We arrive and are quickly shown to a lovely table with a window view and in spite of the rain and the dark velvety night sky, we can still see waves moodily hit the shore. It takes some time to get drinks ordered, menus, food ordered etc but eventually we get there and the slowness does pick up over the course of the night. I like our waitress as she's friendly and efficient whilst being reassuringly experienced at her trade and I relax in her expertise.
I loved the meatiness of the pork and the broth it came with and then the delicate sweetness of the marron. I loved that the whole dish still felt light and it didn't make me feel like I'd over eaten.
Steve enjoyed his partridge especially the pie. Classic cooking and the pie was excellent apparently.

With all this great food we enjoyed a beautiful bottle of wine recommended by the sommelier as being pretty special - Lodestone Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula. It was delicious - silky smooth with hints of cherries. Loved it!
Oh we loved both. I have to admit I expected he bombe to be more circular with spikes of piped meringue and kind of spikey hedgehog looking as opposed to a slice reminiscent of Arctic roll but it was still enjoyable.
The salted caramel concoction was really well balanced. I'm not a huge chocolate dessert lover and can find it overly cloying an sweet but this was less about the sugar and more about fragrant cocoa and lovely caramel.
I thoroughly enjoyed our meal at The Stokehouse. It was reminiscent of our great dinner we had in South Africa at The Harbour House. It's classic cooking but not boringly so and if given the opportunity I'd happily return.