Bella Restaurant

Unfortunately it was only a one night stay with a buffet breakfast.just wonderful.nice and relaxing. Thank you!

Great starter (pork) was 5/5, main (fish) was 3.5/5 as it was slightly overcooked and under-seasoned and dessert (chocolate cake) was 1/5 as it was quite dry

Service and drinks was 10/5 though, especially Laura who was extremely caring and checked in with our meal every course-!? The long island iced tea did not cheap out on the alcohol at all

A 3 course 200AUD dinner for 2 was a bit overpriced for this restaurant. I have had better dining experience with cheaper options. I’m being generous with a 3 star just because Ella was a delight with us during our stay.

The food was okay but it wasn’t what I expected with that price tag. And they push out the food at a glacial pace. We started at 1830 and ended our meal at 2030.

Would recommend people that are staying the night in the Yarra valley Lodge to eat out or buy take away.

I’m not sure what all these bad reviews are about but my partner and I CANT fault anything from the food to the service it was all five star.

I believe same kitchen makes food for the Bar, Restaurant and Room Service. Tastiest food we had in Yarra Valley! Nice presentation as well. Flavor is 10/10! Properly seasoned!

Lovely staff. I have been served with a free glass of champagne on my birthday family dinner. Food was great too, the portions were a bit small tho. We will definitely go back.

Our dinner was delicious (eye fillet, eggplant entree, veg main-Moroccan pancake, broccolini & smoked choc tart). Kids choc cake w ice cream was great. Kids meals (F&C and ham & cheese pizza) were pretty average. Our kids eat pretty much everything (& pizza is their all time favourite) but neither if them would eat it. They had 1 bite each (When they would normally have multiple slices) It even smelt like pizza shouldn't. The chips tasted like the oil they were cooked in was oxidized.

Limited menu for breakfast and dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.

Lovely staff. I have been served with a free glass of champagne as it was my birthday family dinner. Food was great too, the portions were a bit small tho. We will definitely go back.

We had a fantastic birthday party here
lovely staff, hot and tasty food
Highly recommended

Dined two nights in a row. Food was served hot and was excellent. Staff were friendly and helpful. Rate this place highly.

My wife and I had dinner there with friends recently. All 4 main meals were cold when we received them. This was made known to our waitress however apart from " I'm sorry". Nothing else was done. No compensation of any kind was offered.
Very disappointing.

Dinner for three on the 30-12-18 to celebrate birthday. The Bella because we have had some good dinner experiences over the last 20 years, had organised some successful corporate functions at the Heritage and thought we'd give it another go.

What a disappointment.

I am writing this because I care and despair to see a beautifully located place which has shown glimpses of fine dining in the past slide into one that represented poor value and an underwhelming experience that is unfortunately eclipsed by most of the middle of the road eateries at Town Square at Eastland.

The challenges started as soon as we arrived at the closed gates. I suggest that when the Heritage shuts its gates, give the details of the dinner reservations to the front desk so we can get get trouble free passage instead of being stuck at the gate and being asked if we are actually wanting to make a dinner reservation. Yes the staff member was new but common sense and some level of training needs to prevail.

Then the environment. We were placed amongst a rowdy group of wedding revellers that didn't meet the most basic dress code with behaviour that would make Gordon Ramsay proud. After we complained and asked to be relocated we are informed that another table had also done the same. Please enforce dress codes and language etiquette and/or put people in appropriate locations for those that don't want to be exposed to explicit language and drunken behaviour.

Onto the menu. We ordered an assortment of entrees and mains. How can you justify $21 for 3 scallops? Yes they were seared and reasonably presented but it is hardly worth $7 a pop. The entree chicken dish was also minimalist and at $19 for a couple of mouth fulls of dry, flavoured chicken, it was also under par (excuse the unintended golf pun).

The time it took to receive the entrees was way too long and then the gap between entree and main was way too short. The restaurant only had a handful of patrons so not sure why this was the case. Timing was poor.

I ordered the Scotch Fillet which was presented stone cold and had to be returned. The Trumpeter fish was dry and only marginally warmer. The gnocchi was the only redeeming dish. All dishes were simple and the fish and the steak came with no assortment of vegetables or any other accompaniment which was disappointing. Timing was again an issue where the steak was obviously cooked first. I understand the chef is leaving soon so hopefully the new one will have a better handle on timing.

Front of house service was attentive and pleasant considering the challenges presented. The room was a tad on the cold side due to infrastructure issues. On the plus side, a resounding rendition of Happy Birthday by the 2 staff members and the table next to us, provided some entertainment.

The night ended on a low when an incorrect bill for $250 plus was presented. Caveat emptor. The 2 glasses of red we ordered had been charged at bottle rates so a $100 mistake had the bill been paid without checking.

We made the most of what was otherwise a very substandard dining experience and hope that with the advent of new staff and some clear direction on what dining experience Bella hopes to achieve, that we can be convinced to go back.

Personally I would like to see glimpses of the past successes - show case local produce, present them creatively and provide value for money in a terrific environment. Otherwise focusing on corporate functions and weddings may be more prudent in light of increasing competition and choice.

It was an otherwise flawless high tea service this afternoon at the Bella Restaurant at the Yarra Valley Lodge, but for the insinuation that we had tried to use an already redeemed gift voucher. Unfortunately the bad handling of this situation had eclipsed the positive high tea experience. This was a birthday gift voucher from my sister who lives in Cairns. It had never been used before. In the end it was because the gift voucher was registered under my sister’s name and not by the receipt number which had caused the confusion. This had resulted in a very negative customer experience as I was made to feel awkward and uncomfortable that I had tried to present a used voucher. Even after it was cleared up there was no apology. Please have a better system put in place to locate valid vouchers and don’t accuse customers of doing the wrong thing. My husband and I were even contemplating booking a night to stay at the lodge during high tea. Needless to say that thought dissipated soon after.