Conservatory

Conservatory at Crown is one of the most popular buffets in Melbourne. The ambience and decor was definitely top notch. However the food was quite underwhelming. The variety of food was nothing spectacular for the price, and the quality was also lacking. A lot of the cooked meats were dry. The desserts looked nice but didn’t taste pleasant. Overall a good place to treat yourself on a special occasion, but won’t be back unless they improve the menu.

The ambience and view from the Conservatory is good. But was not able to enjoy even for a weekday (Thursday) was overcrowded. The seatings were conjusted. The starters were ok. Mains were avg. This place would be great if you are a seafood fan. They really had a good spread. Desserts were good, but again the flavours were almost same. For example cake, tart, macroon and cheesecake were all berry flavoured. Maybe i was unlucky.
Overall rating
Ambience - 3.5
Food - 3
Service - 4

Fancy experience for a poor person.
Average food, polite staff and good presentation.
The lunch special was only $65, would have been fuming if it was the regular price.
WIR? Definitely not.

Our family had a buffet breakfast. The food was all delicious and the service was pretty good. Our only concern was the tiny little glasses used for juices and water. Ridiculously small.

Outstanding.even when clearly busy, it didn't feel stressful. Beautiful premises, it didn't feel like a tacky casino.

Been trying to book for a few days.no answer, Then get told booked out 2 days later. Try booking a hotel room they answer quickly. Pathetic service.
Save ur money people.

Decor and lighting good. Queues for food extensive and very little space between middle island salad bar and hot food section - always congested there.
Food is average to good quality and plenty of seafood.
Desserts are varied and bite-sized.

Over priced for the experience. $225 for Mother's Day - usually $105. Overcrowded, food spilled on the floor. People pushing and shoving at the servery like it was to be their last meal. Will never go there again. Lesson learned!

Pre-covid their high tea was amazing and worth every cent. I decided to take my husband to the high tea this weekend as I had told him how amazing it was. I rang to confirm that the high tea still included the buffet dessert bar since the price had not changed and we knew it was available for the dinner service. We were assured that the high tea was back to normal and so we went ahead with our booking. When we arrived we were told that there was no buffet dessert bar and no tea selection (just english breakfast). Staff should be better informed and the conservatory should alter the price in accordance with what is on offer. I hope things improve soon as we wont be returning until things have returned to their pre-covid standards.

Live review:

First foremost when I spoke to the reservation consultant. She didn't mention anything about 1 hour time limit capacity which is fair enough. I understand giving time limits to other capacities during school holidays. That's no issue.

The delicatessen selection is very poor. You only got two cheeses Brie and Cheddar in comparison to the Melba where they got a wide variety and the lunch sessions at Conservatory is better.

There should be more of a continental range.

Its like dining in Mesh with minimal luxury. Your better off going for McDonald's for breakfast. But I won't say no critics for there lunch sessions. That was 6 out of 5 stars. Would I be embarrassed to ask for a refund? Absolutely not! With high expectations i expected a one of a kind experience with the praising I got from friends.

The waiter who worked at Mesh was right you pay extra $10 for conservatory and u get the same choices. You just go for the name of the restaurant instead.

Until they have a better menu and choices for breakfast id recommend Mesh or for a quality luxurious breakfast dining Melba for $49

It was a really nice fancy lunch. Bit of a cuffufle with getting some water but not unredeemable. They tried very hard to make sure that there weren't any other issues. The food was good no major complaints other than the rice paper rolls and sushi were a little service station esq.

Fresh all you can eat seafood and a great selection of multicultural food and delicious dessert

Amazing food and atmosphere. Staff are lovely and always making sure you are having a good time. 100% recommend.

Great place for tasty dinner, excellent staff but the amount of food people waste is heart breaking.the restaurant management should at least request all customers not to waste food. There is no limit to food you can eat but why waste it.
Please do something about it. Crown management

For the price that you pay ($125 per person for dinner), extremely disappointed in the range of food offered. For non seafood fans, don’t bother as the range is even more limited and basic. Was expecting a larger range of choices and better quality food but was left disappointed. You’re definitely paying for the venue, ambience and service (which was great).

Buffet is the BEST! Food is great! The staff EMMA, Lydia and Sherilyn are very friendly and competent! Great job! That is why me and my wife always come here.

Not worth what you pay. Food is tasteless only looks nice to the eye but nothing was enjoyable or memorable. The desserts was also a big let down everything looks nice but flavour is not there unfortunately a bad experience overall won’t be ever returning again

Very excited to be going back for a traditional high tea rather than an "infused" high tea my husband and I accidentally booked the last time. "Normal" Covid safe measures in place on arrival with temp checks and sanitising but once seated it became apparent that there is no longer a buffet component, only table service of scones followed by a tiered tray of the usual savoury snacks with pre selected mystery desserts on the bottom tray, none of which we would have picked. Boring, gelatinous and disappointing. My Vegetarian needs were also not met. Coffee was good but my issue here is that nowhere on the Crown/Conservatory website does it inform you that the buffet is currently closed, nor do the staff inform you on arrival. The cost has been reduced by $10 per head but given the choice, I would not have spent approx $140 on this very mediocre fair. No chocolate fountain, no cheese, no breads or crepes, no candy- just cakes that wobble. Stay away folks and treat yourself elsewhere.

My wife and I rang the Conservatory to book a breakfast buffet a couple days before our stay in the city considering we weren't staying at Crown. They told us we don't take bookings for the breakfast buffet but that we'd be welcome to come down before 10.30am when the breakfast buffet closes. When we arrived at 9am we were told they're not taking external patrons but if we wait 45mins they'd have a table. So we left feeling the wait wouldn't be worth the $180 we'd pay for us and our friends. My wife got annoyed and returned to ask why considering there were 8 empty tables (we counted) vacant. The next staff member she spoke to said they don't take external patrons after 8.30am. My wife told the staff member her experience so far including what his colleagues said about waiting 45mins for a table and he just hunched his shoulders and didn't provide a response. This coupled with the fact the other restaurants in Crown are all currently closed due to COVID. Crown deflated our, so far, enjoyable experience for our weekend in the city.

Decadent surroundings with city views and a buffet of options to enjoy from seafood, pasta, dessert and everything in between