North-east Victoria

NORTHEAST Victoria is a great place to get good food. I discovered two great places to eat on a recent trip there, the first in the town of Milawa.

Brown Brothers is a winery which has a restaurant as well, the Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre. The restaurant makes it a real food and wine destination. After we sat down, I was served the best apple juice I've ever had. It was from the nearby town of Beechworth. Then the food arrived.

For the entree we had several small dishes, the first being prawns in brik pastry with braised chorizo. The prawns tasted very good and the braised chorizo added to it and made it even better.

Next we had duck salami which had great flavour, followed by venison tartare. This was probably my least favourite of the starters because I'm not a huge fan of raw meat.

For the mains, Dad and I ordered roast duck and braised duck leg, plus prime sirloin with a red wine jus. The roast duck was quite nice but it was a bit tough, and the braised duck leg was similar but also tough.

I didn't have much of the steak but I wish I had because it was beautifully cooked.

The second place we ate at was Wardens Food & Wine and it's in Ford St, Beechworth (pictured above). In my opinion, this is a one of the best restaurants in Victoria.

To start with I ordered saffron gnocchi, which tasted great. The saffron taste was not overpowering. My dad had king prawns with a spiced pork polpette. He said it was great which is a bit bad considering I didn't get to try any of it.

For the main meal we ordered loin of lamb with a roasted garlic sauce and a grain-fed porterhouse steak with a caramelised onion sauce. The lamb was beautifully cooked and the sauce was magnificent - that garlic was great.

Next I tried the porterhouse steak which again was beautifully cooked and once again the sauce was great. The beef was just better than the lamb in my opinion.

Wardens is a great restaurant and in my opinion could soon be better than other great Victorian restaurants such as The Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld.

- James

Milawa Gourmet Region

Our guest blogger Janice tripped up the highway to the North East to sample the delights of Milawa.

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Restaurant Merlot
Milawa-Bobinawarrah Rd, Milawa
Ph: 03 5720 5777
Open: Buffet breakfast every day, Dinner Thurs – Sun from 6pm, Lunch Fri – Sun

Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre
239 Milawa-Bobinawarrah Road, Milawa
Ph: 03 5720 5540
Open: 12 – 3.30pm daily

THERE'S saying that everything tastes better in the country. Well, in a little town about 2.5 hours Northeast of Melbourne, this saying certainly rings true.

We decided to escape dreary Melbourne for the weekend, and head up to the well-known foodie town of Milawa. Our first stop when we arrived in town was at the renowned Milawa Cheese Factory, which also conveniently incorporates a restaurant, café, chocolate shop, cellar door and art gallery.

After devouring a sumptuous pizza topped with 3 of the finest local cheeses, we loaded up the car with armfuls of local produce and headed to Lindenwarrah Resort, where we would be spending the night.


We allowed ourselves a brief recoup before we headed down to dinner at Restaurant Merlot, the in-house restaurant at Lindenwarrah(below right). Admittedly I was sceptical at first, after having less than favourable experiences with in-house restaurants in the past, but I was soon relieved to find Merlot could definitely hold it’s own in the restaurant stakes. Beautiful décor, a picturesque view overlooking their private vineyard and a menu proudly driven by local produce certainly set the scene for a memorable dinner.


For entrée I had decided on the twice cooked soufflé (again with local cheeses), and my partner the parpadelle with roasted beetroot and confit duck. Mains for me was a beautifully tender slow cooked lamb, although my fork was also spending a lot of time in my partner’s dish, who had the fillet steak with a broad bean & potato mash, merlot jus and topped with an onion jam pastry round on top. In a rare moment of unity we were both agreeing that it was one of the best steaks we had tasted in a very long time.

A lack of ambience was the restaurant’s only real downfall; however this could be partly attributed to the fact that it was only approximately a third full whilst we were there.
The next morning, after a hearty hot country breakfast at the hotel, we headed out across town to sample the local produce and stock up the boot even more. The small town is jam packed with local produce suppliers, including an Olive Grove, Apiary (honey farm), Mustard Shop and several boutique wineries.

However the pinnacle of our weekend was undoubtedly lunch at the Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre, which was established as a food complement to the winery in 1994. Warm and cosy, you can easily get lost for several hours grazing your way through the inspiring menu.

The menu diverges slightly from your stock standard model. It focuses around showcasing Brown Brothers varietals through pairing with a selection of seasonal dishes (again dominated by local produce). The menu is separated into two sections – savoury or sweet. Pricing is straightforward - $42 per person for 2 courses and matching wine, $14 for each subsequent course.

Our waiter was extremely helpful and accommodating, and when we suggested we would like to share dishes between us, he offered to bring out half glasses of the matched wine for each of us so we could both participate in the “true” experience.

After much deliberation, we ended up settling on 4 savoury dishes - Crispy Cod Cake served with Jerusalem Artichoke Skordalia and Pan Fried Murray Cod (2008 Pinot Grigio), House made Ricotta and Bread Gnocchi served with Roasted Goat’s Curd and Chervil Pesto (2007 Everton White), Char-grilled Pork Kassler (a.k.a. smoked and salted pork steak) with salted cabbage and a potato puree (2005 Barbera) and a Traditional Cassoulet with Lamb, Italian Sausage and Pork Belly (below, left) with the 2006 Nero D’Avola.



We somehow managed to also squeeze in a couple of mouthfuls of the sweet dishes we ordered, Quince Bavarois and Walnut Bread with (more!) Local Cheese, before squeezing ourselves back into the car for the drive back home.

If you’re looking to escape the rat race for a day or two, venture up to Milawa and be inspired by the amazing produce available in our own backyard.

Restaurant Merlot 7.5/10

Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre 9/10

- Janice (guest blogger)