Petit Tracteur - Main Ridge

Visited this quaint little French bistro for my daughter's birthday lunch yesterday. It is situated in the surrounds of the Ten Minutes By Tractor Winery and has a lovely walkway entry with cottage gardens either side. Staff are very welcoming, and though they had made an error with the booking numbers (only minor in our case 3 instead of 4), they very promptly rearranged the table to accommodate us. The wines offered are those from the vineyard and were of excellent quality. As a white wine drinker only, the Blanc de Blanc sparkling was excellent as was the Savignon Blanc, and I was assured by my fellow diners that the red varieties they consumed were of equally high quality.The meal itself would take too many words to describe in depth. We each had different entrées ranging from Steak Tartare to Salmon Gravlax and Salad Nicoise, and mains from Beef to Lamb dishes. Each dish was cooked to perfection according to our requests, and the meats extremely tender. My accompaniment of mashed potato with Creme Fraiche served in a baked potato ski was unbelievably delicious. Desserts eaten by my fellow diners were also faultless and I was very tempted to share the Tarte Tatin but resisted.For a very busy little bistro the quality of the food and service was first class!

A fantastic little bistro set amongst lovely gardens. We enjoyed a family catch up for lunch. The bistro was buzzing, cheerful and fun. The six of us, grandparents, parents and adult kids had a ball. We all enjoyed the menu - not always the easiest, given the mix and spent a fantatic afternoon together, followed by a stroll around the grounds. We thought it was good value and would recommend a visit.

Having visited this restaurants big brother and given it a huge 5* I was expecting something good, alas my expectations were sadly misguided. Please don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad, the approach to this venue is exceptional, very rustic, pretty and inviting. Unfortunately the impeccable service, food and environment which its big brother delivered in waves was lacking in its most recent venture. From the extension cables stretching across the floor to the messy and dirty bar and a haphazard and slovenly work ethic of some (not all) staff. We sat at a table in a very lovely glass enclosed extension overlooking the gardens, vacated tables went untouched for long periods of time with staff just walking past tables with empty hands leaving them covered in empty glasses, plates food etc for long and unnecessary periods of time. I watched one waitress finally re-set a table by throwing the wooden side plates from one end to the other, each one landing with a clatter. There was a spare table which became a dumping ground for various items from various tables which other than becoming more of a dumping ground, was not touched from the moment we walked in, to the moment we left. I indulged in three courses, the starter was fantastic, the main (Slow cooked beef cheeks) was ridiculously tiny in portion, not cooked long and slow, luke warm at best with accompanying cold carrots, the dessert (tarte tatin) was very tasty but again luke warm. To be fair, my partner enjoyed her lamb which I can confirm was much better than the beef. Wine glasses and other items went uncleared from our table from when we sat down to when we left. There was an individual who described himself as “the manager” although again we didn’t see him until it was time to pay the circa $250 bill. In summary this place has a huge amount of potential although is just very poorly managed and its owners should remember that it isn’t enough to trade on the reputation of its other venue without delivering what they are more than capable of delivering. Unfortunately with so many amazing venues across the region I probably wont bother giving it another go as its not cheap and it is not much to expect a positive experience for this kind of price.

Had a birthday lunch on the weekend for 9 people. We were seated on a sunny patio. The area has heating so it was very warm. Natural light came in and it was very nice over looking some vineyards in the distance. It's a lovely spot for a special meal. We all had a 3 course meal. I had cured salmon, beef cheeks and chocolate mouse. The chocolate mousse was amazing. The mouse was encased in dark chocolate casing.

Every year a few of my mates get together for golf, a great meal and a weekend away. We were booked in for dinner at ten minutes by tractor but changed to lunch to petit and we were glad we did. Our table was in the garden room at the rear of the restaurant which I would recommend. We all had the steak tartare which made us happy with a ten minute Sauvignon. Also very nice. The entree was followed by a duck al a orange, chicken and I had the lamb which was very tender. We accompanied this with a Pinot or two from the vineyard. Dessert was an apple tart, rhubarb parfait and a chocolate mousse. These had to come with a heggies sticky. The food was excellent, very well done indeed. Our waitress who was new to Victoria was absolutely lovely and very helpful with her recommendations. We didn't leave feeling disappointed that we didn't eat at 10 minutes while we were here, rather, feeling we made the better choice.