Pialligo Estate offers a picture-perfect setting, gorgeous interior, intriguing menu and pleasant ambiance, but there’s a but, says dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Pialligo Estate has been through a lot over the years, including (sadly) two fires and multiple changes of owners. Today it is reborn with hospitality group Create Catering at the helm.
It was lunch on a gorgeous day, and we lucked in with a table by the window, listening to cool music at the perfect volume and admiring the spectacular view. So it was a shame that our visit fizzled out rather than ending with a bang.
But let’s start with the food. Pialligo Estate knows that fabulous food begins with fabulous produce and every dish scored on that front.
Our citrus-cured salmon tartare was a delight and pretty on the plate. It was fresh, inviting and the compressed cucumbers intrigued. So too did the avruga ($28).
Next, we enjoyed every bite of beautifully cooked Fremantle octopus, which arrived with capers, black garlic and one of my all-time fave ingredients, punchy, spicy nduja ($34).
We specifically asked for a break between starters and mains, wanting to enjoy our Sunday excursion, but before I finished my octopus, the remaining dishes all arrived, crowding the table and making us feel rushed.
We repeatedly had to ask for serving utensils for our share dishes and were puzzled by the massive spoon that arrived with a small dish of salt.
Putting our annoyance aside, we indulged in pan-roasted spatchcock, with fresh lemon, rosemary, garlic yoghurt and olive oil ($42). There was no way we were passing by the rosemary potatoes, served with rosemary salt and confit garlic ($15)… amazing.
To cut through we ordered a mixed-leaf salad with mandarin, tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers gorgonzola and pistachio crumbs ($15). It looked a bit overwhelming, but the flavours worked wonders together.
The wine list is worth exploring, especially the rare wine section with bottles fetching hefty prices, including one at more than $3000. We enjoyed a refreshing Soave Classico (2023) by Tommasi Family Estates Wines ($88 a bottle).
The staff, who first served us, were charming and engaging. However, the longer we stayed the more we were ignored by the team fully focused on resetting tables for a function.
It’s not that this was happening that bothered us. It was the way it happened. Chairs creating a great deal of noise as they were scraped across the beautiful designer tile flooring (Caesar Trace Mint collection from Italy), and staff making a racket talking loudly to one another in close proximity to diners trying to enjoy their meals.
No-one asked us if we wanted dessert and I had to get up to secure the bill. So much for the award-winning hospitality experience Pialligo Estate promises on the introductory page of its menu.
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