By Franz Scheurer
Probably the most stunning structure in the Hunter,
Robert's restaurant, part of the Tower Estate, is just beautiful. This building
could be in Alsace or Switzerland and might have been built a few hundred years
ago; lived in, seasoned and utterly delightful. Serious wooden beams are
everywhere. They hold up the roof, surround the windows and, combined with the
glorious wooden floors and solid wooden furniture, give the place a feeling of
timelessness. Wonderfully white, heavily starched table linen lift your dining
space out from the dark room, creating a food and wine island that is truly
your own culinary space.
The menu is a bit of a worry, though. Not what’s on
it, but how it is written. A curious mix of French and English (perfect
Franglais, no doubt), without rhyme or reason and with total disregard for both
French and English spelling and grammar, it succeeds to confuse the customer as
to what the dishes really are.
However let the food speak for itself. The ‘House
Charcuterie’ is a generous plate full of house cured olives, home made pickled
vegetables, a superb chicken mousse, a country style brawn, a lovely pork
terrine and a succulent, slightly spicy salami, all made and smoked in-house
and served with crisp rusks of sourdough bread. An entrée of ‘Gnocchi’ turns
out to be light but maybe a touch too sweet and a main course of ‘Veal with
sweetbread ragout and Swiss brown mushrooms’ looks rather drab and smells acrid
due to the fact that they burnt the bone when they grilled the veal chop. The
meat is tough and devoid of good flavours but the ragout is excellent and saves
the dish from being a total disaster. A dessert of ‘Mandarin slice served with
mint sorbet’ was texturally superb and I loved the mandarin slice. The sorbet
was too sweet and provided no contrast.
Service is enthusiastic and friendly, the setting
superb, the wine list appropriate and well priced and the whole experience
enjoyable. Unfortunately the food does let it down a bit and that’s a real
shame. Some highlights, like the charcuterie, show that seriously good food is
within the capability of the kitchen, but it is just not consistent enough.
Score; 6/10
For more information or bookings;
Robert’s at Peppertree
Halls Road
Pokolbin
Tel.: 4998 7330