This restaurant has undergone a name change in the last twelve months or so and is now known as…read moreCoonawarra Station. We arrived late on a Wednesday evening and were pleasantly surprised to see a number of other diners happily tucking into some amazing looking plates of food (always a good sign when a restaurant in a small town is busy on a Wednesday outside of holiday season). We started by ordering a bottle of wine and some garlic bread and were unfortunately informed that our wine choice was not currently available so we chose another which needed up being better than the first choice anyway! A few moments later our server returned to inform us that unfortunately the chef was out of garlic bread but that they could substitute this dish for the Camembert and Rosemary bread at no extra cost which we did. The bread unfortunately was a little undercooked and doughy however the combination of the sea salt, Rosemary and melted Camembert was delicious! Second course was a filet for him and the dukka crusted barramundi for me. Both portions were very generously sized and perfectly paired with the Majella Shiraz we has ordered! The filet was slightly over cooked but my husband does have a preference for rare steak and the barramundi was paired with roast potatoes and broccolini, two of my favorite vegetables!! We had to walk to the counter to settle the bill (no table service at check time) and were told that the bread appetizer had been complimentary which was a pleasant surprise! If you find yourself wine tasting in the region stop in for dinner or lunch, you won't be disappointed!

Delicious food. great atmosphere. The poor girl serving was run off her feet though.read more

This is an extremely impressive regional restaurant. Our party of five was blown away by aspects…read moreof our experience here last night. We had a great time. First off, the restaurant is located in a lovely attractive old building and then once you enter you're struck by the ample space between tables. In my experience only the best and classiest establishments give you the sort of luxurious distance that Pipers offers. It felt wonderful. We could chat and talk without feeling that nearby tables could hear every or most words we were saying. A small thing, but we really appreciated it. We were greeted very warmly by a lovely young woman from Sonoma in California. She mainly took care of us all night and did so in a calm, friendly and outstandingly efficient way. It makes such a difference if a restaurant has good staff, and this young woman was top draw and is real credit to the place in every aspect. To the all important food. The menu is nicely measured. There's just the right number of dishes listed so it doesn't induce confusion by offering a surfeit of choice. I chose within ten seconds because I'd looked at a few past reviews. I selected the scallops for entree and the eye fillet. These proved to be very wise choices. The scallop entree is I think the best of its type I've ever had the pleasure to have. It was faultless. The other one of our party who has them agreed and was similarly enthused about the quality and presentation of the dish. The scallops themselves were beautifully plump and just magnificently cooked. Presentation of the dish was excellent too - it looked terrific - and the other ingredients totally belonged and complemented the scallops wonderfully. This dish was a tour de force. If I could give it 11 out of 10, I would. It was that good. The eye fillet dish was very good but not quite at the same level as the entree. The meat was very tasty indeed but just slightly over medium rare I thought. There was also a slight oddity about the composition and presentation of this dish where the eye fillet sits atop mashed potatoes with diced carrots off to the side. It just didn't seem to gell to me and had an odd casual thrown together feel about it. This didn't detract from the taste at all as the dish was tasty and I happily ate the lot. I just thought that it could have been a much better dish with a bit more thought. Finally, I had the cheese platter to finish while others had desserts. The cheese platter is a beauty. I'm tired of ordering these in restaurants and being given tiny slivers of cheese and minimal crackers and sometimes very little else. Some people are misers. No such issue here. This is a properly and thoughtfully composed cheese platter. It offers superb cheeses - a hard, a soft and a blue - in decent proportions accompanied with quince paste and muscadelle grapes together with a little peel. It also has some refreshing finely sliced apple. It was most tasty and a great way to finish the meal. A final great thing about this restaurant is that you can bring your own wine. We brought three very good bottles with us. Corkage for each was $10 which we thought was reasonable given prices charged in city restaurants. I did take a peek at the wine list during the night. It's very good. It's not long, but there's very good sensibly priced wines on it. To conclude, we had a thoroughly enjoyable night here. The restaurant itself, the food and the service are all excellent. The end cost was we thought most reasonable for the quality of the experience. I would not hesitate to return and thoroughly recommend the restaurant to others.

A beautiful eating experience. An absolute must if you are in the Coonawarra district of South…read moreAustralia. The starter of local crayfish bisque souffle with seared scallops & garlic was light, fuffy & beautifully presented. The roasted duck with seared Chinese ginger cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, onion jam & sauce cumberland melted in the mouth. The duck was cooked to perfection and fell off the bone. My partner had the roasted eye fillet of local coonawarra beef served medium rare, with potato galette, braised brisket & spinach puree. The meal was punctuated by a small appetizer of steak tarteire on a toasted brioche which came before the entree & was delightful. Warm homemade bread was an added delight. We finished our meal with a duo of house sorbets, mango & melon & mint and the mango brown sugar & dark brown caramel served with coconut tapioca and a toasted savoiardi . Not to be missed.....

