Lake George Winery — Restaurant in New South Wales

I booked a 2 night stay at Lake George Winery, Little George Tiny House arriving around 5pm. Kay had kindly called earlier and provided instructions on checking in after winery hours and it was all smooth and easy! The Tiny Houses are well sign posted and sit on the hill above the vineyard, guaranteeing amazing views over the vines and Lake George. Little George was clean, cosy and charming. It contained basic kitchenette facilities, all you need to fix yourself a little meal - if you wish. Should you not wish, The Westering Restaurant is open from 10am- 4pm. I stumbled into the Westering at 3pm the following day and I was welcomed by two knowledgeable gents whose names regrettably escape me (likely due to the bottle of Lake George Pinot Gris I may have consumed post conversation). Having not eaten lunch, I perused the menu and opted for the Pork Hock Risotto. Poached eggs! I must try this! The Chef popped his head out just as I was placing my order and said “good choice!”. My two nameless hosts explained that it was a dish that the Chef developed and it was one of his favourite things to cook. While I waited for my meal, I was offered wine tasting to that perhaps I too quickly accepted. Being a white wine kinda gal in the warmer months and knowing I wanted a tasty tipple to compliment the Risotto, I had a tasting of the Pinot Gris, Semillon Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay and the Rosé. Full disclosure, I am no wine connoisseur, despite drinking copious amounts of it, but as I sat at the bar and made a sad attempt to swivel my glass, I was educated on the wine, the vineyard, the night lasers, the cannon blasts and the surrounding terroir. It was a great experience with people clearly passionate about their work. I opted for the Pinot Gris just as my meal arrived. With the smell and the presentation of the Pork Hock risotto, I knew I was in for something good! It was delicious! The dish was a decadent hug. The Tiny Houses each have their own fire pits and this seemed like a fitting way to wind down the evening in the good company of the LGW Pinot Gris. Imagine sunset, the view, amazing wine and a full belly! The stars appear and you wonder how on earth you are going to drag yourself back to reality the next day! Little George has a sofa that tucks away and you pull down a very comfy bed - yep, best of both worlds here! I was sceptical on the comfort levels but was very pleasantly surprised. I shall now address the elephant in the room a.k.a. the composting toilet. Lo and behold, it was not an elephant at all! There are clear instructions provided on how to use the facility, there was no odour and it was clean. Nervous bathroom goers, have no fear. Sadly it was time for me to checkout of Little George but not before heading down to the The Westering for coffee and some tasty food. I was so lucky to be greeted by the “Nameless Gents” (who greeted me by name..awkward sigh) and was introduced to Susie. Susie came out to meet Alfie (my dog) and we chatted about dog behaviour, with Susie giving me some great tips all while remaining calm with my yappy best friend. It was an absolute bonus to my day! I then met Lolly, who so kindly offered to rearrange a table outside, if I wished to sit with my dog while I ate breakfast. I opted for a table on the deck and sin binned my best friend but in exchange I had a lovely chat with Lolly about life, the location and all sorts of things in between. Another bonus to my morning! I ordered the LGW Special Brekkie with poached eggs as I appear to have a penchant for poached eggs! The breakfast was delicious! Beetroot chilli relish with thick bacon, beautiful roast tomatoes, and perfectly poached eggs. It was fresh, delightful and reasonably priced. Wrapping this up, given some people may read and think 'glad she didn’t stay a week', my 2 night stay was amazing! The accommodation was perfect, the location is stunning, the wine delicious and food is heavenly. What really makes this place is the people. A lovely group of people who are welcoming, kind,...

Service attitude? Bad. Food quality? Horrendous. Worth the money? Absolutely not. Let me walk through the terrific experience we had today.

We were greeted well upon arrival, which gave us the false impression that maybe this place isn’t too bad under the new management, so we asked for lunch & wine-tasting. However, this level of service did not last long.

After we ordered food, my friend noticed that her dish Kingfish Khichdi was missing a poached egg. We called for help & a lady wearing casual clothing came to replace that dish for her. This is unacceptable because the female staff not only did not wear formal attire but also failed to notice the problem of the dish before bringing it to the customer. It wasn’t a cheap dish whose price, $38, can even be considered as that of fine-dining of the same level.

Furthermore, we all wanted to order steaks because they go well with wine. Amazingly, this winery doesn’t have any beef dishes, so we ended up ordering Butter Chicken Coq au Vin. They were excessively salty, dry & with a very small portion. Can’t believe that such a dish would cost $53 when the KFC tastes 10 times better at a price 10 times cheaper.

As for the Indian-French Bouillabaisse, the soup had a bad colour, was too salty to be consumed & the seafood was merely ordinary. A whopping $54 for such a miserable dish is nothing normal but astonishing. On the positive note, Magic Mushrooms was alright apart from the half-burnt bread which cost $31 when it would only be $13 in Canberra’s city centre.

At the end of lunch, the staff who initially greeted us asked how it was & apologised repeatedly after learning about our experience. We turned down her offer of a very cheap wine as compensation because it was merely not on par with our dissatisfaction, so we would rather post this genuine review for everyone to see.

Eventually, we decided to withdraw our need of wine-tasting due to the lack of confidence in the winery’s operations. If they can’t even handle half-prepared food ingredients well, how could we trust that they can make good-quality wine from scratch?

In a word, half of everything we ordered was inedible. For the sake of your health, financial & emotional wellbeing, go to another winery where they actually know what they are doing rather than this one whose owner seems to run it like a profitable business without...

I recently had my wedding at Lake George Winery. While the day itself turned out to be a beautiful celebration, I was unfortunately very disappointed by the organisation and professionalism in the lead-up to, and during, the event and have chosen to write this review as I feel other future brides should be made aware.

To start on a positive note – the food was absolutely delicious, and the bar and wait staff on the day were outstanding. They were warm, attentive, and ensured my husband and I always had what we needed, and of course the venue itself is undeniably stunning.

However, the overall planning process with the events team was disorganised and extremely stressful. Between the lack of communication, poor customer service, untruths and inconsistencies it is clear there is a lack of care, experience and professionalism.

Expectations were not met throughout the entire process, and there were several issues and errors on the day that simply should not have occurred.

From starting to pack up my wedding two hours before it was finished, to having people still doing wine tastings and eating lunch while my wedding had started - I could list a large number of issues from minor to major. But I won’t - because I’ve put too much time and energy into them already and they’ve been exhausting.

As someone who works in events, I know how much goes into coordinating and executing successful events. They left me feeling anxious and disappointed on a day that should have felt carefree and joyful.

It’s a real shame, because this venue has incredible potential. But based on our experience, I cannot recommend Lake George Winery for weddings, unless there are significant improvements made to organisation, communication, and professional standards.

I hope the team takes this feedback seriously, as I know I am not the first bride to raise concerns. A beautiful venue and great food mean very little if the rest doesn't meet the moment.

I have relayed my feedback to them directly but no response has...