Definitely one of my favorite restaurant ever. Live music, not just any music but really good music, friendly staffs, amazing down to earth ladyboss. Food is great particularly seafood, they were very fresh. Huge place too, fits a large tour group without any issue.
The BEST restaurant in Australia! So much fun and always amazing food. The staff are a lot of fun and the new management is excellent! Daniela is a sweetheart too. I highly recommend the cuckoo for a fun night out with friends/family and amazing afternoon tea.
I went there in the 1970's. It was truly a great experience. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
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Such a wonderful evening spent today to indulge in the beautiful afternoon tea buffet feast! After a sitting from 3:30pm-5:00pm we literally rolled out of there!
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The buffet features a few main options:
1. Hot Savouries (hot chips, potato rosti, chicken wings, pizza, sausages, sauerkraut, garlic bread and pumpkin soup)
2. Cold Savouries (salmon baguettes, tuna baguettes, roast beef sandwiches, bread rolls & cheese)
3. Hot Sweets (apple strudel, scones with jam and cream and fresh pancakes with ice cream)
4. Cold Sweets (blackforest cake, apple tea cake, cheesecake, vanilla slice, vanilla coffee sponge, mint slice, banana cake, poppyseed & orange slice, poppyseed cake, bee sting & chocolate cake)
5. Fruit & Biscuits (gingerbread, oat cookies, choc chip cookies, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, rockmelon, strawberry & lime jelly, custard & chocolate mousse)
6. Tea & Coffee (percolated)
The venue was lovely with German singing and entertainment throughout with pleasant staff in traditional costumes.
Some of the dishes were pretty basic (seemed like McCain’s frozen pizzas, aeroplane packer jelly, Paul’s custard and some of the cakes and slices were a little dry, but for the price ($25pp with Groupon) it really can’t be beaten!
The winners for me were the pumpkin soup, salmon baguette, roast beef sandwich, scones (which were huge) pancake, coffee sponge, banana cake and vanilla slice (all shares of course, otherwise far too much!)
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As the Christmas holiday season draws closer and closer upon us the festivities are ramped up here at Dad-Ventures, and meine Güte were we in for a whole night of fun when we explored the Cuckoo Restaurant. Located in the Dandenong Ranges you’ll first be blown away at the scenic and windy drive that is Mount Dandenong Tourist Road. It was a cold and overcast evening when we arrived at the Cuckoo and a gorgeous cloud of mist was setting right above the Cuckoo Restaurant. The photo below says it all, it was breathtaking, and we hadn’t even walked inside yet.
The Cuckoo is a Bavarian German experience that has been serving diners with a German inspired buffet lunch, dinner, dessert and floorshow for many years. I was accompanied by my little Charlie and tonight had been invited by Ashleigh and her family, who have German heritage. All the women in Ashleigh’s immediate family had previously worked at the Cuckoo Restaurant so it serves as a very significant place, and I felt a sense of gratitude to be joining them.
I was blown away at the amount of rich history and culture that the Cuckoo bestows in every square inch of the 400 seated dining rooms. From the Lederhosen and Dirndl attires worn by the servers to the original vintage carpet, the Cuckoo oozes traditional Bavarian culture which I loved above anything else. There were points in the night where I was literally sipping on a stein of lager, whilst trying different German sausages listening to a folk band and a yodeler. Now where can you get that anywhere else? I honestly felt like I had been transported to a different time and place, and I am so lost for words in describing this experience to you right now! So, let’s talk about the food…
The buffet is enormous so I had to tactically plan each serving so I got a full experience, however without looking like a total swine to my fellow guests. My first stop was seafood. I packed my bowl full of oysters, mussels and a shrimp salad and dug in. The oysters didn’t taste very fresh, but still had plenty of flavor. There wasn’t any rubbery texture, but the overall quality was good. The mussels were a little fresher in taste, and the shrimp salad was yum. A good start to what was to come next.
My main plate consisted of all things German, and boy was it wunderbar. I maneuvered my plate several times to fit Goulash, weisswurst (white sausage), chicken schnitzel, roast pork, sauerkraut and ratatouille. To comment on each dish would make this post too long, so ill just sum it up and say for a buffet, everything was fabulous. Even little Charlie was taken with the taste of the Bratwurst that she did a little dance!
