Aussie Bloggers

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in the Great Ocean Road region of Victoria. Apart from the scenery which is truly exquisite, I was impressed with the quality of dining in the region.

We stayed and dined at Aire Valley Guest House in Horden Vale. It is located just west of Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road. The first thing that you notice about the food at Aire Valley Guest House is the freshness, which should really be no surprise as the majority of the vegetables, fruit and herbs are picked straight from the garden before cooking.

A cooked breakfast complete with eggs from the hens that roam freely on the property and tomato and spinach from the garden was delicious. They also support local producers with beautiful locally made jams and a range of Prickly Moses beers.

In the warmer months, dining can be had on the balcony as pictured above, but as it was still quite cool in the evenings we ate in the homely dining room.

Closer to Melbourne and slightly off the Great Ocean Road itself is Bellbrae Harvest (20 minutes inland from Torquay). The setting of this restaurant is quite serene. We had not booked so had to sit inside the restaurant as opposed to the lovely terraced area. This however still afforded beautiful views over the property, including the ducks and geese on the large pond.

Although not growing the produce it cooks on the property, Bellbrae does pride itslef from sourcing much of its food from the local region, for example butter from Warnambool, specialty bread from Geelong etc.

The service was excellent, professional but with friendliness and if one was so inclined they have an impressive wine list which the staff knew well.

We only had a couple of days along the Great Ocean Road and there would still have been more wonderful dining to sample. Some other places that come highly recommend in the area were:

Chris’s at Beacon Point – Apollo Bay
A La Grecque – Airey’s Inlet

Do you have any favourite establishments from the area to add to this list?