The Best Food & Wine Experience @ Margan Restaurant, Hunter Valley, Australia
A tasting menu served with award winning wines at Margan Restaurant & Winery!
For our honeymoon, we road tripped down the east coast of Australia in a motorhome and one of the spots we were most looking forward to visiting was the Hunter Valley. We came across Margan Restaurant & Winery during our search and thought what better way to sample the wines? With food of course! It just so happened that Margan not only has it’s own vineyard but also a wine cellar for tours and wine tasting and also offers a unique dining experience at their own restaurant.
Just a glass to start us off!
Margan Restaurant & Winery is family owned and all the wines are made on the estate from grapes grown in their own vineyard in the Hunter Valley. The menus are seasonal here and the produce is grown on the estate, in their one acre kitchen garden area, and are utilised in their menus. Margan Restaurant also have their own olive trees, lambs and free range chickens!
We are committed more than ever to our ‘estate grown, estate made’ ethos - Margan
As we entered the modern and elegant restaurant, we were welcomed by smiles and friendly faces from the staff. We were given a choice to be either seated inside or outside; seeing as it was a warm and sunny day we chose a table outside. There were a few tables outside all under cover to shade the guests from the sun. Simple wooden tables and chairs in contrast with the stone walls gave Margan Restaurant a contemporary feel and offered a lovely relaxed ambience. Being seated outside also allowed us to enjoy picturesque views of the vineyard, kitchen garden and garden area.
Vineyards of Margan
Margan menu
As we perused the menu we decided upon the 5 course tasting menu with matching wines. We mainly prefer red wines, and so were really pleased that we were able to switch a couple of the white wines to reds. To start us off, a small bowl of green olives and breadsticks were offered. The olives were lovely and I just kept popping each one into my mouth. The soft, warm homemade bread was a great accompaniment to the olives! These nibbles were so moorish, we totally cleaned the plates up!
Fresh bread
Olives and breadsticks
The first course was fresh garden beetroot with goat’s curd, orange and pistachio. A colourful plate of food I must say. The sound of the goat’s curd might put you off, but it was so tasty and the beetroot, combined with the sweetness from the orange, complemented it well.
Fresh beetroot and goats curd
Garden beetroot, goats curd, orange, pistachio
The next course was cured salmon with avocado, black squid, radish and cucumber. Such a light and delicate dish, well seasoned with the flavours just exploding in my mouth. I loved how the plate was decorated with vibrant purple edible flowers straight from their kitchen garden.
Cured salmon, avocado, squid ink, radish, cucumber
The chicken dish was my favourite – chicken served with eschalot, gnocchi and an heirloom carrot. The chicken was moist with a light crisp skin served with a creamy sauce and lightly sprinkled with mini lilac flowers. Mmmmm!
Little Hill Farm Chicken, eschalot, gnocchi, heirloom carrot
The fourth course combined a rump cap with parsnip, garlic and chard. We found the meat slightly chewy but other than that the flavours were intense, earthy and the creamy mash was just the way we liked it.
Rump cap, parsnip, garlic, chard
The highlight of our meals were the desserts. Being a huge chocolate lover, this dessert suited me rather well. The layered chocolate and peanut butter tart was beautiful and not overly sweet with a decadent salted cocoa sorbet. The chocolate ganache was ‘melt in your mouth’, sprinkled with crunchy honeycomb and topped with popcorn. Too beautiful to eat!
Layered chocolate and peanut butter tart, salted cocoa sorbet, carmelia ganache
We actually ordered another dessert to share after eyeing up the strawberry dessert served on the next table. Why not … who says you can’t have two desserts!?! This dessert was outstanding: fresh sweet strawberries from the garden with soft gooey marshmallows, small bites of meringue with a crumbly biscuit and sweet strawberry coulis. This was heaven on a plate! Each mouthful was truly, truly scrumptious.
Yummy strawberry dessert!
Diving into the dessert
After five tasty courses we couldn’t eat another thing, not even anything from the cheese board! I think the strawberry dessert tipped us over the edge, but it was definitely worth it. Each glass of wine was also perfectly matched for each course.
Seeing as we were on our honeymoon, we were given a complimentary bottle of Tempranillo Graciano Shiraz (a medium bodied, rich and fruity) which was very kind of Margan.
After finishing our meal, we wandered into the garden to nosey around and to taste the delicious fresh strawberries. Boy they were lovely and sweet!
Ingredients for the dishes picked from the garden
We even noticed the restaurant was preparing the venue for a wedding. This would make a lovely wedding reception with the pretty views of the vineyard in the background and the super tasty food and wines.
Overall, we would highly recommend Margan Restaurant & Winery for wine tasting and for that special dining experience. Each course was delicious with the desserts being hands down our favourite. Even thinking of the desserts now is making me hungry. The service was fantastic, very accommodating to our needs and the staff were welcoming and friendly. If you’re ever in the Hunter Valley, then definitely try Margan Restaurant & Winery!
Price: 5 course tasting menu $115, with 5 matching wines $45 per person
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Casey 27/08/2018 (09:52)
Wow. This place is amazing. Always wanted to go for the winery tour to Australia since my friend went last year. They went to Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tour in Sydney and they said was amazing too. So I think I will try to book it for next holiday since there are so many positive and amazing comments. Thank for sharing your experience.
