The Wood Restaurant — Restaurant in Pokolbin

Sorry it's taken this long to write a review but I told myself I had to remember to given how beautiful the experience we had at this restaurantc so here it is finally! My husband and I visited Hunter Valley over the Good Friday weekend. We had a booking for 7pm that Saturday evening but we had a very full lunch that afternoon so I called and asked if we could reschedule the dinner till 8pm. The lady staff who answered the phone was so lovely and accommodating, and managed to postpone our dinner to an hour later. When we finally arrived for dinner, I could tell this restaurant was a cut above the rest- from the moment we stepped in, to being ushered to the table and offered the menu, the customer service was exceptional and second to none, we were greeted with such warmth and friendliness. When chatting with the waiting staff about our trip and the menu, I could tell each staff member held their own with great conversational flair and was also intelligent and knowledgeable about the menu. Having had a very heavy lunch earlier that day, they gave fantastic suggestions on what dishes to order for our dinner and it was absolutely gorgeous. I recalled having the Burrata which was divine and the Salumi which was a mix of marinated prosciutto - that was incredibly light and refreshing! Big shout-out to Sarah who was so lovely in greeting us at the door and taking our order, to also securing us a complimentary wine tasting spot the next day at their winery (that was also a lovely experience on its own!) and Xavie who is such an exceptional sommelier- she recommended the best Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon I've ever tasted! There were two other female wait staff who served us who also provided superb service, but alas I could not remember their names. Anyway, we will definitely be back again, just because we loved the...

We had a surprisingly lovely meal at The Wood restaurant on a whim last Sunday. We showed up with no booking and they easily seated my family, made up of two adults and four kids. The kids were no issue at all for the staff and despite initial skepticism from the kids regarding the slighted more elevated kids menu (gasp, no chicken and chips!), all my kids surprised themselves and me with how much they enjoyed the food. My husband and I had the Feed Me menu which was fantastic value at $95 a head - with seven or so courses it felt like a much fancier degustation and we ending up taking home half of our main, definitely not short on food. It felt like this option could be adjusted slightly to taste as well so make sure to consider it! All in all, a lovely Sunday...

There's the interminable wait between the entree and the main (45 minutes).

The food was marred by poor execution and choices. Beef carpaccio was sliced way too thick and the prawn crudo lacked acid, leaving the slimy texture of raw prawn. I'm not sure how they cooked the wagyu sirloin, but it was chewy. I asked for it to be cooked the way the chef would eat it. And why put smoked bone marrow on the menu and then serve a marrow crumb instead? All you need is salt, pepper, lemon, that's it. It's less work and tastes way better. Lamb shoulder was a little cold, may have been left on the pass too long while waiting for the steak to rest.

These are passable mistakes for a bistro at a pub, not at a restaurant priced in the upper tier....