The dessert buffet was also incredibly vast and simply amazing to look at. Most the desserts were served in little portions which compliments the wide variety that is on offer. I kept it simple and opted for the chocolate brownies, short bread biscuits and of course the freshly made pancakes. I honestly couldn’t get enough of the shortbread, I don’t know what it was but they were baked perfect.
Finally, the floor show! I was stitched up and was an active participant in the yodeling part of the show… ill let the video do the explaining on that one!
My verdict: Worth every Deutsche Mark at $65 per adult and $5 for children under four years.
To see all our pictures and videos head to www.dad-ventures.com and follow us on Instagram @dadventuresofficial to keep up to date on where we head next!
I went there yesterday afternoon with Elise and I had a bit of the Cauliflower and Cheese Soup with a Bread Roll, some Chicken Schnitzel, Chips, Pork Crackling, Scallop Potatoes, Roast Vegetables and fat of the Roast Beef but I didn't like the desserts. Elise had a bit of everything. It was extremely nice of the lady to waive the cake fee of $15 since I bought a half serve of Chocolate Ripple Cake to share with Elise since it was her Birthday also Jess offered to marry me, which was extremely nice of her to do that for me. Also the price is way too expensive so I won't be coming back there.
The Cuckoo has been around forever and is always enjoyable. There is always plenty of great food and a lot of variety. There is a huge choice of desserts. The entertainment is fun and the ambience and vibe is great. There is plenty of parking and the staff are very pleasant and helpful. The restaurant has been around for 60 years and is always still busy. I cannot understand those complaining except for those complaining they could not see the entertainment that would be disappointing. The atmosphere in this Bavarian restaurant is always warm and pleasant.
It’s great place to visit and enjoy dinner with a warm entertainment. The food is average but the staff are very lovely and pay attention to the details , we have been here many times it’s a interesting place to visit and the restaurant run by a great family , well done , we will come back for next visit .
A wonder place to experience heart warming food and entertainment the weekend deal is definitely worth every penny. Definitely will come back again.
An excellent place for special occasions celebration! Food are not impressed but the ambience and vibe are amazing! The musicians, basically are the hosts are full of sense of humor and are seriously good at bringing up the vibe, full of laughters and joy.
We came here for lunch for my friends 40th on a Saturday, although there wasnt much variety food wise, the food that was on offer was delicious, in particular the schnitzel, potato dumplings, seafood salad, goulash and muscles were yum! Apparently there is more variety for dinner than lunch according to our friends who have been here before.
The atmosphere was by far my favourite thing about this place, even my 8month old daughter seemed to be having so much fun with all the singing going on.
My only complaint is that its so far and in such a mountainace place, not very pram friendly but you can manage.
Would 100% go back to this place.
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good atmosphere, good food, however there are a few key things to note:
1. Buffet = ALL YOU CAN EAT. By definition, that means if you run out of something and people are still eating, you refill more. I noted that the seafood (oysters, mussels, prawns) were swarmed with people at the beginning, and once they were gone, that's it, no more seafood for the night. While I understand seafood is expensive etc, people are paying $60/head premium to get in. Considering the short dining time of 6:30-9pm, an hour of which was dead time due to entertainer, there was no reason food was not refilled. Hot food was refilled, but it would have been nice if there was more than one allocation of seafood and one large cut up strudel for the night.
2. The entertainer was great, she truly was, however her performance was too engrossing and all encompassingly interactive that it cuts heavily into the food time. When the seating is only for 2.5hours, and 1hr is the performance where you don't feel at great ease to get up and grab food, then effective food time was only 1.5hrs. Either make the show less entertaining or less oppressively interactive so ppl can enjoy the show in the background while they do what they paid for, eat food.
3. Needs more schnitzels
For the full review, please visit hungryfizzio's food blog on blogspot.
Don't know why there are so many bad reviews, we're had a great time. A little pricey but food was nice. Atmosphere was good and entertainment wasn't too loud.
