My cousin and her (new!) fiance came to visit us in Sydney from Hong Kong a few weeks ago. My cousin in particular has quite an interest in wine. She spent several months working in a beautiful winery in France during the harvest season – it was very hard work, she tells me. During her time there she learned a lot about wine, but she was quite unfamiliar with Australian wines from the Hunter Valley. So we decided to pop up there for the day, check out some wine, explore the region and eat some good food too!
I find a lot of the restaurants in the Hunter Valley extremely expensive. I hazard to say that the equivalent in Sydney would be a bit cheaper! But MUSE KITCHEN is a great option if you’re not looking to pay over $40 for a main. That’s not to say it’s cheap, but it’s definitely more bearable.
First up we shared some beautiful House baked rye sourdough bread, Lescure butter ($9). Still warm from the oven! I just love when you can taste the freshness, and there’s nothing like that perfect crust crunch and warm gooey bread inside. I hadn’t heard of Lescure butter before, but a quick Google tells me that it’s from France and has a great reputation. We also enjoyed some Marinated local olives ($8) which were served warm. Very delicious on a rather windy day!
Unfortunately we were in a bit of a rush, so we headed straight for the mains. My cousin and I both had the Pan fried market fish, yellow zucchini, horseradish, millet, avruga ($36). From memory it was barramundi, which is always a good choice. The horseradish was actually grated on top of the dish, and delivered a surprising kick with every mouthful. If you don’t like wasabi or that kind of ‘heat’, I wouldn’t recommend having this dish!
Avruga is a beautiful black caviar made from herring, that’s not actually caviar because it doesn’t contain fish roe. You can sort of see the little black balls in the first picture at the top. What I loved most about this dish is the generous amount of vegetables that came with it. I think it’s always important to have a balanced meal and not just deliver a piece of fish or meat and expect diners to order a side!
DS had the Berkshire pork neck, spiced fruits, roasted cauliflower ($36) with absolutely no complaints there. My cousin’s fiance had the Roasted chicken breast, brassica vegetables, black garlic almonds ($36). This dish looked a little dry to me but there were actually no complaints here either! I guess I always think it’s hard to get chicken breast right.
Next time, I’d love to be able to have some of the desserts – they sounded beautiful! The wonderful setting of MUSE KITCHEN within the Keith Tulloch Winery and the renovated barn also makes a trip worthwhile. I would definitely recommended it as a lunch pit-stop on your Hunter Valley journey. It’s good food that’s not overly fancy or stylised, so there’s something for everyone.
MUSE KITCHEN
KEITH TULLOCH WINERY
HERMITAGE ROAD & DEASYS ROAD
POKOLBIN, NSW 2320
www.musedining.com.au/