Roberts @ Hunter Valley

Last Saturday, us 7 girls drove up to Hunter Valley for Irene's Hens Night - the bride to be needs to say goodbye to the name of Miss Kwok and welcome Mrs Liu very soon!!!!

After a morning prayer for Irene at her house, we were all geared up to take the drive. Carol led the way with Camay as her map reader! Me as the passenger fell asleep half way through the road trip! =P As I was having my sweet dream, I suddenly fell a 360 degrees sharp turn!!! ummm... something was wrong... we missed the exit!!!! Lucky that we were back on track very soon, and this time I stayed awake! When I saw the Cessnock sign, I also saw a huge sign which says 'Hunter Valley Exit'.... then I quickly screamed out, how did you guys managed to miss the sign?!?!?! Camay replied "hahaha... we were probably laughing at this guy's messy hair in the car next to us when we drove passed the sign!" =.="

We booked a table at 1pm at Roberts, but didn't end up getting there until 1:30pm, all of us were starving and busting to go to the loo! This restaurant was actually quite hard to find, it sits on the Pepper Tree premises on the other side of the carpark. But the outside was so shabby that you would thought that it's only a storage house for old tools, not a restaurant! But as soon as we walked in, the deco was amazing! We walked through this verandah which had private rooms on either side which looked warm and cosy with beautiful decor that reminded me of a farmhouse. The whole restaurant had a wooden interior, which made you feel as if you were in Switzerland, and outside should be snowing, not with the Australian sun!

As soon as we sat down, we asked for the menu straight away and ignored the wine menu on the table, because all of our stomach were rumbling!!!!

Bread roll $2

Salt, Olive Oil & Balsamic Dip, Butter

After we ordered, we were served some bread rolls... after the first bite... we all thought... hope these were complimentary! I usually love my bread, but these rolls were actually VERY chewy that if I wasn't that hungry, I'd give it a pass! But lucky the olive oil and balsamic dip helped it to come to life! This balsamic was probably one of the best I've tasted, it was more towards the sweet side and complimented well with the olive oil!

Complimentary Salmon Canape

Deep Fried Zucchini Flower

Buttermilk Fried Soft Shell Crab & Tuna with Watercress Salad

Ballotine of Local Quail with Fig and Walnut

I ordered the Zuchhini Flower as entree, and Duck Breast as main. After my first taste of zuchhini flower at Sopra, every time I see it on the menu, I'd order it... but so far, I haven't been able to find a restaurant that could beat Sopra! But this one at Roberts is not bad, I reckon it could have gone a little crunchier which will create a perfect match with the soft melt in the mouth filling inside! The aoli was nice and smooth, with the right amount of garlicky taste to it, not too overpowering!

Star Anise Glazed Duck Breast and Confit Leg, Carrot Puree, Pearl Onions, Speck, Duck Jus $40

Spice Infused Mandagery Creek Venison, Crisp Organic Polenta, Autumn Vegetables, Vanilla and Chestnut Jus $44

The duck was very tender and cooked to perfection, and the meat just fell off the bone with a flick of the fork. The must mention is the carrot puree, the texture was sooooo smooth together with the sweetness of carrot was divine! I must mention here that I actually don't like carrot under normal circumstances in whichever way it was cooked! So this puree must be really good for me to make this 'divine' statement! It was so nice that somehow it actually became the hero of the dish and I liked it better than the duck itself. Haha..

Overall, it was a nice experience at the Roberts, the waitstaffs are very friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere was relaxed with french door on either side of the restaurants, so that you could have a complete view of the greenery outside. Food was great.... probably not the bread roll though... and it ended up to be not complimentary. =(

By the end of our main, it was 3:30 already, and we were so stuffed that we couldn't have any dessert! Plus our plan was to hop to a few wineries to pick a couple of wines for our cheese and wine night tonight, so we had to get going!!!

Roberts Restaurant

Halls Road, Pokolbin,

Hunter Valley