Spoonbill Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

I ate here several times during a stay at the Olsen, and overall was really impressed. This is the hotel's bar-restaurant. It's open for breakfast, for an "express lunch" set menu ($35 including a drink), happy hour 4-6pm ($14 Tom Collins or French Martini, or discounted house wine/beer), and dinner. The drinks list has classic cocktails, a decent list of wines by the glass ranging from $14 to $22 (and some particularly good options at that upper end of the range). Atmosphere: as with the rest of the hotel, it's beautifully styled. Looking around, patrons primarily seemed to be hotel guests, but it is open to the public as well, and although not full by any means it had a gentle buzz. Noise levels were fine. While it was mainly diners, a few people were just having drinks in the evening, so I'd be comfortable coming here without dining. Dinner: The quality of the food at dinner was excellent. The paella was absolutely outstanding, and justifiably their signature dish. Full of pork, chorizo, prawns, mussels, calamari, vongole and half a Moreton Bay bug, it felt really generous. The rice was moreishly delicious, yet each morsel of protein popped with freshness and flavour. I can't remember having a better paella. 5+⭐. I'd recommend every other savoury course I ate too: the wild mushroom risotto (flavourful, loads of mushrooms, 5⭐); Caesar salad with burst capers (4⭐); mushroom arancini (5⭐); and roast cauliflower with hummus, pinenuts and sultanas (4.5⭐). For dessert, the chocolate fondant with caramel came with some over the top presentation and was delicious (5⭐). For the crème brulée, the crème was perfect, but the accompanying pistachio ice cream was weirdly coloured and flavourless, and the cinnamon poached pears tasted NQR (3⭐). At breakfast, the full cooked breakfast was perfectly executed (everything was spot on apart from some nondescript sausages, 4.5⭐), and the green bowl was a good healthy option (4⭐). On the other hand the smashed avocado didn't have much more than a smear of avocado and was fine but disappointing (3⭐). Coffee was well made. Service: looking through other reviews to make sense of a lower average review score than I'd expect, it looks like the main gripes others have are about service and price. I do agree that at times service seemed weirdly slow or disorganised (little things like not remembering to return to take an order after I asked to see a menu). But it wasn't anything that couldn't be worked around with a bit of assertive catching of attention, and nothing that would put me off dining here. Value: the pasta seemed very expensive but otherwise prices seemed in line with elsewhere in South Yarra. Overall, Spoonbill was a highlight of my stay at the Olsen, and even if I were staying elsewhere in South Yarra I'd look forward to coming back...

Visited for lunch today, restaurant was empty bar one table. Was given an express lunch menu, al a carte and a snacks menu. Several of the snacks were the same as the al a carte but 10$ cheaper - odd. My partner had a burger from the express menu that was very overcooked and was incredibly dry.

I ordered the Pork Belly main course from the Al a carte. It was listed on the menu as Slow Cooked Crispy pork belly with crackling and an apple and watercress slaw. What arrived was so far from that description that it was borderline unfair to be sold under that premise. I received 3 150g pieces of deep fried pork belly that was so dry it was inedible (I left it). The “watercress and apple slaw” consisted of poorly shredded wombok, 3-4 pieces of bruised coriander, several pieces of stale dehydrated pork skin and one small piece of watercress on the top. Even with any creative license this can not be classed as a “slaw”. The nahm jim style dressing was so overpowering and vile that I didn’t eat that either. There was also no chilli caramel - just honey - and no apple in the slaw. We also had a side of charred brocolini which was not charred and came with green beans, a very musty “soya” dressing and was just not very nice to eat.

A shame as the setting is a great restaurant but perhaps the kitchen staff/owner would do well to visit a “modern Australian” restaurant to learn what this style of food really is as their interpretation was so far from what it should be that I was left bewildered.

Throughout the meal there was no checkbacks and therefore no opportunity to correct the meals. We actually got up to pay on the way out as no-one had asked if we were ready for the bill. I then explained that the pork belly was terrible and inedible and at no point did the manager offer to rectify our bill. I’ve never been one to complain about food but when it’s clearly not been eaten and a complaint has been voiced it would usually be customary to add a disgressional discount to the bill. Instead we were quizzed about whether or not we were staying in the hotel.

All in all the food was terrible and we had a bad experience. Wouldn’t return. Needless to say the Deep fried dry pork belly and raw wombok wasn’t worth the $38 price tag it came with but even the $30 burger was average. Better off going to a pokies pub if it’s this standard of food you are...

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Spoonbill Restaurant, and I must say, the experience was nothing short of exceptional! The food was absolutely delightful, with every dish showcasing incredible flavors and impeccable presentation.

The highlight of my visit, however, was the warm and welcoming staff who went above and beyond to make our time memorable. A big shout-out to Manuela, the amazing AM Supervisor, whose attention to detail ensured everything ran smoothly. Joy, the talented barista, crafted some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. Phoenix was friendly and attentive, adding a special touch to the service. Said, the PM Supervisor, brought great energy and professionalism to the evening.

A special mention also goes to Natalia for her cheerful demeanor and to Gemma, the Event Supervisor, for her incredible organizational skills and accommodating nature. It’s clear that the entire team is passionate about what they do, and it reflects in the dining experience.

Spoonbill has truly set the bar high for both food and service. I can’t wait to return and enjoy another fantastic meal with such a wonderful team!

Highly...