Great German themed restaurant with buffet style food. Not all food on buffet is German but there is a few crowd favorites. If you're after 100% German cuisine then this is not for you but if you like a few German things and general nice tasting crowd pleasers then you can't go wrong. Service was great, atmosphere was great. Oompah band was loud but no so much to make it anti social. All round great restaurant and ate until I could eat no more. Definitely recommend.
Been here many many times and keep coming back to this Bavarian place. From Christmas Eve Lunches to New Year’s Day lunches - all members of my family and extended family have been here. The roasts, the pumpkin soup - in fact possibly the best pumpkin soup in melbourne, the beef and lamb and pork roasts, the fish, the German sausages , the range of cakes and sweets and certainly the pristine decor and ambience takes one back to europe complete with the live music and singing.
The news this nov 2019 is that the original founders and owners are planning to sell the business. Will advise anyone interested in traditional Bavarian fare to visit for a buffet lunch , dinner or high tea before ownership changes.
Pricey but a really fun night out, including really fun and awkward yodling! Friendly staff. Wine was cheap though! They’ve extended it and is much larger now
Such a great place to be in and children friendly too... We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary here. The ambience was awesome and the place is so warm and welcoming. One just feels as if they have been transported to one of the spots in Europe. The food and dessert were good for a buffet but above all, it is the experience that one gets to dine with all that German music, yodelling and shows side by side. Absolutely stunning. Loved the place!!! Can't wait to go back for some more fun and yodelling :)
Came here a few times in the past. Nice restaurant to go if you are at Dandenong Ranges. But I feel the food use to be better and the customer service too. Last time I was here, a few staff was standing around and we wanted to order some drinks. They told us that a waitress will come to our table and take the drink orders. It took so long cause there like only 2 waitress that time to go around taking drink order for the whole restaurant. They should have more staff when it's busy or the staff that are standing around should take our orders when we ask. The price of the buffet is ok. 😀
We stopped by on the way to Dandenong ranges. This place was like hidden in the woods . The service was really good. We really felt welcomed and warm. The food was ok overall. I personally prefer to visit here during winter
Wheelchair accessible. Accessible bathrooms.
Parking here is mostly at the end of a steep drive. Limited parking on the same flat level as the restaurant. Manageable for an electric chair.
Buffet style food so limiting for those with physical disabilities as there isn't table service.
We went on a Saturday night where they have a floor show so louder environment for soft speakers.
Interactive entertainment for those especially with kids... Maybe not the best place for a quiet dinner for two.
Honestly although the food was great, I never find buffets worth it money wise... I just don't eat enough. Great, cultured food though... Although nothing too crazy special.
Cabaret night on a Friday is great value for money. Meals are very generous and the atmosphere is lovely. Staff and table service were great. Only complaint was not allowing wine or beer for each adult meal paid for. Would suggest this place to others 👍
Very authentic German restaurant. The internal decor made you feel that you were in Europe. Beautiful portraits and paintings and even the wooden seats were well thought out. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Very attentive. There was also live music when we went on Saturday lunch time (11am). So many dessert options and the food was very well presented and replenished. Thank you.
Set in forest and tastefully decorated inside, any diner would feel hungry and eager to start their buffet in CUCKOO, a famous German eatery in the Dandenong Mountains. A master musician is on hand to entertain you while you dine and drink. He keeps you in the mood. If you were in a group of 20 tourists from Taiwan, he plays a Taiwanese song. If you wanna go to the front to sing your Taiwanese song, he gives you the mike. He builds you up to relax in the restaurant and to enjoy his music. Even little children tap and dance to his music. I saw a 3 yo pulling her grand-dad into the dance floor. What a joy to behold
I've been here before. Many times since the early 1980's. It's interesting to see this place again every few years.
We booked for New Years Eve. It was an older crowd than usual, but essentially the same volume (full). For those who haven't been to the Cuckoo before, it's Melbourne's original smorgasbord restaurant (est 1958). It's a German style restaurant, serving German and traditional Australian dishes.
Food: fresh, plentiful, delicious. Very predictable. Large main dish selection, and an enormous sweets section, which includes dedicated pancake makers.
