Lake House
Kings St. Daylesford, Victoria
03 5348 3329
www.lakehouse.com.au

Recently, I had one of the best meals I have eaten in any restaurant, anywhere, for about five years. And it wasn’t in one of those raved about, swanky places in Sydney or Melbourne.

This four-hour drift on a culinary cloud was in country Victoria. At the Lake House in Daylesford – near Hepburn Springs in hot spa territory.

So brace yourself for a salivating salute. Mrs. Nosebag and I were in harvest heaven. The room, the view of the lake, the ducks and other water birds, painted a great backdrop.

And weather that ranged from rain to hail to sunshine to more rain didn’t hurt. The autumn spectacle actually added to the scenario.

Then the food procession started. Wisely we dined at a leisurely pace while sitting at a corner table surrounded by plump cushions. Also wisely (recklessly? indulgently?) I had them decant a bottle of 2002 Penfolds Bin 707.  According to Mrs. Nosebag it was even better than a 1997 Grange we shared over a lengthy dinner at the Radii  at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne on our wedding night.

Officially, we had three dishes – entrée, main, dessert – but they kept bringing along palate cleansers and taste bud teasers between courses. Things like a small cup of wild mushroom and truffle soup.

For entrée I gambled on a dish I had never heard of called a “ blinchiki”. I figured it was a derivative of “ blini” ( a Jewish crepe) and I was right. It was stuffed with wild rice, mushrooms, chestnuts and some truffled chestnut soup.

The Lake House smoked trout sausage also looked appealing with smoked Skipton and a potato pancake.

For a main course my vegetarian/fishetarian partner had a vegetarian dish. Several tubes of  wrap encasing a range of cubed and sliced vegetables and chestnuts with a smattering of hazelnuts around the plate. Obviously it was chestnut season.

I had marinated rabbit fillets in Tunisian pastry. I love rabbit and this “ spiced rabbit braise” was great. It was served with “garnishes of labna”. At first glance I thought it said “ garnishes of labia” but we won’t go there.

A long break before fronting up for desserts. We skipped all the sweet stuff and went for a selection of cheeses:  the Enterprize Double Brie

(hand made and buttery in taste) the Meredith Blue  (milder than I usually like but well-balanced and good texture) and the washed rind style King River Gold from Milawa.

I know that because Executive Chef, Alla Wolf-Tasker refreshingly tries to source his food from local producers.  Pork, eel, yabbies, prosciutto. . Cheese, chutney, cherries, blueberries, apples, eggs, bread, tea, chestnuts, lavender.

They are all listed in the menu. It means the Lake House is a 24-carat customer for local farmers. It is also a 24-carat restaurant. As I said – one of the best meals I have had anywhere in about five years.

Postscript:  The Bin 707 cost $165.  Expensive?  Not when Mrs. Nosebag decided to quietly surprise me with a bottle to drink at home. Dan Murphy’s – home of the cheapest wine bargains in town –had it listed at $135. And they only had it left in two of their fifty stores.