Mt Rael

Ph: 5962 1977; Mt Rael Retreat, 140 Healesville-Yarra Glen Rd, HEALESVILLE 3777 www.mtrael.com.au

Contemporary, $$, * for Food & Ambience
Open 7 days noon-3pm Thu-Sun 6-9pm Sat-Sun 9am-noon; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $5 person; MC V EFT
Chef John Knoll (5-12-08) Owner Sean Lee & John Knoll (5-12-08)

Mietta's Review
Restaurant/bed and breakfast set high on the hillside is a spectacular spot with views across the Warburton ranges and lots of bird life at close quarters. The menu is seasonal, and often features local ingredients. The wine list is quite comprehensive and reasonably priced. New, Melbourne restaurateur, owners have lifted the status of the restaurant considerably.

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 14/20 "You'd never guess that deer heads and heavy antiques once adorned 3777's gorgeous dining room, overlooking the Great Dividing Range. The restaurant's current owners revamped the former '1970s-lodge' design with cushioned cream banquettes and natural olive-green hues, installing plenty of windows and a big central mirror, reflecting treetops outside and wellheeled weekending diners within"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 14/20 "Mustering the best attributes of the Valley, 3777 combines the region's wines, produce and physical beauty to impressive effect"

Herald Sun Dining Out, Stephen Downes, 18/7/06 Score: 16/20 "I'd dare to suggest that Mt Rael Retreat's culinary style might be called modern Australian bucolic. And you will get enormous servings of it, which balance fairly stiff prices, especially for the desserts. You'll love the service. A fairly limited and somewhat pricey wine list is representative of grape varieties. Five table whites and the same number of reds are served by the glass"

Herald Sun Eat, Bob Hart, 12-8-06 "Because Mt Rael - initially called 3777 after the local postcode, a fact most patrons ignored is a superstar of this polished food-and-wine region.Swing up the steep driveway and, if the day is like the one on which three of us lunched there last week, prepare to be dazzled by the spectacular view."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 14/20 "Many Yarra Valley restaurants proffer a fine panorama, but from 3777's hilltop you can see the whole postcode: cows munching in the fields (perhaps ones that supply milk for the cheese platter?), summer gardens (a source for the cherry tomatoes that sweeten a polenta slice smeared with green olive tapenade?) and carpets of grapes that take shape on the wine list."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "PERCHED atop a wooded hill outside Healesville, Mount Rael Retreat is a refurbished eyrie with grandstand valley views. The retreat's sleek restaurant, named after the area's postcode, is run with hospitable confidence by a trio of former city restaurateurs. The menu is a mostly Mediterranean"

The Age, Epicure, 9/12/03, Necia Weldon, Score 13/20

The Age, Sunday Life, 16/11/03, Roslyn Grundy