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Clairault - Margaret River

7/10/2011

Our last meal in Margaret River was a hit and took place at Clairault. Last minute decision and we were in the area so decided to stop by. It was a grey and rainy day so we sat inside. The decor and set out is not as picturesque or as classy as Leeuwin but it's still a good place to enjoy a meal. It has more of a bistro feel rather than fine dining.

Service was super friendly and genuinely warm both by the hostess and our waiter.

Being piggies ourselves, we decided to share the "three little pigs" tasting plate comprising of pork rillettes, ham hock parsley terrine, pork + fennel sausage, pickles.

Presented on a wooden board it looked delicious and accompanied by a glass of chardonnay we were set. The warm pork and fennel sausage comprised of three good hunks in a little ramekin on top of some lentils. I'm not a huge lentils fan as I find them a bit sandy and tasteless but these were flavoured with some sort of stock and were delicious as were the sausage chunks.

The pork rillettes were a soft, gooey mess of shredded pork and the terrine a firmly pressed hunk of pork goodness. Great contrasts all from the same animal. The accompanying bread; we had both foccacia and baguette were great with the terrine and rillettes and the pickled zucchini was a great palate cleanser that just cut through the richness of all that porkiness. Thoroughly enjoyable.

For main coursese I had deliberated between a lamb dish and the Kimberley banana prawn, javanese yellow curry, steamed green papaya with rice. My Chinese roots were too strong and I went for the rice. It was a beautiful tongue tingling curry with lots of fresh coriander which is my fave herb. Super tasty and the prawns were bigger and meatier than the ones I'd had at Leeuwin Estate the day earlier. Yumtastic!

Steve chose to go with butter and chardonnay poached Baldivis rabbit, parmesan gnocchi, broad beans with pancetta. He declared it very good, tender and enjoyed that it retained its moisture from the poaching.

The meal from start to finish was excellent and the calibre of the food made it good value for money.

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Leeuwin Estate

6/10/2011

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We decided to have a slap up lunch at Leeuwin Estate and took a table on the deck where we enjoyed the view of the grounds and the sunshine.

Service was friendly and attentive. Other customers seated around us seemed happy and enjoying their food. Atmosphere was relaxed yet indulgent at the same time. The environment was peaceful. All felt good with the World!

I enjoyed roasted banana prawns with chimichurri and radish and Steve went for seared Abrolhos Island scallops, crispy hock, tamarind and mangosteen. The prawns were delicious. Fairly pricey dish for 4 prawns though. The chimichurri looked fiery but was actually made from sweet red peppers / capsicums rather than chilli so it was wasn't actually spicy. The radish neither added or detracted from the dish so not entirely necessary.

Steve enjoyed the crispy hock and little mound of scallops which were probably three scallops sliced into more discs to make it look more. Neverthless each disc in spite of being thinner than a whole scallop was cooked well.

Main courses were Rangers Valley 300 day grain-fed scotch fillet, potato and raclette soufflé,
porcini butter, local asparagus for me and a hefty portion of smoked free-range pork ribs, sticky BBQ sauce, apple and cider slaw and roasted peanuts for Steve.

The ribs looked impressive and smelt great. There wasn't that much meat on them though and although tasty I couldn't help but feel the flavourings could have been a little more interesting perhaps with some spicing. I thought the peanuts were a good addition though.

The steak was tender and although didn't look the most appetising was a good cut of meat. The butter lacked seasoning so I added some salt. The griddled asparagus was delicious which just enough char flavour coming out to complemen the iron taste of the vegetable. The texture of the souffle was perfect but also lacked seasoning.

It's a good winery for lunch but we found better value at Clairault so yes it is one I'd recommend but there are other good options about in the region too.

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Augusta Bakery and Café - Augusta

6/10/2011

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A coastal drive calls for a morning tea stop and having read good things about the Augusta Bakery, it seemed rude not to stop by when passing through.

I went savoury with a pie and after much deliberation Steve ordered a scone with jam and cream. Two scones arrived! They were warm though and very light and fluffy - almost like sponge cake. The pie was tasty too and I'm not a pastry fan but this pastry was yummy and the pastry to filling ratio was spot on.

This little gem is great. There's some outside seating and inside there are good window seats with views of the ocean. I had a quick look at the bakery section and the sandwiches and other goodies looked delicious. Excellent stop to stock up on some picnic goodies to explore the coastline.

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Hayshed Hill Deli - Margaret River

5/10/2011

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We were taken to Hayshed Hill for lunch as part of our wine tour. The deli / café is housed in a big warehouse type building made with corrugated tin and a cement floor. It's a large airy space that is sparsely decorated with some works of art on the wall but it presents an airy and bright environment to sit in. The deli counter has an impressive cheese selection with various local and imported specimens.

