Greenpoint Brasserie at Domaine Chandon

727 Maroondah Highway

Coldstream 

VIC 3770

It had been a long time since we had visited the Greenpoint Brasserie at Domain Chandon in the Yarra Valley, but good memories of previous experiences there persuaded us to return with visitors staying briefly in Melbourne.

The setting amongst the tidy vines and gardens is idyllic.

The simple modern fit out make best use of the location, with views across to the Yarra ranges. We had a booking and were promptly shown to our seats, both the tasting bar and the restaurant were pretty busy, with a variety of patrons, some in decent sized groups.

The salmon rillette with capers and horseradish was served in a coffee cup and topped with a fine layer of jelly along with rye bread. The texture was great and although the flavour was pleasant it lacked some punch.

We shared the charcuterie platter this included a rustic Pork, apple and cabbage terrine, a much finer chicken liver parfait and Casalinga Sopressa for the carnivores. On the veggie side, the balsamic onions were the best pickled onions I can remember having, the mixed olives were good and I liked the sweet tomato and pepper caramel chutney. The only quibble would be the size of the board and servings given the $32 price tag.

Three of us ended up choosing the herb crusted hapuka, which I don't remember seeing outside of New Zealand before. The fish was fresh, firm and perfectly prepared with the crust adding texture and flavour. The nicola potato, asparagus, speck, parmesan and beurre blanc all added to the dish.

The lamb rack served with truffled white polenta, broad beans and tomato was the other dish sampled by our party and proved equally popular, as did the 2010 sparkling Rosé.

 

We found the service friendly, attentive and efficient. The bill with several glasses of wine came to $240 which didn't seem over the top given the quality of the food and wine. The afternoon we visited there were a reasonable number of flies around, and as guests were regularly using the sliding restaurant doors to wander in and out of the beautiful garden, plenty had made it inside, and certainly knew when our mains arrived. There isn't much that could be done, but it did leave a distinct entry in the memory bank. Domaine is certainly worth a visit if you are in the Yarra Valley for the combination of the food, wine and vistas.

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