If i could give this place 10stars i would! The staff and service blew me away! And the food was absolutely amazing. Do not believe any bad reviews coz this is now my FAVOURITE restuarant! Cant wait to go back. We were treated so well and still cant stop talking about how fantastic it was! Shahab is an absolutely amazing guy who was an absolute delight that we asked him to sit with us while we ate! Definitely going back many times over!!! :) just amazing!
Food is great,service is great.��
So far best seafood. Also very good price range and food quantity is also good.
The most that I have ever enjoyed eating seafood! Compliments to the chef! Staff very friendly! Will be back!
This has to be above the best seafood place. The service the Quilty of the food keep up the good work guys Seeya real soo.
We went to Cardens on Thursday night for 'date night' and it was fantastic. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the seafood was cooked perfectly. I even enjoyed the snails I tried! We will definitely be back.
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I dread returning to a restaurant only to find out management has changed (we haven't been here in years). I always get a feeling of pending disappointment.
The service was quick and very pleasant - from both our waitress and the host. The house wine was actually quite nice and I enjoyed it. Water was offered with or without ice and included a slice of lemon - fancy!
The food did take a while to come out. We started off with some cheesy garlic bread. I actually wasn't impressed at all. Perhaps it's because of the prices on the menu but I expected a garlic pizza bread or at least garlic ciabatta bread like many Italian restaurants off. Instead we were given what looks like garlic bread you can buy from a supermarket drowned in cheese. While it didn't taste bad, the presentation left much to be desired and the bread want sliced properly. It's the type of garlic bread you expect to make at home while drunk and watching infomercials.
The steaks came and I wasn't betting on it being delicious. First I took a cautious bite of a chip - hot, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside! Things are looking good.
The side salad is refreshing, although I would tip that they were a little too generous with the dressing.
My first cut into the steak was disappointing... Things are looking a little overcooked.. but it's a T-bone, they're hard to get right.. so I cut a little deeper... And so glad I gave it a chance because the rest of it was a perfect medium-rare.
Now for the sauces. I would have to say these took the rating from a 4 to a 3.5 for me. Sauce is important.
We had the pepper sauce and the garlic sauce. (They're $6 each BTW).
The serving was generous - the taste was a disgrace.
Both sauces are cream based. Both sauces were thick and gluggy. Both sauces probably had too much cream and wasn't seasoned well.
For the price you'd expect some peppercorns in the pepper sauce. None were to be found - they used crack pepper.
Garlic sauce did not taste like garlic and instead resembled hollandaise.
Hopefully the chefs can work on their sauces and I can give this another go.
I have been eating at Cardens since 2004 and I just cannot get enough of their perfectly cooked Cusine . The hostess Katherine cannot do enough for you as with their staff I would recommend them wholeheartedly ..Sandra
Cardens is a hidden gem. The long-standing establishment can easily boast the highest experience in dining. The owner makes sure to stock an impressive cellar too. The menu doesn't look vegetarian friendly, but ask the staff and you won't be disappointed.
The interior boasted a very warm and cosy ambience which was quite surprising to walk into. Our steaks were cooked well and the seafood curry was nice and creamy! Lovely and attentive service. Would come back again next time to try out their other dishes!
Vy good food. My favourite is Garlic bread!! Always order two serves and can't stop! And bBQ prawns!!! Best prawns! I hv brought many friends here and the restaurant never let me down😃😃
Was a little skeptical when we saw the decor... but there was no turning back. So glad that we chose to try this place out. Lovely starter, blown away by our seafood platter for 2 ... was enough to feed a family of 4, and fresh. Staff were also very pleasant... all in all a great dining experience.
I came here yesterday for dinner and didn't really expect it to amazing but OMG!! I had the best eye fillet steak in my life! I'm drooling just thinking about it! The side of vegetables had the best chargrilled flavour! Hosts were so attentive & friendly!
Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it'd be bad as my friend told me the food is good but it really blew my mind how damn tasty everything was! The steak was so tender & juicy. I need to come back real soon! :):)
Had dinner on sat night. Could not fault it. Service was friendly and welcoming. Steaks were cooked to perfection . The croc was awesome. Will certainly be back. Waitresses were absolutely beautiful.
Nice dinner. The seafood is very fresh and I managed to satisfy my craving for escargot here. The price is reasonable for amount of food ordered.
One of our family favorites and we travel from Cranbourne for their steak and pepper sauce
Best restaurant I've been to.
Went there for an anniversary with my boyfriend and ordered: calamari, half dozen natural oysters, dozen escargot, BBQ Bay Bugs, eye for fillet steak with garlic sauce and a side of sauteed mushrooms.
Calamari was fresh and not stringy, oysters were fresh, escargot were flavourful, Moreton Bay Bugs were cooked very well, delicious even without its plum sauce. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare, mushrooms were delicious. Boyfriend found the garlic sauce immaculate.
Hands down best meal I've ever had
Reasonably priced and great for dandenong however takes their time with serving food. Must catching the first fresh
I took my partner here for his b/day. We loved the food and the service was so warm and friendly. We are from NZ and know our seafood so when we got our meals we could see that what we were paying for was the best. The staff made us feel like people and not a table number. Thank you Cardens.
Little gem hidden away... It's hard to believe that such a place like this is found in a place like Dandenong (no offence). This place has given me new found respect for Dandenong as the food is pretty good quality- loving their oyster kilpatricks!
I've been coming here with my family for almost four years now and time and time again we are NEVER disappointed! The staff and service are impeccable, the father daughter duo who run it are just beautiful people, the food standard has remained at the same high, delicious standard over the past four years and it's always busy whenever we go in for dinner. Meals are mouthwatering, big and leave you in a food coma! A must try for anyone who loves their seafood and loves a good steak.
A Little Gem. One of Dandenong's best kept secrets. Could not fault the meal. The scallops were to die for. My steak was cooked to perfection. I loved having my chips and salad on the plate with the steak. A lot of places you have to order chips and salad as an extra, therefore making the main meal quite expensive. Would definitely go back to this place. I must admit the decor is certainly outdated, a fresh coat of paint and paintings would not go amiss here. Needs sprucing up, but then again you don't go to admire the walls.
Definitely will be returning to this little gem.
Favoruite!. One of Melbourne's best hidden gems! Have been here several times - the staff are friendly, place is well laid out and food is amazing - TOP quality steak and seafood always cooked to perfection and generous servings - to sum it up - Just as good if not better than popular city nightspots for 3/4 of the price!
Absolutely amazing food. The place may be.... Humble in appearance but the food was incredible! People were telling me how great it was and that I should check it out and even though I had high expectations as a result of what others said, it still exceeded my expectations over and beyond. It's definitely become my new favourite place! It certainly confirms the saying, that you should not judge a book by its cover. :)
CANT BEAT THIS PLACE WOW !!. Like Other Critics Below , this Restaurant is Just ~~ Amazing!
We went with a group of friends from Overseas and we could not fault this place. Everyones Meal was Outstanding in Everyway.
The Big Steaks were cooked to perfection, whether they were Rare or Medium.
The Veal Scallopini was a hit, Garlic Prawns with Mushrooms Risotto was the best that I have ever eaten.
Just melts in the mouth! The meals are plentiful and ambience wonderful.
*****Truly a Amazing Find!
Great meal. Ordered the chicken a la carden and it was wonderful. Would definitely be back to try something else. Great value for money too :)
Have been here a few times before and never had anything to complain about. Tonight we visited for my FILs bday. Mother in law got sick and the staff were so helpful getting her water and packaging her meal to take away. The service we had tonight was above and beyond. Very impressed and of course good was great.
