Wisemans Ferry is an extraordinarily beautiful area located just an hour from our home. The little village sits on the banks of the wide, muddy looking Hawkesbury River and is surrounded by high rocky cliffs. It’s a busy weekend destination for water-skiers, boating enthusiasts and motorcycle riders looking for a winding road to unleash on as well as day-trippers from Sydney looking for a meal at the local pub and a ride across the river on the Ferry.
There are a few eating options at Wiseman’s Ferry – a lovely old sandstone pub, a bowling club with a bistro, a cafe, a little takeaway as well as the restaurant at our motel. But this isn’t just any old motel restaurant – it’s a little gem that sources and cooks beautiful food from locally sourced produce. The menu changes seasonally as the local produce available comes and goes. The food is lovely and the service very friendly.
We start the meal with a small bowl of freshly marinated local grown olives ($9.00) which were lovely - firm and tasty.
For my main I ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto ($16.00 for an entree size - I needed to save room for dessert). The risotto was cooked with oregano and thyme and then finished with parmesan and truffle oil. The vegies pictured below are part of The Boys main...the main that I wanted to order! Hurmph.
The Boy tricked me out of ordering the Chef's Seafood Tasting Plate ($28.50) and ordered it himself...sneaky sneaky Boy. He made it sound like it would be too teeny for a main. Hmmm. To say I had food envy would be the understatment of the century, but as we're married sharing is mandatory (when it suits me that is).
The platter is mouthwatering to look at - a selection of hot and cold seafood that taste like heaven on earth. Really! The majority of the seafood is from local waters; oysters from Mooney Mooney, Hawkesbury River squid and local prawns, as well as Tasmanian Atlantic and smoked salmon, Coffin Bay scallops and Sydney caught flathead. It's worth the drive to Wisemans Ferry just for this - what amazing value for such fresh seafood!
After being forced to share his main The Boy thought he'd get to fly solo by ordering the Individual Pavlova ($11.00) for dessert. Nice try buddy. It was beautiful, and I can tell you that from a first hand taste-test. The Pavlova is topped with fresh berries and Chantilly cream. Being a sorbet fan I choose the Lemon Sorbet ($11.00) served in brandy snap basket with fresh berries.
After dinner we wandered over to say hello (or goodnight) to Reg and Rita, two lovely cats that we had met earlier in the day. Reg and Rita were dumped at the local shopping centre a while back and promptly produced two litters of kittens.
Karlene from the antique store in the arcade began raising money to have ALL of the cats desexed (which involved trapping a few who were too scared of people to be captured any another way) so no more kittens would be born. She then found homes for all but five of them (so far). The store-owners chip in money to keep the remaining cats fed which is noble as many strays are left to fend for themselves. But it also means that Reg and Rita (and the others) depend on the kindness of the store owners for their daily bread. We made a hefty donation to the "Reg and Rita Dinner Fund" in Karlene's store and collected a lot of pats in return. I would love to have taken our two new kitty friends home but I think they would go bonkers in our little flat.
Reg and Rita have their own Facebook page, check them out here.
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| The handsome Reg and lovely, shy Rita. |
The Riverbend Resturant is located at Australis Retreat at Wisemans Ferry, 5564 Old Northern Road Wisemans Ferry. Bookings at the restaurant are essential. Phone them on (02) 4566 4422.
You'll find Reg and Rita chilling out at
