Margan - Broke, Hunter Valley

 

Margan was highly recommended to us, so as soon as we confirmed our accommodation I booked in this place for dinner straight away, and what a recommendation this was.  However, it was a shaky start, but by no fault of the restaurant at all.  You see Margan is located in Broke and as we were staying in Pokolbin, the drive during the day is only about a twenty minutes, but at night, well it's another story all together.  Also, having a car with low suspension means well you can't take the straight forward route, where you just drive down Broke Road, as Broke Road two-thirds down, becomes awfully bumpy.  

The only way we were guaranteed a smooth ride was to take alternate roads, as we were staying at the Crowne Plaza, this meant that we had to go up Wine Country Drive, turn left at Palmers Lane, right at McDonalds Road, left into Deasys Road, left at Hermitage Road, right at Broke Road where we were spared the bumpy side of Broke Road, but then had to endure a further good 15 kilometres stretch.  We arrived at Broke where we had to turn right at Wollombi Road and then left at Milbrodale Road.  The last hurdle required us to drive across what appeared as a one laned rickerty bridge, and then on our right was Margan.  If you have ever driven in the Hunter Valley at night, you can imagine what a nightmare this was, as it's so dark and there's not much lighting around.  You have to travel quite frequently with the high beam on to get your sense of direction and drive a lot slower, and some of the roads were down right creepy at this time.  It got to a moment, where at one point I regretted making the booking and not checking my directions.

We made it in one piece and when we got there, the lovely waitress informed us that the usual menu was not available, due to the 'A Little Bit of Italy in Broke' festival being held the next day.  Instead, there was a special Italian themed menu.  At this point, I was wondering if our luck could get any worse.  

Margan offers their dinner menu with the following options of 3 courses for $60, 4 courses for $75 and 5 courses for $90 per person.  Dessert here is also considered a course in itself, this was good as I was itching for dessert, as we didn't have any the night prior.  Unfortunately, most of the desserts did not appeal to Cheesecake Boy, so we decided to go for three savoury courses each instead.  On the  other  hand, the wines here are great value for money, a glass of the Margan Semillon was only $5 per glass and $15 for the whole bottle, it's even cheaper than the cellar door prices.

Rock Restaurant - Pokolbin, Hunter Valley

When it comes to organising a holiday, I use to be the girl that would plan everything part of the holiday to what we did and what we ate, and it was even scheduled on an hour to hour basis.  However, after one of our Melbourne holidays, Cheesecake Boy got rather overwhelmed. So, I have learnt to relax a bit and try to be spontaneous, but spontaneity always backfires on me and then Cheesecake Boy wishes that I was my organised self again.  With our Hunter Valley getaway, I was pretty relaxed  this time and only booked in two dinners and one lunch.  Rock Restaurant was one of the dinners.

During the day Rock Restaurant is actually Firestick Cafe.  We had lunch at Firestick Cafe last time we came to the Hunter Valley, but I was not impressed.  So, I thought I would give Rock Restaurant a try this time, as some people I know have raved about it, and it's the only two hatted restaurant in the Hunter Valley.  Unfortunately, my camera and dim lighting do not seem to like each other, so it was the best I could do under the conditions.

Enzo - Pokolbin, Hunter Valley

It was Cheesecake Boy and my first offical day in the Hunter Valley, and as per usual we did some breakfast wine tasting. However, it always gets to a point where wine alone stops satisfying the need for food.  I had heard about the scones at Enzo, so we decided to check them out and head off for some brunch, before we continued on to the rest of the vineyards for the day.

Charming entrance

Harrigan's Irish Pub - Pokolbin, Hunter Valley

After our late lunch munchies of potato croquettes and the final packing of our getaway was attended to.  Cheesecake Boy drove us up to the Hunter Valley.  However, we were quite full when we got there around 6pm, and it wasn't until 10pm or so that night we finally got hungry.  We didn't feel like room service and most of the other places were closed, so it was off to Harrigan's the Irish pub as they were opened till midnight for some pub food.

The charming entrance

Fellow diners