Once, twice, three times poor rating

Great location but unfortunately good cuisine has left
Yering Station 

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”

So said American chef, restaurateur and writer Thomas Keller, and Mr Keller’s words were ringing true in my mind as I wandered out of Yering Station’s restaurant in the Yarra Valley, following a leisurely lunch there in early January.

After all, the day was perfect – sun was shining and the sky was a deep, clear cloudless blue. The venue was idyllic, amazing and expansive views of the Valley and the restaurant proposition which states ‘the best the Yarra Valley can offer with a focus on small local growers’ was right in my wheelhouse.

Inside was near full, outside on the terrace also busy and with a well-resourced waiting staff seemingly ready to bring their best to the ultimate Yarra Valley experience. The kitchen was heaving and the excitement only grew as I waited for the menus to arrive. Ready for local food, in an elegant setting, overlooking one of the great wine valleys in the world, on a perfect day. So, we waited for the menus to arrive… and waited. 

And waited. 

After waving my hand in the air helplessly, finally someone decided to get us started with a menu and the offering of a drink.

A small blip to begin. 

The wine first. A bottle of Yering Station Reserve Chardonnay is one of the Valley’s finest and most heralded wines. So, we again waited, this time for the wine… and waited. 

And waited.

The bottle could be seen, sitting grandly on the faraway serving table, just far enough away to make it close enough to sense, but too far to touch or taste. Finally, after more than 10 minutes the wine finally arrived with a muffled apology from our waiter.

Blip number two. 

Move on. Everyone makes mistakes and more importantly we were here for the food. So let that begin. The orders were taken (we opted for the three course $95 lunch special) and my partner and I decided for the same entree – a nice summery zucchini flower with parmesan, custard and gazpacho. It looked superb. It tasted bland. Soulless dare I say.

To the main course. Water glasses empty (and not refilled) our confidence stayed high, perhaps buoyed by the blue skies, and endless valley vista and a cheery post-Christmas atmosphere. 

The mains were the heroes after all. My partner went for lamb with smoked eggplant croquette, artichoke, onion jam romesco. The lamb was tasty, the onion jam appealing and the romesco slightly out of place. Overall, though nice dish, with good flavour and well cooked. Promising.

I went with the special fish of the day of Barramundi. The fish was cooked well, soft and fleshy in the middle and with a crispy skin. The sauce and accompaniments lacked zest or appeal, dare I say, soul. 

The highlight by far was a side order of crispy potatoes with garlic and rosemary. Good potatoes cooked well.

Things had improved. But marginally. The water glasses were still empty. 

Dessert we both went for the panna cotta. Who doesn’t love a panna cotta? And even better a late harvest panna cotta with passionfruit, Turkish delight and cocoa nib. Not for the first time on the day the meal came out and looked good. The panna cotta had the ‘wobble’, the colours on the plate were much more than just appealing, they were beautiful. 

Surely this would be the final standing ovation we were chasing.

Unfortunately, we both agreed that it looked (much) better than it tasted. The panna cotta lacked flavour, the passionfruit was okay but could have been much better and the Turkish delight simply didn’t work. 

Blip, no strike… strike three. And you’re out.

Yering Station Winery unfortunately is one of those places that appeals to the masses, looks wonderful, sounds even better. But just doesn’t live up to the promise. Like opening a perfectly packed Christmas present to find socks again. 

The service is slow and inattentive. The food looks good, sounds great, but lacks flavour, passion and most importantly as Mr Keller said, “soul”.

Yering Station Restaurant misses the mark of what great food and great service is all about. Passion, care and consideration. It has none of those. Perhaps we just came on a bad day… I’m not sure.