Lake House - Daylesford

Without doubt, the Lake House restaurant is one of Australia’s regional gastronomic success stories and until my lunch booking was a restaurant I had not been to in quite some time. The intention on this visit was to sit back, relax and enjoy all that was on offer. We handed over all decision making to Adam and Aaron, who proceeded to take us on a wonderful food and wine journey.

As we were in no rush, we started with two glasses of bubbles (Mid Hill 2004 Blanc de Blanc from Macedon). The fresh lively nature of this wine served as a wonderful aperitif.

To follow, my lunch companion selected an entrée consisting of Carpaccio of Kingfish, scallop dumpling lemongrass, ginger shellfish broth. This was paired with a glass of Heymann-Lowenstein Schieferterrassen Riesling (Mosel). I selected the new world tapas, consisting of mussels in warm chorizo dressing, escabeche of fresh sardines, serrano jam on olive gelee, ‘gazpacho’. The accompanying glass of Castro Martin Albarino (Rias Baixas, Spain) was just delightful.

A glass of Curly Flat Rose 2007 (Macedon) was suggested with the main of goats cheese tart, baked ratatouille and smoky eggplant puree. I had a sample of both the wine and the dish and loved both. My main consisted of a loin of summer lamb roasted in a compote of sweet peppers and olives, sage anchovy fritters, boulangere potatoes, gremolata salt. The wine recommendation was a glass of Craiglee Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Sunbury), which was a wonderful match to a delicious meal.

By the time we had finished our mains and our wine it was quite late in the afternoon, and we decided to end the experience there. All that remained was a leisurely stroll around the lake, so that is what we did. Needless to say we were both very content with our experience and would highly recommend a visit for lunch or dinner to those who have never been or like me have not visited for some time.

Thank you to Adam and Aaron for a great afternoon!