Lochiel House – Kurrajong

{invite} Bianca: Having a huge extended family spread out throughout the world, we constantly had a revolving door of family members that we’d take to the Blue Mountains. Some of my fondest memories included pit stops in Bilpin on the scenic route through to the Mountains. Famous for the apples and namely… Apple pies!

Lying 10 minutes before the famous ‘fruit bowl’ is Lochiel House. It’s had numerous incarnations, a former farmer’s cottage and a previously hatted restaurant. Owners Nathan and Tayla (Nathan being the head chef and Tayla the maître de of sorts) have truly created a welcoming and homely space. You wouldn’t be remiss to think you were dining in somebody’s house. We visited on a fairly mild overcast Saturday and were welcomed to the private dining room with a crackling lit firepace.

The menu is produce driven, Nathan made mention of their desire to source local produce as well as making great use of the garden at the rear of the property. Most impressive of all, having only been open for half a year. They won the most outstanding restaurant award (Hawkesbury) in the 2016 Local Business Awards.

They offer a fairly comprehensive and interesting breakfast and lunch menu and at night, a more fine dining approach. And with five of us dining we tried a little bit of everything from all three menus.

We started with the Potatoe Benedict – Potato Rosti, smoked salmon, poached eggs, sautéed spinach and Hollandaise. Those that like a good benny will be pretty chuffed with this. I tend to avoid overly creamy dishes because my poor stomach can’t handle it too well. But the hollandaise was on the lighter side. Eggs were poached perfectly and the rosti made for a different and interesting alternative to toast.

The Royal Breakfast is pretty much fit for a king. With Truffled scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, potato rosti, semi-sundried tomato, smoked bacon, sautéed spinach, roast mushroom & house made baked beans. So this could easily feed two people and you probably wouldn’t need to eat for the rest of the day. Generous in both size and flavour. But really the standout were those gorgeous fluffy scrambled eggs. I’ve had truffled scrambled eggs before at Café Morso and there isn’t even a comparison to be made. Potato rosti’s can be on the oily side but across both dishes they were crispy and didn’t leave you feeling like you’d just eaten a small house.

Moving away from the breakfast menu we tried the Carrots w/ goat’s cheese. The cheese was locally sourced and despite my usual aversion to goat’s cheese, this was very enjoyable. Very similar to that of a light and airy cream cheese. The crumb was the perfect accent to the baby carrots and goats cheese.

The next dish was one of the highlights of the day. Okinawan Ricotta Gnocchi – w/Guanciale, pumpkin, crispy sage, grana Padano & brown butter. Plump light gnocchi, pan-fried to give a crispy exterior. The sweet potato just added a whole other depth to this dish, we all loved the saltiness from the cured guanciale. Sage, burnt butter and parmesan is always a winning combination in our books.

Moving along to the heartier mains. The Crispy skin ocean trout –w/ sambal matah, pickled radish, salted cucumber and red & white cabbage. Probably wouldn’t have been my first pick but I’m glad Nathan sent this out for us. The trout fell away with the slightest touch and paired beautifully with the citrusy sambal. The cucumber and cabbage were a great aid to balance the hit from the chilli.

The Pork Belly –w/ white kimchi, compressed apple and ssamjang was another stand-out. Tender melt in the mouth pork. The sweetness from the apple, alongside the sourness of the kimchi complimented the salty pork perfectly. My only gripe here would be the lack of crackling.

And to round out the mains. A few sides. We were all intrigued by the sound of the Half grilled eggplant brulee –w/mushroom butter, konbu & fruikake. I liked the genius of the sweet brulee top and most of that ‘furriness’ had been cooked out.

But really the winner were those Crispy Truffled Potatoes – w/ grana padana and garlic salt. So remember my statement about waffle fries being the ‘Lamborghini’ of fries. Well they’ve been usurped. Here’s our champion.

And rounding out our meal. Dessert of course. First up was the Not your Sundae –w/ Strawberry swirl ice-cream, banana brulee, seasonal fruit, banana praline & chocolate wafer. Generally speaking this really isn’t my type of dessert. I instantly thought of Vanessa, she would have adored this. The banana has a thin sliver of torched caramelised sugar, creating a slight nuttiness.

My preference was always going to be something with chocolate in it, naturally. The Molten Lava Cake- w/ malted ice-cream, chocolate soil & lemon verbena blueberries was always going to be up my alley. Decadent chocolate with a gooey oozing centre. This is rich but a must order.

And finally – from the dessert menu. One that was worth waiting for till the very end. The Pancake – Pancake, seasonal fruit, caramelized popcorn, vanilla bean ice-cream & fruit compote. Essentially one large pancake/hotcake. Served in a skillet. If you’re going to Lochiel for breakfast, no questions you have to order this.

The pancake whilst thick was still light and airy, the caramelised popcorn remained crispy and was a nice textural element. The vanilla bean ice-cream added some creaminess and the compote added a sharp sour note.

I really cannot recommend Lochiel House enough. It was a leisurely 1hr 10 min drive from our abode in Concord and you can easily make a day of it. Make sure you explore the surrounding grounds and garden and if you’re lucky you’ll score a table outside and can watch the world roll by.

Bianca

Photos by Alex

*For Food’s Sake dined as guests of Lochiel house. All thoughts and opinions are our own and independent. A big thank you to Nathan and Tayla for organising our visit