjoyable but the drizzle of sauce that tainted the seafood taste and would've been nice as an option on the side. For mains, I had the spaghetti puttanesca and my friend had the New York sirloin. The spaghetti was just okay. Portion size as I would expect with a nice amount of chilli to give it some oomph. I would've preferred more fresh vegetables considering it was a vegetarian dish. The steak was on a whole new level. My friend was quite pedantic on how he liked his steak - medium rare, but half way between rare and medium rare. Yeh, I know. But the chef cooked it to PERFECTION. (see photo of how perfect it was cooked). Alas, it came with chips and a stalk of broccoli. There is a choice of sauces to accompany the steak and my friend chose the jus sauce which complemented the steak well. It would've been nice to have some more colour on the plate other than chips. Parking - Williamstown is renowned for paid parking, so take note of the signs and time limits. Menu - comprehensive and something for everyone including the kids. Great family place. Dietaries are well catered for. Staff - Exceptional. Quick to take orders and clean away food. Helpful at every step. Price - $138.00 for dinner for two with 2 courses and wine. Seems to be the going rate these days post Covid lockdowns. I'm pleased that Pelican's Landing had staff to keep the doors open. Many places that I visit are suffering from lack of staff and have had to limit their opening hours. Access - there is a ramp to the front door but the two doors into Pelican's Landing don't open automatically and you would need assistance to open them. It's a little awkward to navigate into the main part of the restaurant due to the layout of the bar to the smokers area. I didn't use the bathrooms but I'll assume they are disabled friendly. Courtesy bus available for those that need it. Summary: a family friendly and fun restaurant with great views and entertainment. Feels more like a pub tham a restaurant but comes down to 'location, location, location' and Pelican's Landing has this in spades. Note: photos...

Have eaten and visited Pelican's on many, many occasions and have nearly always liked and appreciated this venue. Last Sunday towards the easing of Covid19 restrictions - I booked a table for 2 (only 2 people) and was instructed to come in at 12.40. Due to some restrictions they still had very limited people allowed - I would guess only about 25 - 30 patrons, so not at all busy and there were 4 front of house staff and a manager, so they had very little to do and or look after. We arrived at 12.40 on the dot and were taken to our table straight away by 2 of the staff - there were menu's already on the table - we sat there for 15 minutes - no water - no staff attention - nothing. They did go to every other table around us and when one of the staff do go past I made eye contact and asked if we could order a drink, she replied she will get back to us. Another 15 minutes passed and the manager went to the next table from us - I again asked if we could order and he "indicated" he was serving another table. Anyway - by this stage I wondered how bad it could get - it was now 1.15 - 35 minutes since arriving and being escorted to our table - did I mention our table was in the middle of the restaurant - not in a corner - every staffer had to walk past us and our table had NOTHING on it - no drinks - no water - no cutlery - no napkins - NOTHING. I asked again and was fobbed - so we sat until 1.30 - an hour and ten minutes - From our table I rang Porters Restaurant to see if they could look after us - they were fully booked and sorry. So we then googled The Strand Restaurant on the roundabout - they answered and said we could be seated at 2.00 if that suited us - I told them it would take a easy 10 minute stroll for us to arrive - so at 1.50 - without a single soul even acknowledging us - we politely stood up from our (invisible) table - put on our coats and walked out of Pelicans. To add insult to injury - the staffer at the bar when we were leaving - in a very friendly (obviously fake because she had walked past us - 15 times) and wished us good bye and hoped that all of what we had was to our liking. We sat there waiting on our wedding anniversary for 1 hour and 20 minutes - without being offered a single thing - and this was after going to the trouble of booking in advance and arriving on time and playing by their rules. I can only imagine that if there was no Covid19 restrictions and there was the normal over 130 people dining - we would still be there. I am not going to mention how our meal was at the Strand because this review is not about them, but I was so disappointed with this service, I just have to let it be known. Funny thing was when leaving - there was another table of friends whom I often drink with at Pelicans - wanted us to stay and have a drink with them at the bar - and asked us how our meal was. I did NOT can the place to them - just made small talk and said we had to get home for the kids, but I was in no mood to have a friendly drink after what had transpired. I like Pelicans and as mentioned - would go there at least 3 times a month - to be honest - more. But that day is going to be hard to forget. Everyone - especially the manager should get a kick right in the arse allowing such terrible and unprofessional service to take place - especially as the place was basically...

MANAGEMENT PLEASE TAKE NOTE

Unfortunately I cannot give this a zero star rating because if I could I would. I am writing this on behalf of my partner and his mother who asked me to do so.

My partner and his mother met up for a special mother son catchup and she chose Pelicans Landing because she loves being near the water. My partner has not had great food there in the past but was happy to go there and give it another try.

They placed an order for fish and chips and baked salmon. They waited and waited and no food arrived. After 45 mins they asked for a staff member to check how much longer and the staff member said they would check.

Over the next hour they watched food arrive for people who arrived at the restaurant after them. In 1.45 hours they asked staff to check on 5 different occasions where their meals were and how much longer it would take. All 5 times the staff members said they would check but no food ever arrived.

After nearly 2 hours and no food they got up and decided to leave. Obviously they were angry and hungry and with limited time left (my partner’s mother needed to be somewhere) they ended up having to get take away fish and chips from another establishment.

When it’s busy it is expected that food may take awhile to come out. My partner and his mother understood this. This however is not what happened here because it was not a matter of food arriving late. It was that no food ever arrived.

Other tables received food but not my partner and his mother. This should not happen but sometimes orders may get misplaced. However when a table asks multiple times (5 times in this instance) there is no excuse. This is 5 times where waitstaff say they will check on the order. When a staff member says this the customer trusts that they are really checking on the order like they say they will.

My partner and his mother have limited opportunity to have time together and when they do it’s a special time for them both.

This experience was upsetting for them and I really hope that management reads this and addresses with staff what should be the process when customers ask staff to check on their order. It’s quite simple really:

The staff member should actually check on the order, After checking on the order, the staff members should go back to the customer and give them an idea of how much longer it will be or atleast reassure them that the kitchen has their order and it’s in the process of being made.

I would appreciate a response to know that management have addressed this issue with staff to prevent this from happening again to customer...