Five Australian restaurants worth the drive

You can bet California’s coast from the Nappa Valley to Carmel with get a mention, as will numerous locations in France or Italy. But what about Australia?

Well we’re not saying the following is an argument-settling, definitive list, but without doubt the promise of great food at the end of these trips should have you and your dinner party BFFs planning some road trips ASAP.

If you’re heading to the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne you’ll be tempted by Brae in Birregurra, voted among the world’s best 50 restaurants. But for a cracking drive, keep going through Forrest, down to Apollo Bay and onto Port Fairy. There you’ll find Fen, a restaurant combining native ingredients and delicious local produce. The tasting menu might include Great Ocean Road duck with sunrise lime and native thyme, Yumbah abalone, and locally caught fish with mussel roe and saltbush. Port Fairy itself is a gorgeously historic beachside town so you’ll want to stay at least the night.

Okay, so New Norfolk is only 35 minutes from Hobart but from there? Well it’s the doorway to Tassie’s southwest and some of Australia’s best roads. At some point a  driver has to eat and The Agrarian Kitchen, which started as a cooking school, now has a restaurant called the Eatery. Everything is sourced locally and made in-house; cured meats, pickles and bread included. The intriguing dining space was an old asylum but its food is on another level: singed cabbage is elevated by wild mussels, and the coppa di testa (pig’s head terrine) with salted cumquats is a flavour explosion. Tassie does very good food, but this place does it great.

Not so long ago, that if you wanted to hunt the elusive tuber melanosporum (black winter truffle) you had to travel to France. But the fragrant fungus is cultivated in Australia, a much easier option is to drive 3.5 hours to Manjimup southeast of Perth and visit The Truffle & Wine Co. Start with a morning truffle hunt, guided by adorable sniffer dogs, then finish at the farm’s Truffle Restaurant for a tasting platter which might include Parmesan with truffle honey, sous vide herbed chicken breast and Angus beef with truffle mustard (accompanied by the farm’s own carefully matched wines).

There are many foodie experiences within an easy drive of Adelaide, but for something different, scoot down to the Langhorne Creek area, about two hours southeast of the CBD, and book into The Olfactory Inn. This tiny restaurant in a cute sandstone cottage is run by Simon Burr, Lauren Alexander and Edie, the maitre d’. ‘Seasonal’, ‘local’ and ‘sustainable’ aren’t just catch-phrases here, they’re the heroes in dishes such as Coorong seafood and fennel soup, and lamb shank with rainbow chard gnocchi. The local cabernets are some of our country’s best, so settle in as it’s best to take your time.

Whether you cruise up the remarkably scenic Pacific Motorway, or take the winding inland route, the two hour drive from Sydney to the Hunter Valley will clear your mind and get you prepped for some great food and wines. Once there, head to the aptly-named Mount View and Bistro Molines for great food and superb views. The French-inspired menu changes with availability, but might include crumbed zucchini flowers stuffed with goat’s cheese, twice cooked Hunter duckling, and chocolate fondant. The plating is as beautiful as the setting and you’ll never be short of a glass from one of the nearby wineries.

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