Upstairs at Hollick has fine dining pretensions. Regrettably, it's a long way short of that mark…read more The restaurant space is pleasant with a nice view. The food though varies from very ordinary to very good and it is predominantly marked by inconsistency. I selected the pulled duck pancake for entree. However, there was no pancake available, presumably because a staff member had failed to source the necessary ingredients for what is an appropriately small menu. The abridged duck dish was excessively ordinary unfortunately. It consisted of some dry, overcooked and sometimes unpleasant duck on a bed of salad ingredients that looked indistinguishable from a pre cut salad pack that one buys from the local supermarket. The dish may actually have been salvageable with enough sauce but sadly little was provided. My main meal was a complete contrast. I had eye fillet cooked rare. It was done very nicely indeed with ample sauce provided. It was a very good near excellent dish. My wife's gnocchi with beef cheek was reportedly very nice too. She loved it. Dessert for those who had it on the table was near disastrous. Raspberry meringue with pistachio ice cream. The meringue was the size of a golf ball and had an unpleasant burnt taste. The ice cream also barely tasted of pistachio. It did not go down well. On the plus side the wines were very good here with relatively modest markups. The staff also tried hard, with a particular bouquet for a young pregnant staff member from Adelaide who was filling in. All in all, it was $70 a head and wasn't great value overall. On what we've experienced, there's little doubt that Pipers is the best dining option in the area. Pipers is better that Hollick on almost every measure.

Excellent food and great reds to be had here. Showcassing the best of Coonawarra wines, pair your…read morereds or riesling with a delightful array of tapas or the lamb dish or my favourite Stuffed Roast Chicken breast with bacon, vintage cheddar, raspberries and sweet orange brandy sauce! Too good I tell ya! They have an excellent menu here, with fresh produce thrown in and with the best meat in town. The prices are affordable and parents take note, kids under 5 eat for free! Expect to see some Coonawarra beauties here from the numerous labels like Patrick 2010 Wrattonbully Riesling, 2008 Majella Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and more! A perfect place to pick up lunch or dinner when you're staying at a nearby B & B before you head out on the Coonawarra great wine adventure!

A perfect breakfast! The cafe offers a nice food and coffee selection, it was served hot and stayed…read morehot, and quite tasty all around. Staff is very friendly. We enjoyed our food on the outdoor patio, offering both shaded and sunny tables.

Needing to get away from the craziness of the Melbourne Cup long weekend, I took a long drive to…read moreMount Gambier. On the way home, we stopped by Penola and strolled along the main street. Small town but seemed to have a brightness to it. After walking past several shops and cafes, we decided to give Vintage Cafe a go because it was the busiest and there were spots to sit outside in the sun! Service was quick and efficient here and friendly. You go into order and they serve breakfast and mains. I had a chai and the homemade chicken and mushroom champagne pie with chutney. YOu should try this and take home some frozen homemade pies! We took 6 home. Sam had a coffee and tomato/mushroom/egg on toast. It was fresh and the tomatoes were so very sweet and JUICY! The price was reasonable for breakfast and the atmosphere though simply decorated, sitting in the sun having a scrumptious breakfast was a hit.

Stopped in for lunch around 1:15 on a Saturday. We each had a baguette sandwich. My leg ham sarnie…read morewas perfect and my husband loved the beef. Excellent quality and although the baguette wasn't traditional style, it was a nice soft loaf. Simple and delicious -- what we wanted and what they advertise!

Stopped for a coffee. Located in the Main Street. The space is ok. They were hideously busy and…read morepretty much run off their feet. The coffee was reasonable but with no particularly notable pluses. I sort of enjoyed the sit more than the drink itself. Left abruptly. There are world class wineries to visit.

Great food. A regular here, the curries are great and so is the crispy skin pork. Nothing better in…read moreMount Gambier! The owners are very friendly. Sometimes i am a little let down by the service, once they said they ran out of rice so we just wanted to get the meat from the dish and they said they couldnt do this. It was just nonsense. I remember when first coming here they were late opening and made us wait outside while they set up. Should've invited us in. But the fact these minor issues never stops me coming back is a testament to how great the food is, you will not get better.

This is an amazing food place! apparently I'm asian, and I'm telling you I came from asia, i always…read moretell myself that i shouldn't expect majority of asian foods in australia to be equally authentic or delicious. What surprised me was the beautiful flavour of the food from this restaurant, me and my partner started off with lunch on special as a "trial" coz it was cheaper prices, the presentation was perfect with a focus on nice colours and tempting smells - red curry beef for my partner and penang curry beef for myself, if you ask what dishes we ordered. Without hesitation, the taste was one of the best! The waitress was lovely too, she was welcoming and friendly. So, we decided to go back for dinner. It wasn't a big restaurant - probably two rooms or may be three at the most? I'm sure one room was in the front with a few tables which you see after you enter the restaurant. That's where we sat in, in the corner right next to the window. Anyway, we chose to sit in the same spot when we made reservation. We ordered two dishes, one was coming with the combination of duck and crispy pork. again, they were amazing! We tucked in straight away and wished there was more!! The waitress said there are two people who are running this restaurant (i.e. a couple), one is possibly singaporean and the other filipino, the food style was regarded as (asian) fusion. No matter what, I highly recommend this place!

I do seem to rotate between different styles of food, and of course it had come time for some Thai,…read moreand this place turned out to be rather conveniently located, at least to where we were at time time. Look, I'm not necessarily going to consider it to be authentic, but the thing is that they do actually serve up a pretty good curry, and the price isn't all that bad as well. Oh, and another thing, the service turned out to be pretty awesome as wlel. Not a bad place to get a thai fix.

Needed a bite to eat at lunch and dropped in. Place was very booked up but they had room for me so…read moreI was chuffed. Service was fast, friendly, and they had cheap lunch specials. Had a thai green curry for lunch, and was impressed with the size of the chicken pieces! Great meal, highly recommend this place.