Stella’s Kitchen – Lysterfield – an apple farm and chic restaurant not far from city life

Stella’s Kitchen is located in Melbourne’s southeast, and still seems to be within metropolitan Melbourne. The restaurant is also the same location as an apple orchard and a marketplace store (where you could buy their apples or other high end retail goods). The whole area seems really well “done-up” with a very international architecture-look with its clean white lines, yet in some place it is harking back to that bygone era with its fireplace and stone-paved walls.

Our experience at Stella’s Kitchen was somewhat perplexing given the number of problems we encountered during our lunch session. I should say at the outset that the venue’s staff did apologise for the mishaps and provided some things on the house (for free). It was great that they were provided without much prompting or asking – though some the attendees would disagree with my more rosier assessment.

Stella’s Kitchen is a beautiful looking restaurant, reminiscent of a fine dining establishment with its top to bottom glass windows, large open areas, and nice fireplace lounge. This is the sort of place you take someone or the family for a special occasion. I can picture the venue being incredible during sunny, clear days.

The menu was a mix of Italian and British cuisines. Dishes included pastas of various kinds including linguini, spaghetti, gnocchi, then parmigiana and pizza, plus various exotic salads that incorporate their homegrown applies as well as scones with apples and apple tarts. Unfortunately, as with all Western restaurants, the prices were very high for very average listed dishes.

We ordered their Prawn and Chorizo Linguini for $39 and their Smoked Duck Salad for $39, plus their Kid’s Spaghetti for $12, Sparkling Apple Juice for $7.50. The other guests ordered their Chicken and Mushroom Scaloppini for $38 and Veal Parmigiana for $44.

The Sparkling Apple Juice just tasted like apple juice mixed in with soda water. (You could pick a bottle up next door at the marketplace for the same price, yet with 4 or 5 times the quantity.)

The table ordered drinks, but the staff forgot about the order until someone on the table went to remind them. The drinks were provided on the house and we were provided chips and mayonnaise on the house. The chips were a nice way to pass the time until the food arrived. It took probably an hour before we got our food. (At least the company and the conversations kept us going strong.)

When the food finally arrived. It looked like relatively small portions for the price. The Linguini was alright, it came with a decent amount of prawns, chorizo, and some sliced chilies. There wasn’t anything remarkable to mention other than I wished they added more chorizo and prawns to the dish.

The Smoked Duck Salad had seared grapes, rocket, and grapefruit. It was an interesting combination on the plate. Unfortunately the duck was pretty dry, which admittedly is a meat that is difficult to keep moist and juicy. It needed a nice sauce or just something to keep the dish together and interesting.

The next hiccup came when they provide scones for takeaway in a box without the jam nor cream. This was quickly rectified, but it was another one of those moments.

When it came time to pay, we noticed that there is a surcharge of 10% on Saturdays and 15% on Sundays. It was another pain to be inflicted. The dishes were already pretty expensive and now the surcharges were going to be added on top.

Next door to the restaurant is a market stall, selling the orchards apples and a bunch of other wares from other upper end vendors including sauces from French restaurant Entrecote. It was nice to be able to try their applies, including their red and yellow apples. (To me, it all tasted the same. But it was nice to be reminded how fruits can be grown in weird ways to create interesting variations.)

Please support the website by liking the article or subscribing to the mailing list. The review and the experience above are based on my own views. Despite drinks and chips provided on the house – which were provided for other reasons, no commission, freebies or payments have been received to write this review.

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