Woodland House

Really enjoyed our visit on 27 April. The food was excellent and the matching wines truly eclectic (a number of grape varieties I had not heard of). Staff were relaxed and attentive, really put us at ease. We were dining for a birthday and, unprompted, our desert was served with a suitable greeting. Just lovely!

Came here for dinner to celebrate my mum's birthday. We went for the full tasting menu which was an 8 course menu with the amuse bouche to start with. Wine selection was really good so we got a really nice red wine to drink with the food. Food were really flavourful with standouts being the flounder fish, suckling pig and the marron. The food quality were definitely up there with other two chef hats like Est. Now, you may have heard that the portions are small but for us it was a lot as there were many dishes to taste. Service was good as well with staff being attentive to pacing and very polite and professional. Would recommend people this restaurant for a special occasion.

A fantastic dining experience in a large quaint Victorian house. Each plate that arrived was beautifully presented with combinations to excite every taste bud. The waiting staff have an intimate knowledge of the food and wines they are serving. The suggested wine pairings have been cleverly thought out and add so much more the the experience. Prices are not cheap, but well worth it for the Wow! factor. This is not the best place for every day dining unless you have a budget to suit, but for a big treat or special occasion this is about as good as it gets for those that are serious about food.

Food is delicious and filling despite the portion being small. Prices are on the steep side, but it's worth every penny. Service staff was attentive and friendly. Environment was not stifling, settings were warm and comfortable. Try to get a seating if you can when you're in Melbourne!

The food in general was nice but nothing too special. I was a little disappointed on some of the dishes, especially the Kangaroo tail consomme and Roasted sardine. However the Spanner crab was amazing and very well balanced. The presentation of the dessert was very average. The Passionfruit, lemon myrtle looked like a bunch of random condiments thrown into the bowl. Though I must say the staffs at Woodland House was very welcoming and friendly.

My boyfriend and I enjoy good food, street or fine dining. Where there to enjoy great food, which we did! It’s not about the size of the dish it’s about appreciating the smell, taste, presentation and love that went into each dish, and after 7 courses we had more than enough food! This place is tasteful and staff are well trained and very professional without the snobbery of some other high end restaurants.

The high prices set high expectations. The Good: fresh produce from their own garden, friendly service. The Bad: no atmosphere, tiny portions, lacking inspiration. Went for weekend lunch and paid 100 per person. We had a pregnant person with us and neither the waitress nor the chef knew what that meant: first dish they served was kingfish (a big no no for pregnant women due to mercury content), which once we pointed out the mistake they replaced with 2 tiny baby corn. For dessert they served something covered in raw meringue (egg), again not suitable. That aside, the food was very well prepared, presented as tiny portions on big plates, but lacked the 'little extra' or anything special. Sitting in the large room with only 9 tables felt awkward - you could hear every conversation, so most people whispered. It all seemed very old fashioned (not in the good way) and uninspired. And hence totally overpriced.

I have dined here when it was Jacques Raymond and this was the first time I have eaten here since Vincent and Gareth took over. I would say that i did prefer the old to the new. The building is stunning, we were seated in the comfortable corner chairs which made for a very enjoyable experience. The ambience was excellent, you do feel you are in a very special place. The service was impeccable, friendly waiters who were knowledgeable and attentive. We had the 8 course degustation and it had some hits and misses. The first thing that we observed was that the first three dishes were fish dishes and we felt they were all quite similar. Fish cooked the same way with different accompaniments. Nicely cooked, but nothing exceptional. The next dish was a prawn dish, was so so. The pallet cleanser was terrible. As a social experiment we were observing other people's expressions when they tried theirs. The next two dishes were very good indeed, exceptional in quality, the veal then the venison. The third dish was another red meat, wallaby. Again we thought it odd that the three meat dishes were very similar, in a degustation you would normally expect other options like duck, quail or pork. The deserts were exceptionally good and showcased what the other dishes lacked, texture, interesting flavours and something different. Overall it was very good, however the menu did lack originality, flow and did not have enough moments of excitement. I would check the menu before going to ensure that your dining experience is everything it should be.

Our French Wine and Food club had a fantastic night last night. 25 people saw this marvellous place excell in delicious beautifully presented food, great respectful service and a wonderful fine dining experience This is as good as it gets- highly recommended to those that value fine food which is well presented with a minimum of fuss Thankyou Hayden and wonderful staff!

