Point, The

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

My wife and I had a great night here. We only had mains and desserts but both were exceptional. We had the Chateaubriand for main, cooked perfectly. For dessert the Passion Fruit souffle was impressive and I enjoyed the poached stone fruits with basil sorbet but it was a bit different! Our waiter was really friendly although there was another waiter who on delivering our meal wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine.

Overall a really nice atmosphere and of course excellent view. Will definitely go back and try the 8 course tasting menu. It looked like many were choosing this option and from a far it looked great.

Feb 16, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

We had the Tasting Point menu for Sunday lunch and it was excellent. Service very friendly, no problem about replacing one dish when I discovered it contained chocolate, I had forgotten to mention my allergy. Difficult to pick a highlight, it was all so good. We had the matching wines, also excellent. This place would give Restaurant Balzac in Randwick a run for its money. The Point would be ahead for the view (unless you are an afficionado of church architecture and/or Captain Cook's legs).

Food wine and service would be a toss up - Jan 2011. We had lunch here today,we are returning to Sydney for a while, so decided to treat ourselves on our last day. We had a treat And a bargain. The set lunch, entree, main, glass of wine for $35, with three choices in each course and choice of red or white wine. We upped the cost a bit by having sparkling wine to start and coffee and port after.

MM chose the corned beef to start, finely sliced, with gribiche sauce and delicious pickled vegetables. He folloewed with a porterhouse steak, very rare and a generous serve for the price. I had the oysters four ways, then a delicious piece of grilled salmon, crisp top with still underdone succulent flesh underneath.

Jan 09, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  7     

I was taken here for a surprise for my birthday dinner. We had a lovely night. Gorgeous entrees beautifully presented. Pork belly was so delicious and lobster tail outstanding! My fiance had the steak and as promised they do have unbelievable steaks and he was delighted by the tasty bone marrow a little strange for us but interesting! I had venison medallions which were so tender and the sauce complemented the dish perfectly. The potato side dish that was served with my medallions was perfection! creamy and oh so finely sliced potatoes. We shared a lovely bottle of red one of the hundreds on offer and it was decanted at the table. Lovely waiter who took care of us all night and was yet unobtrusive and not a bit annoying like I often find in fine dining restaurants. The dessert was decorated with birthday wishes a really nice touch and a taxi was promptly ordered at our request and we were walked to the door. Very impressed by the overall experience. Pricey but worth it for special occasions!

Dec 12, 2010 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

I went to The Point last night for dinner with my family. The location is lovely, and views are beautiful, very romantic! We were given a mille fieu of goats cheese as an amuse bouche which was lovely, we all wanted a few more! We were all impressed with our entrees. Between us we had the angel hair pasta with marron, suckling pig, and the crayfish consomme... all delicious.

Mains of steak were all fantastic as you would expect from here, but my dad was a little disappointed with his snapper as the serving was tiny, more like an entree. All desserts were stunning, and came out with a candle and happy birthday written on the plate for two of us who were celebrating birthdays.. which was a nice touch.
Overall, great food, great service, a little pricey but you get what you pay for here.

Dec 05, 2010 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Been here a few times for business and pleasure. The cellar for a business lunch or dinner is highly recommended. The steaks are done to perfection. The seat by the window is always captivating. Magnificient food complemented by a good beer, wine and spirits list.

Jan 25, 2010 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

The food here is superb. Not the best selection of vegetarian mains (only one option) but the food is lovely, and the service is exemplary.

Nov 22, 2009 

5.5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  3     

Several Melbourne food-bloggers were invited by the chef and owners to eat at The Point. The bloggers feel their voice is as important and valid as formal industry reviewers. In addition, they are "independent". The meal was completely "gratis", and the invitation would appear to have been a disingenuous marketing ploy.

We ordered the tasting menu on the basis of the bloggers glowing reviews, and ‘tasting’ is the order of the day. The serves are miniscule. A great deal of work appears to have gone into several of these dishes, but be it under seasoning or ingredient quality, flavours rarely leapt out at me.

The highlights were the presentation of the sauces accompanying the mulloway, the assiette of spring lamb done 4-5 ways, and a lovely Mojito predessert. The oysters were ok, but why do restaurants insist on serving them with a heavy dressing that ruins the appreciation of great Champagne? The butter poached marron was tiny (my wife and I would have each had 25% of a small marron tail). The famed stuffed chicken wing ‘and truffles’ was bland, free of truffle, and trumped by its accompanying mushroom sauce. The pineapple crumble failed to impress.

Also, the volumes of wine matched to each course were small, no fear of drink driving here! The steaks served elsewhere looked sizeable, but I wasn't prepared to spend any more money to have a decent feed.

The Point must be classified as a large function centre with a restaurant attached, given that not one or two, but three wedding receptions were held there when we went to dinner on a Saturday night. This resulted in some unavoidable noise, and some unacceptable ‘festive’ behaviour outside later. The restaurant is quite isolated, difficult to find the first time, including for taxis, and, therefore, it is very difficult to take a taxi home.

Generally, service is very attentive, however, a lovely view over Albert Park can be spoilt by thoughtless smokers who choose to smoke on the balcony outside, rather at the designated spot, and staff did not move them. I was surprised to see a waiter behind the bar tipping one expensive imported sparkling into another half-empty bottle of the same. The great Champagne houses take great care in fashioning a house style, but would certainly frown at this form of ‘blending’.

In summary, an expensive meal that didn't deliver. Would the bloggers have been so positive if they had to pay? If the night hadn’t clearly been a huge PR exercise? I found the whole thing a cynical marketing ploy to part me from $400, but after all, wasn't that just The Point?

Nov 09, 2009 

6 Average

Food  4      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  3     

Was fairly disappointed with our one visit and that was down to the food.

Oct 08, 2009 

6.8 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  3     

The setting is fantastic, overlooking the lake. My first visit was for a corporate lunch, 2 courses for $35 and it was superb. I then returned for a special dinner with my husband and left disappointed. It is very expensive, although we expected that, but it is not value for money. If I pay a lot I expect a lot. This was not the case. Even the wagu steak was not only full of grissle, but just had a fatty taste to it. If I return, it will definitely be for the lunch.

Jul 19, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  6     

The cellar @ the point is an interesting place to eat, but in the end, we kept longing to have the outdoor views. The food is really great but perfect one course then not quite right the next. I found my steak on the really rare side of rare and I expect a good reastaurant to lean that way, but it was too much. When the bill came around, I couldn't help but feel I should have have enjoyed it more. A tad pretentious.

Jul 03, 2009