Maggie Beer - Barossa Valley - SA.

I (and my wife) had recently posted an entry for the Barossa Valley in South Australia and included a number of memorable locations visited. One place we did visit but did not mention is Maggie Beer. When we visited Maggie’s eight years earlier we had quite an enjoyable experience.  We sat for lunch and was served a tasting plate with about a dozen different meats, quinces, pate’ etc. and a wine to go with it. The experience was memorable and we enjoyed it a lot.

This time on a re-visited we felt that Maggie’s (well deserved) success had taken away some of the uniqueness and quaintness of the place.  The lunch basket appeared lacking for the cost.  Bread rolls are a central part of the meal and when they feel stale and hard it impacts on the whole “luncheon” experience. Of course most of the basket was very nice and there were definitely some very good local products there.

A lake full of turtles is a very appealing sight and had us fascinated. The fact the Maggie puts on cooking demonstrations, free, is admirable and if you are into cooking this would be a highlight of the afternoon. A cooking lesson over a glass of wine, that’s for me! What did impress us immensely was the huge range of foods available for tasting. This is something you must do. Try everything in the shop.  You can help yourself to pate’, quinces, olives, sources, chutneys, etc. The range and depth of the products is overwhelming and all of them taste absolutely divine.  Don’t miss this tasting extravaganza. Don’t miss Maggie's.

Barossa Valley – South Australia

Novotel Barossa Valley resort

My wife, for a surprise birthday gift, booked us into the Novotel Barossa. This beautiful resort sits high above the valley overlooking the vineyards below. It also backs onto a golf course. Like most better resorts it comprises of a large pool and sunning area, restaurant, games area, massage and beauty services, conference rooms, wine tasting rooms, product sales and bar.

The rooms are spacious with a king bed in all. Everyone has a balcony and view with some views facing back to the resort and are the nicest. The mini-bar is well stocked and rooms are serviced daily and kept clean and neat. No complaints with the service. Meals can be delivered to the room at a lower than restaurant price.

The restaurant has the pick of the views which stretch into the hills. The wine list, as to be expected, goes on and on for pages. Not only many local wines but French Champagne and other imports. The food, which included for us breakfast, lunch and dinner, is very good.  The big breakfast was excellent with a great selection of cold and hot food.  I tend to over eat here but it is real hard not to.

For dinner, one night, I had skippy (kangaroo) which was very good and my wife the mushroom soup, also excellent. Wines are a generous serve and reasonably priced as were the meals. Staff are warm and friendly and only too eager to please.  Service is brisk.

Novotel Barossa is not cheap but it is an excellent place to stay. We have thoroughly enjoyed both our visits and look forward to a third. It is within twenty minutes of most of the surrounding small towns, wineries both large and small and most of the sites worth seeing. A car is essential and will allow you to enjoy some of the best scenery Australia has to offer. Take the trip.

Lyndoch Bakery and Restaurant

Lyndoch is only a short drive from the resort and holds a number of small shops, winery, service station and a few bakeries. Of the Lyndoch Bakery the bakery section is small and is part of a larger restaurant/bar complex. It has some great tasting pies, buns and cakes.  

On our first visit we dropped in for coffee and a bite. I had strudel and coffee (the coffee is strong, don’t order a double shot). The strudel was big and jammed full of fresh apple, cloves and cinnamon and went perfectly with a latte’.  The following day we went back for breakfast and I had their Kelly Pie. This is a small meat pie with egg and bacon on the top. If you go, order one. They are a very tasty and a meal in themselves.

Lord Lyndoch Hotel

We had dinner one night at the Lord Lyndoch Hotel. We were attracted to the hotel because the young manager claimed they serve “life changing” Black Angus steaks. How could we refuse? My wife had the 200g Scotch and I the 400g Black Angus. Though I still feel like myself and my life has not changed in any one direction the steak was good.  If you’re a steak-kind-of-guy a visit this historic hotel should be on your list when in the area. The manager, Scott, is funny, friendly and runs the hotel (for his parents) very professionally.  He is passionate about the food, the wine and the hotel and will make your visit “life changing”. Just ask Scott.

Tanunda Bakery

The locals will tell you this is the best bakery around. And they’re right. The Tanunda Bakery has a huge range of gorgeous looking cakes, breads, etc. on display. The coffee is good too and we had a cake and coffee here. Also we took away a pizza bread stick which we had with pate’, chorizo sausage, and Chateau Dorrien red wine in our room . The pizza bread was delicious and the sausage and pate’ made by Barossa Fine Foods from a butcher in Angaston rounded out a perfect day of tastings, sightseeing and winery bashing!

Seppeltsfield Winery

The approach to the newly name Seppeltsfield (formerly Seppelts) is something to see in itself. Kilometres of date palms line the road way into the winery now owned privately by three families. The new owners have made some big changes and are pushing some new ranges. We had purchased four bottles of tawny dated 1879 and 1880 some years back to now find they have grown in investment value.