A satisfying experience from the moment we walked in till we left. The 8 course degustation is superbly delicious, and the customer service is outstanding. Having said that, the degustation dishes did not have the wow-factor (as we experienced in Vue De Monde). Though delicious and of high quality, they are not extraordinary. Hopefully in the near future, the head chefs Thomas and Hayden will come up with something more daring and out of the norm to impress the customers even more.

I'd only managed to get along to Jacques Reymond once but had such a good time I was devastated when it closed. Maybe this explains why it's taken me over two years to visit its replacement,Woodland, however glad to report that I remedied that today. Woodland occupies the same gorgeous Victorian terrace as its predecessor which is an instant plus. It's name is a blend of the two chef-owners', Thomas Woods and Hayden McFarland, and they specialise in degustation. Happily so do I. The banner on the restaurant's webpage menu promises "a playful sense of adventure and whimsy" which sounded like fun. I opted for the Concise Menu which comprises seven courses for $135 - $215 with matched wines. No brainer really. I ordered a dirty martini to sip on while I waited for the first round of food and wine. My waiter delivered it in record time along with a tiny ceramic bowl for the pips. Nice touch. It also had three olives so obviously the barman was aware of the old superstition that it's bad luck to serve a martini with an even number of olives. An amuse bouche of Jerusalem Artichoke soup served in a sake cup along with a couple of little field mushroom croquettes on a wooden leaf-shaped dish arrived immediately after. I'm not a big fan of artichokes, but the soup was creamy and didn't have the bitterness I usually associate with this vegetable. Rainbow trout with smoked oyster and toasted pumpkin stock, little round potato balls seasoned with soy sauce and a garnish of ice plant came next. The fish was delicate but tasty and the accompaniments suited it well. This was served with a dry white called Les Argiles which my waiter informed me was made by a French wine maker Francois Chidaine in the Vouvray district if the Loire Valley. I'm not a big fan of whites but this one was a good match with the dish. Roasted sardine, squid, pistachio and soured cream garnished with a couple of small sprigs of rosemary. This looked lovely on the plate; the sour cream was infused with dill and created a white puddle with green swirls when poured around the rest of the ingredients. The squid was done two ways; a subtle, wafer thin carpaccio and much stronger flavoured deep fried squid legs. Really nice and much more interesting than the previous course I thought. This was accompanied by a Fighting Gully Road Aquila from Beechworth made by a guy called Mark Walpole who is "arguably one of Australia's greatest viticulturists specialising in cool climate viticulture" (gotta love Google ). Potato cavatelli (little pasta shells that look a bit like caterpillars), field mushroom, and veal sweetbreads in a pool of raw milk manchego sauce followed. Gorgeous. Always been a big fan of offal and this reminded me of the glory days of the Bayswater Brasserie in Sydney; rich flavours perfectly balanced by the light but very tasty sauce. This came with glass of Born and Raised Grenache. I would never drink this by itself as it was too dry for my taste, but it was a great match for this dish as it cleared the palate between every mouthful of this rich delicious course. This was the pick of the dishes for me. Lamb fillet and confit belly with parsnip, sweet garlic and sorrel was the last of the savouries. The little sausage-shaped fillet was served on a sorrel leaf and cooked rare, the confit was much stronger in flavour. This was served with a South African red made by the A A Badenhorst family. Can't recall ever having a wine from this part of the world but I quite liked this. It's a blend of Shiraz, Grenache, Cinsault and Tinta Barocca and wasn't as arid as the previous offerings. They finished the set with two desserts. The first was passion fruit, lemon myrtle and liquorice sauce, and meringue sprinkled with shavings of white chocolate. Very light and refreshing. Staying with the tropical theme we finished with pineapple quince, sesame, cocoa nib caramel with malt. This normally comes with a Pedro Ximinez but I wasn't in the mood for something that cloying so swapped it for a Crawford River Nektar. Very nice. The dessert consisted of wafers of chocolate and sesame wafers covering a cylinder of ice cream and warm chunks if quince paste. Lovely finish. I really enjoyable my lunch at Woodlands House; great setting, good food, and the service was immaculate. Highly recommend.

