Gorgeous Park House is a gem located in Mona Vale (next door to Pittwater Place), offering a modern restaurant, bar, a games room for the kids, and an atmospheric outside space set up as a truck yard! With daily specials like 2-for-1 meals, $1.50 oysters and kids eat free Sunday-Wednesday, we couldn’t resist a visit!
The Venue
There are two main entrances into Park House. If you’ve got a pram, my Hot Tip #1 is to be sure to enter the venue from Harkeith Street to make things easy (otherwise it’s stairs at the Park Street entrance).
Arriving with three kids (including a baby in a pram) for the first time, some helpful diners helped us lift the buggy down the stairs and into the bar area. We then headed through the bar and gaming room to get to the restaurant (much to the delight of my 3 year old whose eyes lit up at the Daytona Racing cars and other enticing slot machines!).
After convincing our son we needed to go and order our food first, we were greeted in the restaurant by a friendly smile and were shown to our table where we were immediately given the menu, a high chair for our youngest and offered drinks. Having young, hungry kids, desperate to get back to the gaming room, this meant the evening was off to a great start!
Entertainment for the Kids
After ordering, the kids and I went to the games room and played a few games of Daytona and the pin ball machines. Hot tip #2… bring some coins! The kids loved it. We then explored the venue and despite the rain, we even went outside. It would have been great to eat outside in the Truck Stop Yard as they had hand ball courts, table tennis tables and green areas to play on which would have been great for the kids (and free!) but alas, the rain kept us inside. However, there was still plenty of areas for the kids to explore and with a vast majority of diners being families, the restaurant were clearly used to having kids dine in.
The Food
The menu was very detailed with lots of variety, and it isn’t the usual “pub grub” either. I was also impressed to see the most common allergens highlighted.
My husband chose the scotch fillet and I had the pan roasted snapper fillet. Sides are extra so together we shared the sautéed broccolini, potato scallops (my husbands weakness!) and a portion of fries.
As the oysters were on offer at $1.50 each instead of $4.50 for those who were Park House members (its free to sign up and become a member), we also ordered four of those. We didn’t have to wait long for our food, but needless to say, we had eyes bigger than our bellies! The fish was fresh and cooked beautifully and the steak was prepared just to my husbands taste (unfortunately for the chefs that’s well done!). The oysters were beautifully presented and tasted incredible.
The kids meals both came with a separate side salad and whilst my kids haven’t progressed on to salad yet, the portions were very generous that there was plenty of food. My son wanted no cheese on his burger which the waitress accommodated without fuss and I would say the kids approved of the food as I couldn’t get in there quick enough to take a picture before they started eating. My only criticism of our food was that the chips were very salty but the kids ones weren’t so I am sure it could be requested not to have extra salt on your chips.
Dessert
Having always had a sweet tooth, I couldn’t resist the Valhrona Fudge Brownie which came with dulche de leche cream (another of my husband’s weaknesses) and chocolate crispies.
Park House usually has an ice cream cart that kids can go up and order, but it was sadly broken the night we were dining there. Just as we were about to break the bad news to our kids, the waitress came back to inform us that we could still order some ice cream from the kitchen and they had chocolate or vanilla. My kids only like vanilla so disaster was thankfully diverted! The brownie was delicious but I had to be quick before little (and big!) fingers got stuck in!
Overall
With a big open kitchen to watch the chefs at work, beautifully decorated tables and surroundings and a relaxed family friendly atmosphere, the Park House is definitely one we will be returning too. We don’t often go out for dinner with the kids as they are still so young, but the Park House staff were very accommodating and of course the food was delicious so we would highly recommend a visit to this place. You could even visit for lunch and take a trip to the local Village Park just across the road to work up an appetite.
Essential Details
- Address: 2 Park Street, Mona Vale
- Phone: (02) 8998 3000
- Website
- Opening Hours:
- Food Merchants Restaurant open for lunch Friday – Sunday and dinner Tuesday – Sunday
- Food Merchants Bar open everyday 11am til late
- Front Yard and Truck Stop open everyday from 10am
- Parking: 2 hours free street parking is available around the restaurant as well as 3 hours free indoor parking at Pittwater Place
Disclaimer: Our reviewer was provided with a free meal and drinks for her family in return for her honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are her own and not influenced by the company or its affiliates in any way.
For more amazing and fun places to go on the North Shore, see our other adventures here: