The Essence

The food was low to average. We ordered the burrata, the duck and pork belly to start. Only the duck was nice. For mains we ordered the barramundi, steak and the beef sandwich, out of which the steak was average and wouldn't recommend the other two. For a Marriott the ambience was outdated. The staff were friendly, however would not return or reccomend.

Staff were very friendly and accommoting. We love dining in here the Essence On Exhibition for years. We always celebrate special occasions here with family and friends

Great meals and great value

Entrees: calamari was too salty. Pork belly too salty. Caesar was nice. No atmosphere. Service slow and he forgot the aioli so by the time he brought it we had eaten the calamari. Mains: burgers were soggy from the tomatoes, porterhouse was good, barramundi was ok but sauce on side was horrid. Gnocchi was ok. Very small menu so they really should nail the it to perfection. Would not come back again

Didn't receive the vegetables with our steak order, but was quickly rectified

Booked for seafoods fest but unfortunately I booked the ala carte. Waitress didn’t bother to put serviette, lucky I had tissue in my bag. Waittress never come to check on us how we going and forgot to serve the dessert, needs to wait long & remind them. Place was cold have to wear our coat while eating.

We dined at Essence as it was close to the Comedy Theatre and we were attending a 2pm matinee. My husband ordered the steak and I had the barramundi, both meals were excellent. For dessert my husband ordered the panna cotta and I had the chocolate marquise, both were excellent. The menu has a very wide selection from light meals, pasta through to mains, it has something for everyone. We felt the restaurant was a little understaffed with only 3 people serving but we were attended to very well. I would certainly eat there again.

Meeting up with friends for lunch after not seeing them since pre Covid. Essence was great to sit back and chat, food was good and our waitress was very friendly and professional. Most enjoyable.

We've eaten at this restaurant before and were a little disappointed. However, our more recent experience with the pre-theatre menu was excellent. Good service, tasty and beautifully presented meals, and good value for money. Would highly recommenced particularly if you have a show to attend at the Comedy Theatre.

A quiet Sunday night after the theatre. We were served promptly by the friendly and attentive waiter and shown to a seat near the window. The food was served quickly and was tasty. Yes, as one previous reviewer wrote, there is only one lamb shank and the menu says shanks, but that one shank is filling enough and perfectly prepared. The meat fell off the bone. Just like the beef check. The steak we had was prepared perfectly to request. One of the best places to go, particularly close to the Comedy or Her Majesty's theatres, or you can go there anytime. Just remember you can only access the restaurant though the hotel main entrance, the outside doors seem to be closed all the time.

Great food and very friendly staff. There were although a number of issues in relation to service that could be fine tuned. I was called twice telling me that the booking initially offered was not available over multiple weeks, no salt available in the salt shakers on the table and incorrect beverage menue offered initially to be told we need to consult an updated menue. Lastly staff serving stake are unfamiliar with the different types! Level of cooking. Staff did not know what blue meant. O/w reasonably good dining experience.

One of the worst experiences. Stinking oysters to begin with. When we complained, we were told: we will now bring out the fresh ones for you. That’s what you get - second class food if you have a voucher. It said lamb shanks on the menu in plural but we only got one. That’s only because we had a voucher it seems! My meal never arrived. No explanation as to why. When I asked, I was told because I ordered a medium steak not rare! But eventually the waiter admitted that he didn’t put my order through. And the restaurant was practically empty. How hard can it be!!! And to top it all off the restaurant was serving alcohol to a blindly drunk women next to us. I will never ever go back there. The standards are very poor and this is a restaurant part of a hotel chain Marriott!

Excellent quality and friendly service. The Captain is very attentive. The atmosphere is not much as it is in the hotel but the location is fantastic. That is our go to place when we have any theatre shows.

Staff are too slow to clean up the table after main dishes, didn’t fill up our wine glasses after 1st time, etc. You expect better service from a Marriott restaurant. Food quality is good.

We had a fabulous time at Essence, 4 Adults and 3 Children (under 5). The staff were fantastic with the children. We were treated extremely well. Food and drinks were great, a lovely time had by all.

Love the seafood stack! Good value, more than enough for 2 persons! Excellent service from the staff! Will try out other dishes in the menu next time.

Charlotte was amazing! The booking really worked and gave us a great discount. I asked via the platform to them to have something special for my stepmother's birthday and Charlotte did something amazing. Love it!!!

Food was delicious but what is truly memorable is the excellent service from Satinder Sharma and his colleagues who were attentive, friendly & professional. Thanks a lot!

I was a little hesitant about going to a restaurant associated with a major hotel chain as they are often quite a let down and can hover from average to poor. Well Essence based at the Marriott Hotel in Melbourne made that a false assumption. The main courses were delicious and ample servings one very render beef the other juicy prawns in a caesar salad and it had anchovies yes!! We shared a desert that I can describe as delightful dark chocolate with honey comb and passionfruit very good coffee to end it all. Our waitress was very attentative and all in all we left very pleased with what we had. Highly Recommended and for lunch not over pricey

The meal was absolutely lovely and delicious. Everything was just so tender. We both enjoyed our meal. Ambience was a little noisy. Hard to gain a staff member's attention. Had to physically get out of my seat and go to the counter. To top off the service it would be nice if our waiter had offered to lay out our napkins on our lap.