The Birdcage Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Victoria

The next day when we woke up, we had a good and hearty breakfast (part of the package) in our hotel before proceeding to ski - for the record, we arrived too early before the snow started to fall so we didn't really get to enjoy the skiing facility to the fullest. The management was using machine to create artificial snow for the holiday goers to ski but we didn't ski because our kids were still too young, so we just went into the area to play with the aritificial snow.

Had a great time nonetheless and before we knew it, everyone was famished so we had lunch at the one & only Mount Buller Fish & Chippery.. the fish & chip was most expensive one I had while in Melbourne but we'd no choice because they were the only place around serving this dish and they are located in the heart of Mount Buller.

But this post is not on the fish & chips but on the coffee session after that. We walked around and saw this Birdcage Café - the coffee craving kicked in so we just walked in. Initially wanted to drink only coffee, we ended up buying 2 large cookies as well for the small ones when they said hungry... Cold weather really made them feeling hungry fast.

It was very cosy inside considering that it was cold and foggy outside... Love the usage of logs and timber to mix with the dark contemporary interiors of the cafe. FYI, this cafe is located inside Mt Buller Chalet Hotel & Suites.

After satisfying the caffeine addiction, the once again energetic kids dragged us for another 2 hours of playing with the snow which drained most of our energies in the...

There's no nice way to put it, Black Cockatoo is a valiant attempt to introduce fine dining to the mountain, let down by horribly poor execution. It bears all the hallmarks of someone who saw good ideas at other restaurants and tried to copy them but lacked the expertise. The problems start with the menu...tiny, black lettering on dark, gold paper under lighting conditions so low it was impossible to read (I had to use the light of my mobile phone). The truffle pappardelle was a watery, insipid mess with large clumps of pasta stuck together. The sous-vide duck was so chewy my wife literally couldn't swallow one of the pieces...an astonishing accomplishment given that the whole point of sous-vide is to create consistently good results. Even the kids burger, a small meat patty eclipsed by an over-sized oily bun, was only half-eaten by my 7-year-old. The only redeeming feature of this restaurant was the waitstaff, who were genuinely lovely and professional throughout, the only thing worthy of a star.

There is a reason fine dining isn't more prevalent in places like Buller, it's just not the type of cuisine you typically want or need after a hard day at the snow. But when you then get charged $175+ for 2 small mains, a kids meal and a few glasses of wine you don't expect to be served food that has to be spat back out...

Gorgeous food in the wonderful alpine town of Mt Buller. Such amazing service, and I am frankly amazed at such a high standard of food here in the snow. Every dish was flavourful and rich, with the cocktail menu being gorgeous and unique. Bao beetroot buns were a real stand out, as well as the kingfish. Super fresh and featuring nuanced, and intricate flavours. Prices were extremely reasonable and are comparable to what you would pay for more basic food at the snow! Wow!

The seating area surrounded by a curtain at the back looked like a great place to bring a group and I would love to come back for an event here.

I did think the music was a little over the top for the atmosphere and made the large room a bit noisy, and also didn’t like being charged for Voss artisanal water. It seems like a shame given the environmental impact of glass packaged water and also given how amazing the fresh water is here at...