Pilgrim Dining

Kylie Dexter

year ago

Finally made it to Pilgrim for lunch today! Firstly, some of the best food we have had in years! The scallop was divine, the ravioli was indescribably good. The beetroot tasted like a beautiful nostalgic dish. Coming here on a whim made our day, unfortunately didn’t catch the name of the guy working but he was really great and we loved hearing about what we were eating and the love and care put into the food. He recommended what we should try and it was perfect. Honestly some of the best food we have had in a long time. I think my husband’s comment on the way home summed it up. ‘I would trade everything we ate over the last few years to get the money back just to only eat here’. I agree. We will back as regulars in future.

Beverley GRACE

year ago

WOW, Dromana now has a FINE DINING experience. Food was amazing and exceptional wine choice. We had scallop crudo, quail (melted in our mouths), Sword fish, flavours danced on my tongue, seriously I would highly recommend this dish. The lamb back strap was very very tasty. Kipfler potatoes with seaweed butter as a side . Topped with a strawberry & native basil sorbet . We also had breakfast there earlier during the week, scrambled eggs, perfection, and my pancake was different to anything I have eaten and would highly recommend it. We also enjoyed the coffee. Breakfast Around $50 for 2 We will be back.

MyTien Lam Lazzarotto

month ago

Excellent service and scrumptious food. We ordered waygu beef (eye fillet) tartare and king fish with roasted keplir potatoes as a side dish. Beef tartare was served with warm dark rye sourdough bread and king fish was nicely cooked with a tasty special sauce. Roasted keplir potatoes were crunchy outside and soft inside. We really enjoyed our delicious lunch at Pilgrim and staff engagement and warm greetings. Highly recommend!

Two Sheds

8 months ago

Pilgrim offers the best and most interesting dining on the peninsula. Seriously. It’s exceptional. We were overwhelmed by the quality of the dishes served here for dinner. Flavour, texture, presentation, innovation and quality. They have everything absolutely nailed. Everything. And the passion for great local and regional food is evident in every dish. I will list the dishes we had but no description I could offer would do them justice - scallops, mussels, quail, kingfish, potatoes, salad, bread and sorbet. Consult the menu photo for further information. We made one error here. We should have asked Fred to recommend a wine rather than choosing one ourselves. We will not make that mistake again. The service throughout our visit was superb. We were given excellent recommendations and outstanding and interesting information by Fred about every dish. Every dish has a fascinating story. One of our party also had a long chat with the skillful and hard working chefs. We can’t wait to return here. We have numbers of foodie friends that we will entice here too. This was a memorable night. We were blown away. The best ever dining we have experienced on the peninsula

Lisley Monteiro

month ago

We had the most delicious breakfast today! We order chilli scrambled eggs, eggs Benny and my favorite definitely was the French toast! Very nice

Allan Torno

2 months ago

If you are looking for an unforgettable lunch experience, this is it. Every single dish we ordered was absolutely fabulous—cooked to perfection and bursting with flavour. The presentation was exemplary, and the service was just as impressive. Highly, highly recommend!

Kimia Saadat

4 months ago

A wonderful venue with an absolutely delicious and exquisite menu. We had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprised with every dish we tried. Compliments to the chef and everyone else involved in creating such a chilled and beautiful environment.

V T

2 months ago

Isaac = innovative dining. We had the tea smoked mussels caught 100m away served with salmon roe, Quail with artichoke and fried onions, nettle agnolotti with main ridge goats curd, lamb blackstrap with Opera House styled beetroot. The highlight was the Kingfish with Roast fennel, Pernod and vanilla - incredible combination like a savory fish dessert - sounds like a strange combination but tasted amazing. Overall, we thought the food was elevated beyond our expectation. Well done Isaac we looked forward to traditional Paella Valenciana

Stephen Pinter

month ago

Some restaurants serve lunch. Others quietly steal half your day, convincing you there’s nowhere else you’d rather be. Pilgrim Dining in Dromana belongs firmly in the second camp. Sitting opposite the waters of Port Phillip Bay, Fred and Steph Price have created the sort of place every great food region deserves, a restaurant that feels deeply connected to its landscape while carrying the confidence of chefs who’ve seen plenty of the world before returning home. This was, without question, the best long lunch we’ve had all year. The room is effortlessly inviting. Coastal farmhouse without the clichés. Timber, linen, sunlight and a gentle buzz that tells you people are exactly where they want to be. Every table looks ready for social media, but Pilgrim has something far more valuable than good lighting. It has soul. That isn’t accidental. Fred and Steph spent years cooking through Europe, absorbing Mediterranean traditions before becoming South Pacific Paella Champions and representing the region in Valencia. Today, they mentor young chefs while quietly building one of the Mornington Peninsula’s most exciting kitchens. Lunch begins with warm sourdough and house churned butter before Fred wanders over with a smile. “It’s going to get hectic.” He wasn’t exaggerating. Scallop crudo with bergamot and pine oil tastes like the ocean on a perfect summer morning. Pumpkin with native lemongrass, yuzu and finger lime reminds you vegetables deserve just as much respect as any premium cut of meat. Tea smoked Mount Martha mussels, snapper crudo, then Great Ocean quail with black garlic “lollies”, Jerusalem artichoke and bush tomato arrive in a procession of dishes that somehow feel both refined and completely unpretentious. Then comes comfort. Nettle agnolotti swimming in brown butter and sage. Kingfish with roasted fennel, Pernod and vanilla balanced with remarkable restraint. Cauliflower buried beneath aged Gouda sauce and apple chutney becomes outrageously indulgent.

Lisa Patience

2 weeks ago

Pilgrim Dining is the Mornington Peninsula's hidden gem. We've eaten here several times, lunch and dinner, and been blown away every time: superb food, wine and coffee, and genuine warmth from the moment you walk in. It's also remarkably good value. Your host Fred is a hospitality veteran and a terrific character. His explanations of the dishes and wines aren't a sideshow — they're an essential part of the experience. We were impressed enough to ask Fred to build a menu for a lunch marking my milestone birthday with close friends. He sat down with us, asked about the dishes and wines I'd loved over the years, and created a bespoke menu with matched wines. We popped a bottle of Louis Roederer champagne on arrival. A beautiful drop. Then scallop crudo with lemon, tea smoked Dromana mussels and toasted sourdough with house-made butter, all from Pilgrim's regular menu, all sensational — paired with the Rahona Valley Trinity, a delicious local white wine. Next came Fred's homage to a life changing bowl of tortellini alla panna I ate in Siena in 1979. He added a Moreton Bay bug filling. It was Perfetto. The fish course was kingfish with roasted fennel and pear, a long-standing favourite of ours. Then Fred created a beef cheek with polenta as I love this classic dish. Served with gem greens with praline and roast Kipflers alongside. The beef melted in the mouth and the sides almost took centre stage. The Trinity and a delicious Devil’s Corner Chardonnay carried the fish; the Mecklin Grenache the meat, Grenache being my favourite style of red. The finale was a tribute to the birthday cake my Mum made me every year — pavlova with rum and Peppermint Crisp. Fred made individual pavs and added sour cherries, and matched it with a Pedro Ximénez. There wasn't a shard of meringue left on anyone's plate. Our friends still can't stop talking about this special lunch, and not only the beautiful food and wine but also Fred himself, who is clever, highly skilled, affable and t