The Perch at Lavers Hill

The food was unreal, we had the king fish as an entree, the lamb rump and chicken for a main, and the chocolate pave for dessert. All the food just melted in our mouths the flavours were having a soiree on our tongues. We also had the lychee and sour gin cocktails and they were probably the best cocktails we've ever drunk! The wait times were super short, staff friendly and great atmosphere. Also beautiful gardens to look at. Well worth the money for this experience 🙌🏼

I was amazed at how horrible this place was. Definitely avoid it. They are dishonest and the service is terrible. We ordered our food and waited about 30 minutes. my wife ordered tea which they never brought but still attempted to charge us nine dollars for it. I ordered grilled octopus Caesar salad. It is hard to make good grilled octopus and I assumed it was their specialty. I did not get ANY octopus. They were pieces of squid in the salad they tried to pass off as an octopus Dish! My wife ordered a lobster roll. It said it was made with lobster and abalone. Well, they didn’t chop it up finely enough for their scam and you could see half pieces of shrimp on the roll. Dishonest! I didn’t want to pay lobster roll prices for Shrimp salad. The waitress acted like she was pissed off at the world. Our two friends ordered battered fish which appeared to be just premade food service fish dropped into a deep fryer. When we went to pay they charged us a 17% weekend surcharge. This was never told to us prior to ordering, and I saw no mention of it. They might as well hold you upside down and shake out your pockets for all they can get. Lousy service, dishonest food. It’s a shame given the wonderful facility.

Easy to make a booking online (which I strongly recommend). Food was good. We had the beef Brisket which was tender and flavourful. It was paired with roti , slaw and kimchi. Interesting combo but works. We also had the lobster roll with abalone. Really good. Lovely inside the restaurant, with a great view of the garden behind the restaurants. Saw a few parrots pecking at the bird feed.

We ventured to the great ocean road without preparing any snacks and soon realize there’s nothing near where we are staying. Hungry we drove to the Perch to find any food close to 5pm, only to realize they open at 5. Close to 5, some folks appeared. I waiting at the front door with my kids. Around 5:08, someone opened the door but said apologetically that we can come in sit but the chef’s not there yet! Anyway, the venue’s pretty meticulously decorated. They actually have perch for birds and I actually saw several cockatoo! The menu had leather cover. The food actually is done quite good. They claim to be casually fancy (I forgot their word), but you get the point. I pretty much enjoyed all we ordered.

Portion serving sizes were big and value for money. Squid ink pasta is too bitter due to the lemon skin/ zest probably which leaves a bitter aftertaste. Risotto was too soft and gets too flavourful toward the end. Best food is the cauliflower which is nicely cooked. Service is superb but mixed feelings about the food given the bitter aftertaste. The staffs were friendly and service was superb.