Service: the staff are consistently polite and helpful
Entertainment: there are four German Style entertainment staples at the Cuckoo.
1 - Cow Bells
2 - knee slapping
3 - yodelling
4 - the band
It's a blast every time we go.
Make sure you book in advance, especially if you go on a Saturday night.
Awesome get away to the hills for a bit of fun. Great atmosphere and food is what you would expect from a German style buffet. Entertaining and fun for the family. Go for a light hearted visit.
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The Cuckoo is great for a fun night out but won't send you home raving about the food. My recent visit indicated that the smorgasbord offerings have become less Bavarian and more generic. Curry, anyone? The upside of this is that there is guaranteed to be something for every taste. The potato and leek soup was pretty average, but can't put my finger on exactly what is was. Herring salad was extremely salty. I know it's meant to be and maybe I'm just getting old, but it was too much. Green lipped sweet chili mussels simple but delicious. Pork sausages were bland to my taste. Desserts the highlight, especially one particular slice with a berry topping that I don't know the name of.The service was unhurried. Floor show, as you'd expect, was a bit tacky, but in a positive tourist-friendly way. The kids loved seeing their Dad 'forced' to yodel into the microphone. If you're shy, make sure you go on a busy night and sit behind other people in a corner! Nice selection of familiar music by the pianist. The food and entertainment on their own are nothing spectacular, but combined create a pleasant and memorable experience. The kids want to go back, so in my book that counts as a win.
Katherine's Food Diary
+3.5
The Cuckoo Restaurant is located in the Dandenong Ranges, and is known most for being a smorgasbord restaurant for tourists. The place was dimly lit with Bavarian decor and red-checkered tablecloths - it reminded me of one of the restaurants we visited in Germany. The waitresses were even wearing traditional costumes. Lovely huge range of desserts - I'm sure everyone will find something to their liking. Later in the afternoon, there was also live music and singing. It's worth dropping by if you happen to be in the Dandenong Ranges, even just for the fun experience.
First German Food experience! Gotta say it's pretty yummy! Love the wide variety of dishes available, great dessert selection too! Beautiful setting and great atmosphere to just chill and have family time. Found the restaurant's entertainment really interesting as I have never experienced anything like it before. Would deffs go back in the future!
We have been to the Cuckoo a few times a few years ago for their buffet lunch.
We thought we will try the High Tea today (Sunday). The selection of food weren't bad. There were hot savouries, cakes, scones, etc.
We were quite disappointed that there were no pancakes as advertised or any ice cream to go with the desserts.Empty plates where cleared off the table very quickly. Service was good.
The cost of the High Tea for $27 per adult is quite reasonable.
Very good German Schnitzel!
It's not about the food here although it's not really too bad as far as buffets go ( not usually my preference ) it's the experience that brings people and it's about the best daggy Christmas in July venue one can find. No pretention lots of laughs a great family lunch
I had almost completely forgotten about this place until I read another review for it - used to come here as a child for family functions. The location, although far away, is a beautiful mountain setting and the atmosphere is just so much fun. I'll get to that but firstly the all-you-can-eat German Bavarian buffet is seriously amazing. Like, there is every sort of hearty, yummy, home made German hot and cold food here that you can imagine, with an entire table for every kind of food including desserts and cakes. The atmosphere is also great, with shows and music and live bands playing. I remember feeling so warm and cosy here in the lovely snuggly wooden interior, as a kid having all the yummy foods I could want :) nice memories!
We went there for a friend's birthday on a Saturday night. We made a reservation but got lost on our way with poor GPS connection and ended up reaching the restaurant really late. We were still given a nice table. Due to the zig zag roads one of my friend's got really sick and felt nauseous the whole time and couldn't eat anything. We then decided to leave a little after we got there. The lady at the registers was really nice and charged us very little. She then also took the trouble of explaining to me the best route back home so we didn't get lost again. She's an angel. God Bless her!
About the restaurant, the little time we spent there, the atmosphere was lively with good live band. Great German selection of food and above all excellent hospitality.
We cant wait to come back to the restaurant again some time soon.
Thank You!!
