Regale Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

I personally don't like or feel the need to make reviews for restaurants I've visited but our dinner on the 26th of September left a sour taste for me and my parter. Being in the industry not everything's perfect, but its how you approach it as a manager/venue that can help make or break a guest's experience. We decided to dine here for our 2 year anniversary and first night in Melbourne after hearing positive word and review to which I seriously doubt.

First drinks sent being a lychee blossom and the other a white orchid in which my partner ordered who found the taste of it weird which I agreed too and after only 2 sips we sent back because the taste was weird and off. Staff were happy to take the drink back. Upon being given the drinks menu again we were told by our waiter Sadha that whatever drinks we chose instead we were still required to pay the full price of whilst still paying for the original drink as it had been already made. This came as a shock to us.

From this first interaction things didn't get any better, for mains we had the crying tiger claypot rice to which was provided an in-house made sweet chilli sauce we opted to mi x in the dish to which upon tasting we noticed without the meat it was lacking salt due to overpowering vietnamese coriander and raw shallots. We asked to request more sauce to which we were told it would be a $3 addition as it was made 'in-house'. On hearing this and what happened before we declined and instead asked if we could simply get some plain soy sauce to flavour our dish to which was notified it would be $2 for us.

The price wasn't what got us concerned but the lack of trying to offer any assistance with these problems we noted. By that point we were consistently being asked for 2nd drinks and dessert on finishing an incomplete main meal due to this situation. We had wanted to leave at this point and wanted some clarity with a manager on duty.

The manager 'Blue' was especially of note, being of no assistance upon asking to speak to one. Not being present on the floor a majority of the night taking almost 7 minutes! to speak with us whilst we can see her at the bar after the waiter in section informing her that we want to speak to her. To which all we got from her was a 'sorry' for the fact we felt what we did from our experience as the kitchen and bar team made the menu the way it is and our response to it with nothing else to the fact.

I hope they can take this criticism moving forward as I personally will never step foot in those premises nor recommending it to anyone I know.

If it's the company's policy to not provide anything extra since they have already provided 'quality' cocktail and food to 'everyone's' taste, and it would that, I, as a customer would need to compensate and pay more to make it to my taste then I wouldn't mind. But the procedure that was included in the dining experience didn't feel hospitable at all. For the night's spent in Melbourne so far it set a horrible standard to which we felt nothing similar within the hospitality scene. I hope this can be shown to the right upper management to know how distasteful and disappointing the experience was so that it won't occur...

From the get-go, there were lots to love about Regale! The venue was gorgeous, ambience was just right (vibe-y but never loud) and the staff were attentive 😌

The cocktails were particularly delicious and it was great to see so many classic Asian flavours presented in a great menu. Now, that was the first half of our dinner.

What leads me to write this review was unfortunately our experience in the second half of dinner. After finishing the main course, we were excited and eager for dessert - the green velvet tiramisu! The staff then told us at 6:55PM that there was a booking in 30mins and therefore we had to wrap up dinner soon. My group and I were completely understanding and were ready to scoff down the dessert and head off.

However, we were then told that the dessert was not yet ready and that they wasn’t sure that it would be ready by the time the next group came in. Once again, my group and I were ✨ completely understanding ✨ and moved down to the bar underground to wait for the dessert and to help the staff make sure the table was ready for the next group.

This is where it all went downhill. The entire floor was completely empty. For the next 45 minutes, we were just left alone and completely ignored as we waited patiently for our dessert. As time went on, it became clear to us that we had been completely forgotten. It wasn’t until we gently asked a kind bartender about our dessert that it came out immediately, followed by the bill.

Being asked to leave a tip on the eftpos machine just felt like a complete slap on the face after our dinner experience.

After the meal, we headed back up to leave and low and behold - at the exact time stamp of 8:05PM (a whole 1 hour and 10 minutes after this whole moving for the next table issue started) the original table was 🧼completely empty🧼.

I had expressed this experience to one of the main staff members in interest in genuinely helping an Asian led-and-run business grow. However, I left that interaction feeling like my feedback was dismissed as being simply staff miscommunication about a booking time.

We found out that the next booking for the table actually was for 8PM, not 7:30PM like the staff had thought. However, this miscommunication ultimately not what I am writing this review about.

It is the being asked to move elsewhere (for reasons of: the food was not yet ready) and being completely forgotten about for a shocking amount of time that was the main issue.

I was so ready to love Regale - as I was eating the main meal, I was already planning on bringing others to come try it out too. Unfortunately, my friends and I left that dinner feeling quite disgruntled which is a shame!

Thank you...

ORDERED: 🥔 Lobster, potato pave, wasabi pea ($12.00 each) 🍃 Beef 'Larb' tartare, betel leaf tempura, mandarin gel ($8.00 each)

🍞 Potato bread, whipped miso eggplant, chives ($15.00) 🍢 Ox Tongue skewers, padang gravy, fried leeks ($17.00) 🍗 Crispy chicken ribs, five spices, XO aioli ($23.00) 🦑 Salt & Pepper calamari, salted egg tartar, grated yolk, curry leaf ($26.00)

🍝 Spiced Vodka Rigatoni, gochujang chicken, pancetta, stracciatella ($34.00) 🍅 Tomato burrata, chinese doughnut, chilli crisp ($24.00)

Green velvet (genmaicha) tiramisu ($24.00)

Including a mocktail each between 2, we paid $122.94pp

REVIEW: So much potential at Regale. We only really enjoyed our "To Start" and "Dessert" courses and definitely over ordered 😅. Starting with the positives: 💚 1. Lobster, potato pave and wasabi pea. This was as crispy as I hoped it'd be. The wasabi pea could've been spicier although the lobster was quite mild in taste... so it was just an easy eat. 💚 2. Beef 'Larb' Tartare. The betel leaf when eaten raw has quite a strong aftertaste. However since Regale has fried it, its unique bitter and peppery tones comes in a bit before it quickly fades away. It's definitely made this dish more approachable! 💚 3. Green Velvet Tiramisu. This is a MUST order. It's soft, has the perfect earthy taste and a great way to finish dinner.

Top 2 that I least liked: ❎ 1. Ox tongue. It's a solid piece of muscle so it is SO TOUGH. Although we were given an opportunity to try another piece of the tongue, it was still too chewy to bear. If it was presented and cut into thinner slices instead of being served as cubes, it would be much better. ❎ 2. Gochujang pasta. Gochujang is a ferment that has a unique taste and we couldn't taste it through the pasta. I believe the flavour could've been stronger!

👍 Service was incredibly friendly. Although the food was a disappointment, the service was accommodating (frequently checking in on us) and were happy to pack our extra portions for us to bring home. 🏡 Although the waiter's guidance on how much we could eat was so far off. We could've gone without 3 dishes, easily. 😢

🕯 Interior is gorgeous! Worth visiting, perhaps for a drink at this...