A love story...

I think I’m in love. It’s a very new relationship, and I have to confess it’s long distance, but I’m already planning my next trip to regional Victoria to spend time with my new found love.
Even before we met I thought we might get on – I’d heard great things from friends and yes, I admit, I may have popped the name into google once or twice... Hey, I’m a girl, OK? You’d do the same.

What’s that you’re asking? What is my new love’s name? The Lakehouse in Daylesford. Sigh...

I travelled to Victoria earlier this week on a famil with Tourism Victoria. Amongst all the great stops on the itinerary, as a foodie, the one that really stood out for me was an overnighter, including dinner, at The Lakehouse. This is a restaurant I have wanted to try ever since I glimpsed the hotel through the mist on a previous, very brief visit to the area, several years ago.

Fortunately for the heart on my sleeve, dinner at The Lakehouse didn’t disappoint. From the stunning paintings by co-owner Allan Wolf-Tasker adorning the restaurant walls to the exemplary service from irrepressible restaurant manager Martin, this is a restaurant which impresses. And I haven’t even mentioned the food yet... Oooh la la!

Although the menu isn’t long it’s one of those menus that takes a long time to pore over – lots of information to read (about owner/chef Alla Wolf-Tasker’s philosophy on food and the specialist producers who supply the raw ingredients) and too many delicious-sounding choices. After 10 agonising minutes, I chose the rabbit ragout with forest mushrooms, loin salad and celeriac (have I mentioned that I’ve been dreaming about cooking and eating rabbit lately?) and the lamb done two ways (roast rump and crisp rendered breasts) with white beans, jus Nicoise and the last of summer’s pistou. My companion Carine plumped for the “five tastes from the seas” special and the roast venison loin with bread pudding, heirloom carrots, game parfait, beetroot and elderberry.

Not satisfied that we’d get a real feeling for the restaurant from our “meagre” selections, Martin surprised us with an array of additional dishes from the tasting menu, including a shot glass of diced sashimi-grade tuna served with aioli, apple and salmon roe and quail tempura served with chawan mushi (Japanese custard) and shitake mushrooms. For dessert, which we hadn’t planned on ordering, Martin presented the chocolate special - Gianduja (hazelnut chocolate) mousse, sorbet, pain perdu (chocolate bread and butter pudding) and “soil”.

If I had to choose a favourite dish from the night I would probably plump for the tuna shooter, which was sweet and rich and dazzled with a complexity of flavour that belied its apparent simplicity. Needless to say Carine and I rolled back to our hotel rooms (downhill, fortunately)...

If you get the chance I would definitely recommend splashing out on The Lakehouse. I’m going down to Melbourne in September for a trade show and seriously contemplating a weekend at the hotel beforehand. It’s less than 90 minutes by train from the city and with luxury accommodation, a gorgeous day spa, lakeside walks aplenty and of course, the restaurant, on premises, I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend...