Lake House, Daylesford

Almost a year on, this review is long overdue—but a must nonetheless. We celebrated our anniversary at Lake House Daylesford, and we were glad we did. We stayed in the Waterfront Pool Studio, with its beautiful view, direct pool access, and great sense of tranquility. Dining at the Two Chef Hat Lake House Restaurant was a true experience. We enjoyed the four-course à la carte dinner, and the food matched its award-winning reputation: presentation was just beautiful, every dish thoughtfully crafted, and the flavours—highlighting fresh local produce—were spot on for us. The service was great—attentive without being overbearing. The full country-style breakfast the next morning, followed by an enjoyable walk around the lake, was the perfect way to close out an unforgettable stay. Thank you Lake House Team! We’re already considering reliving this experience at Lake House Daylesford.

Lake House restaurant brings forth a truly excellent menu with a few options for each course (so somewhere midway between degustation and à la carte) that harmonises delicate flavours with simple complexity (or complex simplicity). Laid back, experienced staff. Conducive atmosphere. Highly recommended.

I celebrated my 50th birthday at The Lakehouse and it honestly exceeded my expectations. The place is beautiful, the service was amazing, and the food was incredible. It was such a real treat—a perfect spot for a special occasion! Thank you!!

A 50th birthday celebration for my wife, was absolutely perfect, from the check-in to the first class service across dinner, breakfast and room service. The food was perfect once again. Thank you Team, we will be back again

Loved it here, our diner was 10 out of 10, service was friendly, special thanks to Kat and Nicco. Our room was lovely, heated floors were a luxurious touch, however l wouldn't stay in this room again as the bedroom was upstairs, toilet and bathroom was down stairs, my knees didn't appreciate the stairs. The other down fall was the noisy bats and possums and the room was close to the road, we could here the traffic. We enjoyed the dairy flat farm visit, l am going to enrol in the sourdough course in Oct. Would definitely love to come back, with a stay in a different room.

This was our second time staying at the Lakehouse, we booked the winter cocoon package and it was amazing. The staff always go above and beyond! The extra additions to this stay with the tree top soak was an amazing experience. We watched the sunset during this and it was so peaceful. Walking the lake in the winter sun and the incredible food. You cannot beat this experience and we are always looking for our next excuse to return.

It’s our first time at the lake house - we stayed for 2 nights celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary everything is almost perfect - to start with is the customer service of all the staff are brilliant hats off - food and wine are amazing the rooms the atmosphere the location was exceptional! and yes we are planning to go back! thank you everyone! we had a lovely time!

Mattress needs replacing as there are sink holes both sides got sore back from the bed. Room is nice. Restaurant was amazing, food and service. If your physical challenged carrying luggage on a dirt track to get to your room and many stairs for lower rooms. Massage and spa was great has hot tub and sauna which we enjoyed also. I would got back for the restaurant and spa

I remember first hearing about Lake House when I was 14. My love of food and cookery was evolving at the time and I heard of a magical place, near a lake, serving up some of the best cuisine in the country. I didn't get to visit for 20 years but finally, this past May, I was able to tick it off my list of must-do Victorian experiences. My favourite +1 and I have birthday's one day apart so we took each other here for a two day getaway, complete with dining experiences and massages. Just hours from Melbourne, it was the perfect way to relax and celebrate together. What I loved about the experience was that you really didn't need to leave if you didn't want to. The rooms have simple mini bar supplies, but you can always order room service if you want something more substantial. The bathrooms are positively divine and we spent hours soaking in the tub over the weekend in between reading sessions in the living space, strolls around the lake and eating excursions in the main restaurant. Breakfast is served for a number of hours and is so incredibly generous that you can skip lunch altogether then hold out to dinner time which will no doubt be over-indulgent if you've booked yourself in for dinner. A visit here will mean you probably eat, and drink, more than you thought humanly possible but hey that's what weekend getaways are all about, right? This isn't a bargain experience, but you pay for indulgence and the opportunity to truly relax and get away from it all. Forget gifts, this is the kind of birthday present I want every year

Where on Earth do I start...? The Lake House would have the be the best restaurant I've been to in Melbourne (my view - better than Vue de Monde, better than Attica) and only second in my journey so far to Daniel in New York. Food was simply stunning. Between us we had delicious things like tempura quail; 12 hour roast suckling; rabbit cassoulet; a berry-themed share plate dessert with black forest cake, deconstructed strawberry shortcake, raspberry sorbet and raspberry and champagne jelly; lemon and lime panna cotta; and an out-of-this-world antipasto plate with duck and rabbit pates and terrines and heavenly salumi. Petit fours consisted of toffee popcorn, strawberry fudge, shortbread and jellies. Cocktails and organic teas were also amazing. In summer, try to have a drink on the deck before being seated. Atmosphere was upmarket but relaxed. We had a fantastic table in front of the bread and petit four station, which overlooked the lake and hillside. Staff were attentive, friendly and very professional. Cutlery, plates and other trimmings were very special. I fell in love with the multicoloured glass salt, pepper and sugar bowls (which, coincidentally, were also for sale at the Lake House store). It's expensive, but not as expensive as the city hatted restaurants. In my opinion, you don't need an excuse to go to the Lake House; just do it for yourself because you certainly won't regret it (but leave any kids at home)...

