Outstanding service Food was amazing…read moreGreat atmosphere and excellent view 10/10 experience

A perfect 5 star experience all thanks to an amazing location, outstanding food and a manager named…read moreSharon who made my recent visit something to rave to friends about! After touring some of the wineries in the area, I wanted to sit outside, enjoy the beautiful scenery and have some terrific food and wine. The Verandah, located at the Calais Estate, was the perfect solution with their wrap around upstairs porch overlooking the rolling estate. There were two choices for lunch- a pre selected "Tapas Tower" which is a feast for two with several daily selections ($80) or a la carte tapas items listed a few pages back in the menu. I went with the latter and had a chance to taste a wide range of their offerings and all were amazingly good. My favs were the polenta coated soft shell crab, the mushroom aranachi, and the jambon. They also had a nice wine list and were able to find me a local Cabernet that was quite nice! The service staff was super helpful, even re directing the fan my way given it was a very hot day on the veranda. But my visit was really topped off by the welcoming nature of Sharon, the manager. She kept stopping at my table to ensure all was well and even related a story about her recent trip to Chicago where someone went out of their way to help her and her husband. It made for a great visit. So I'll end where I began. If you want a great location, outstanding food and a staff that cares, look no further than The Verandah. It really will make your entire experience in the Hunter Valley one to remember!

Perhaps the first restaurant we've been to in Australia that really met the standards of the best…read moreanywhere. Really world class. Food and its preparation, staff attitude, knowledge, suggestions and performance and, of course, wine offerings from the area were just outstanding. The location was great, with an expansive view over vineyards. It was my wife's birthday and a very classy touch was added, with just a small candle in the dessert (not the embarrassing sparkler version that everyone in the place notices) with "happy birthday" written on the plate in chocolate sauce. Very reasonably priced for the quality; highly recommended

This place could easily be 5/stars. But there are a few issues that are mitigating that. Tables are…read morewobbly and in weird locations to the view. Dining room sacrifices the unused buffet tables used for breakfast, that have a view across the vineyard. No dining at these tables. Just sitting there empty. The service is best explained as "trying". Which is better than CBF, but is clearly inexperienced but attentive. The food was nearly flawless. Just question the portion sizes. As we had one dish that was very generous with scallops and pork belly, but the other was a 72-hr slow cooked short rib, and it was literally one rib! Very nice atmosphere, but was knock backed by the wobbly table, several attempts made to rectify, but unsuccessful. Had breakfast next 2-days at different tables, same issue. Need to fix this beyond pieces of cork.

A pleasant surprise…read more To book for this restaurant you have to book online or call in the day to see if they have room. My partner and I booked online and it stated we would be contacted to confirm our booking. We never heard anything by 8.30 on the day before we wanted to go so we called up and was told someone would defiantly get in contact with us. Next day came and still no one had called or emailed us so we went to the hunter to do some wine tasting before going for dinner. We called back at 5 pm to confirm our booking for 6 pm and the lady who answered stated they don't send confirmations for bookings yet online it states otherwise! Anyway the lady had confused us with a different couple and had to try and fit us in for 6 pm which ended up happening. When we drove up there and down the driveway we were shocked to see the restaurant was a house and very basic. We walked around to the front door and straight away great service from the staff. We ordered the 3 entree's ravioli, king prawns and filled mushroom. Great food and full of flavor. It is fairly pricy but worth it. Mains we ordered the steak and again amazing food. Very filling and cooked medium as we ordered it to be. Dessert we ordered two different dishes and well worth it. Only bad part the dessert was the biggest dish of the day compared to entree and main. As we had finished our dessert we were taking in the view and relaxing. When the waitress came and picked up our plates and asked us how it was we said good thank you and her response was "are you ok. You seem really sad" I'm sorry but that is very unprofessional when all we were doing was taking in the view and relaxing. Only because we weren't loud or as enthusiastic as she expected apparently we were sad! The couple sitting behind us even made a comment when the waitress left and said how unprofessional that was and apparently now you can't enjoy the view and the company. It only went downhill from there as when I got the bill I had a voucher for the restaurant which was given to me as a gift. The waitress straight away seemed annoyed when I showed it to her and was not very friendly when I said I would like to use it. Her response was "you know I can't refund you the money I will have to give you a new voucher". I never expected a refund or anything as it was a gift given to me and would only expect to have the remanding money for if I was to return to the restaurant. As the waitress walked away she shrunk her shoulders and had a slight attitude as it seemed like she was after more. One thing that would be very helpful would be something for the flies outside when you are eating as there was an insane amount around you and got quite frustrating. Apart from the few mishaps it was good food. It's not a place I would rush back to for the above reasons but certainly worth a try once.

