Home Hill is like a home away from home for Rita, being a Huon girl from babyhood to late-teenagehood, as well as having gone to school with Rosemary and Terry who own and run Home Hill.
Hence I approached my lunch at Home Hill today with much personal trepidation. I was really praying that my meal would be wonderful, and that I would be able to report back here that I most highly recommended this restaurant to all and sundry. I needed it to be fabulous. I needed NOT to have to be reserved in what I said about my experience eating there.
Well – it’s all good. My meal there WAS indeed fabulous. It was more than fabulous. It was gorgeous. It was fantastic.
I took Restaurant Manager son there, as he hadn’t been before, and I like to educate my children properly. He was bowled over – by the actual premises itself; by the food, by the menu; by meeting my best friend from schooldays, Rosey; by tasting their new and about-to-be-released sparkling rose named Ms Daisy after one of Rosey and Terry’s grandchildren; by the whole ambience of the venue.
We ate:
Entrees
Honey brown mushroom risotto drizzled with truffle oil - $19.50 (Divine)
Braised local ox tail on green pea puree with seared scallops - $18.50 (Out of this world, particularly the pea puree)
Mains
Market fish (which today was stripey trumpeter, and is pictured above) poached in cuvee with leek & carrots on a bed of celeriac mash and mussels - $29.50 (I was pretty full by this stage following the risotto, and couldn't do this meal justice but it was beautiful)
Char grilled eye fillet on gratin potato with mushroom jus - $31.00 (Son pronounced it faultless)
We were too full for any of the gorgeous sounding desserts, all priced at $11.50, so settled for one each of their Pinot Chocolates (which they also sell by the box – great for a present) - $2.50 each.
Most staff there are well known to Rita. Kelly, Rosey and Terry’s daughter who is married to Kumar, of Casablanca fame, as well as Meagan, who previously worked at Home Hill then moved to Pear Ridge along with her chef husband Craig, and both have now returned to Home Hill.
To sum up, it’s like returning home for a beautiful meal. I highly recommend that if you haven’t been there, you need to go. If you have been there, go again and check out their new winter menu – which kicked off today!
Hence I approached my lunch at Home Hill today with much personal trepidation. I was really praying that my meal would be wonderful, and that I would be able to report back here that I most highly recommended this restaurant to all and sundry. I needed it to be fabulous. I needed NOT to have to be reserved in what I said about my experience eating there.
Well – it’s all good. My meal there WAS indeed fabulous. It was more than fabulous. It was gorgeous. It was fantastic.
I took Restaurant Manager son there, as he hadn’t been before, and I like to educate my children properly. He was bowled over – by the actual premises itself; by the food, by the menu; by meeting my best friend from schooldays, Rosey; by tasting their new and about-to-be-released sparkling rose named Ms Daisy after one of Rosey and Terry’s grandchildren; by the whole ambience of the venue.
We ate:
Entrees
Honey brown mushroom risotto drizzled with truffle oil - $19.50 (Divine)
Braised local ox tail on green pea puree with seared scallops - $18.50 (Out of this world, particularly the pea puree)
Mains
Market fish (which today was stripey trumpeter, and is pictured above) poached in cuvee with leek & carrots on a bed of celeriac mash and mussels - $29.50 (I was pretty full by this stage following the risotto, and couldn't do this meal justice but it was beautiful)
Char grilled eye fillet on gratin potato with mushroom jus - $31.00 (Son pronounced it faultless)
We were too full for any of the gorgeous sounding desserts, all priced at $11.50, so settled for one each of their Pinot Chocolates (which they also sell by the box – great for a present) - $2.50 each.
Most staff there are well known to Rita. Kelly, Rosey and Terry’s daughter who is married to Kumar, of Casablanca fame, as well as Meagan, who previously worked at Home Hill then moved to Pear Ridge along with her chef husband Craig, and both have now returned to Home Hill.
To sum up, it’s like returning home for a beautiful meal. I highly recommend that if you haven’t been there, you need to go. If you have been there, go again and check out their new winter menu – which kicked off today!
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8 comments:
Sounds nice but expensive Rita. Is it worth it?
That's not expensive, just idicative of the price it costs to do (restaurant) business these days.
anon please tell me you were joking! You would be lucky to get out of a pub spending less than that. If you are strapped the question is should I spend it there or is there somewhere better?
anon please tell me you were joking! You would be lucky to get out of a pub spending less than that. If you are strapped the question is should I spend it there or is there somewhere better?
I ate there a while back.
Loved-
The building, the room, the outlook, the fact that its attached to a winery & its location.
Liked-
The food style, I think its a good spread of dishes to please many people.
Could be better-
The noise level. The waitress we had was barely audible as was the conversation at out table.
The undercooked potatoes on two of our mains.
The infifferent greeting at the door(this was not the owner)
The terribly ill-informed backpacking waiter-Dont mind newbies but make sure they at least have an idea on whats available & what they serve.
Hated-
The entree tasting plate-A joke @ $18 or so from memory. It consisted of:
Half a grilled & sliced lamb fillet, unadorned & unseasoned
One small roe-less scallop the size of my thumb nail
A small pot of smoked trout pate(OK)
Four slices of stale, not properly leavend bread
One tasteless vegetable spring roll cut into halves
One gritty oyster
I may have missed a component but that was it-very poor quality & extremely expensive
Anon 8.09 - so sorry about your 'hated' experiences at HH. I'm sure if management had been around at the time, they would have been more than happy to rectify the situation, and listen to your complaint. Rosey is always alert for customers who may not be happy, and would be upset to know someone left feeling the way you obviously do.
I've spoken to her a few times about complaints she has received and she has consistently expressed sadness that her attention hadn't been drawn to those issues at the time in question, as opposed to via email or phone call after the actual event.
Its a good point you make Rita about bringing this to the attention at the time to the owner.
It was one of those moments that said a lot about the place on that day & frankly it shocked us. I was not the person paying for the meal so it was not my place to complain but everyone at the table looked dissappointed & we all knew that this dish could havebeen much better & better value for the price.
The guests left the next day, possibly with a less than favourable impression of the place. Is this fair? Maybe not.
I will go back but when I pay I do speak up.
Went to Home Hill for lunch today. We had a reservation which was just as well as they were fully booked.
"Grandma" and my consort both went for the Moroccan-style braised chevon with prunes and
preserved lemon, on a bed of apricot and pinenut couscous ($26.00). I went for the House aged local eye fillet beef with honey, root vegetables and seeded mustard jus ($32.50).
Food and service were most excellent.
We had never been there before so were particularly impressed by the building and the setting as well as the food.
We passed on "pudding", as the decibel levels were starting to exceed "Grandma's" tolerance level and retired instead to the Cygnet IGA for a brace of Streets Magnums.
I asked Rosemary when they would be shifting from the "Spring" menu to the "Summer" one. "When summer arrives" she said with a wink.
OK, I made the wink bit up.
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