Steve and I opted for two pizzas:

Margeret River venison chorizo, cherry tomato, Yarra Valley chevre, spanish onion
Selection of gourmet cured meats & rocket

And we enjoyed a big bowl of salad greens, lemon dressing and salted ricotta to keep things light! The pizzas were delicious. The dough was thin and crispy but at the same time with enough chew. The toppings were generous. One comment would be the venison chorizo didn't really stand out as venison and could have have been any type of salami / cured meat but it was still tasty.

It was an excellent lunch and the service was friendly so a great option for casual dining in the area.

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Must Wine Bar - Margaret River

4/10/2011

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It seemed that Must was THE place to dine in Margaret River so Steve and I headed there on our first night. I'd tried to call earlier in the day to make a reservation but had to leave a message and no one returned my call so we thought we'd chance it.

We walked in about 7pm ish and there were people sat at tables but the place wasn't too busy. We were greeted by a non smiling waitress who asked us if we had a reservation. I explained I'd try but didn't get a call back. In response, she gave me a hard look and said, "Sure; well we're full in the restaurant but choose somewhere to sit in the bar area" and waved her arms around gesturing to the two bar areas - one by the front window and another actually by the bar and then she turned and left us to it. Not exactly a warm or friendly greeting and having been brought up in hospitality, I'm a great believer in if you don't know how to smile, you shouldn't work in hospitality.

Anyway we were excited by the food and the ambience and decor was nice. I liked the suspended light shades made from empty wine and spirit bottles and I also liked the suspended gas fire in the bar area.

We took our seats and waited...and waited...and waited... No one came to help us or welcome us. If it hadn't been raining outside, I'd have left. Eventually a male waiter not in uniform walked by and said he'd be with us shortly. Shortly came and went. So I decided to get up and help myself to a menu. As I stood by the area where the menus were kept looking at all the different leaflets etc there he came by and said; "You're after menus?" To which I replied, "Yes, we've been here 20 minutes and had no welcome, no water and no assistance." His response was lacklustre...something about it being hard to get round everyone and there was definitely no apology. And the restaurant was even all that full!

Anyway, we browse the menu and the waiter / maitre d' comes over and seems very bored when we place our order. Our order and therefore bill is pretty substantial - 2 starters, 2 main courses and a good bottle of wine as well as 2 pre dinner drinks. He still isn't impressed and we feel like we need them more than the restaurant needs our custom.

Our appetisers arrive. I must say, looking round the place and at what everyone else is eating, the dishes look and smell fantastic and our's are no exception.

I opted for pan fried gnocchi dish with creme fraiche, parmesan and mixed mushrooms. And Steve has gone for an asparagus with macadamias. breadcrumbs and feta. Both are stunning dishes. The gnocchi is light and fluffy - little pillows of goodness and not gluey or heavy. The mixed mushrooms are truly mixed with all different types including crispy deep fried enoki mushrooms which I've never had like that before.

Whilst the food hasn't exactly exonerated the lack of service, we are pleased to be there and enjoy the delights.

Our main courses were steak for me and duck confit with beetroot risotto for Steve.

The steak was good with a strong chargrilled flavour coming through. It came with a light and creamy bearnaise sauce as well as other condiments including a tasty caramelised onion chutney and a surprisingly fresh and zingy salsa verde. Not a mindblowingly good steak like what I've had at Rockpool but still held the high standards set by the appetiser dishes.

Steve's duck and risotto was also a delight to eat. The sweet beetroot was a great contrast to the duck and it was a dish that was sound and consistent with the standards set.

We discovered that as the restaurant emptied and we worked our way through courses the maitre d' became friendlier! And by the time we ordered a cheese platter to share and end the meal, he even cracked a smile. Ultimately, front of house staff shouldn't mellow with time and should be friendly from the start which takes us to the downsides of this meal.

It's really disappointing and a real shame as this place could be stellar. I guess because it's in Margaret River though, the transient one time tourist trade is one that it claims a huge market share in and therefore doesn't need to rely on repeat custom. If we were to return to MR, I wouldn't necessarily return to Must because of our experience. I feel it rests on its laurels of good food and it survives without good customer service because of its location.

We watched a table of four (family with two kids) get turned away when really there was room for them and it struck me that maybe the front of staff and maitre d' had not stake in the business so felt ok about turning custom away. Having worked in a family business, we tried so darn hard to fit everyone in who wanted to eat there as every patron and every dollar counted.

When surveying the management of the front of house, it doesn't look hard to fix. The maitre d' is run off his feet because he does everything from taking orders to distributing dishes and clearing up and he even makes the drinks so of course it takes him a long time to get round everyone as he said to me. He needs to relax and smile a bit more and someone else needs to make the drinks. The other wait staff need to be allowed or trained to take orders so people aren't waiting for the maitre d' to become free. The unfriendly waitress needs to leave hospitality and find something more in tune with her interpersonal skills. Three easy steps and that's why this disappointing experience is so frustrating...because it could be so much better.

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Clairault - Margaret River

Leeuwin Estate

Augusta Bakery and Café - Augusta

Hayshed Hill Deli - Margaret River

Must Wine Bar - Margaret River

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