Merrijig Kitchen - PORT FAIRY

Yes, hard to believe. Our 4th time here and possibly our last. The first 3 you could not praise the place enough. Beautiful fresh flavours that worked. Top of the job more homestyle than an art show. My kind of food and my guests. Not this time, average at best. You could understand it if it was 1 out of 6 dishes, maybe 2, but not all 6 being average. It is not the price that puts me off but only put something out you would be happy to eat yourself. I very rarely order steak when I go out as it is more than often average quality cooked averagely. I tried the Pinky Rump. It Had a heavy-duty fried crust on it which you could not chew through then the pinky bit was so chewy when I thought I managed to get it to a point where I thought I would be able to swallow it I nearly choked. It just wouldn't break down. Maybe the chef was ill that night, who knows? Maybe they have passed their use-by date? Something none of us like to hear. My wife showed me photos of the meal a previous time and you could not compare the presentations. Let's hope there was an issue that evening and this institution can get back on its feet. I will not be rushing back but if I do go I will lower my expectations and hope for the best.

Lovely little restaurant with great food and staff that obviously care last minute booking but they fitted us in at the bar and did everything they could to make it work for us. From the moment we walked in and were presented with a new daily menu, Focused on local produce l, through having local breads and a garden tea (tomato and corn) all the way through to great food carefully presented, this was ideal. An explanation of what things were, a recommendation on what went together and questions answered despite it probably being the 100th tine they’ve been asked. A real little gem

My husband and I went out for a special night to what we thought was a very special place. The merrijig looked really appealing but lacked the same atmosphere inside. As per some of the earlier reviews we were left waiting to be seated. All but one shared table were round and was large enough to seat 4 people. Other than one table of four everyone dined as a couple but there was no intimacy as you couldn’t sit close enough to have a quiet conversation. Ordered drinks promptly then had to wait for ages before prompting waitress. Not a good enough response from her. It was like we were being a bother! Entree was tasty but not very hot. Fish was over cooked. Steak was fairly standard. Paying fancy prices and getting average food and below average service in a restaurant lacking atmosphere was just not good enough.

We had originally booked Fen for dinner when travelling to Port Fairy. Sadly Fen advised us that they were closing down late Feb and they recommended Merrijig Kitchen. The food, wine service were great. We had a fabulous night can highly recommend.

Kathryn and Kendo must have visited a different restaurant. Our experience was first class. Excellent attentive service from all three staff clearly desperate to please. Great menu nicely served and excellent quality. Beef wasn’t tough because it wasn’t on the menu. A must visit.