Mallee Estate Wines — Restaurant in South Australia

I emailed Mallee Estate Wines for a sat night dinner booking 3 days before we arrived in Renmark (coming from Adelaide). As id had no response, we stopped in on our way to accommodation to ensure the booking was confirmed. As we walked up to the bar, we were met by a young lady who asked us what we wanted. I explained that I had requested a dinner booking by email and was hoping it had been received and booking made? Her response “were shut sat night as there’s a private booking”. Then just stared at us. I said I obviously didn’t know that as there was no reply to the email. She gave no response to this. I then asked if they had lunch free on that day? Her response “no”. Then she needed to check if they were open at all for the cellar door. Regardless of the rude and disinterested reply, I then asked my husband if he wanted to try their fortifieds? As he wished to, I asked if he could try them. She went and got the 2 fortifieds and said the names of them. She then Poured them both and walked away. We didnt know which was which, as she didn’t explain anything about them. By that time, we felt like a massive inconvenience and like we had wasted our time. Mallee came from a recommendation and as I love Greek food, we were really looking forward to dining there and tasting their wine. An email reply would have been respectful for my enquiry. The lady who answered our questions at the bar was rude and put a stain on what is most likely a lovely restaurant. But one we won’t bother...

On a very hot day about 2 weeks ago I visited Mallee Estate with my sisters and cousins. We were so glad we called in! The restaurant/tasting room was cool and very well appointed, especially comfortable chairs were appreciated! The hospitality was exceptional. Hayley greeted us warmly and made us feel welcome. Francesco gave us time to settle in before starting the tasting experience. Wow! The range of wines is impressive, and we enjoyed trying the styles before selecting several to buy. The best thing was that Francesco was not pushy, he was 100% conversant about all the wines and the processes used in the making. He was friendly and attentive, with a good sense of humour. Apart from the wine, which is delightful, the restaurant had a small but excellent menu, with a distinct Greek theme. The calamari was the best I have ever tasted. Fresh homemade pita bread! Traditional sausage and salad! Table service was excellent. We met Eleni who is the matriarch of this family winery; she’s a very special lady, we heard some of the family history and could really feel the love, you can’t make wine like this without it. Thank you Eleni, Francesco and Hayley for the best day of...

Overpriced and substandard food. It was a real disappointment for us as we are used eating a lot of quality Greek food for less money previously in other locations throughout Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and on holidays in Greece itself. For that high price level one would expect excellent quality, but not for us on that day. It all started well and tasty with our entree and their home made tzatziki and oven-warm Greek bread. As a main course I had 2 lamb Souvlaki skewers where 1 was so hard you could not bite on it. I was also expecting a Greek salad but instead got a mess of raw white and red cabbage soaked in oil and some onions. It didn't even look nice on the plate .My other half had Kofta with rice and taste and portion was average but the price was extraordinary. My 2nd star is for the service only as this part of our 'food journey' was very good. I get better Greek food at my local Greek chips stall for a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, we did trust the reviews on google and tripadvisor which I now will carefully reconsider for future new restaurant experiences. I did complain to the waitress though but understand this is...