Had the most wonderful buffet on Christmas Eve at Cuckoo Restaurant. The interior was beautifully decorated for the occasion and we were seated next to the window over looking the dandenongs.
Hospitality was Bavarian at it's finest, great service and selection of German style cuisine on offered. Live performance was excellent, shout out to the entertainer who got everyone into a cheerful yodeling mood. Was amazed when he sang a classic Malay folk song "Rasa Sayang" after finding out we are Malaysians. He continued this impressive feat by singing songs of various patrons' countries present that day. Definitely worth the 2 hours drive from Maribyrnong, what a delightful dining experience especially for groups.
When it comes to buffet style restaurants, its hard to find quality let alone perfection. My expectations are always lowered. Cuckoo was a pleasant surprise! Their extensive drinks menu comes with a price tag, and their food, some dishes a hit, others a miss is above the average buffet style food. Seafood selection is minimal, but the dessert options are varied and delicious! Great attentive service, I think this place is worth trying at least once!
A Bavarian chalet and beer-hole introducing you to the old-world charm of German buffets with traditional yodelling and not-so-traditional hop, skip and jumping.
The environment more than makes up for its tackiness with world-class beer, a smorgasbord of delectable entrees, main courses and desserts and everyone aged 5 to a 105 getting right into the spirit. No wonder the Cuckoo is such a hit among people of all ages, races, shapes and sizes. A 55 year success story speaks for itself!
“GOOD FAMILY FOOD IN ABUNDANCE WITH A GREAT BAVARIAN ATMOSPHERE..!!”
Look, the food is not great...in fact it's very average...but, there is lots of it, although they're a little protective with their roast meats. The dessert bar is quite varied, and they make pancakes on demand. What is great...is the atmosphere of the Bavarian decor, dress and song and the comedic show...very convivial...and very inclusive...a real dining experience.
We took my mother..so 5 of us booked for Saturday lunch..it was a most enjoyable day..including that gorgeous drive both up and down Mount Dandenong. A great family restaurant - your kids will love it.
We have been once prior, on a Sunday - for lunch, and we will go again...definitely...
May 2015
Food was quite good, although not the best. I found that the roast meat was on the dry side a lot of the time.
Lovely atmosphere. Great place if you want entertainment with you food with a live band and a comedian coming around.
Downside: It does get quite crowded and there is a photographer there who as she says "has to take your photo". You can't refuse. So if you don't want your photo taken...not much you can do about it.
Great value and fun entertainment. Good buffet food and great dessert selection
Ukrainian night - one of new themed nights. This is primarily a restaurant with a good smorgasbord. It would have been nice to have some cossack style dancing like was tried last year but the floor area is really too small for this sort of activity. There was variety in the Ukrainian music featuring the traditional instrument, the bandura, folk melodies on violin followed by uplifting and lively contemporary Ukrainian music played and sung by Alex and his daughter. This certainly got everybody to their feet to dance. Price for the food is reasonable, the entertainment is a bonus. Look forward to other themed nights - and if you want the traditional German show with Lederhosen slapping, yodelling and cow-bells, that still happens in the other section of the restaurant.
Good experience. My husband and I came here for a weekend meal, it's better than my expectation. Although you don't get a wide range of food, most of the dishes are done well. Our favourites include mussels, shrimp salad, cabbage rolls and strudels. I agree the roasts (we had both beef and pork) are quite dry. We had a cider and a soft drink, and the total was $109, pretty reasonable for a nice ending of a busy week.
Really fun night, entertainment was daggy but perfect for a laugh and we all loved it!! The food is ok, what you'd expect from a buffet. Probably better to go early as there can be a queue at times and they also start turning the lights down rather early, signalling everyone's had enough! The downside is definitely the customer service, grumpy and not too welcoming at all unfortunately. But all in all a silly fun night :)
Best restaurant I've ever been to. A bit expensive, but by far the best restaurant I've ever been to. I went on a Sunday night. The food was great and delicious. My only regret is that I couldn't fit more in. I especially loved the roast beef. The service was the best I've ever had. Soup was brought to our table upon arrival, and the owner checked up on us to make sure we were happy. The entertainment was the best though. Great live music, and then the floor show had us laughing and just loving it. The restaurant is gorgeous too, with so many pretty things to look at. I love that the waitresses were in authentic costume too, unlike another Bavarian place I'd been to which had what were clearly just tarty cheap halloween costumes. Would definitely come here again soon if I wasn't so broke.
