Lee and Nola hosted a small number of Rita's family at Farm Gate today for a brilliant lunch - and impressed us all 100%. As is usual in our family, we all ordered something different, then proceeded to swap food around, tasting everyone elses. Lots of oooohs and ahhhhhs ensued!
Dad, on the recommendation of Nola, ordered Lee's Bangers and Mash (a meal he commented more than once before it arrived that he'd never normally order in a fit!! He said this whilst giving Nola the really evil eye, and we all knew with certainty that she'd be in for such a hard time for the rest of his life if it failed to live up to expectations). He absolutely LOVED it - and promptly bought a pack of said sausages from the fridge to take home and have later. I didn't get to taste the bangers so we'll just have to take Dad's word that they were out of this world. Mind you, if you've read my comment on Gobblers post about eating native hen, you might understandably feel doubtful about Dad's tastes in food! It cost $17.50, and according to Dad, was worth every cent and more. His mash was pure silk, and made with butter. Heaven for the old boy!
The meal is described on the menu as pork, sage, garlic and apple sausages, with creamy mashed potato, gravy and tomato chutney. Naturally the bangers are made from Lee's special, hand reared, controversial pigs.
Mum had the Lamb Salad - grilled lemon and oregano marinated lamb backstrap, served with a salad of warm new potatoes, toasted pine nuts, grilled haloumi and spring greens. $17.50
My sister, visiting for a week from Adelaide, had the Mushroom and Thyme Risotto Cakes - which I really loved - which were encased with marinated goats curd and served on a warm zucchini salsa. They were priced at $9 - small; $14 - large. I think hers was a small - as there were two cakes on the plate.
My niece had a meal from the Childrens Menu - homemade linguine napolitano - with a tomato sauce - $6. She totally finished up the plateful so it MUST have been OK - you know how fussy kids usually are!
I had the Fish of the Day - which today was Ocean Trout. It was oven-baked (?) beautifully, served on a bed of shaved fennel and topped with a red capsicum puree. It was absolute perfection on a plate. I can say no more than that. My words and vocab can't possibly do Lee's cooking justice.
Lee also bought out a tiny taster plate of Salmon, on a lettuce bed, and topped with a horseradish cream mix. That too was gorgeous and so tender that you more sucked and swallowed, than chewed and swallowed.
We desserted on 2 servings of Cheesecake and 2 servings of Loganberry Bakewell Tart (pictured above) - both vying for top position, taste-wise. If Lee hadn't been booked out tonight, I swear he would have had the family back again tonight!
We drunk assorted Lucaston Apple Juices and Ashbolt Elderberry drinks, as well as coffees, then dragged our tummies home!
I'll finish off with the promise that you'll love it if you get down there - so do it!
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8 comments:
Bring on Sunday!!!!
I'll agree with your Dads comment re BAngers and Mash. Also the lamb salad. This is what we had when we lobbed up at Farm Gate on opening day.
Mashed tatters are GOOD! As for the lamb salad - I gobbled it up and it was gorgeous.
Sounds great, Rita...I must get along soon.
Great review Rita, I'm sure they'll be wrapped with your ringing endorsment!
BTW, When do they open for dinner?
Gobbler - they open for dinner Fri and Sat nights only - and you MUST book, as you would know!
Well what a fantastic weekend we've had Rita. Sorry I've taken a while to report back but we got home Monday morning and did a quick kitchen renovation. Loving my new orange, purple and red kitchen. You'd have to see it to believe it. Feel like I'm living in a Mexican restaurant. It's a very happy place though.
So to our Huon adventure. After our gorgeous lunch at Divinge on Friday, we ended up having dinner at the Snug Pub of all places. Really craving a steak and my lovely cousins, who we stayed with, suggested there. I had a wonderfully tender eye fillet surf and turf, hubby and Lyndal had a massive t-bone with bacon and diane sauce, and Andrew had good old chicken scnitzel and gravy, all served with masses of chips and fresh salad. Sometimes you just want what you want. It was great. Steaks cooked really well, medium rare, as ordered. A good pub meal.
I cooked brekky for all on Saturday morning, eggs,bacon,pancakes and maple syrup. Mmmmmm. We then spent the day at Kingston Beach with our dogs. Good move considering the weather. A late lunch of fish and chips from Seafood De Mayne was enjoyed by all. Great crumbed trevalla and flake, battered scallops and some calamari. A litle bit expensive and skinny chips, of which I'm not a fan, but the fish was great.
Saturday night Hubby and I ate at The Red Velvet Lounge in Cygnet. What a fantastic place. We only booked in late afternoon but no problem we were told. When we arrived at 7.30 the place was pretty full. After a chat with the waitress, who apologized frequently for keeping us waiting, she mentioned that we were the only people to actuslly make a booking that night, so they weren't expecting to be so busy. After chatting to a few eating houses in the area over the weekend, this seemed to come up quite often. Lack of staff and/or seating etc. due to no one feeling the need to book in advance. Just because it's out of the city a bit do people not feel the need?
Sunday morning we were all up bright and early for our much antcipated breakfast at Farm Gate. Oh how I adore that place! Three of us had the full brekky. Eggs, toast, gorgeous bacon,chipolatas,homemade baked beans, and mushrooms. What a delight. Hubby had French toast with bacon and adored it. Like you Rita, once we saw the lunch menu, we just wanted to stay. Lee came over and said Hi and made our day. Not so much when he told us had we asked he would have made a tasting plate for us. Groans all round. What a great reason to return. Like you I can't praise this place and Lee highly enough. Can't wait to get back.
We spent the rest of the morning at Peppermint Bay, lazing around on great big cushions on the lawn, drinking wine and Moo Brew. Heaven.
Must get back for a meal soon.
Had a late lunch at Pecora. A bit of a cheese tasting first, then sat down with a bottle of Pinot. Had arancini with a meat ragu for a shared entree. Adored by all. Hubby and Andrew both had pork neck with a parsnip puree, {I licked the plate}. Lyndal had octopus pappardelle which she loved and I had a salad of zucchini and squash, shared with Hubby with the promise of half his pork, which was divine. The produce used was of the highest quality and this was let to shine through. I found it quite different to what we'd usually have. Again as I said the quality of the produce shone. I spent a small fortune on verjuice, cheese, mutton sausage and such to bring home. A unique dining experience.
And so our tour ended. So sad. Can't wait to get back and change brekkys for lunches or dinners.
We thouroughly enjoyed it. Thank you Gobbler and Rita for your recommendations. We also visited lots of places and checked them out for our next visit.
Huon area and all who live, work and feed us there, thankyou for having us. May you live long and prosper.
Christina - I'm SO glad you had such a lovely time in your Huon/Channel trip. Sounds like you might be as big a convert as I am!
Danie and Peter at Divinge are delightful, aren't they?
And Lee is gorgeous at Farm Gate.
Glad you also went to Pecora, and now understand what we've been on about with the sublime flavours of Luke's food.
And I know exactly what you're saying about spending a small fortune on the verjuice, cheese etc - I have done that there too. Just can't resist the produce. Also their Grandvewe Pinot Paste is gorgeous - with the cheeses.
I was tempted by the pinot paste Rita, but as I make my own quince jelly every year, thought this year I could maybe add our friends Pages Creek pinot and see how that goes. If it works out okay I'll be in touch so you can sample.
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