Came with my partner for Sunday lunch for our anniversary. We decided on 3 courses. Both seafood…read moreentrees were nice but I think there could have been one more ravioli for the price. We both ordered the eye fillet. To look at, mine was overdone, but it was still incredibly tender. The galette, butter and gravy were perfect accompaniments. We were discussing what we thought so far and were not fully impressed but decided to hold off criticism until we had dessert. We made the right choice! I ordered the banana pudding and it was amazing. I didn't eat the toffee on top but it completed the WOW factor. The price was fitting for the location, service and food. Staff were very friendly and always on top of clearing the table and refreshing drinks. We also spotted a few roos amongst the vines. Lovely afternoon.

Great service you will be well looked after at tempus two... staff are friendly and happy to chat…read morebig shout out to Briannah who was fantastic great personality!! Anthony was top notch, very knowledgeable and a fun host.

Wines n stuff. Cheese is good. Overcrowded with wankers…read more This is the Maccas of wineries. ( it's even on McDonald's Road) Every single tour bus from every single tour is going to come here, every single summer weekend day. That said.. Cheese. Go directly to the Smelly cheese shop, do not pass go head immediately inside to the left and into the walk in cheese fridge, by-passing the free loaders taking a billion toothpick samples of some moldy cow's milk. Once inside hunt for some goat's cheese. Take all of it out to the cashier desk on the opposite side of the store, and run.. far far away from here.

A really cozy Bed and Breakfast to stay. Clean and comfortable - so that's B&B and C&C. The owner…read moreis a super nice lady who will make you feel at home. The rooms are just fantastic. Wooden country charm that will remind you what it is like to just relax and unwind. The beds are comfortable and will allow you to have a solid night's sleeps. Each morning we'd be awoken by the birds in the garden (not too early, mind you). Our room had a TV, mini fridge, ceiling fan. The bathroom had everything you'd expect. One thing to consider, if you plan on staying here but sure to have a car, or have all your tours pick you up and drop you back. While there is a little bit of driving the roads are smooth to drive on with little traffic and great views along the way. The one real thing that got me down was the owner telling us that she cooked hot breakfasts only on the weekends, and we were staying during the week. On the plus side we found some great places to have breakfast at. There were some cereals we could have eaten, along with tea and coffee facilities all in the common area.

The Sous Chef is absolute world class! Kyle price has excellent services. The food is great.read more

Lunch or dinner with a view. Upstairs location overlooking beautiful Lake Macquarie…read more Current lunch special of $28 includes your choice of light lunch with either a cake of the day OR select wine or beer OR tea or coffee. My mum and I both picked the pie and choc mud but we indulged and ordered the prawn toast as well as tea with our cakes. I was thoroughly impressed when the waitress listed the cake selections rather than the normal "let me go check" response.

With good coffee, friendly staff, a very tempting selection of local and imported cheeses for sale…read moreand De Iuliis cellar doors next door, this place is well worth a visit. The German breakfast was pretty good. The. Black Forest bacon was awesome and the mushrooms very good. To boot, my breakfast, the wife's eggs on gluten free today with mushrooms, the daughter's cheesy today with tomatoes on top and 2 coffees added up to only $38, making this place pretty good value for the Hunter. :)

Great service with good food and wine. I would highly recommend the cheese. The red wine tasting…read moremenu was a great choice for a light lunch. There is both inside and outside seating which was great for us with the dog

It looks as if the further out from the city you go the better the pub accomodation becomes. Well,…read moreI can only describe it based upon this one particular pub, but I have to say that I was really impressed. The rooms were comfortable, and I got a really good nights sleep. Okay, checkin was a bit annoying, but that was because I ended up here pretty early, and they don't do check-in until the afternoon. Still, the pub was pretty nice, the service excellent, and the rooms really comfortable.

The best cheesy sweet chilli bread, my steak was great and cooked perfectly, staff are very…read morefriendly, have been back again already. Dining area was very good with the green roof (jasmines etc)