Lana 27/08/2018 (10:44)
There are so many vineyards in The Hunter Valley. Margan had amazing food and wine – we had to take a bottle away with us! It’s worth visiting Hunter Valley if you have the time 😉
Christina 09/04/2018 (17:33)
Green olives is the perfect way to start almost any meal!! The food is presented beautifully.The gardens and vineyard look so lovely to wander through.
Lana 09/04/2018 (18:49)
Green olives are so moorish! The restaurant allows the customers to wander through the garden anytime. The strawberries were so sweet! 🙂
Nives 09/04/2018 (15:07)
The best part of a vacations is that you can try different things and drinks every single day while you’re abroad. And wine is definitely one of them. I appreciate more vineyards or restaurants where you can try the house wine. It’s quite boring to buy it every time in the supermarket. Like this, you have one experience more and you can enjoy in nature beauty around you. I love that kind of service when you can change the thing if you don’t like how it’s originally in the menu. In your case how you changed it for red wines.
Lana 09/04/2018 (15:55)
The restaurant was very accommodating with us switching to the red wines. And we took a bottle of red away with us. Such great service! 🙂
Epepa Travel Blog 09/04/2018 (15:07)
Good wine and beautifully presented food – this restaurant is just right for me! I love such places and if I lived close, I would like to go there.
Lana 09/04/2018 (15:49)
If we lived near Margan, I think we’d be there every week! The desserts are amazing! 🙂
Aleksandr Popkov 09/04/2018 (03:12)
Hunter Valley looks like a terrific place for a honeymoon. Food looks fantastic and I have to take your word for vine 🙂
I have visited vineyards in Schengen town in Luxembourg, it looked almost similar and I have really great memories.
Lana 09/04/2018 (08:54)
It’s great for a weekend getaway too. Would love to visit the vineyards in Schengen town one day. 🙂
Adventuregirleliana 08/04/2018 (23:22)
Glad you enjoyed it! I don’t drink, so, never been to any wineries! That price tag is too good to be true! Food looks delish!
Lana 09/04/2018 (00:01)
Definitely worth visiting Margan restaurant for the food. The food was amazing and so affordable too! 🙂
Jenny - Local Goes Global 08/04/2018 (21:21)
I would have loved to have had my wedding here! Love your writing style!
Lana 08/04/2018 (22:59)
This is a wonderful setting for a wedding with the view of the vineyard in the background. 😉
Followingtherivera 08/04/2018 (17:33)
What a beautiful location! I’ve still yet to been to Australia, but I can imagine it’s stunning. And this place looks like somewhere I’d definitely like to eat and drink too. That peanut butter tart and chocolate ganache is to die for!
Lana 08/04/2018 (17:48)
Excellent food and wine … you’d love this! The peanut butter tart was absolutely yummy! 🙂
Kristie 08/04/2018 (14:04)
This is a great review of what looks to be a lovely place! It makes me think my husband and I should do more wineries, especially since our son is almost driving age. 🙂 The pictures with the sky reminded me that the skies were always bluer when we were in Australia than anywhere else. 🙂
Lana 08/04/2018 (15:46)
We would love to visit more wineries around the world. There are so many wineries to choose from in the Hunter Valley – Margan is a must! 😉
Laura H 28/03/2018 (15:46)
Gosh the food here looks exquisite!! The presentation is amazing, it looks like art 😮
Lana 28/03/2018 (19:54)
Exactly – art on a plate! Don’t miss out eating here if you’re visiting the Hunter Valley! 🙂
Zena's Suitcase 27/03/2018 (16:02)
The food looks so delicate and pretty. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into putting that menu together. Sounds like a lovely experience to have on honeymoon
Lana 27/03/2018 (16:43)
We’re so glad that we discovered Margan Restaurant during our honeymoon. Excellent food and wine! 🙂
Olivia Jade🐰🌸🌈 (@dungareesdonuts) 27/03/2018 (15:47)
Oh wow the food in these pictures look amazing, I love the finishing touches on them. Chocolate ganache sounds great right about now! x
Lana 27/03/2018 (15:57)
The chocolate dessert was very yummy and so beautifully presented. Thank you for the lovely comment 🙂
Erin Ek Rush 25/03/2018 (14:58)
What gorgeous dishes! I love the idea of little bits of a great variety of food.
Lana 25/03/2018 (15:54)
Each dish was delicious especially the desserts! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Yeah Lifestyle 25/03/2018 (13:04)
I personally love Australian wine so visiting a vineyard the time we head to Australia is on top of our list! Besides having a good glass of wine, food is important too and the photos that were showcased in the blog looks amazingly scrumptious and beautiful! We will definitely head to Hunter Valley the next time we are in Australia.
Lana 25/03/2018 (13:16)
The food at Margan went perfectly with the wine. It’s great that the restaurant allows you to change the wine if you’re not keen on white or red. Definitely visit Hunter Valley when you’re in Australia next 🙂
FS Page 23/03/2018 (06:21)
Love the aura of the place. Services seem fantastic and the food really mouthwatering.
Lana 23/03/2018 (10:32)
The food was delicious and fresh. It’s good to see the chefs using the ingredients from the garden. 🙂
Shane Pratherat 22/03/2018 (19:43)
The Hunter Valley is my favorite place in Australia! The food looks divine. I’m a sucker for a yummy dessert!
Lana 22/03/2018 (20:31)
The food and wine was so good! We couldn’t resist but to have 3 desserts between us! 😉