The Cellar Restaurant

OK, so I promised that today I would tell you about some of the other things that Fiona and I did on our weekend away.

On Saturday night, we ate at The Cellar Restaurant at Hunter Valley Gardens. We used a shuttle bus services called Vinyard Shuttle Service that took us from Cypress Lakes to the restaurant, then picked us up and took us back to our villa door when we had finished. It cost us $15 a head, but I'd highly recommend the service as the perfect way to enjoy a dinner away from your hotel without worrying about the drive home. The driver gave us a little card with a mobile number on it, and when we asked for the bill we rang the mobile number to let our driver know we were ready to be picked up. By the time we'd settled our account and put our coats on, the shuttle was outside waiting for us. Perfect!

We absolutely loved our experience at The Cellar. After looking over the menu, we decided to go for the Chef's Tasting Menu, which allowed us to choose 3 entrees, each served with a (generous) glass of matched wine. It also included coffee and petit fours to finish.

I chose the Goat's Cheese Souffle, which was served with Pinot Grigio, the Prawns with Chardonnay, and the Duck and Fois Gras Terrine with Pinot Noir. All excellent!

Fiona had Scallops with Champagne, the Souffle, and Quail with Shiraz (? sorry can't remember!).

We both thoroughly enjoyed the varied flavours and textures that came with each dish, and felt that the wines chosen were well matched and enjoyable.

And the restaurant had an open fire, so we were warm enough!

A lovely time was had by all...