Alium Dining — Restaurant in Victoria

DISGRACEFUL WAITRESS

By far the rudest and most unprofessional waitress we have experienced in Bendigo. Waitressing, bartending and general overall customer service is something this woman should reconsider. I urge the venue owner to consider the staff they are employing seriously. Last night's service will have us not returning to the venue again.

We were seated on the higher level of the restaurant, which offers fantastic views but is too close to the tables surrounding you. Throughout the night, we had the tables next to us comment on our conversations and found ourselves doing the same (unsurprisingly, most of the comments were about the poor service that evening)

When seated, we asked the waitress what was included in the chef's selection that evening, to which she was unaware; she took our drink order and then left to discuss this with the kitchen. Upon her return, she advised that this was usually a 'surprise.' We opted for this and requested that there be no seafood. The waitress said we could keep the menu at the table to follow along with the meals as they came out.

To start with, the waiter provided us with locally sourced sourdough bread and butter (a pleasant start, could have certainly been accompanied by some sea salt and perhaps olive oil)

The first course was provided to us by the waitress and described as a curd croquette. Now, as we were advised when we selected the chef's set menu that it was a surprise and we could follow along on the menu, this item was not on the menu. When the waitress cleared this course, the waitress asked us to keep our cutlery, to which we replied we would prefer fresh cutlery. The expression and response from the waitress was nothing but short of appalling. She started by saying that we had another five courses to come, to which we replied yes, we know.

Second course - Robbins island wagyu tatami (mbs+8) / crying tiger/ peanuts / crispy shallots/ herbs - minus the coriander; this dish was outstanding. (During this course, the table to our left returned a glass that was dirty after being served to them)

The third course was again not listed on the menu; it was delightful; however, we certainly need a reference as to what this dish was. At this stage, the restaurant had a total of 12 people at its peak; I mention this as both ourselves and the tables to the left and right of us had found ourselves waiting for our drink orders and having to request that the waitress refill something as simple as water glasses.

The fourth course was Otway's pork belly / tamarind bbq sauce / citrus gel / eggplant / garlic purée / picked shiso - Another fantastic dish.

The fifth course was Westholme wagyu Bavette steak (mbs9+) / neck cigar / Warragul greens / soubise / chimichurri - The star of the show, cooked to absolute perfection. A remarkably cooked piece of meat accompanied by the perfect balance of sides and sauce.

The sixth dish was Valrhona guanaja 70% chocolate pave / peanut butter mousse / salted caramel / praline - Well, this dish was underwhelming, to say the least; we sent back one of the dishes almost untouched. The pave was like a chocolate iced block, the sides it was paired with did not elevate the dish in any way at all & the overall flavour was unmemorable.

Overall the food has been refined since the last time we dined here; however, the service has left us to decide...

After reading the reviews we were excited to try out Bendigo’s version of fine dining however, our experience unfortunately did not live up to the hype. On arrival we were warmly greeted by the manager and were sat at a table close to the bar. From the get go, it was clear that while our waitress was friendly, she was very inexperienced. She took our orders and made a specific comment on needing to get the correct corresponding meal to each person however, multiple times through the night the plate was placed in the wrong spot. For entree’s we had 2 x prawns, 1 x lamb belly, 1 x kingfish ceviche, 1 x kangaroo and 1 x gnocchi. The prawns were okay however, we felt that the beetroot didn’t pair well. The kangaroo and kingfish were both under seasoned and the texture of the gnocchi was a bit wrong but the lamb belly seemed the be the star of the show. Then we get to the mains…. We had ordered 2 x pork belly, 1 x duck, 2 x wagyu and 1 x barramundi. When placing the dishes down, the waitress didn’t seem to know which steak had been cooked medium and which was medium rare however, the main issue was that she had placed a lamb dish down… which we didn’t order. She looked stunned as we advised of the mistake and took a moment to realise what we were saying. It turns out that the waitress that took our orders had written the order down correctly but had then put the order into the system wrong. She apologised and explained that she was “very new” - (fine), and that it was “very busy” tonight - (not fine, given that the restaurant was only half full and we were the third table in there when she took our orders). Unfortunately, the mistakes didn’t end there. The potato served with the wagyu was basically raw, as well as the onion. We usually aren’t ones to send stuff back however, this really was inedible so we were left with no choice. Once it was returned to us, the potato was still not cooked through, the steak had dried out and the plates were now missing an element (kale). The barramundi was a delicious dish however, there was a bone in the fillet that was noticeable as soon as she placed the plate down (we noted this to the waitress to pass the feedback on to the chef to which she simply said “okay”). The pork was only okay when it finally made its way to us and the duck was the stand out. The manager did profusely apologise for the inconvenience of the lamb confusion and the undercooked wagyu elements, and provided us with a complimentary sorbet “palate cleanser” before our dessert (which was very tasty). We must say that the desserts were all delicious and very well thought out - definitely the stand out course. In our discussions we all agree that there is some potential with the restaurant - great location, some well thought out food with great presentation however, there is definitely some work to be done. The servers lack a lot of confidence and are in dire need of some more thorough training (*note that we really don’t need our water glasses filled up after every sip and the hovering over our table left us feeling uncomfortable and unable to have a proper conversation). The kitchen staff perhaps need to take more care in what they are serving and perfect the basics. At the end of the day, the experience was average at best and definitely doesn’t live up to the $90pp price tag, or the fine...

We were down for lost trades fair and booked online for 5.30pm. I got a call from the resteraunt confirming our booking and due to reviews had been quite excited about eating here. The venue is stunning for what we saw of it because when we got there, we were told we were seated outside. I was a little taken a back because it's on a main road, loud, and I wasnt dressed to be outside as i had assumed we were sitting down to a nice fine dining experience.

When I asked if we could be seated inside I was told "it's a full house tonight" no. Ok, that's not great, but we were looking forward to the food.

Once seated, we were told we weren't allowed to have the chefs menu (the whole reason we were there) because it was only a 2 hour booking. What? No where online, or during the PHONE CALL was I told that not only would we have to sit outside but also that we couldn't have the chefs menu. When I said this to the waiter, he entirely blamed us. "We have a full house tonight" "oh you booked last minute online". "It's only a two hour booking". Amongst other comments.

Firstly, the resteraunt had only two couples inside when we paid the bill to leave. So if they weren't going to allow us to have the chefs menu, they could have seated us inside to eat a quick meal and leave.

Secondly, all seating in resteraunts these days is for 2 hours. If you can't do a chefs menu (in the time that the resteraunt allots for a seating) then you should definitely make patrons aware either during the online booking, or on the phone call we had before we arrived.

Lastly, the attitude of it was somehow our fault and that we should be greatful for even being seated, is insane.

I would have really liked to have experienced this resteraunt the same way that others seemed have to but I can't believe how poorly we...