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Royal Mail Hotel
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Restaurant
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Dunkeld
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Open:
Dinner daily
Price:
Expensive
Score (/20):
17
Reviewed By
Sue Dyson and Roger McShane
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Phone Number:
+61 3 5577 2241
Address:
Parker St
Dunkeld, Victoria
Country:
Australia
Food Style:
Produce-driven
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The Royal Mail Hotel is a serious and delightful restaurant that immediately takes its place among the very best in Australia. In fact the influence on the kitchen of ex-Mugaritz head chef Dan Hunter has been profound. We first ate Dan Hunter's food at the famous two Michelin star, Mugaritz restaurant in the hills behind the Spanish city of San Sebastian. We were instantly impressed. He was the head chef working under the legendary Andoni Aduriz turning out dishes that were testing the boundaries of modern cuisine but that were still deeply rooted in tradition and quality produce. He was there when Mugaritz was voted into the top ten of Restaurant Magazine's top fifty restaurants of the world.And now he has returned to Australia and been given the task of turning the restaurant at the Royal Mail Hotel at Dunkeld (just east of Hamilton) into an icon. And he is well on the way!The restaurant benefits from a produce garden that would be the envy of any top flight restaurant in Europe. Carefully tended beds of artichokes, broad beans, peas, carrots, amaranth are at the chef's call. A shade house sees tray after tray of micro-greens cultivated for garnish and flavour on many dishes.Unlike many chefs who are trying to transform produce into unrecognisable foams and bubbles, Hunter believes in using his skills to enhance the flavour of the produce rather than recreating something different. Thus the carrots that we ate were the most flavourful we have had in a restaurant in years. The tiny, tiny peas were picked at their flavour peak and were impossibly delicious. Slices of tiny radishes used in a surprising soup were also fresh and vibrant.But there are still surprises. Squid ink has been concentrated into a black 'paper' to sit alongside squid and a black rice 'cake'. A smoked tuna consommé had an assertive, yet attractive flavour that had us wishing that the taste would linger all night.The best approach is to sample the chef's degustation menu which runs to around ten courses. The dishes are listed with the main components only highlighted. Thus, on the night we ate there the dishes were listed as:ROCK LOBSTER, white gazpacho, orange blossomSMOKED TUNA BROTH, herbs, shoots, radishARTICHOKE, pork, rocketCALAMARI, black rice, pea, gingerHAPUKA, broad bean, potato, chlorophyllLAMB, almond, carrot, sesameWATERMELON, rock melon, honey dewBURNT ORANGE CREAM, pineapple, macadamiaYou should also put yourself in the hands of the skilled sommelier who understands which wines will match which dishes. He teamed the smoked tuna consommé, for example, with a Verdicchio from the Marche region of Italy. The oiliness of the white wine seemed to enhance and magnify the flavour of the soup and vice versa, the wine was better with the soup.And so the meal went on for dish after glorious dish, finishing with a burnt orange dessert accompanied by a totally seductive aged brandy from nearby Best vineyards.We will return to this delightful venue next year in a different season to enjoy different dishes cooked with the same care and attention to detail and to sit and admire the stunning views while enjoying the beautiful wines.
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