St Isidore

In the year since I first discovered St. Isidore in the picturesque town of Milton, I've racked up three visits. There’s something very honest and straightforward about the cooking here that I adore, starting with Culatello di Parma ($12) ham with figs, honey, black pepper grissini and scattered basil leaves. Eschewing categories like entrée and main, plates at St. Isidore are arranged by size. We dabbled most heavily in Little before moving on to a pretty plate of Kingfish ($22) that's classed as a Little Bigger. Mingling with juicy wet cucumber, daikon and plum, this dish is a wonderful celebration of the end of the rapidly fading summer season. It simultaneously shows off Chef Alex Delly's skill at balancing big flavours like wasabi and sansho pepper with very delicate fish. Be sure and check out their gardens and fowl house while you're there.

If you value great food and service then this is the place. We attended a 50th birthday celebration recently, 12 adults and 7 children. I imagined that a quality restaurant just wouldn't cope well with children and it couldn't have been further from the truth. Firstly we sat outside on one very long table under the verandah - adults at one end, kids at the other. The children had their own menu, drinks and desserts and plenty of space to run around in the beautiful gardens (including checking out the chickens and the veggie patch). For the adults the service and food was perfect - sharing entrees to start and then going our own way with the mains. I had the pork cheek with vegetables. Beautifully cooked with crispy skin but melt in mouth centre. My friend is a vegetarian so she was beautifully surprised when the waitress appeared with her very vegetarian menu. Not just one option but 8-10 to choose from. ...read more

What a delightful fine dining experience. This hidden gem has a wonderfully relaxed feel for a restaurant which obviously takes its food very seriously. I had the blue swimmer crab dumplings for entree and it was superb with subtle flavours and textures. My steak main was perfectly cooked and the creamy sauce tasty but not dominant. The green bean side was excellent. The chef had paid similar attention to the desserts and my goat's curd cheese cake was light and fluffy and my partner's mango and lemon sorbet dessert provided beautifully balanced flavours. Staff were well drilled, friendly, relaxed and helpful. On the night we visited the sunset over the mountains and farmland was quite stunning.