We stayed 2 nights in this lovely resort and tried pretty much all services available. All considered, this place would deserve a 5 star rating if it was priced in line with other upper-end places we've been at... But given what we actually paid is the highest price/night I've ever paid (and I've tried a few around the world), I cannot give it more than 3 stars. We picked it because we wanted a runaway luxury weekend for spoiling my family, to relax together and not want to worry about anything. We were not impressed with the accommodation: nothing more than standard units very well detailed inside but quite average for dimensions. Access with a pram was a nightmare, including a steep staircase to get to our unit (despite management knew we were coming with 2 little kids and were otherwise lovely arranging a cot and even a babysitter for us for one evening). Service was lovely, every single staff member trying to meet any of our requests. SPA services was definitely the positive highlight of our stay, despite quite a basic facility. Food was impressive quality all the way from breakfast to snacks to lunch & dinner at the famous restaurant. Said that, again, I expected a bit more from a 2-hats.

The view is beautiful and we sat outside for lunch under the shade with a lake view. The restaurant has won many awards so I had high expectations, but I was slightly disappointed with the execution of our dishes. I came for lunch so it's possible the normal dinner staff were not here which could account for the mis-step. Since the prices are high, I would expect the food to be top quality, perfect cooking execution, beautiful scenery and attentive service. Everything met my expectations except for the cooking execution was off for a couple of the main dishes: the cone bay Barramundi, bug dumplings, house kimchi, edamame, nori, sea vegetables, and the roasted Ballotine of free range duck, parfait, coffee roasted carrots, black barley, almonds, elderflower and elderberry. The barramundi came with a foam which tasted good except is was placed on top of the crispy barramundi skin. This quickly turned the skin flabby and mushy. The skin was removed because it didn't offer anything appealing at this point. The filling in the bug dumplings was good, but I had another version of bug dumplings in another Dalysford restaurant that tasted even better. The other dish was roasted duck. The meat was marinated too long so it made the duck meat mushy and overly salty at the same time. The duck was also over cooked and was coming to the point of being dry. I was disappointed by this because it looked nicely prepared on the dish. The other dishes were from the first course: Carpaccio of kingfish and Murray cod, trout, smoked eel. There were delicious, presented beautifully, cooked well and no issues with the execution. Yes, I am being picky, but for the price and the accolades, I expect more than the average restaurant because they have excelled at this in the past. In general, I may go back for the dinner degustation, but I would rather try other restaurants first before returning to this one because of taste and execution issues... it was average for this type of restaurant.

My partner and I came here for a special celebratory birthday meal. It's rather far above our usual price range, but we were excited to find such a lovely-looking and highly rated restaurant in Daylesford. The food was high quality. However, our experience was tainted by poor service. After taking our initial order, our server never spoke to us again. He did not check in to see how we were liking the food, offer us another look at the wine list, etc. Throughout the meal, we noticed him taking plenty of time chatting with and checking in with the tables around us. The discrepancy was quite stark. At first we figured he had pegged us for the poor ones, opting for the the cheapest meal (still a 3 course set menu!) and a couple of glasses of wine rather than fancy cocktails and a bottle. By the end of the meal, he was so obviously avoiding us we wondered if he was homophobic. Whatever the reason, the haughty and distant treatment poorly colored what would have otherwise been a lovely evening. I should note that the support staff (particularly the only woman on the floor) were friendly and helpful, though we did have to flag someone down everytime we wanted something. I'm disappointed to say that I would not go to the Lake House again, nor recommend it.

I've eaten at the Lake House twice in my life and enjoyed both experiences very much. The food is gorgeous and so well presented. It's modern without being overtly avant-garde. I'm happy they offer so many options for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian gourmet lovers. My (vegetarian) three-course lunch included a smooth egg and vegetable entree, and a main of a tart with some kind of delicious rice on the side. Dessert involved chocolate parfait with violet ice cream - our whole table agreed that the violet ice cream is TO DIE FOR, so try that if you get the chance. Service is smooth, comprehensive but unintrusive. The setting is stunning - purple and white colour scheme, overlooking the lake. You might see the random kookaburra or two posing for a photo opportunity near the restaurant window ;) If I had one major criticism, it is that I feel the serving sizes are a tad too much on the small side, especially some of the desserts, given that a three-course lunch costs over $90. However it is still one of my favourite dining experiences in Victoria. It goes well as part of a daytrip with a trip to the spas in the area.

Quite simply one of the best fine dining restaurants in Victoria. From the moment you walk in you are transported to a time where the customer is king, with nothing too much trouble or a bother. The dining room is beautifully appointed, and not overcrowded, keeping each table as an intimate oasis. There is an extensive wine menu to suit most budgets, and the food...is to dir for. I had the morrocan goat and pork and was blown away; while my partner fell in love with the pasta with truffle. For dessert we had the apple, beautifully light and refreshing while decadent at the same time. The Lake House is a true delight.

I went here for lunch while scouting out venues for a work event and had a lovely lunch in the restaurant. You will not be disappointed by the food, ambiance, or view. It's all a little posh and well worth a visit. We've been invited here for a wedding in October and I'm really glad I can go back for round two!

Like a gastronomical dance party for the mouth and stomach. Had the phenomenal opportunity to dine here for a Saturday lunch with the family. Friendly and inviting staff, deep and thorough drinks menu, and the food was amazing! Suggest trying as much as you can. If your dining as two, mix up your entrees and mains so that you get a real taste of the exquisite taste the Lake house has to offer.

The location and food is wonderful. The offer a "little people" menu for kids. Would recommend this place to take out of towners or for a special occasion. The price is the only thing stopping this place being a regular haunt. I took my daughters here (one ate from the kids menu) and it cost me $230 for lunch without wine.