The Esplanade Hotel Queenscliff — Restaurant in Queenscliff

This review is for the food I recently had in the main restaurant. Which is where I'll start. It isn't a very welcoming room to dine in. It has the feel of a cafè, not the boutique restaurant vibe its online presence would have you believe. I dined on a loaded Wagyu burger from the specials board that clocked in at a massive $30. For that price I was expecting an extravagant and unique take on a fairly safe dish, but what I got was quite a disappointment. My loaded Wagyu burger was three bland patties that seemed like they'd been kept warm most of the day in an oven. Between them were some melted cheese slices that offered very little flavour to the overall package. All of this was packed into a brioche bun that came with the smallest amounts of dressing, salad and pickles I've ever seen in a burger. Accompanying this burger was an average helping of bland fries. Not wedges, or waffle fries, or shoestring fries or crinkle cut chips. Or something that had a human touch beyond being dumped in a fryer. Nope! Just the most unloved fries a plate has ever seen. To top it all off, no side salad 🥗. No greenery anywhere. Really? For the $30 I paid, there should have been a substantial salad with the burger. I can honestly say that Hungry Jacks and Maccas do better burgers at half the price. My wife's meal didn't get a good report either. She had a risotto and said that it felt like it had been warmed up in a microwave as it didn't have the texture and consistency of a freshly made dish. She said it was sticky, stodgy and reminded her of rice pudding. Dietary requirements are advertised as being catered for but it's more to do with leaving ingredients out of a dish rather than having a proper alternative. For example, we had the vegan nachos but it was only vegan because they left off the cheese, rather than offer the dish with a vegan cheese; of which there are many. Oh, and a warning sign I should have paid attention to, you have to pay for your meals before you get them, or leave a credit card behind the bar to start a tab. Most of the great places I've dined at allow you to pay at the end of your dining experience because the establishment knows their dishes won't disappoint. Based on my dalliance with this restaurant (not the brewhouse or cellar door), I can't recommend it when you have places like the Flying Brick Cider company 15mins down the road offering a far better range of food and a better environment to enjoy your food in. This place offers pub food at boutique prices, and just isn't worth it. The phrase 'punching above it's weight'...

Having been meaning to visit the Queenscliff Brewhouse for some time, we were really looking forward to our trip on the Australia Day long weekend. We had worked up an appetite in the surf during the day and were very hungry. We arrived before our allotted booking time and sat in the distillery area with a drink. Compared to the rest of the establishment, which was very busy, this seemed quiet and upmarket. We went through for dinner and was shown to our table in the bar area. Well, dissappointed does not express how we felt! The bar was busy with people eating or just drinking. The noise levels were off the scale. The two television sets above the bar were showing two different Big Bash games and the whole area was reminiscent of a down market sports bar. The table next to us had a screaming child who refused to come out from under the table. We could hardly hear ourselves think, let alone talk! Perusing the menu, we were shocked at the prices. $42 for a main. The prices were on par with Jack Rabbit winery which we had visited a couple days previously, but boy, worlds apart! I would not expect to pay more than $15 in a place like the brewhouse. We decided to leave and judging by other reviewers who said the food was terrible, we had a lucky escape. I can honestly say, this was my worst experience at a brewery...

Hi We had a birthday lunch yesterday and were so disappointed with food and service. We are local and before the lock down we have had several great meals there. The menu is smaller, which I can understand, but clearly there are different staff in the kitchen. Yesterday I ordered the Vegan option for the Thai Chicken salad- I was laughed at when I was at the counter- the staff member said “ what do you want-to order it with out the cheicken? “ I replied- you tell me- it’s on your menu! Side note: Thai chicken salad- with felafel, chickpeas and quinoa. I struggle to see where is the connection to Thai food?????? Nevertheless I ordered that meal and the miso pumpkin, being the only vegan options available. The pumpkin was a thick wedge of mushy steamed pumpkin. The salad was drowned in a dressing and featured grey blocks of RAW tofu. I suggest you send your chef on some further cooking courses if they think that raw tofu is acceptable. I didn’t eat the meal. We complained to our waitress. No one cared . Staff were very dismissive, meals were slapped down in front of us. I paid $66 for 2 meals and 2 drinks. ( I didn’t get a price adjustment for removing the chicken from my vegan option by the way ). The worst service and food I have had for a long time. I won’t be...