Review : Lake House Restaurant & Cellar

King Street
Daylesford, Victoria

Breakfast
Mon to Sun 8am-10:30am

Lunch
Mon to Sun Noon-2:30pm

Dinner
Mon to Sun 6:30pm-9:30pm



One of the reasons Buggles & Squeak were really looking forward to our visit to Daylesford, was lunch at the Lake House.
The day of our lunch was a beautifully cold, drizzly day... which made the long, leisurely lunch we had in mind all the more appealing.

We leave our beautiful Daylesford weatherboard & take a short drive to the restaurant.

On entering the restaurant we were greeted warmly & led to our table in the back corner of the restaurant, overlooking the lake. We were off to a good start....
The bench seating was extremely comfortable, with lots of cushions which made us feel very snug.

The menu consists of about 6 entrees, 6 mains and 6 desserts.

We started things off, once again, with a glass of a Tasmanian Sparkling Wine.

Were were then presented with a lovely Amuse Bouche of asparagus soup. It was rich, silky and completely retained its asparagus flavour. The seasoning was spot on.

Buggles decided on Five Tastes from the Sea to begin with.
This consisted of Scallop and Black Bean Ceviche, Crystal Bay Prawns in tempura with aioli, Tuna Sashimi with an asian salad, Smoky Bay Oyster nam jim and Kinkawooka Mussels  
For the most part Buggles loved this dish....the standouts being the Tuna Sashimi & the Smoky Bay oyster (unusual as Buggles isn't really an oyster fan); the nam jim dressing was particulalrly good. The one disappointment was the Scallop & Black bean ceviche which Buggles found to be a bit bland.

I went with White asparagus, ragout of locally foraged morels, soft polenta and poached duck egg.
This dish was divine. The white asparagus still maintained some crunch, while the morels were beautifully earthy & full of rich flavour and really complemented, the lush & ever so slightly sweet duck egg. The polenta served its purpose of soaking up all that eggy goodness. The dish was perfectly seasoned and incredibly moreish.

For her main course Buggles ordered Pork - brined loin, crisped rolled belly, trotter croquette- finished with a light smoke. It came with a Spring braise of savoy cabbage and peas.

The pork was very moist & Buggles was particularly fond of the belly. The 'light smoke' foam was full of piggy flavour, the one disappointment was the braised cabbage which Buggles found to be a bit flavourless.

I ordered the 'Pot au feu' - poached beef fillet, silverside, smoked tongue, tail dumpling, pickles. Marrow brioche, bouillon and an anchovy mayonaise were served on the side.

One word....spectacular!

The beef fillet was tender and cooked perfectly medium rare. The silverside moist & full of flavour while the tongue, sliced thinly was just like a smoky ham...delicious. The dumpling, similar to a ravioli was filled with rich, sticky tail meat & was very good. The bouillon was sipped rather than poured over the dish & the brioche (my favourite) was filled with lush marrow. A truly remarkable dish.

To accompany our mains we ordered the seasonal dish of local potatoes. On this occasion (luckily) the potatoes were roasted in duck fat. Crunchy on the outside, light & fluffy on the inside. Magnificient.

We followed this with a shared plate of 4 cheeses.
Maffra Cheddar, a French oozy brie, gorgonzola & Holy Goat Black Silk.
Unusually at this point we decided that we would share a dessert. This never happens with us, but we were eyeing off the 'Sweet Indulgences' trolley and sacrifices needed to be made.

Our dessert selection... A plate of Spring Citrus - steamed pudding, curd, ice cream and 'caviar'. The pudding was very moist and a little syrupy, the curd tangy & rich; the 'caviar' were little balls of sweet blood orange jelly. Both Buggles & I enjoyed this very much. 

We needed a bit of a breather as we were determined to tackle the 'Afters'.

I ordered a green tea  & Buggles a flat white....we were then ready.

The Sweet Indulgences are made at the Lake House & included; spiced popcorn, mandarin marshmallows, dark chocolate fudge, brownies & Austrian shortbread.
The spiced popcorn, spicy & caramel coated was divine, the brownies & fudge very rich & indulgent while the mandarin marshmallows were light & melt in the mouth. Well worth giving up a dessert for!

This was one of the most relaxed & enjoyable lunches Buggles & Squeak have had in a long while. All meals were accompanied by a variety of wine selections - all recommended by the waitstaff.

The service was some of the best we have ever encountered....friendly and very knowledgeable on both food and wine.

We both long to return to Daylesford.....and the Lake House.

Squeak