Whether you do or don't believe in good old Saint Valentine from 496 AD, or whether you have or haven't been sucked in by the commercialism of the modern St Valentine's Day, personally I don't think that there is ever a bad excuse to say 'I Love You' to your special someone.
So today, on Feb 14, which you may or may not recognise as Valentine's Day, I wish you all a happy day, full of love, hugs, and all the rest.
I started Valentines Day waking up to some smooches and hugs from Mr Mel, never a bad way to wake up, regardless of the calendar date!
We're heading to one of our favourite restaurants for a 'V Day' special at Sanctuary Restuarant at Pokolbin. Shall report back soon.
Till next time,
Well Happy Belated Birthday to be accurate!! Sunday 7th Nov was my Birthday, another year older, hopefully a bit wiser!
I am so thankful for friends, family & Mr Mel, I was sooo spoilt!
We booked a restaurant we had been eyeing off for ages, Amanda's On The Edge at Pokolbin.
On the Thursday before I was discussing the dinner with my boss and his wife, as Amanda's is my boss' wife's favourite restaurant. About 8pm that night I had a call on my work mobile, usually at that time of night it's not a good call, usually a vet/horse emergency. But this time I was pleasantly surprised! My boss & his wife wanted to shout Mr Mel and I out for dinner for my birthday! I was blown away, and gratefully accepted the generous offer.
Saturday night rolled around for our 7pm booking. As we walked in Amanda (the owner) greeted us with a 'Happy Birthday Mel', I was very impressed. We were seated at one of the best tables overlooking the vineyard.
Amanda asked if I would like a cocktail for my birthday, I replied 'oh only if it's mango', she said there were no mango cocktails but she thinks there's a mango in the kitchen, and that she'd go check. She returned a few minutes saying how about a mango daquiri, why of course I replied!!
5 minutes later a delicious mango daquiri arrived, again very impressed.
We ordered, and were very happy with our choices:
Mel
- Goats Cheese & Leek Tart - just delicious, the texture was like mousse, so light and tasty, with a gorgeous rocket salad and pine nuts
- Crispy Skinned Duck Maryland with roasted onions, cripsy kipfler potatoes & asparagus - the duck was very moist and tender, although the skin wasn't crispy, it wasn't a huge negative, the potatoes, onions & asparagus were a great match
- Toffee Creme Brulee with blueberries & cookies - very tasty, the brulee had a good crack, and the blueberries went well with the soft creme, dessert was served with a dark chocolate 'Happy Birthday Mel' on the plate, a great way to top off a lovely dinner
Mr Mel
- Creamy Crab & Bug Meat Bisque served with crusty bread - Mr Mel knows his seafood and soups, and he was raving, I tried it and while not a big fan of seafood soups it was very tasty, Mr Mel wants to make a bisque at home now, uhoh!
- he was tossing up between the lamb & a special of Red Emperor, went with the fish and was a little disappointed, thought it was a bit over and bland, but not terrible
- Greek Custard Pastry with Cinnamon Icecream - Mr Mel thought the pastry was a bit lacklustre but was raving about the cinnamon icecream, rates it the nicest icecream he's ever had!!
We took our own bottle of wine, one of our favourites, the Rosalie Joan Verdelho from Ernest Hill at Pokolbin
All in all a lovely night out, very nice food, great service and a lovely location.
On the pressie front I was very spoilt, a juicer from Mr Mel and lots of vouchers to the best garden centre in the area :)
Till next time,
It was Mr Mel's birthday yesterday, and we headed to Sanctuary Restaurant at the Peppers Guest House, Pokolbin (formerly Chez Pok).
The Head Chef is Michael Bolam, formerly of the very highly regarded Shakey Tables Restaurant also in Pokolbin, he also worked as Chef de Partie at The Ledbury in London.
We were lucky enough to have a 2 for 1 voucher, which was part of a promotion from the restaurant for the month of August.
We were a bit concerned that dining at 7pm on a Tuesday night might be a bit quite and we could be the only table there. Luckily we weren't, there were 2 other tables of 2, and another of 4.
We went to the restaurant for my birthday last November, in it's former guise of Chez Pok, and since then they have undertaken a fair bit of work, refurbishments, new paint and furniture.
