The Henley Brook — Restaurant in Western Australia

You are warned! The good is the location, the Swan Valley on a sunny West Australian day is magnificent. There was a band playing outside who was quite good and not too loud. The food was average and the prices as expected The bad; parking, we had to invent a place to park as it was overcrowded! We had a large party and had booked ahead We were inside, we weren’t given an option of being outside which was so much nicer. We were seated along a set of windows so if someone in our party wanted to get up so did others in our party to let the out. Bad placement! We took half an hour in a queue to order food, as we were ordering the staff wrote on a board near the counter 60 minutes for mains 45 minutes for pizza, Surely this would have been better placed near the beginning of the queue? We ordered and waited the 60 minutes. We enjoyed the Perth autumn weather. My burger came first and we waited another 10 minutes for my wives Parmi, the meals came out sporadically even though we all ordered at the same time. One couple in our party didn’t receive their meal until most of us had finished eating ours. At one stage we asked a staff member ‘what was happening with the order?’ he gave the standard answer of ‘yours is coming next’ as we saw numerous orders going to other tables. Everyone dislikes sitting there while the rest of your party is eating theirs and finishing even before they had received their order! Eventually their order arrived. The food; my burger was very dry and the meat over cooked and the chips were cold, I am guessing it was sitting on the counter for a while before I received it as it had that taste about it. The parmi was a good size and nice. A couple of people in our party had the brisket burger and both said they were very dry. There was three queues for drinks. We were told there was functions on and only a few staff, that was why they were so busy. Someone in management should have made decisions regarding the amount of people walking in in accordance with the amount of staff. I am normally looking for positives for every place we visit but this was hard to do for the Henley Brook, we went there because it was recommended however we didn’t find our experience worthy of a referral. The staff worked very hard and are a tribute to this place as is the location. Hence...

First time coming here, checked reviews before hand and found food reviews were good although service could be an issue. This did look like lunch time periods and I was doing dinner so thought I would give it a go. Called at 4.30pm on a Wednesday for a 2 seat booking and they gave us a seat near the window for 6.30pm. So far, so good. We were welcomed as soon as we walked in and staff asked if we had been before. We said we hadn't. They explained it was self order, no table service but that food would come to you. Clean toilets and a bar for drinks. From ordering to eating it took about 25 minutes. The ontrays came out with the mains so we had to eat all at once. Drinks were immediate since you get them at the bar. Partner ordered a milk shake which came within 5 minutes, he said it was fine. Dinner was pretty disappointing to be honest, I feel I am reasonable as a reviewer but this was pretty bad. Size and portion was great. Parmigiana was good, a large piece of chicken that my partner mentioned. The salad was just lettuce and some pickled onion. Chips were OK not amazing but not terrible. The pork belly was a joke. It came out soft with no hardness to the fat ontop at all and it was marbled with fat the whole way through. Because it hadn't been rendered down there was jelly like fat in almost every mouthful. I turned it over the eat from the bottom and it was fatty there too. Meat was cooked and soft to eat but it seemed as though it was all just heated through and dumped on the plate. I was given a light crackle as a side but it had no flavour and taste like air. My entire pork was covered in an onion gravy and the only veg offered was green beans. The mash was a small portion and very overwhelming with the taste of truffle. I did get a few jelepeno poppers they were actually quite good and came in a light batter. I would happily eat them again. I am open to trying this place again as the atmosphere is great, it's a pretty venue and our personal service was great. But I don't recommend the pork at $37.00 on its own. Drink wise I ordered a hard lemonaide and highly recommend. Seating is basic wooden chairs but not uncomfortable and good size square table for two with heaps of room for multiple dishes and drinks. Parking was good. We were able to get a park right...

A 1 hour & 15 minute wait on pub food, was ridiculous!! I enquired about the wait time and the staff member told me we are busy but I will check for you, she comes back & points to my receipt which says 60 mins wait & said, “It is only just over 60 minutes, you are in the next batch & another 15 mins away” no apology nothint! Another waitress told us that today (Sunday) was not even as busy as it can get. Not sure if it is deliberate delays so that people drink more. Pack some snacks if you have young children as they wont be able to wait & to avoid intoxication for adults drinking alcohol while waiting for food. There is one register to take food orders at the counter which has a long line and two lines to wait for ordering drinks. One of our group ordered pizza & that was ready pretty quick but the burgers, bao buns & pie were 1 hr, 15. The food was average, not much meat in my pie, the bao buns were pitiful with not much filling and the burgers were average. I can see the drawcard for families with young kids as parents can sit back and relax while the kids run free with activities and large area with rope swings and a band for kids to dance to. I will not be coming back to this venue as it is not worth the wait for average food which was $24 to $30, so not expensive but not cheap either. One guest had a steak sandwich & he said it was good but he wouldn’t come back for it, not worth the wait. If you want to spend the day and relax with young kids then you can probably overlook as there is plenty to keep young ones occupied but there is also plenty of other places that also have...