McLaren Vale Restaurants
In March 2016, we spent three glorious days of R&R at Wine and Roses Bed and Breakfast in McLaren Vale, South Australia.
McLaren Vale is famous for producing world class red wine, and we definitely drank some wine during our visit, but we also did a lot of eating.
Below are a few places that stood out during our three days in McLaren Vale.
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The Barn Bistro
Located: 252 Main Road, McLaren Vale
Hours: Open 7 days a week for Dinner from 5pm, Open Friday to Sunday for Lunch from 12pm-3pm,
Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day & Good Friday
Chef Darren Knill and his team prepare seasonally-inspired comfort food dishes.
We loved walking through the wine cellar.
The Barn has one of the best selections of boutique regional wines in the area.
We also really enjoyed sitting in the courtyard.
The evening felt relaxed and informal and romantically intimate all at the same time.
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Oscars
Located: 201 Main Road, McLaren Vale
Hours: Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
Oscars serves a little bit of everything — fish, steak, salad, pasta — but it was the brick oven pizza we were after.
I had the Thai Chicken Pizza:
Roasted chicken with a green curry coconut cream base and then topped with chili, ginger, mozzarella, spring onion, fresh cilantro, and bean sprouts.
Damn, that was good.
Since we spent the day on McLaren Vale’s Cheese and Wine Trail, we ordered takeout from Oscars and had a relaxing pizza and movie night in our PJs.
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The Tin Shed Cafe
Located: 168 Main Road, McLaren Vale
Hours: Open 7 days a week. Breakfast: 8am-11:30am, Lunch from 12pm, Dinner Friday and Saturday from 6pm.
The Tin Shed was packed with local families celebrating Good Friday.
We originally went to The Tin Shed to check out their Tex-Mex meals, but the table next to us had a pizza we couldn’t resist.
Yes, pizza again.
Pepperoni, jalapeños, and olives: it was a fantastic combination of spice and salt with a crisp buttery crust.
Wine, too, of course.
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Willunga Farmers Market
Located: Willunga Town Square, Main Rd, Willunga
Hours: Every Saturday 8am – 12:30pm
Every Saturday, more than 80 farmers and artisan food producers from the region sell their goods at Willunga Farmers Market.
The Egg and Bacon Roll from Bush Pepper Catering is very popular.
There will be a line, and the wait can be close to 15 minutes, but it’s worth it.
Trust me.
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Star of Greece
Located: 1 The Esplanade, Port Willunga
Hours: Lunch Wednesday to Sunday 12-3pm, Dinner Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights
Doug and Nikki Govan, head chefs of Star of Greece, offer their guests fresh offerings from the sea and local produce with an outstanding view of Gulf St. Vincent.
Beef, pork, duck, lamb and vegetarian options are also available.
This was the last meal of our trip, and we couldn’t have chosen a better place to end our time in Australia.
Star of Greece:
A delectable lunch with a tranquil view.
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