Chauncy — Restaurant in Victoria

Chauncy Set Menu $140pp Gougere 🧀 Leeks, vinaigrette, shallot Artichoke, lovage, borage Chicken liver parfait, pickles 🐓 Asparagus, ajo blanco, nettle, guanciale Bread and butter 🥖🧈 Duck & morel tortellini, broad beans 🦆 Bundarra pork, soubise, carrot, apple cider jus 🐖 Salade du jardin 🥗 Lemon Verbena Tea 🍋 🍵 Crème brûlée + $19 🍮 Tarte Tatin + $19 🍎 2022 Fabien Coche Aligote, Burgundy $110 🥂

We drove 2 hours to Chauncy, a countryside restaurant in Heathcote. When I stepped into the restaurant, I was stunned by the aesthetics of the interior, very demure and mindful. They served a 4 course seasonal menu which also included an appetiser, bread and butter, a platte cleanser and a small sweet treat not listed on it. Their flavours were humble yet sophisticated. Very well used of the seasonal produce and fresh from their garden. It was thoughtful to include a little wander around the garden before the second menu. The dishes may look small but we left with a happy tummy. They also have great wine selections. The whole experience was splendid. My only let down was their desserts which were not included in the set menu. The pastry of the tarte tartain was soggy and the creme brûlée was not creamy and silky. It is the best place to have a long lunch. Remember to spare at least 3-4 hours...

Firstly, the service was exceptional - very attentive and knowledgeable FOH staff.

However, for what you pay, you expect every course to impress. 1 Amuse bouche was a little dry and needed a little help. 2 pork and cheese with crudites and pickles was ok - could have done with a little more cheese and a more even distribution of the flavouring ingredients. One mouthful was a wow, amongst the rest being a little underwhelming. 3 tomato tonnato - my companion and my favourite course. Fresh against umami with the oil setting everything off nicely. 4 Agnolotti of mint and cheese with parmesan pesto. Maybe for nut eaters the walnuts take this to another level but our least favourite course. Pasta was gluggy - both heavy and heavy on the tooth (undercooked). Not unpleasant, but done better, this could have stould amongst the others. 5 lamb and veg. The chard gratin was the stand out- not the lamb. The Jus was great, but seemed like an assemblage rather than an integrated course. 6 And there have been a lot of comments on the Creme Brulee. Nice crunchy toffee with too thin creme below. Just didn't taste right for some reason.

And before anyone chimes in - we eaten a lot in France avoiding the...

A visit to Chauncy was on my wishlist for a while. It is a lovely restaurant with excellent attentive service. The dishes are prepared to a high level of standard, but for the price you pay there is rather little 'protein' included in the menu. Although I admire restaurants that make tasty dishes out of 'simple' ingredients I feel that the predominantly vegetarian menu is rather expensive. And that was at the old price of $110, let alone the new price of $140, which still does not include a dessert. The pork in the main course wasn't much, had a lot of fat and was quite chewy (the dish is now replaced by lamb). The wines were good, but very pricey. I wasn't a fan of the clafoutis. At this price point there are A LOT of alternative options that leave me...