Wills Domain — Restaurant in Yallingup

We had the pleasure to dine at Wills Domain in order to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We decided to splash out a bit and selected the 7 course degustation for my wife, my niece and I. We also went for the curated wines for the birthday girl.

You could tell that this would be a top notch, silver service experience even before we set foot in the restaurant. I had declared some food allergies whilst I made my booking and within an hour the restaurant contacted me to discuss these allergies in more detail and how they could modify the menu without losing its intent.

On the day of the meal we were greeted within genuine warmth and consummate professionalism, with not a mutter or a “no worries” or “she’ll be right” in sight. More importantly all the staff who served us took the time to wish my wife a Happy Birthday, so someone had the foresight to mention this to them beforehand. She was beaming from ear to ear by the end of the meal.

All throughout the meal we enjoyed friendly, knowledgeable communication from the maître d' and the wait staff. Each dish was presented with a little description of what it was, the nature of the wine accompanying it, and one got the impression that the staff actually knew what they were talking about, as opposed to simply having memorised a script beforehand.

More impressively, each dish was bespoke due to the afore-mentioned food allergies, but those tweaks took nothing away from the presentation or the taste if the positive feedback from my wife and niece was anything to go by.

Be warned, the full degustation will take approximately 3 hours as they kitchen gives you time to enjoy each morsel placed in front of you, to enjoy your wine, the view from the restaurant and to have a little chat before the next delight arrives. You never feel rushed but more importantly, once the meal has concluded you felt sated, but not full and certainly no hungry (so no Macca’s run on the way home required).

Yes there is a price to pay for such quality of food and service but for those indulging in the 7 course degustation you are actually received 9 courses if you include the complimentary Amuse bouche and the concluding Mignardises. But if such a meal is something you do annually to celebrate something important then it is well, well worth it.

It was an utterly delightful experience that I could not fault. When the menu receives its seasonal update I will certainly be back. Now I just need to save some money. It was just a shame that we had to drive back to Perth immediately after the meal but that was solely my...

We have always wanted to try Wills Domain every time that we have been down south but never really have got ourselves organised. This time was different as we booked a table well in advance of our trip to Yallingup - the opportunity to dine at one of the state's top foodie destinations was not to be missed.

Wills Domain only offer degustation meals, either 2, 4 or 7 courses, with set dining times. They also require a booking guarantee for every member of your party but that shouldn't be unexpected for a quality restaurant these days. If you arrive earlier than your booking, they provide you with an option to do a free wine tasting. Definitely worth get there 20-30 mins early - we were treated to a leisurely tasting of our great selection of their wines by a very experienced and knowledgeable staff member.

We went with a four-course meal ($109/person), without the wine pairing, as I was the designated driver and taken advantage of the earlier wine tasting. The house-made bread, with honeycomb shaped butter, with a delightful amuse bouche, awakened not only my pallet but was a visual delight - definitely an Instagramable meal, worthy of any one- or two-star Michelin restaurant. Each dish was a culinary masterpiece, really extenuating the hero element, with the perfect accompaniment of supporting elements - the flavours were so unique and on-point. The Abrolhos Island scallops with smoked bonito cream, daikon and dashi, were amazing. Then the Ballingup chicken, parmesan custard and swordbelt mushroom, a taste explosion. The Arkady lamb, carrot, sheep yoghurt and coriander seed was a gastronomic delight. Our final course of Butternut pumpkin, anise and cinnamon myrtle was the perfect conclusion to lunch.

My only criticism was that each dish was merely a mouthful and left me wanting to savour more and more. I actually finished the four-course meal still feeling hungry as it each plate was tantalisingly close to perfection. In hindsight maybe I should have gone the full seven-course ($179/person). Maybe then I would have been...

My wife and I together with another couple had lunch at Wills Domain on Sunday September 20. We had eaten there many years before. When we were given the menus, I noticed that there were no prices next to each item so I asked the waiter and he said that we had to select 2 courses for $85 or 3 courses for $99. I asked could we order just a main course and he said we couldn't. All four of us decided on the same entree and main courses. The entree was a soft crab dish which was enjoyable. The main course we chose was the duck. When it arrived, we were all gobsmacked by what was on the plate. The duck consisted of a "sausage" of deboned duck together with a "pin -cushion" of carrot shards embedded in, for want of a better word, mayonnaise. My wife and I also ordered a dish of duck-fat potatoes for an extra $10! My wife's duck was dry as was mine. Our friends said that their duck was moist. The potatoes were enjoyable. We all felt that the duck sausage and the carrots as a main was not substantial enough; it should have come with the potatoes and greens which were both optional at $10 each. I then looked at the wine list and nearly had a stroke. The cheapest red was $55 for a bottle or $16 a glass and this was one of their own wines! The bill for 2 courses each and the bottle of wine was $235, more than twice what we normally pay at a restaurant. The only positive point that I can make is that the service was excellent albeit a little over the top. Rob Broadfield recently gave it 18/20 and rated it the best restaurant in the South-west??? My wife and I will definitely not be dining...