A Quick Detour to the Black Swan Winery & Restaurant
The Black Swan Winery & Restaurant caught my eye as we drove down West Swan Road the other day. We detoured here so that we could get a quick small bite. The first thing you notice as you step into the restaurant is the number of awards mounted on walls and sitting on tables. It was like a museum collection – Finalist in the 2009 Gold Plate Awards, and Restaurant & Catering Excellence Awards, James Squire Excellence Awards, etc etc etc! After looking at these, I was expecting something good.
Not feeling overly hungry, we ordered only a Garlic bread & fresh garden herbs, a Tasting plate of prawns, mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, roast tomato, chorizo, and lavosh, as well as a couple of Little Creatures Pip Squeak Ciders.
Inside the restaurant
A rather empty table
Little Creatures Pip Squeak Cider
The garlic bread was presented nicely with a garnish of herbs and parmesan. It was a little dry and there was a lack of garlic.
Confit garlic bread, fresh garden herbs
The tasting plate included prawns, mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, roast tomato, chorizo and lavosh. The dish was garnished with herbs, and the salmon and mushrooms topped with melted cheese. The best parts of the dish were the juicy prawns, field mushrooms, and salmon. The cheese was really not needed. The bad parts were the salty chorizo, and stale lavosh.
Tasting plate – prawns, mushrooms, asparagus, salmon, roast tomato, chorizo, and lavosh
Prawns
Mushrooms
Lavosh
Asparagus, Salmon, and Tomato
We were expecting quality share plates but the food was not up to standard. The total bill was over $50.00. I will need to go there again for mains in order to form a better opinion on the restaurant.
Black Swan Winery & Restaurant
Address: 8600 West Swan Road, Henley Brook
Tel: +61 8 9296 6090
Web: www.blackswanwines.com.au
Opening Hours:
Lunch & Wine Tasting
7 days a week
Dinner
Wednesday to Saturday
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I went there before with my friends, as one of my friends wanted to try out their black pig dish. The dish turned out to be the biggest disappointment ever. The pork chop was crumbed and deep fried, which wasn’t what we expected one would cook such beautiful meat. It was not only hard (a friend said her teeth were gonna fall off), it was dry and chewy. As for the starter we had, great pate served with stale baguette. The food gave me the impression that its kitchen was run by apprentice cooks, not qualified chefs. Overall, a well-presented restaurant, but the food needs serious improvement.
Yikes, your experience sounds awful! With such disappointing food it’s no surprise that they are receiving a -42% rating on Urbanspoon.
Is “stale” a common theme at the Black Swan Winery & Restaurant? Everything is stale!
My Partner and I have been visitors to Perth for the past few days. We hired a car to get about so that we could get around Perth and surrounding districts with ease. We decided to drive around the Swan Valley and try out a few wineries…3 in total. The first and last vineyard made it a delightful experience. We came across the Black Swan winery per chance. We were astounded and impressed when we entered the cottage. It had breathtaking views of the vineyards and an amazing restaurant. That was the end of our good experience! We had intended to sample just 2 wines and then stay on for lunch or at least a coffee.
We were greeted by a beautiful young waitress who made us feel very welcomed…she directed us into the wine tasting area where we waited for a length of time to be attended to. Finally an older lady dragged herself to the bar and asked us if we were being attended to….and what it was we were after? In an abrupt voice she told us that if we intended trying more than a couple of wines we would have to pay $5 a head for the experience. That didn’t bother us at all…we were more than happy to pay but it was the way we were spoken to. She then proceded to pour just a thimble of rose (our request) into a glass for sampling. I asked her if we were meant to share the sample?,,,her face grimaced as though we were causing her inconvenience. What we had actually intended to do was to purchase a selection of wines to take back to NSW. She then begrudgingly poured my partner a thimble of wine too….and just wanted us to move on…she was unaware of our intent to purchase or have a meal there! She was nothing more than a rude, ignorant person who treated us as second class people. Shame, as she did the company out of business….and because of our experience we will never purchase Black Swan wines nor recommend it to anyone. I am wondering if this lady was perhaps an owner of the business…I sincerely hope she is….as if she is a staff member she will cause them to do broke!