We opted for the 3 courses, our choices were:
House baked bread with Pukara Estate Olive Oil, Balsamic Reduction, Dukkah, the bread was very moreish
Mr Mel:
Entree - Steamed Scallop & Yabby Lasagne with Shellfish Cappucino, Curried Cauliflower - Mr Mel is a seafood fiend, he adored it, I love yabbies, so I was happy with my taste too, I though the shellfish cappucino would be a bit strong, but it was very understated, lovely
Main - Charred Lamb Loin, Roast Cutlet, Smoked Potato Puree, Minted Pea, Baby Carrots - Not a huge serving, but very tasty, the lamb was a little bit over the medium rare Mr Mel ordered, but not terribly so, you could taste the smoked potatoe puree before you ate it, it filled your mouth with a very rounded smokey taste, and the minted pea was scrummy
Dessert - Ginger & Orange Rice Pudding, Burnt Butter Icecream and Citrus Madeleine - Very nice, a piece of the citrus madeleine on top of spoonfull of the rice pudding & icecream was the perfect mouthful, crunch with soft and creamy
Me:
Entree - Roast Breast of Duck, Broccoli & Brussels, Truffle Cream, Muscatels - Melt in your mouth duck, and a good sized portion, the truffle cream & muscatels were lovely
Main - Binnorie Labna filled Courgette Flowers with a 'Risotto' of Butternut Pumpkin - Mr Mel & I shared a plate of Kipfler potatoes, with rosemary and a toffee crunch, which we both found a bit sweet with the lovely potatoes - I love labna, and the courgette flowers were very nice, while not a huge serving, 3 smallish flowers, they were very tasty, I wondered when we ordered if the 'Risotto' was a 'real' risotto, it wasn't a rice dish, it was small cubes, maybe 2 mm by 4 mm in size, of butternut pumpkin, a new texture for me, but with me being a pumpkin freak I adored it
Dessert - Spiced Carrot Cake with Pumpkin Icecream and Housemade Shortbread - I had this dessert for my birthday under the Chez Pok banner, the pumpkin icrecream wasn't as pumpkinny as it was in November, but was still a winner, the carrot cake is lovely
Wine - Margan Verdelho - very nice, one of our favourites, from Margan Wines at Broke
With it being Mr Mel's birthday I took along some candles asked the waitress if they would mind putting them on Mr Mel's dessert. Well of course he orders rice pudding, hard to stick candles in that, so the kitchen sent out a large slice of the carrot cake with sparklers and candles, free of charge. A lovely touch.
Before our entrees were served the chef sent out 2 lots of tastings:
- Cured Trout with Creme Fraishe
- Oysters Beignet with Wasabi
When we asked for the bill we were given another unexpected gem, a cute treasure chest that contained:
- Marco Polo Macaroons with Marco Polo cream - delish, apparently Marco Polo is a tea, will be trying to track some down!
- White Chocolate & Olive Oil Truffles in Bitter Chocolate
- Strawberry Jellies rolled in a citric acid that made your mouth literally water
Have to give special mention to our waitress (is that the PC term?), she was an absolute delight, very approachable, knowedgeable, and attentive, she made a great night all the better.
All in all a terrific night, we left very happy, and very full, after a 3 hour graze. We weren't shocked to read that they won Best Restaurant in a Hotel in the Hunter Valley Region.
9/10 for Restaurant Sanctuary :-)
View the Restaurant Sanctuary Dinner Menu
Or the Restaurant Sanctuary Degustation Menu
Till next time (and Happy Birthday Mr Mel xxx),
Mr Mel & I were paying diners, this post has not been endorsed or sponsored by Peppers or Sanctuary
8 March 2009 - reposted April 2010
Well my worries about seafood at the servo were unfounded. Yay!!!!!!
We have discovered a true gem, $35 a head for 3 courses:
Soup - choice of vichyssois (sp?) or gazpachio - cold soups, the vichyssois was magnificent, gazpachio nice also
Entree - figs stuffed with blue cheese wrapped in prosciutto - have never tried figs and don't like blue cheese on its own - this was beautiful, so tasty!
Main - a massive platter containing:
1/2 lobster
4 legs of king crab - sooooooo tasty!
4 legs of blue swimmer crab
about 8 bites of fish
about 8 bites of calamari
24 natural oysters - yes 24!!!
1kg of prawns - yes 1kg, chef said 250g each!!!!!!
None of us eat natural oysters, except for b/f's dad, he put in a stirling effort, managing to down 19 of them!!!!!!!! We got through the lobster, craps, fish calamari, took home 5 oysters and 2 foil containers of prawns. None of us could even fit a coffee in!!
The atmosphere was gorgeous, only 1 other table (of locals), sitting outside with a waterfall in the soon tobe beer garden next door, and coloured lights everywhere.
The chef & his wife were the chef/waitress/host/hostess, and so friendly and lovely, the chef is originally from Portugal, his wife English.
We will definetly be taking all visitors there, b/f's dad has travelled extensively for work and said it was hands down the best seafood plater he's ever had!!!!!
