This lakeside lodge feels like a destination diner without the schlep out to the regions. Come for nostalgic plates like fish sandwiches and lamingtons, plus hyperlocal cocktails.
With its verdant, serene setting (visible inside and out), classic country-style dining and hyperlocal ingredients plucked just beyond the doorstep, the Lodge feels like a regional dining experience without the schlep out to wine country. It’s the perfect place to take time-poor tourists for a taste of South Australia, or your parents, or date, for a lazy lakeside lunch.
Chef Tom Tilbury (formerly of Coriole, Press Food & Wine) is steering the kitchen after a couple of short stints in the city, and his new surroundings look good on him. His dedication to produce remains front and centre, evident in the garden’s herbs and natives elevating each dish, supplemented with produce from local small suppliers like Dairyman pork and cream, Greenslade chicken, and vegetables from Adelaide Hills farms Presqîl and Ngeringa.
Even the tableware is hyperlocal: ceramics from maker Carla Ejarque and wooden vessels made by Karku Creations out of giant tea tree and blackheart sassafras ferry very Aussie dishes. Cue mussels with native curry, myrtle oil and finger lime, kangaroo loin with kohlrabi and macadamia cream, deboned whole barramundi cooked over coals with citrus and karkalla, and barbecued lamb skewers with roasted onion and pickled beetroot (a tribute to Tom’s dad’s barbies).
In keeping with the nostalgia, there’s also a mini pasty served on a crumpled tuckshop order form, roasted carrots with bread sauce, and a classic pavlova. That dessert is also available in the morning alongside a coffee. Or swing by in the arvo for a quick cocktail and crab cracker.
The bounty of the garden makes its way into the drinks – in the likes of an Espresso Martini with wattleseed-infused vodka, a Spritz made with finger lime and mountain pepper leaf soda, and a paperbark-smoked aperitivo, all designed by Botanic restaurant manager Alma Pasalic. It’s no surprise, then, that the non-alcoholic drinks are just as impressive. The Garden Health Tonic, for instance, is made with a blend of botanicals harvested nearby, and Bunya Drop Cola is infused with fallen bunya bunya branches.
The wine list by sommelier Elle Foster is, naturally, local leaning, including Mordrelle’s fizzy blanc de blancs, a lively Acmé chardonnay, and Gentle Folk’s zippy and smashable Rainbow Juice.
