Essex Restaurant

Very tasty - loved the desserts.   (August, 2008)

it was o.k.   (May, 2008)

Overpriced menu, bland dishes, eaten in bad decor, with pretentious service. Wont be returning any time soon.   (See my reviews (2) - May, 2008)

Living in Fremantle, next to a fishing port I expected a seafood platter at $148 for two in a fine dining restaurant to be a little bit special. All i can hope for is the head chef had the night off. So glad it was only two courses. The squid was really tasty and the oysters but the shells were not cleaned and covered in barnacles. The clay pot the garlic prawns were served in was burnt and chipped which we think ended up in our food added to the already gritty texture of the dish. The second course was no better. Our overpriced, pre cooked crayfish was dry and rubbery and served with frozen,packet chips and bland condiments. When informing the waitress we were told that "sometimes the crayfish is like that", yes if its over cooked. After obtaining the bill and expressing how disappointing the meal was, we stood in stoney silence as we gazed around the walls aligned with awards and wondered how easy they must be to acquire. The harsh blow of an evening of overpriced, badly cooked food would have been softened if we were met with some kind of remorse from our waitress for passing our meal off as "fine dining". Very disappointing.   (See my reviews (2) - May, 2008)

We had a fantastic meal. The wait staff were excellent, however, our main wait person was a little over zealous and could have been less brusque - interrupting us when we were talking, etc and the place was pretty quiet. However, that has not put us off, still an overall 9.9 out of 10 and we would definitely go back.   (Southern Suburbs - See my reviews (6) - April, 2008)

Visted on a Sat night and could only get booking for 6.30 given we only booked on Thursday happy to get table. Food was great I chose the catch of the day which was Barramundi loved every mouth full, my husband chose a steak which he thoroughly enjoyed except for as the last review stated the gravy/sauce was far too overpoweing. Good wine list we chose wine by the glass at $7 the spirists and cocktails proved popular while we were there. Staff were very attentive asking if things were ok, refilling our iced water there are a lot of staff, generally excellent. However we felt quite rushed more like a cafe than a restaurant by 8.15 we were out we requested our main be held for a while so we could enjoy the evening & chat but it was served within 10 mins we also requested our dessert be held we had the tasting plate which is lovely the waitress asked was 20 mins ok we said yes thinking 20 mins can easily turn into 30 in a busy restaurant which it was. It arrived in a little under 20 mins. We noticed other people who had come in to the restaurant at a similar time to us leaving before or at the same time. That was a little disappointing given our bill was $170 for 2 I would of liked to linger a little longer and not felt that we were being pushed out the door. We would visit again as our previous visit was not so rushed.   (March, 2008)

Restaurant was fine in terms of decor and ambience. Our waitress was attentive and very good. However the food was very disappointing. Bread was fresh enough but nothing unique about it and was just shop bought. It was also served in those woven wooden baskets that were the trend in another era. However real shock came with the steak. We ordered steak medilum and though it was about correct the meat was chewy tough. Basically it felt like the meat was stewed rather than sealed quickly and cooked. The sauce was just too much and coated everything. The portion was overly generous but size does not compensate for poor quality. The salad was limp and overdressed. Our feeling was that the restaurant seemed stuck in the 80's when overpowering "gravy" style sauces saturated overcooked meat. With the superb choice of fresh salad greens available now we feel the menu needs working over. It seemed that the restaurant in spite of its gold plates is resting on laurels that may have been earned previously.   (February, 2008)

Great dining experience. Menu and wine list excellent   (November, 2007)

Group of 5. 3 shared seafood patter. Amazing. I had Barramundi, Perfect. Everything served in reasonable time, friendly atmosphere, not neglected, a little expensive but worth it. Would definitely go again.   (Fantastic - October, 2007)

We had our wedding dinner in the very cosy room right at the back . 23 of us had a ball adn it was so reasonably priced   (jackie - See my reviews (2) - September, 2007)