Mick surprised me by organising our celebratory engagement lunch at Tokar Estate, (and our dinner at Vue de Monde LINK 😘). Tokar is one of many wineries in Yarra Valley. We had the two course option for $65 per person on that special Friday.
Entrée
We started off with a straightforward serving of bread and butter. The sourdough was average. The middle bed was fluffy and the crust was crunchy, although a tad stale. The butter was a simple salted butter.
I ordered the glazed duck ham, tarragon mayonnaise, roasted celeriac. Each duck slice was chewy and salted, giving a moderate flavour. The roasted celeriac had a nice charred, nutty flavour and added a touch of sweetness to the bite. This was a great balance to the saltiness of the duck and sourness of the mayonnaise.
This was the feef tartare, salted pepper egg, rye pangrattato, pickled onion. It was rated 7/10 – savoury, tender, interesting, good.
This smoked rainbow trout, king edward potato, celery, pernod aioli. It was 6/10. An okay dish.
Main Course
For our mains, Mick ordered the mushroom gnocchi, black truffle, nettle, fried chestnut. The gnocchi were thick and chewy, with a nice bounce to it. The black truffle flavour was subtle. The fried chestnut and vegetable puree were flavourful accents amongst the thick flour/egg. It was 7.5/10.
This was the lamb shoulder, braised rainbow chard, fried chickpea, mint jus. This was 8/10. Savoury, tender, delicious.
I ordered the market fish, buttered parsnip, caper vinaigrette. It was a white Grouper. The fish meat was very tender and succulent, with a delicious clean and fresh taste to it. The buttered parsnip added a creamy mouthfeel to the bite. The caper vinaigrette contrasted the fish well, elevating all the flavours. I rated it 9/10.
This was the crumbed pork cutlet, pecorino, bitter leaves, tokar vincotto. It was above average, rated 7/10.
Sides
The fries with aioli for $10 extra had good amount of salt seasoning, fluffy potato filling and crispy skin.
The fried cauliflower, pickled onion, goat cheese was $12, and tasted exactly as describe. The goat cheese was (thankfully) moderately poignant.
Service
The service was nice. There wasn’t much going on to judge it. They got our order and brought out our dishes.
Review
Overall this was a lovely lunch, celebrating our long awaited engagement. This winery was picked by our tour guide. Normally we would not dine at a place like this unless the reviews are exceptionally good. It’s out of the way for our Melbourne travels. But from our experience, the food was good for its price value.
Thank you for reading. Happy eating 💕
Thank you for reading. Happy eating 💕
