Whilst waiting in the car park for my family to arrive the staff member of the gift shop section of…read morethe train came up and abused me about parking spaces. She didn't listen to anything I was saying to try and diffuse the situation continuing to repeat herself in her anger. After this horrendous display of customer service I decided to take my business elsewhere

Food was over cooked and took forever (30 min for coffee and over an hour for breakfast)…read more Cute ambience but not worth the wait.

We had the Benedict Diablo and the Breakfast Burrito. They we both delicious. Good value for money…read moreand the coffee was good too. Definitely worth a stop for a bite to eat.

First time in McLaren Vale. We chose this Cafe due to a number of people inside, seemed to have…read moremore than the other cafe's in the area. We enjoyed a very nice pepperoni pizza, with a well made tasty coffee. We found the service was friendly and helpful. Understandable a number of customers enjoying lunch, as the menu had good affordable options. We left very satisfied and pleased this was the Cafe we chose.

I give Oscars five for food but three for service. The place was busy the day my family came. We…read morewanted to try their pizzas. We were satisfied. Their BBQ and seafood pizzas are interesting ones and worth a try. Table service could be better. I wonder if our waitress had other tables to work besides those in my area of the restaurant. I imagine Oscars has a different feel come the evening. Lunchtime carries an atmosphere of wine tasters stopping in to take a break from the cellars. I recommend giving Oscars a try. Reserve ahead on weekends.

Oscar's knows how to handle larger groups and does it well. On a break from our wine tasting…read moreexcursion, 23 of us popped into Oscar's for a delicious meal. The menu, while heavy on the pizza and flat bread, was varied and something for everyone can be found. I ordered a (very generous) Mediterranean salad and added grilled chicken ($14.5 + 4.5=$19). Everyone was served efficiently and we were on our way to the next tasting. Well done, Oscar's!

Service at the front desk is always with a smile which also make you feel welcome…read more The food is top notch Chinese food and the ambiance of the room is always really calming 100% recommend everyone visits here

Nice Chinese food. The menu has all the key dishes - Sizzling steak, chicken, prawns, sweet and…read moresour pork and fried rice. The dishes are a decent serving size and the staff are generally quite nice. Pricing is on par with what you would expect. The food quality is good and there are a lot of flavors. Vegetables are generally pretty fresh which is also a positive. The steak is flavorsome however seasoning and sauces on some dishes can sometimes be a bit bland for my taste. The store is well positioned in the heart of McLaren Vale by the caravan park and is good for a quick dinner. Meals are $11 to $16. Personal favorites from the menu are Pork ribs in plum sauce, sizzling pepper chicken, satay chicken and lemon chicken. Rice is sold separately for $3 and is generally nice fluffy. Medium serves are not that much more pricey.

Yum yum yum pure perfection. Walking up to front door the…read moresmell of Italian food greeted you before the wait staff. The staff where friendly and eager to please...and that they did. The food I could not fault at all it was outstanding bordering on perfection. Will be returning....

Terrible meal, arachinni balls frozen, fish pasta was suppose to have bugs in it…read morethere were a few prawns, no bugs, 2 tiny squares of fish, and 2 slivers of calamari. There are a lot of good restaurants in McLaren Vale this is one to avoid

Wow - all I can say is wow!…read more It took us a while to visit Carmel's Cafe Bar And Grill, mainly because I remember this place when it was the magnificent silver service restaurant Limeburners, then Awganix. I pine for those restaurants, especially the former ... but I digress ;) Carmel's is a more informal affair, but the food is magnificent - I'm not using that word lightly either! We started with warm house-made bread served with olive oil, olives and dukkah - absolutely delicious. For main I ordered the Kansas Style slow smoked red gum 'Pulled Pork' - here's the description: 'Smoked over red gum for hours, served with a fennel, apple & mixed nut slaw, cheese and spring onion potatoes and a fluffy buttered roll. A sure favourite!' Oh yes, I'm already dreaming of when I can have this again - the pork just fell apart when I skewered it with my fork, and had a spiciness which wasn't too overpowering, but gave it a bit of a kick. I'm not normally a coleslaw person, but this was delicious - the potatoes served under the pork were an unexpected treat! This meal was seriously mouth-watering - and only $26! The serves are enormous (I think they are competing with The Barn next door), and way too much for me ... but I made a valiant effort, and made sure I ate all that pork!! My partner had Dave's American Pork Ribs - dunno who Dave is, but he sure knows how to cook ribs - yummy!! This is definitely not a place to take vegetarians - there are a few token veg menu items, but the meat is definitely the star of this place. I would have given Carmel's 5 stars - but there was a very loud table of 12 seated right next to us, and they were so loud and obnoxious that we couldn't really have a conversation between ourselves. I noticed that there was a separate room nearby, and think that the staff should have moved them into there so the rest of us could enjoy our meals in peace. Apart from that, I am very much looking forward to coming here again and sampling more menu items ... that's if I can get away from that amazing pulled pork ... hmmmm ... ;)

