Highline at The Railway Hotel Windsor is the high end portion of the recently renovated Windsor insitution. Downstairs, the pub and 24 hour bottle shop remain however walk upstairs and a very different concept awaits. Head chef Simon Tarlington (formerly of Quay, Woods of Windsor and Maze) has been brought in to create a menu that showcases the fresh, seasonal produce that comes directly from owner Peter McCormack’s farm in the Strathbogie Ranges.
We were invited to sample a selection of dishes from the menu and having heard good things, were keen to check out what was on offer.
The space is simple and eschews current trend in favour of what’s best described as pub/bistro chic. A bar, a simple warm fitout and some artwork dotted throughout create a pleasant atmosphere in which to dine.
As mentioned earlier, the menu is designed to showcase the seasonal produce from McCormack’s farm and in fact 90% of all produce used is from the farm. The food is accessible and Tarlington does well exercising restraint with his creations. Fine dining touches are apparent throughout the menu and are used to highlight rather than overpower the characteristics of each ingredient.
Serving sizes are very generous – we were told that this is because the owner wants diners to be able to experience the full range of what’s available on the farm and also because there’s no middle man, which helps keep costs down.
Diners have an option of choosing dishes from a menu, or going for the $60, 6 course degustation menu. We were given a “best of” selection of dishes from both the degustation and the full menu. Drinks wise, a range of wines, beers and spirits, from producers close to the farm where possible, are offered.
Dehydrated Oyster & Sausage
To start, we were treated to the dehydrated oyster and sausage, which was a bit of a hit and miss dish. The house cured sausage was brilliant and has a sweet smoky flavour. The dehydrated oyster didn’t really hit the mark – the flavour was nice however the unususal texture detracted from the overall experience.
Variations Of Prawn & Pumpkin
This dish was a real highlight. It consisted of prawn and pumpkin prepared in 3 different ways. Each variation had a very unique texture and flavour and served to highlight how the same produce can be used to create quite different things.
Rabbit, Fresh Figs, Cucumber & Leaves
This was another very tasty dish. The rabbit was a bit dry however overall the components worked really well together, with a nice balance between sweet and tangy.
Candied Duck Leg, Roast Duck Breast & Root Vegetables
The duck was the highlight of the night. The candied duck leg was tender and had a beautifully sweet, caramalised flavour to it while the roast duck breast had the perfect textural variation between tender meat and super crispy skin. The root vegetables gave the dish a very autumn/winter touch and it was difficult not to keep commenting on how great this dish was after each bite.
Oak Valley Beef Eye Fillet, Earthy Vegetables, Native Pepper Berry Sauce
There’s not much that can be said about this dish other than it’s exactly what you imagine it to be – a perfectly cooked steak. With beef this good, there’s no need to do too much to the dish and in this case, the flavour of the beef spoke for itself.
Milk & Honey
Looking at the menu I saw a chocolate orange dish that really intrigued me so when the milk & honey came out I was a little disappointed. This disappointment was shortlived however as this combination of honeycomb, bee pollen, honey cake, honey jelly and milk skin wafer was sublime.
The key to this dish was getting a bit of everything in each mouthful. The flavours were all similar, but different enough and when combined with the range of textures on offer, each mouthful was quite brilliant. The flavour of honey doesn’t get better than this.
We were given a glass of dessert wine from a winery located near McCormack’s farm, the name of which escapes me and it complimented, and indeed enhanced, the dessert perfectly.
Some sweet pastilles petit fours to finish of our meal were unecessary as we were quite full but we wern’t going to say no.
While there were a few misses with the food at Highline, these were far outweighed by the highs. Although we didn’t pay on this occasion, the degustation at $60 represents excellent value for money and you’d be hard pressed to find another restaurant in Melbourne that offers the same quality and quantity of food at that price point.
Service was on point, and our waiter was very knowledgable when it came to the dishes, the ingredients, the techniques used and the reasoning behind each dish. There’s a definite passion for the philosphy behind highline that’s evident amongst the staff, with everyone that we met genuinely on board with what’s trying to be acheived.
The atmosphere was perhaps a bit too skewed towards the fine dining end of the scale, and could do with a bit of a step towards the casual end of the scale but overall, I find it hard to see how anyone could be anything other than satisfied after eating at Highline.
Highline
Upstairs, The Railway Hotel
29 Chapel Street
Windsor
Victoria 3181
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9510 4050
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.therailway.com.au/venue/highline-restaurant
Open
Mon – Sat: 6:00pm to late