What you get is what you see!. We were recommended this lovely restaurant by friends! We had my daughters birthday at cardens and the food was absolutely beautiful, service not very good, but a nice surprise was a bottle of wine! We then had my husbands birthday at cardens yesterday and were very disappointed with the service, had to wait 30mins for entree and drinks, then an hour for mains. The entree scallops, seafood coctail and kilpatrick oysters are to die for, but the mains, stay clear of the seafood mornay, which was really cluggy and tasteless as well as the seafood madras, big let down! But what we will come back for is the Best Steaks in town, Porterhouse with seafood sauce and Eye fillet with mushroom sauce, bravo!
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Amazing food and value. We read some good reviews about this place, and as it is just around the corner, we decided to take a look. First of all, we were warmly welcomed by the hostess and shown to a lovely table next to a stain-glass window. We were given menus and the service was constant without being annoying. We ordered an entrée of the scallops, and a cold seafood plate. When the food arrived, we were sure we had over-ordered. The size of the entrees were not only generous but absolutely delicious! The scallops were cooked to perfection. The seafood was all very fresh and tasty. For mains, we ordered 2 steaks, one with seafood sauce and one with pepper. I was expecting for the price that they would be tiny and unsubstantial, but when they arrived at our table, the meal was massive, and came with chips and a salad. We had also ordered a side of the cauliflower and cheese (which was amazing too!) but by this stage we had a lot of food in front of us. Throughout the meal we were asked if everything was ok, and we had a lovely chat to one of the staff members, who was genuinely nice and sweet and not the normal fake nice that you often get in restaurants. She had a good laugh with us and could see we were struggling to finish the meals. My partner polished off the rest of my enormous steak, (which was cooked to perfection and overall a brilliant cut of meat without fat) and we felt like we had just eaten like kings. A similar meal package in the city would have easily cost double the amount we paid ($29.50 per steak is incredible value) and would easily have been half the size of these meals also. This is honestly the best restaurant we have eaten at outside of the city, which seems to have been hidden to us in plain sight. Just look for the blue building with the gigantic lobster/crayfish sticking out the front. You will not regret having a meal here. We highly recommend this place.
A must try. I don't normally write restaurant reviews as tastes differ and experiences are subjective. This place however, deserves a mention.
When a business associate invited me for lunch in Dandenong, I was a little hesitant. Dandenong is not exactly the culinary excellence capital of the south east.
Much to my surprise, Cardens delivered a spectacular lunch:
*Food was 10/10 ; oysters and snapper were a highlight
*Service was 9.5/10; charming, professional, attentive
*Value was 10/10; although I did not pay, prices not exaggerated and reflected quality of food.
*Atmosphere was 8/10; clean and well presented
It was a real pleasure and I will definetly be back.
Best restaurant in the south east!. After stumbling upon this restaurant around 5 years ago, I am now a regular here and look forward to each time I get to eat here! The food is absolutely to die for and I have introduced many family and friends to this restaurant and all of them have been very pleasantly surprised. Its tucked away upstairs in dandenong but dont let that get to you otherwise you will miss out on some of the best food in melbourne!!!
Gastronomique-Effect
+4.5
'wow' in the heart of Dandenong. Growing up in the South Eastern suburbs my whole life, I have always noticed "the restaurant with the big lobster in front".
Hidden upstairs, it did look like a disappointment at first. But, I was impressed.
I was happy with everything.
The food was decent. Good value.
The restaurant was busy. People chattering. The atmosphere was comfortable.
The interior of the restaurant made it look like a restaurant in Melbourne CBD. You would never imagine it to be in the heart of Dandenong.
So kudos to Dandenong for having a hidden gem tucked away with the giant lobster in front.
A real surprise! Hidden upstairs in the centre of dandenong! Being a local to the area I have grown up quite aware of Cardens existance but have never eaten there... Until now! Have to admit was a great experience really cosy and warm place... Like being at a dinner party at a friends place! The menu was amazing incredible vast.... Seafood, game, steaks the lot all at a very good price... Makes the inner city seafood places look like criminals!! I ordered oysters kilpatrick and without a doubt best I have tasted, they use there own recipe instead of the old woshtershire sauce!! I highly recommend Cardens... Dandenong may not have anything close to a night life but this is really the diamond in the rough!!
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