Sunday lunch: Mandala Wines, Dixons Creek

SOMETIMES you come across an eating establishment that surprises so much you wonder why you haven't heard about it before. Such is the case with Mandala Wines Restaurant, off the beaten track in Dixons Creek, in the Yarra Valley.

Since chef Neil Cunningham downed tools at the Healesville Hotel — where he maintained one hat in The Age Good Food Guide — and picked up the pans in this vineyard restaurant at the end of last year, he's been pushing ahead.

While already using produce from the kitchen garden in his ever-changing menu, he has put 500 trout in the lake on the property and is planting spring and summer vegetables including heirloom tomatoes, carrots and radishes and hard-to-get herbs.

On a recent, bleak, Sunday, the food and service at Mandala Wines shone. We did what most punters do and enjoyed a wine-tasting first, moving from the citrusy, sparkling blanc de blancs to the excellent pinot noir.

Back in the light-and-airy restaurant with floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides, we start with a flavoursome smoked scallop and celeriac soup with Serrano ham ($17), which was poured at the table and topped with shavings of local Chestnut Hill truffle and a Mandala roasted heirloom beetroot salad with Yarra Valley goat's cheese and toasted hazelnuts ($17) — both perfect with a glass of Mandala sauvignon blanc ($8).

For main, I can't see past the Yarra Valley confit suckling pig wrapped in crisp skin with saffron and turnip puree, a tangy roasted Cox's Orange Pippin with cider jelly ($38) accompanied by a glass of The Prophet pinot noir ($17), while my husband chooses the roasted salmon and Balmain bugs with parsnip puree, confit lemon and heirloom radish ($35).

Desserts (all $15), the icing on any lunchtime cake, are a slightly disappointing mandarin creme brulee with mandarin jelly and a Mandala shiraz-poached pear with toasted almond cream, which we could have eaten all day, along with sips of a luscious Brown Brothers Patricia late-harvest noble riesling ($10).

There is also a small bar menu to complement the wine tasting.

Reviewed by Tricia Welsh

Mandala Wines Restaurant, 1568 Melba Highway, Dixons Creek, Yarra Valley, 5965 2016. Restaurant open Wed-Sun, noon-3pm; Sat, 6pm-10pm; cellar door open daily, 10am-5pm. See mandalawines.com.au. Melway 267 K1.

To stay: nearby options include Yering Gorge Cottages (yeringcottages.com.au), De'Vine Escape (devineescape.com.au) and the Burrow at Wombat Bend (wombatbend.com).