Rock Restaurant Hunter Valley
Recently, we went to Rock Restaurant, located in Poole's Rock Vineyard for Toby's birthday celebration. The food and service was probably too good, as we ended up well and truly over doing it and felt a little ill afterwards.
From the minute we stepped out of the taxi, everything was just lovely. Feeling a little like we were being given the celeb treatment we were greeted by staff the moment we stepped from the taxi.
The evening then went something like this:
Pre-dinner drinks round 2 (round one was at Peppers Guest House)
Entree #1 - Scallop tortellini with swiss brown mushrooms, crisp pancetta and Riesling cream
Entree #2 - Spanner crab with salmon roe (other details I can't remember but it was devine).
Main #1 - Veal tenderloin with herb crouton, white anchovy, red pepper, lemon and caper butter (rich but again beautiful).
Main #2 - Wagyu with creme fraiche (I think), crisp leek.
Sides - rosemary potatoes & spinach
Dessert - Chocolate tart with crème de menthe whipped cream - not sweet enough (almost savory actually) but all was forgiven when a the waitress surprised us with some amazing little sweets on the house. One looked like a chocolate truffle, but upon tasting it seemed to be dusted with bitter cocoa/coffee with a texture like soft caramel. AMAZING! The second appeared to be a mini clafoutis (baked custard), which was equally as scrumscious.
We drank the night away with all our wine matched to each dish by the sommelier, who by the way was really lovely & made the night extra special.
Cost was about $350 total exl. tip.
Overall food swing score 7/10
From the minute we stepped out of the taxi, everything was just lovely. Feeling a little like we were being given the celeb treatment we were greeted by staff the moment we stepped from the taxi.
The evening then went something like this:
Pre-dinner drinks round 2 (round one was at Peppers Guest House)
Entree #1 - Scallop tortellini with swiss brown mushrooms, crisp pancetta and Riesling cream
Entree #2 - Spanner crab with salmon roe (other details I can't remember but it was devine).
Main #1 - Veal tenderloin with herb crouton, white anchovy, red pepper, lemon and caper butter (rich but again beautiful).
Main #2 - Wagyu with creme fraiche (I think), crisp leek.
Sides - rosemary potatoes & spinach
Dessert - Chocolate tart with crème de menthe whipped cream - not sweet enough (almost savory actually) but all was forgiven when a the waitress surprised us with some amazing little sweets on the house. One looked like a chocolate truffle, but upon tasting it seemed to be dusted with bitter cocoa/coffee with a texture like soft caramel. AMAZING! The second appeared to be a mini clafoutis (baked custard), which was equally as scrumscious.
We drank the night away with all our wine matched to each dish by the sommelier, who by the way was really lovely & made the night extra special.
Cost was about $350 total exl. tip.
Overall food swing score 7/10
Hello Dixie,
ReplyDeleteChris from Adelaide here.
I hope the cost is for a group as 7/10 sounds a bit rough for a $350 dinner, you must have exquisite taste ;) Can't go wrong with Wagyu though.
If you're interested in Australian wines I've just started a site at
www.australianwinejournal.blogspot.com
It's still in development stages but I'd still love to have you on board as a follower. There'll be plenty of news, reviews, opinions and photos posted on a regular basis.
Cheers,
Chris Plummer
Australian Wine Journal
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I'll definitely have a look at your site...I love Australian wine & your content sounds interesting.
Believe it or not, the price at Rock Restaurant was actually for 2 people. Eek!
Cheers
Dixie