Located just outside of Tanunda in the beautiful Barossa Valley, Harvest Kitchen offers diners the chance to enjoy dishes using ingredients from the local region while they take in stunning views across vineyards. Their menu is built around seasonal local produce, and we had the chance to “Eat Like A Barossan” – which is also the name of their multi dish tasting menu.

To begin we had three starters to share; Sourdough with Fennel Salt Butter, Marinated Torzi-Matthews Olives, and House Made Market Vegetable Pickles. The fresh wholemeal sourdough was so fluffy and delightful, and the house made butter was absolutely delicious! The olives and pickled veggies had a nice flavour and sharpness to them, and opened up our palettes for the food to come.

Continuing our Barossan culinary journey, we then had Flatbread with Chickpea Hummus, and Beef Carpaccio with Parsnip Crisp and Horseradish. I’m not a huge fan of Hummus (sorry Hummus fans!) but I must say I absolutely loved this one! It had a bit of a smoky and more savoury than other dips I’ve tried. The carpaccio was also wonderful, with the punchy horseradish balancing the beef out perfectly.

After this we had Broccoli with Smoked White Bean Purée and Pomegranate. The broccoli was proudly fresh from the local market, and the purée was a beautiful wholesome flavour. The pomegranate added a nice freshness to the dish, though the broccoli was served raw which might not suit everyone.

Next up was Charred Squid and Octopus with Leek Ribbons and Wild Rice. The seafood was cooked perfectly- soft and buttery, with no rubbery texture at all. The leek had a pickled taste, which went well with the light protein.

Our two main savoury dishes were Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Harissa and Sugarloaf Cabbage, and Braised Hutton Vale Lamb with Beetroot Labneh. These two dishes were absolutely amazing – the Fried Chicken was crispy but without a greasy finish and had a beautiful bit of heat from the harissa. The lamb was slow cooked to tender perfection, and the sharpness of the labneh was matched beautifully with the lamb.

Finishing off on a sweet note, we tried three desserts. The first one we tried was Yoghurt Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Compote. I’m a big fan of both yoghurt and rhubarb, and Harvest Kitchen know they just go so well together. Aside from the gorgeous flavour combination, the texture of the panna cotta was excellent – soft enough to wobble a bit, but set enough to scoop without collapsing.

Next we moved on to Apple Tarte Tatin with Vanilla Marscapone. This is an ideal winter dessert, heartwarming, tasty, and fresh; an absolute winner! Lastly we tried the Salted Caramel Sundae with Toffee Popcorn. From the moment this dish came towards our table we had our eyes fixed on this, and fortunately it tastes as good as it looks! Crunchy and sweet popcorn with indulgent sauce over creamy ice cream….who wouldn’t love that?!

Priced at just $55 for this feed me menu, I’d highly encourage everyone to Eat Like A Barossan!

Harvest Kitchen is open for lunch 7 days a week from 11:30am and is open for dinner Saturday evenings from 6pm.

Words by Heidi Ioannou from The Hungry Heidi

WHERE: 285 Magnolia Rd, Tanunda