Wow!!! Amazing!! This is the new "Jacque Raymond" and I was little dubious... Always had such great experiences with Jacque Raymond... But this simply surpassed it! With really interesting and thoughtful good, decor and service you are literally taken on an innovative and almost whimsical journey of culinary expertise... Everything from the purple crisps, to the really unique side plates.. There is simply something to enjoy at every step of the way. No more so than when you are invited to move into the courtyard prior to desert to try some beautifully inspired ice cream served out of their very own (handmade) ice cream cart.. Then back inside for the final delectable course. For the foodie who is looking for something unique and loves great service this is sure to impress! Can't speak highly enough... And the maître d' Gareth really knows how to look after you!! Go and enjoy!! Hope you enjoy your night as much as I enjoyed my anniversary :)

It may be using a hackneyed phrase, but this place is a Fine Dining Establishment. Par excellence. We came for a weeknight dinner and had four courses from the a la carte menu. Because we shared forkfuls we were able to cover a lot of the items on the menu. I don't propose to go into detail or pick favourites from what we had. It was all beautifully prepared, delicious and balanced. Go and try it yourself for goodness sake! The service was outstanding: well informed, prompt, unobtrusive, friendly but nicely formal. It is likely to become an old favourite of ours. In fact we want (need!) to come back soon just so that we can confirm the outstanding first impression.

I picked this restaurant last month to celebrate my sister's graduation dinner, however due to unforeseen circumstances the celebration never happened. For context, I booked a semi private room for 15pax on the 13th December 7PM. Having paid the deposit of 250AUD, and picked out the menu, my family and I were looking forward to Melbourne, departing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for the dinner. However, unexpectedly my grandfather who lives with us passed away on the 11th of December and the family trip was cancelled. As soon as this happened, I had a friend call up the restaurant to cancel the reservation, specifically to speak to Nathan who was, ironically the experience manager. Despite such devastating news, Woodland House did not make it easy for us. Not only did they insist on charging me the full amount, which they did prior to the dinner itself, they were unwilling to cancel the reservation despite the 48 hours notice (the call was made 7PM on the 11th of December - for a dinner on the 13th of December). The restaurant also refused to offer any credit on the basis that I return to dine with them. Despite repeated phone calls to try to find an alternative, the restaurant persisted in their policy and proceeded to charge my credit card regardless of whether any guests attended the dinner or not. In order to not have $2000AUD wasted, we were pressured to find an extra 6 guests to replace those now in Malaysia, and were simultaneously trying to now collect 15 people who didn't know each other to go to a meal in Melbourne whilst AT a wake and focusing on funeral arrangements in Malaysia. I felt absolutely disgusted that the restaurant owner would allow this to happen showing a lack of compassion in dealing with such matters. To top that, there was a last minute guest who did not make it in time, and the restaurant refused to serve the food prepared for the now-empty seat despite having already charged me for it. The guests who were present insisted that they would eat the guest's portion--after all, according to the restaurant they had to charge us to not waste food and prep time, right?--but the restaurant refused to serve the 15th meal. In fact - they refused to start service for the 2nd dish at all for the entire table. Over an hour later, someone else's partner was found who could come along for a second dinner in order that this restaurant would release food that had already been purchased to a table full of people who were there. I have never encountered a restaurant which runs with such little sympathy and empathy for a grieving family. Definitely livid and appalled with such a behaviour from a restaurant. **I totally understand that the restaurant potentially have prepped the ingredients as well as allocated staff/shifts to work on that day but this is a death situation which was unavoidable. I was happy to pay the bill in return for credit as I regularly fly in to Melbourne, or even pay 50% of the total bill as compensation for their loss of profit, but the way they handled this situation is intolerable. For a restaurant to so blatantly regard their customers solely as a source of profit is disappointing. That we were handled with such indifference in our time of grief was shocking. I urge people NOT to book this restaurant unless they want to experience such a traumatic experience. I certainly would NEVER recommend or step in to this restaurant.

Not really impressed. Food was ok not impressive. Spent $558 for 3 of us. Atmosphere was cold. Server could not speak English so I couldn't the special tasting menu.

Boy was the concierge right! We've had The French Laundry and many other experiences and this blew us away! Easily one of our top 3 restaurants of all time. From the great service, endless food and ice cream party, this set the bar for our trip to Melbourne. How do you top this?!?