Pilgrim Dining — Restaurant in Melbourne

Decided to spend a few days over Anzac Day and the weekend in Dromana. After we went for a walk along the beach we decided to look for a place for breaky...walked in and was struck by the passion and genuine staff...had a lovely breakfast and headed off thinking that was a nice place!

Three days later we were at a local winery during the afternoon when we quizzed the staff there where they would recommend for dinner...Try Pilgrim Dining they said...fine food and newly opened...lady is a great chief and her partner runs front of house...after asking where it was we thought we would see if they could fit us in...Steph answered the phone and squeezed us in on a busy Saturday night.

(Turns out we had been here for breakfast a couple of days earlier!)

On arrival we were greeted by Fred who showed us to relaxed but intimate setting for two. Impressed with the sellection of wines on offer...we settled on a local pino and from that point on Fred led us through the most amazing journey for our taste buds...the salt & vinegar seaweed was just the start...then the scallops which i love but my godness i have never tasted them served like this...OMG!

Ravioli was next... just beautiful!!

That was followed by a shared offering of lamb (crispy, smokey, so tender) just beautiful!! The lamb was paired with the simple potatoe...but these were not simple...the flavour was so good.

Fred had a way of explaining every dish that left you intrigued and ready to discover another amazing flavour.

On our way out the door Steph took the time to collect our thoughts on what they had created and that personal touch from them both capped of one of the best experiences we have had.

Thanks for a lovely night Fred & Steph...I'm sure the word of your talents will spread quickly.

Jen &...

Pilgrim offers the best and most interesting dining on the peninsula. Seriously. It’s exceptional. We were overwhelmed by the quality of the dishes served here for dinner. Flavour, texture, presentation, innovation and quality. They have everything absolutely nailed. Everything. And the passion for great local and regional food is evident in every dish.

I will list the dishes we had but no description I could offer would do them justice - scallops, mussels, quail, kingfish, potatoes, salad, bread and sorbet. Consult the menu photo for further information.

We made one error here. We should have asked Fred to recommend a wine rather than choosing one ourselves. We will not make that mistake again.

The service throughout our visit was superb. We were given excellent recommendations and outstanding and interesting information by Fred about every dish. Every dish has a fascinating story. One of our party also had a long chat with the skillful and hard working chefs.

We can’t wait to return here. We have numbers of foodie friends that we will entice here too.

This was a memorable night. We were blown away. The best ever dining we have experienced on...

My partner and I were excited to try out pilgrims new dinner menu as we had been there for coffee which was really lovely. Dinner service and food however was appalling. I am not usually one to complain but we were so disappointed from our experience and lack of hospitality.

We ordered the Scallop Bergamont which was not clear on the menu it was raw nor where we informed by the waiter. When it came out to us it was beautifully presented but under the shells we had ants crawing on the plate. We informed and showed in owner who passed it off with a comment of "well we live with the ants" laughed and walked off. We didn't even know how to react or what to say.

We also ordered a meat tartar which was very bland and we had asked for an extra flatbread which took 20minutes to come out and spent 10 minutes sitting on the counter.

There was no apologies, no care from any of the staff.

I'm sorry to write this but we were very much looking forward to a lovely night out and where extremely disappointed and left not wanting to come back...