Seppeltsfield is the only winery with yearly releases of consecutive 100 year old tawny ports. We were lucky to taste the 1912 pre-release to sell for $999 a half bottle. These ports taste like nothing you have ever tasted and “hang” in your throat and head for hours. We also tasted a new range of ten and twenty-one year old ports. For $10 extra the twenty-one year old is a far better purchase. The winery is worth a visit. The grounds and buildings are extensive.

Peter Lehmann Wines

Many of the bigger wineries will offer a lunch platter. These often consist of a selection local smoked and cured meats, olives, breads and cheese. Olives are also grown in the area and are well worth a try. Of the platters offered the Peter Lehmann platter appeared the best. We had put in a hard day of wine tasting and finished here before heading back to the room.

The wines are very good, well priced and have won many world class awards. Lehmann buildings, inside and out, are worth a serious look. There is a large picnic area right near the cellar door so either bring your own and purchase a wine or two or try the lunch platter. Very pleasant.

We returned the following day for the lunch platter which is more than enough for two and a bottle of the Mentor Cab.Sav. Staff, here, were very friend and decanter and re-bottle our wine to get some air into it. This did improve the wine and combined with the platter, under the shade of gum trees, made for an excellent and relaxing afternoon.  We will return. You should try it.

Los Argentinos restaurant - Franskton

Los Argentinos restaurant (bar and grill) brings something new to the sunny Frankston by the sea. We have many Asian and Italian restaurants a few Mexican, Greek and European but this, as far as I am aware is the first Argentinean restaurant for the area. Hurrah!  Depending when you visit you may have parking problems. Read the parking signs well or the night may workout very costly.

A friend had dined here a few times in the past and knowing my passion for food and drink had suggested my wife and self should try it. So we did.  On a Friday night it was quieter than expected but at this point it is a new restaurant. Frankston's culinary base starts at McDonalds and the thought of well prepared good tasting food would frighten most local away. Particularly from a country they didn’t know existed. Fine diners won’t find silver service but will enjoy the rustic ambiance.  Service is excellent too.

On entering you pass by the open flame grill and notice a very large steak or two under the care of a dedicated cook. Steak is featured on the menu but there is many other dishes which will equally entice. There are also some Argentinean and Chilean wines to chose from. I selected the Argentinean red and found it fragrant smelling, delicious and full bodied. The wife selected Sangria and a seafood dish. She loved the meal but the Sangria was not for her.

The steak was 400g of quality meat and just a tad rare for me but also very flavorsome.  The baked potatoes, which come with the steak, are large and the meal should fill you. Once finished the chef may come out and ask you for a comment. All staff were warm and very friendly making the whole experience excellent and not expensive.  Every aspect of this restaurant is pleasing on a number of levels. To think Frankstonians can now safely try other divers foods not served at McDonalds is heartening. Steak lovers: eat here!

Revisit:  Los Argentinos import a lot of their meat. Once more a good meal at a reasonable price.

Australian Wine Tour and Rochford Winery - Yarra Valley

My daughter gave me an Australian Wine Tour ticket for father’s day. A great gift for a guy who loves wine. Leaving from the Melbourne we headed to the Yarra Valley and visited four wineries. Two were distinctly upmarket, modern and large and two were rustic and quaint. I felt Kellybrook Winery, one of the more rustic cellar doors, really didn’t want visitors. The area around the cellar door is very illkept and there is absolutely nothing inviting about the Winery. A further personal insult was that there was nothing I tasted which I liked. Others shared my opinion. Kellybrook is a successful winery so they must be doing something right, it just wasn’t obvious to me.

Rochford Wines is a modern complex of cellar door, restaurant, gallery, picnic grounds and lookout turret.  Our host was knowledgeable, engaging and an excellent ambassador for Australian wines and Rochfords particularly.  Part of the tour package was to lunch at Rochfords. The meals were selected on the bus on our way to Rochfords so the kitchen could have meals ready after our testing. Many selected the ocean trout. With the meal we got a full glass of one of three wines. Nice.

The crux of this post is to pass comment on the lunch provided by Rochfords. I would think we were treated as any guest in the restaurant that day even though nineteen of us arrived as an organised tour. The trout, possibly the smallest serve I have ever seen, was dry and tasteless. This opinion was shared by those seated near me with the same meal. The trout sat on tabouleh with a green garnish. Left quite hungry and disappointed I managed to scavenge extra bread for a filler.

Rochford wines is worth a visit, it is a grand place and holds many outdoor entertainment events through the year. Go for a tour, a tasting then maybe coffee and cake after. It is worth the effort. Rochfords have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to present an impressive complex. Thay are passionate about their wines and providing a memorable experience for their visitors. The food side of the business needs a revamp. But then I’m basing my impression on one visit.

