Estate Vaucluse House

came here with high expectations and found the equivalent of a dusty old restaurant shack next to some deteriorating brick house that is meant to double as 'culturally significant' (rofl). The management havent even the time to clean their glass windows nor the gazebo. No private parking becuase apparently they havent heard of a boom gate, so everyone from the beach ends up parking in their limited spaces. When we walked in out of the sweltering heat, there was no offer of water when we sat down. very unusual 'service. There was a big push and 'recommendation' to 'See the gardens' which frankly speaking had not been watered or taken care off in quite some time. Dont bother coming here, its nothing special - just a locals hang out.

We shared our food on the patio on a hot day. The experience was great, as usual. The steak tartare was the best dish - finely diced steak made for good texture - with a strong flavour that I loved but the others didn't like. Only the shoestring fries were a let down, like they are at most restaurants. I'd seen other fries in reviews with skin on which would have improved mine.

The ageing beauty of Vaucluse House, completed between 1803 and 1839 in the Gothic Revival style, sits in a field of green. Nestled within its grounds, Estate Vaucluse House, allows you to combine your historic house viewing with a spot of high tea ($75/person). Constructed in the same period as The Nielsen just down the road, the interior space was given over to wedding preparations on the day we dined, so we took our afternoon tea on the sandstone-edged verandah. Staff here work to their own rhythm and are not easily dissuaded. This saw our tiered platters of sweets and savouries arrive before our tea orders were even taken. Lucky the trio of finger sandwiches—bested by egg, chive and watercress—weren’t so dry as to leave us parched! While service lagged, the kitchen did a lovely job with savouries. The tiny mushroom brioche bun and the tomato tarte tatin being standouts in the eating. Passed separately from the platter, salmon rillettes smeared onto long thin crackers, were an enjoyable way to begin. Sweet treats, which are admittedly less and less my stomping ground, ranged from hyper-sweet strawberry and cream macarons to well-executed mini caramelised apple eclairs punctuated with toffee shards. Dainty mounds of citrus cheesecake on biscuit bases topped with fresh raspberries were a good diversion from the expected creamy excesses. The Valrhona chocolate and macadamia tart, topped with caramel squiggles, was too hectic for me, but I did appreciate its dainty casing. Buttermilk scones, timed to your liking, were served golden brown. While I suspected they were going to be biscuity, I was pleased when they didn’t dissolve into crumbs after I pulled them apart with my fingers.

BEST WEDDING EVER! We had the time of our life at this beautiful venue in September. The food was amazing, our guests were so happy, the service was great and the venue is just stunning. We loved how intimate it was which made for a great party feel with 110 guests. Thank you Vaucluse Estate for making our day so special and memorable. It couldn't have gone any better!

I recently had the pleasure of celebrating my baby shower here 🍼 A perfect venue for a sweet spring event surrounded by gorgeous wisteria seen from the main restaurant. The afternoon tea was very delicious (scones perfect and yummy mocktails) and a very elegant afternoon tea set up. Staff are very nice and friendly - shout out to the lovely Yimmi 🌷 Thank you Amanda from events for helping me plan my baby shower - I was definitely showered with sweet treats, pretty flowers and lots of love 💛💛💛 Looking forward to going back for more afternoon tea 🫖 🍰