Joseph's Restuarant and Bar - Mansion Hotel, Werribee.

Staying at the Mansion Hotel in Werribee has a number of benefits. Firstly you don't need a car and can walk to the Winefax winery for wine tastings of both local and inter-state wines, have a meal indoor or out or just tipple as desired. A short wander back to the extensive Mansion Hotel and Werribee Mansion for a meal and a night or two away. How convenient. When finished your tasting and selected vino walk the grounds for some interesting history, wonderful scenery and sculpture park.

Back at the hotel, which are the converted monks dorms, the lobby is grand and there are many guest's common rooms to explore. Joseph's is the restaurant within the hotel complex. . Décor is modern but music a little (attempted anyway) esoteric. What's more the music is boring and not conducive of ingestion. But few eateries ever, if ever, get the music right. Evidently all restaurant mangers are deaf! Wait staff, here, also need some serious training. My wife signaled the waiter twice over a ten minute period to be told "just a minute" on both occasions. In the end she just gave up. Also don't order any common cocktail the barman has no idea. Ask him for a whisky and you'll get a bourbon. If you say that's not whisky he will reach for every other bourbon on the shelf until you say "I'll have a bourbon instead". Ask for two ice cubes and no more and he'll plop them into your glass curtesy of his bare fingers!! OMG!!!

Back to the restaurant. My food was OK but just OK. But my foolish wife, the one still waiting for "just a minute" to expire, asked for steak. The steak was pathetic. Now that's a new way to describe food. A pathetic steak. Roll-up, no other restaurant can serve the "Pathetic Steak". I wouldn't serve meat to my friends that looked like this but here they charge you for the privilege. OMG!!!

Now here is the clincher. About 30 minutes after eating the steak my wife had to rush to the toilet and was violently ill, both ends. She was sick all night, the whole night and extremely weak the next morning when we had to drive home. The steak? Who knows? Fist time we have left more than we ate. In the morning breakfast is back in Joseph's and a reasonable spread, no complaints. Oh that's bull shit of course there was something wrong. The same shity atmospheric music. It's obvious they only have one CD. Here's a tip, buy another then you will have two.

The Werribee Mansion is a must see. Sick and weak my wife dragged her weak body though the many and palatial rooms which make this magnificent building. If nothing else see the Mansion. If you don't want to spend the big bucks at the restaurant there is café. Just don't order the steak unless you want a whole body detox.