Hentley Farm

It's over an hour's drive up here, and then off onto a stretch of dirt road. The lengths I have to go to, to get a decent meal. :(

:)

This has been my first Feed Report for a few months. I've basically run out of fancy restaurants in Adelaide. :)

Tonight's dinner will be a seven-course degustation.

I unpack my legs, and head inside.

The place is a group of very neat stone farm buildings, augmented with polished slate floors and modern lighting. Very fancy.

The internet here is only 3G! I'm struggling to load a single web page!

Halp!

In desperation, I ask for wifi, and I'm given the password. It's "password". I run my speed test app. It's only 1.8 megabit! :(

"Crunchy snacks and dippy snacks"
8/10

The little crunchy snacks are, from left to right:
potato, tuna, peppers, mustard
rye, carrot, lemon verbena
quinoa, curry spice, quail egg, lemon

I won't detail each one, but the crunchy snacks have very refined meaty tastes, with good, contrasting flavours. The herbs add another interesting layer of flavour. A huge amount of detail in tiny dishes. 8/10

I'm told it's okay to make a big mess with the dippy snacks. I carefully dip each lettuce leaf in the dip, leaving ABSOLUTELY NO MESS. I like to be different. This is not supermarket dip. The Hentley Farm logo made out of honey adds a very subtle but interesting taste to the smooth flavour of the Jersey cream and chive dip. 9/10

I'm not sure whether the almonds are dippy or not. :( They've been seared in some kind of tasty substance that I don't recognise. I'd better not eat all these. I've got seven courses tonight. 7/10

Kingfish, mettwurst, wild rice, verjuice
5/10

This bowl of raw kingfish pieces is seasoned with crispy rice bits, and tiny cubes of local mettwurst. The whole thing really doesn't have that much flavour, and the mettwurst flavour is just slightly odd. The mettwurst was actually a replacement for liver (coz guts is descusting), but I think the result would've been similar.

salmon, avocado, egg yolk, sunflower
6/10

Under the lettuce leaf, there's salmon, a kind of salted avocado purée, and a some seeds. No, it's not just an upended box of Trill, it's some strange mini-sunflower seeds.

The shreds of cured egg yolk on top add to the odd variety of tastes, and the main, crunchy texture comes from the basic lettuce leaf. It's all very pleasant though.

pickles, kohlrabi, spring onion
6/10

The vegetables are fairly snacky and inoffensive. I alternate the broth and vegetables, as suggested. The broth is pleasant, and just flavourful enough to not be a big bowl of hot water. :)

This course is intended as a palate cleanser. That's nice. To cleanse my palate, I usually just lick the roof of my mouth. :)

quail, parsnip, zucchini, hazelnut, chive
6/10

The meat itself doesn't have a very strong flavour. This means the main tastes are the hazelnuts and the parsnip purée. That's not the normal taste of meat, but it's not bad either.

Kangaroo loin, wild fennel, beetroot, blue cheese
8/10

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the loin sleeps tonight.

:|

The kangaroo has been smoked in red gum. This adds a very nice smoked taste that doesn't just taste like the food was accidentally burnt.

"egg", sour cream, passionfruit, poppy seed
8/10

Clearly they've run out of crockery, and are using their rubbish as plates.

This egg is full of sweet, fluffy cream, that tastes slightly like cream cheese. At the bottom is passionfruit innards, which I think has been sweetened. It's a good contrasting combination.

chocolate, pine, mushroom, port
7/10

The crumble contains mushroom, and the clear jelly underneath contains pine needles, giving it a very odd and refreshing taste. Pine is something you often smell, but rarely eat. The creamy stuff on top contains a Seppeltsfield port. An interesting variety of gelatinous, creamy and soily textures. It reminds me of the forest floor, only palatable.

strawberry, mulberry, fig leaf
8/10

It's surprising how similar fig, and fig leaf, actually taste. However, the fig leaf ice cream is just a fig leaf for the stronger flavours in the dish. The strawberry granita is bursting with refreshing tanginess.

Petits Fours
7/10

I immediately call the waitress back.

"Waitress, there's a problem here."

The waitress replies: "Sorry, yes, what is it?"

"There are only three of them."

The wine adds a fruity flavour to the toasted marshmallow. The mini-popsicle is "mystery flavour." Last time I had a mystery-flavoured ice, the flavour turned out to be ants. Literal ants. This tastes like cherry or wine. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess something appropriately bizarre, like wine production sludge or something. The Kitchener bun is like a very creamy doughnut.

I was 100% correct. It was just cherry. :)

Now, it's time to head home. My dinner at Hentley Farm has been a fascinating insight into how country people live. I never knew it was so fancy!

:)
Fancy surrounds, nice custom fruit juice and cordial drinks. Lemon and fennel cordial is excellent.