A long lunch with friends in country Victoria
In October this year, I met my friend Sandy in Melbourne. I travelled with my Canberra based friend Jane and prior to our travel I contacted two friends I used to work with (and had visited them both in NY and London when they lived there), so it was obvious that we would also visit them whilst so much closer in Melbourne.
We had to catch the train to country Victoria which was about one hour from the city of Melbourne. I took us to the local train station which we then found out was the wrong station and had to book an Uber ride as the correct station was about fifteen minutes away. Note: friends unhappy!!
And as I do not catch trains very regularly (or really at all), I assumed the trains would run every ten or so minutes so didn’t bother checking the train timetable. Unfortunately we missed the train by about eight minutes so had to wait another hour for the next one. Note: friends more unhappy!! So Jane told Sandy and I she would now take over all arrangements for our travel and found out our train departed from platform 4b which is where we went and sat to patiently wait for the train.Platform 4b is next to platform 4a and as we walked past we saw a train there, but as Jane had the lead we waited to hear from her….[silly us] so this was not good when we missed another train as it departed from 4a not 4b. Imagine how we mocked Jane!
So now we are very late for a special lunch so we decided to forego the train trip and take a very expensive Uber ride to country Victoria!! Our friends we were going to visit thought our regular updates most amusing!!
But it was worth the drama when we ‘finally’ arrived in country Trentham and walked into du Fermier restaurant. Our dear friends, chef Annie and wait staff were all waiting for us and had pre-arranged a lovely meal taking into consideration my dietary needs. The menu at this fabulous restaurant is created from fresh food from the garden and meats and poultry from the surrounding region – exceptional food I must say!
We started off with a lovely bottle of Aussie sparkling wine and sparkling mineral water and were brought a lovely plate of fresh radish with butter and the most beautiful bread. {I had no idea you can eat radish alone with butter – yum].Chef Annie creates a seasonal menu and sometimes the dishes are plated, sometimes shared, but always they revolve around what is being harvested from the garden or taken from the store cupboard.
I was then served a delicious dish of fresh asparagus with other greens and a perfectly poached egg…yum!!The others were served dishes of duck which came out beautifully presented and I am told delicious.My friend Sandy, who doesn’t eat duck [amongst many other things], had a pear, rocket and parmesan cheese salad.At the same time as our main course arrived, we were also served a dish of scolloped potatoes to share which were oven baked in a cream sauce.Our main courses consisted of a potato rosti with salad and dressing for me and a fresh fish dish for others.
It really is amazing how different fresh food from the paddock tastes – love it.
Our dessert was vanilla bean ice cream and a home made (of course) tart…by this stage we were all pretty full but all tried our best to eat it all up!Annie also sells beautiful seasonal jams and preserves. I bought a jar of raspberry jam and marmalade [which I gave to a friend who said it was delicious). And I love the raspberry jam.
Then our friends drove us to the train station [to make sure we caught the return train I guess] and yes we did make it (thanks to them; not because of anything Jane, Sandy and I did).
Little Miss Traveller said:
Oh what an amusing story of train problems. Pleased it all worked out in the end and you had a delicious meal together. Writing this stuck on a train delayed by snow!! But there’s a silver lining as it’s the second long distance journey recently that I will be able to get a 50% refund on due to delays so it’s not too bad as I’m just going home and this time have plenty of things to eat.
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Gary Lum said:
What a fantastic looking lunch
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Sophie said:
Hahaha Sue this really is the first time I read about you having troubles on a trip, and such a funny tone for this post!! I’m glad you all made it to Annie’s fabulous farm and restaurant. I love the look of this place, and I can feel the freshness of everything just through your words. Is Annie French? I ask because here in France we (almost) only eat radishes with butter, and I know no other nation that does the same. Also, I agree that fresh food like this does not taste the same as the regular food you’d buy in the city; that reminds me of holidays we spent 2 years ago at my brother’s who lives in the countryside and buys his produces at the local farm where they let you pick your own veggies and fruits in the fields. So different and delicious! Looking forward to reading about your next silly journey!
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JohnRH said:
Great picture of the train station. The food looks delicious too.
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mavimet said:
I enjoyed reading about your problems – not because I’m had you had them – but because it all sounds like something I would have been involved with. Glad you enjoyed the time with your friends and the meal though.
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Rosie said:
These days I’m all too familiar with rail chaos, so I can relate to your travel mishap! Sounds like that meal was well worth the journey, though – the food looks absolutely delicious.
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Marta said:
Oh no! What an eventful day, I’m glad you finally made it, haha. I always get very nervous in train stations if the departures and tracks are not clearly indicated.
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Amy said:
I really like the train station shot, Sue! Long waiting and some patience for this fabulous dinner. 🙂
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hi M. Yes silver lining. Nice to get a discount but bit frustrating to hear if your delays. Hope train not too cold but am sure they have heating.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I think you would have loved it Gary. Lots of meat there for you and all the good vegetables.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hi Sophie. It was a funny trip. Thanks for saying you enjoyed it. No Annie is an Aussie. But how interesting to hear of the French eating the radish with the butter. Annie did study in France I think so she probably got the idea from the lovely French. Isn’t it amazing how different fresh food tastes as you would recall from your visit to your brother. So delicious.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much John.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hey Mavis. Thanks so much. Yes it was a comedy of errors. Funny day.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you Rosie. It certainly was a funny day. Lucky there was sparkling wine to help us over lunch ha ha.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I am the same Marta. A stressful start but then it got much better.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I have to be honest about that shot Any it’s not mine and I always put a note to say that but completely forgot this time. It’s from the net.
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Amy said:
If you did, your photos would be as good as these. I really think it’d be better! 🙂 🙂
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sileas said:
Sounds like a lovely reunion after all. The food looks absolutely worth traveling for 😉
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks as always Julia.
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Lignum Draco said:
That looks lie a beautiful meal. A potato rosti and homemade tart would suit me most meals of the week. 🙂 I looked at their website – they only open 4 days a week. I wonder why?
Your tales of getting there sound hilariously frustrating. Remind me to never travel with you. I’m the kind that needs to plan and arrive at least 5 minutes early or I get anxious.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Ha ha. And the funny thing is my friend Jane says she left it with me as I am always SO organised and prepared. Clearly not this time!!
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JoHanna Massey said:
Trains! Lovely food photos as always. The potato rosti looks delicious. Thank you.
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vinneve said:
Hi Sue, I hope you are fine. No new post so I am checking your older post 🙂 stay safe!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks Vinneve. I am doing well in this current state. It’s definitely a different world isn’t it.
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