Rich Curry - Elsternwick Victoria

If asked what is my favorite food style I would have to say Italian. When looking at the amount of Indian food I am eating lately I may have to question myself here. I must admit I’m a sucker for a good curry. Tender lamb in a hot spicy source comes up for order nearly every time. Rich Curry in Glenhuntly Road Elsternwick serves up a very nice curry.

The restaurant is situated in a small group of shops and unless you are looking out for it you will definitely miss it. Evidently it has just changed hands, according to one patron, who also said it was one of the best places to dine in the local area. Though on a Thursday evening there were a few tables occupied I would still book. The restaurant is not all that large and don’t expect to enter the Taj Mahal the decor is plain. Service was excellent, warm and friendly but Ruby of India was in jeans. How hard is to slip into a sari.

The food was excellent from the pappadums, nahm bread to my spicy “Josh”. Saffron rice helped soak-up the source which itself was light, fluffy and lightly scented. My friend (Paul) and I both agreed – Nice. Lucky I have a someone who lives nearby who took me here for the first time. This eat house is definitely on the menu. I just feel a little more “India” in the furnishings and staff would add more spice to the experience. It may be the only ingredient to put this small restaurant on the “must do” list. Don’t miss this place, the food very good.

Baxter Hotel - Baxter, Mornington Peninsula

There are a number of quaint little towns down the Mornington peninsula. No wonder the area is such a tourist magnet. Being near the water on both sides is a double draw particularly during the warmer months. The whole of the peninsula is stunningly beautiful, easily accessible and comparatively inexpensive.

One of the small towns you may not pass through on your journey down the peninsula is Baxter. It is situated only about fifteen minutes drive from Frankston but well off any highways and main roads. Not a lot to see here but they do have a hotel and there is a motel associated with it. The Baxter hotel has been around for some time. Recently it has been extended substantially. It comprises a bar, huge bistro area, pokies and function rooms. Over the weekend the Baxter can be hard to get a seat being very popular and the only hotel in the area. Book in advance.

On a recent visit with family and friends we both ate and had a few drinks. We took up two large tables in the new and expansive bistro area. For such a busy and popular hotel they only have a single queue for taking meal orders. It is not unusual to line up for over thirty minutes to order your meal. I have seen the queue nearly out the door of this large hotel. Doubling the size of the bistro should have instigated the addition of another till allowing two shorter queues to order food. But strangely this has not happen.

You would think that after spending so much time in the queue and subsequent waiting for the meal to arrive you would be treated to some excellent food. Unfortunately this is not the case. My meal of veal parijiana and chips was tasteless and chips were soggy and floury. Asking some of the others about their meal brought similar comments. My wife’s salmon was uncooked and inedible. She waited far too long for it to be served well after others had finished theirs.

Don’t expect any unusual or exciting beers on tap because there are none, just the usuals. The live entertainment for the night was a single male singer singing 60s, 70s, and 80s hits to recorded backing tracks while he played guitar. As the night progressed he got louder and louder to point where we were yelling at each other at the table to be heard. We were well back from the “entertainment”. The Baxter, a few years back, was the place to go for good food and had a country and friendly feel about it. Not anymore. Check it out for yourself but there are better pubs on the peninsula. I wouldn’t waist my leisure time here.

Beewah Hotel - Beewah Queensland

While holidaying near the sunshine coast in north Queensland my wife and I decided to try a local pub meal. Beewah is a small town near the Landsbrough/Mooloola Valley area. The Beewah Hotel is a real oldie but has a modern makeover both inside and out. Should you visit take a look at the photos displayed inside the hotel of the early days of the hotel and area.

Like most pubs there is a bar, bistro and outdoor area. We found a table in the bistro area close to a window for a view of the side street. On tap you expect Queensland beers like XXXX which everyone drinks who lives in the state. Even Victorians living in QLD drink XXXX. But on tap were some Sydney beers. Tooheys Old and New? I was surprised. Of course XXXX was there and a few CUB beers. Just to go against the grain and I rarely get the chance to drink it on tap, I went for the Tooheys Old. A dark beer with a stout-like flavour, rich and a slightly bitter finish.

While staying with my daughter in the Mooloola area we had a steak meal consisting of the biggest steaks I have ever seen. The “Bushman’s cut” will see steaks as big as your plate begging to be eaten. The meat in the area appears a speciality and I’m told it comes from the “high country”. Not sure where that is but I’m grateful it exists because the meat is first class. Steaks featured heavily on the hotel menu so I felt compelled to indulge. But first I asked one of the kitchen staff if the meat was frozen and tenderised. I’m told it comes in fresh each day its not tenderised. I find tenderising allows the meat to dry while cooking. On the menu it did state the meat was “tender stretch”.

Regardless the meat was excellent and the meal big and hearty. The steak (rump for me, scotch for the good lady) was juicy and tender and perfectly cooked for me-medium to medium rare. A glass of red made for a good night out and a fine meal in pleasant surroundings. Drop in and take on a local steak. You will leave feed and watered and very satisfied. Beewah.