Today we were at Carmel's in McLaren Vale. A restaurant in the heart of South Australian wineland…read more Hubby and I have been here many times before although it had been at least a few years since our last visit. Although we arrived fairly early - 6pm - on a Thursday (steak specials night) I was surprised that there weren't many people there. Last time we came was on steak specials night too and it was packed! When I got the menu I understood why. While the steak specials are ok, they are not what they were last time I was here. Last time I'm sure they were under or around $20 each, this time they were about $5 - $7 off the regular price. Still, I knew the quality was going to be good so I didn't mind too much. I love the ambiance inside this place. Music playing softly, dim lighting, lots of wooden tables, an enclosed and added on paved outdoor area and a lovely fireplace going right behind us. I thought the menu had lots of great options even for non meat eaters. I was intending to eat steak tonight seeing as I was here so I had a look at the specials and noticed a 300 gram black onyx rump. I probably don't get out much but I hadn't heard of black onyx before so I asked the waiter. He was very lovely and said he'd go and check with the chef as he didn't want to misinform me. The waiter told us simply that it's a cross between Wagyu and Black Angus beef. That sold it for me so I decided to go for that. Now every time I've ordered steak I've asked for it medium-rare but always thought it was cooked too much. I was just a little afraid of what I'd get if I asked for it rare. I mentioned this to the waiter and he said they could always put it back on the grill if I thought it was too rare so I chose to have it cooked rare. Hubby went for the 350 gram scotch fillet which he chose to have cooked medium rare. We also ordered some bread with a trio of butters. The bread was really nice. Very toasty warm and crispy and those delicious butters just melted on it when we buttered it on. My only complaint was there was not enough bread to the butter! We were hungry and went through those few slices very quickly. The butters were seeded mustard, tuscan herb & garlic and bacon jam. I liked the herb and garlic one the best. The seeded mustard was ok but I didn't notice a strong taste. The bacon jam was also ok but it had a strange sweetness to it. It was a great starter though, accompanied by a delicious house cabernet sauvignon. The mains looked soooo good when they came out! The Black Onyx is on the left and the Scotch Fillet is on the right. I'm not going to review them separately as we both were in raptures with our meals. The meat was just so gorgeously tender and I definitely made the right choice in ordering it rare. The waitress who brought the food out to us came back a few minutes later to make sure it was ok but the original waiter who'd seen us at the door, also came back a little while after that to make sure it was ok for me and that I didn't want it cooked a little more. I thought that was really great service. I honestly wanted to go into that kitchen and shake the chef's hand. I don't have steak very often so I want it to be good when I do and this was really exceptional. I didn't try any of hubby's but gave him some of mine and he said they had similar seasoning but mine tasted "meatier". I'm not sure what that meant but he liked it. The fries and salad were really good too. You can tell they source quality ingredients and are proud of what comes out of their kitchen. As mentioned, this was not our first trip to Carmel's and I have to say we have been impressed every time we've gone, whether we've had steak, pasta or pizza. The food and service have always been great and I would definitely recommend this place if you are wanting a nice night out.

Stunning location for sunset, sparkling service, and delicious food - put Salopian on your must…read morevisit list while in McLaren Vale. You can even pop in for bar snacks and a G&T from their constantly growing gin collection - well over 100 choices now. To narrow down the decision, there's a regularly updated list paired with a specific tonic and ingredients, such as Kangaroo Island Spirits gin with lime cheek and pink peppercorn, or the Botanist with Rosemary and green olive. The Salopian is a prominent historic building on Main Rd that has had many different uses over the years. The fit out is modern with a nod to history, recycling many details from the buildings past such as an old door converted to a table top. Service is friendly, chatty & welcoming throughout. We had an amazing meal of vege San Choy Bao which was spicy, tangy and featured sweet green beans and salt & pepper silken tofu plus crisp iceberg leaves to roll your own flavour bombs. The steak with chorizo & green olives was cooked perfectly rare & Mr Wino was most impressed. Dessert was wicked dark chocolate cake with pistachio praline and raspberries.

This is a lovely building. If you are having a bottle of wine, I recommend visiting the cellar…read moredownstairs. We were unfortunate that they sold out of their famous kangaroo tail, but we had the pumpkin dumplings, the fish, lamb curry for dinner and it didn't disappoint. The wine and gin we chose were also really nice. For dessert we had a carrot and ginger pudding. Highly recommend if you are staying in McLaren Vale Only complaint was that I wasn't informed of the items that weren't available before ordering. I was stung twice on two things I ordered.

What a great restaurant with nice eco-friendly ideas. The food is wholesome and delicious, with…read morereally nice touches. The all day big breakfast is big and delicious, with the best mushrooms I have eaten for many years. And the tea was lovely. A really nice touch is the free and self serve still and sparkling water. Will be back!

We stayed at the caravan park down the road & remembered this place from last time we passed…read morethrough. Absolutely great coffee & the Eggs Benny is to die for. Would recommend to anyone.

One of the world's best restaurants full stop. An experience like no other. First there is the…read morecrazy good wine Disney experience of the Wine museum as you walk into the new $9 million 'Cube'. Then there is the architectural splendour of the building itself which is designed to capture the amazing views of the surrounding McLaren Vale area. The decor is amazing and the restaurant is not over crowded. The 18 course lunch served over 3 hours was world class modern cuisine with a few innovative Chester Osborn modifications.

I have never used the word "sublime" to describe anything, but there's a first time for everything…read more Well, at least most things. Went with the Prix fixe....and so glad I did. Food was amazing. Service, if it could be possible, was as good or even better than the food. Kudos to Frank for being 'server/advisor/culinary tour guide' of the year.