Kitch is cool. What a lovely spot for dinner! The potato soup, seafood salad, garlic prawns and hot buffet are standouts and the berry cheesecake is the best cheesecake in the world. Such a nice Christmas in July atmosphere and very kitch is cool vibe. Very enjoyable :)
Great selection of food and all very tasty. Loved the mains and desserts! Great atmosphere and entertainment was good too! Staff friendly and prompt.
Food was not particularly amazing.
But a good family night out
This Place Takes Me Back.... ...to when I was a kid again. I never went here as a kid, we'd go to Sizzler's, but I felt like I was twelve years old and going back for my third, fourth, fifth plate of food. I love the variety of food, the carvery is great and the service is exceptional. This place is crazy busy every day. The entertainment is delightfully cheesy and guests (local and international) appeared to be having a wonderful time. I think you have to accept it for what it is and enjoy the experience - just go with it!
Taste of Europe!. On Saturday we visited the Cuckoo Restaurant for the first time. We had a fabulous time - the buffet was excellent - something for everyone!
We definitely will be back!
Super friendly and welcoming staff, food was delicious!! A great day out in Olinda!!
Cuckoo revisited. The Cuckoo...about the 4th time I've been there,and I'm not disappointed because I know what to expect..Food wise,a glorified buffet,but slow cooked roasts are the highlight.Atmosphere is quick paced and kitchy but enjoyable.Enjoyed with a stein of Dab,roast pork,lamb chops,potatoes,sauerkraut,prawns,herring,cold salads. Don't expect the greatest cuisine if you're fussy over taste,but kick back and enjoy the whole experience..it's quirky,quick paced (crowded) but that's a sunday arvo in the Dandes!
What a fun night. We had a ball at this place. There were 16 of us and we had the best night. Friendly service and a huge selection at the smorgasboard. Floorshow was entertaining. Go to the Cuckoo if you want a funfilled experience.
Great fun - mediocre food. This place is an absolute blast, so as long as you go with a sense of humour you will enjoy it. The food is average and typical of a circa 1970's smorgasbord. The entertainment is tradional Bavarian, though I was amused to see an indian girl singing songs from the Sound of Music, to a group of Japanese tourists, in a German restaurant, in Australia - talk about multi-cultural! Then there was the very old skool incidental background music, played on a casio keyboard, "smoke gets in your eyes" and other easy listening standards. You have to smile. Service was great. Go have some fun and lower your culinary expectaions and you'll leave happier than when you went in :)
Lovely German restaurant with great ambience. Live music when we went for lunch. Food is reasonably priced, generously served and delicious. Great selection of local and German beers. You can also buy German sausages and clocks/novelties. Service is good and will visit again.
A nice and hospitable restaurant.
You can have fun and tasty food here.
You must try one dish "ice cream with waffle", it's tasty. :P
There will be a show that the performance will sing songs and playing with you.
And children will have change to be part of the performer. How cool it is.
This restaurant have the world largest "CucKoo Clock", which is near the stairs.
Besides, there are lots of souvenirs here, you can choose what you want.
What a beautiful experience! We had so much fun at this restraunt, it was so entertaining and the musician build such a positive atmosphere in the room, he included us in the music, It was so good. The food was really nice as well but there wasn't alot of food options but what's available is nice. Definitely recommended it has a nice Swedish feel to it from music to the staff uniform etc. Loved it
Its a lovely place with great food and music. You can try some really good German food and Australian food. There are heaps of sweets, fruits and ice cream. Music and performance is great and very entertaining. A bit expensive but worthy for an experience.
Nice and cozy place in Mt Dandenong. Worth a visit. Upon entrance we were greeted and shown to our table. The guy explained to us where things are and made us feel welcomed. The environment is great and brings you to an Austrian restaurant. Food is delicious.
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