Van Bone

 Amazing - Well Deserved Reputation!

Van Bone was recently nominated as one of the best new restaurants in Australia by Gourmet Traveller and it SO deserves this rap.  This was our third visit to Van Bone since they opened and we have continued to be impressed by the level of food and service.  The restaurant is in a seriously beautiful setting - looking out over the sea in a gorgeous rammed earth building.  There is an industrial feel to the building yet it is cosy and warm.  The huge windows allow diners to make the most of the view during the degustation dining experience.

Here we are, ready for a lovely family lunch in a beautiful setting!

The menu is set and showcases the best of seasonal produce with much of it being harvested from Van Bone's own kitchen garden onsite or being sourced as locally as possible.  The menu changes each season and we have been lucky enough to try three out of the last four seasons.  They have all been superb.  The wine list is also amazing and features delicious wines.  We started with a bottle of Ghost Rock supernatural wine. This went really well with all of the snacks which feature at the start of the menu.

We started with the garden fresh radish which was served with whipped angasi oyster sauce.  It was crisp, fresh and tangy.  So delicious.  Served alongside it was the 'Dutch Cream Potato with flavours of the sea'.  This is the best chip in the entire world and one of John's favourites at Van Bone.  They are never allowed to remove this from the menu!!  It is a thin slice of very tasty potato flavoured with salt and seaweed which the chef collects from the local beach.  It is seriously good!

Next snack was the original take on the scallop pie. It was served in a pastry shell which was flaky and flavoured with wakame and lemon.  It was beautifully presented and tasted just as good.

               

The Tongola curdy escargot followed.  This looked absolutely gorgeous.  I love the use of fresh edible flowers and the colour they bring to the plate. 

The escargot - named for the shape of the pastry rather tan the inclusion of snails - was accompanied by the fresh turnip with wallaby pastrami.  The wallaby was tender and brought a lovely salty flavour to the turnip.

The last snacks were the oyster and the pork jowl.  The oyster was served with a spicy house-made Tabasco sauce which was fantastic.  I am not a huge fan of oysters but this was really great and easy to eat.  I loved the texture of the oyster - meaty and very fresh, tasting of the sea.  Ava was unable to have the Tabasco so there was a substitution with a blackberry jam which also was delicious. The pork jowl was grilled on a hibachi grill on a stick of saltbush and had a coffee rub.  It was also delicious.

After the snacks came a serve of sourdough bread with a lovely, heavy texture and a deep, rich flavour which was served with cultured butter.  We all had to be quick with the butter as John would have demolished it singlehandedly!  He is a fiend with butter!  While we enjoyed the bread, we selected a red to go with the rest of the courses.  James was designated driver so he enjoyed a lovely mocktail.  We asked for help with choosing as several of the wines sounded interesting and landed on a bottle of Small Island Ripasso - a wine we had not heard of before.  It was sooo delicious! (Actually so delicious that I came home and ordered a case of it!  Here is the website:  Small Island Wines

The first of the more substantial courses was kohl rabi with sea urchin.  Tasmanian sea urchin is small and flavoursome.  It is much nicer than Japanese sea urchin in our humble opinion.  The kohl rabi was cooked beautifully and was really tasty.

Next up was a simple yet stunning dish - freshly dug Dutch Cream potato with Bay of Fires cheddar.  It was so full of flavour and richness.  The potato had that richness that only comes from home grown produce.  The cheese was creamy and savoury.  This was a wonderful combination.  

Next came octopus with freshly picked broad beans from the garden.  The octopus was tender and the sauce was full of umami.  

The final main course was duck which was stunningly good.  I love duck and was anticipating this dish.  It did not disappoint.  It was cooked perfectly and was melt-in-your-mouth tender.  It was served alongside endive and the bitter greens were the perfect fil for the richness of the duck.

            

We chose to have a little break before dessert and had a wander around the grounds to view the gardens.  The staff are very friendly and attentive and they suggested we look at the variety of plants which are used in the menu, including kunzea.

There were two dessert courses - apple with kunzea and honey followed by an olive oil cake.  

The apple was served with a delicious granita and had a great composition of textures.

The cake was made with local olive oil and was moist and light in texture.  It was served with sour cream ice cream which was very good.  The combination was tasty.

The meal was finished with coffee and these tasty numbers - I won't reveal the combination but it was surprising and morish.  A wonderful finish to a wonderful meal.

Once again our afternoon at Van Bone was an unforgettable experience.  The warm welcome by the whole team, the knowledgeable and attentive service - truly silver service! - and the delicious seasonal produce put together in such innovative combinations are well worth the drive to Marion Bay.  The chef, Timothy Hardy, has an impressive pedigree and it shows in the calibre of the food he is putting together at Van Bone.  We cannot wait for our next visit!

The restaurant is all wheelchair accessible.  The bathrooms are very large and accessible.  The dining space is very open - there are few tables and they are well-spaced.  One of the other things I love about Van Bone is the little surprises - about the dining, the menu and the experience.  I will leave you to discover these for yourself.

Van Bone website:

https://www.vanbone.com.au/about