If you have no idea where Healesville is, I will give you a quick idea. It’s in the Yarra Valley (where lots of grapes are grown and trampled on) and is about 20 minutes on from Lilydale Station (the end, yes the very end, of that train line). It’s a nice drive and the valley is at it’s best at the moment; green rolling hills, blue skies and crisp leaves. The scenery of the hotel is also quite nice: friendly green walls, pressed tin ceiling and an airy relaxed feeling. We were seated at a window where the sun shone in gently and complemented our glass of White Harvest wine, the hotel’s own label.
The normal menu of the Healesville Hotel changes seasonally but due to the Express deal we were offered a menu of two options per course. I am genetically predisposed to dessert, as is my mother, therefore the two courses became main and dessert. I did glance at the starters, I’m sure there was something that contained smoked salmon and a pea soup.
For main I picked the vegetarian option of Zucchini and Spinach Lasagna and mother chose the carnivorous option of Duck with Roasted Figs. While waiting for our course to come out we were offered fresh bread twice and we accepted once. The double offer of bread and the ample supply of butter on the table made me a very happy lady; for I lament the lack of bread in any place but the RSL these days. I mean low-carb was so last decade, it’s time to bring back bread, pretty please! Sorry about that little rant, back on track.
Mains were presented to us by a charming man who informed me that the rainbow of petite tomatoes scattered around the lasagna came from his garden. He also informed mummy that the figs her duck rested on came from a tree in the waitresses’ garden. As you can tell the service was friendly and relaxed. In fact the waitress gained my utter admiration when she managed to get rid of a wasp in our window by accurately swatting it with a table fork, now that’s service. Once nature was taken care of I could tuck into my meal. The lasagna was superb; forkfuls of soft cheese, fresh pasta and spinach layered in-between and the little tomatoes all went down a treat. Mother adored the salt rubbed duck and thought it was cooked “just right”. She also mentioned that the portions were “ladylike” and I do agree with her. I was thrilled to have something that was ‘just right’ but those with Bearish appetites would not be satisfied with the Goldilocks serving size. In which case they should probably not refuse the second offering of bread.
Ah dessert, two options again. Strawberry and Rasberry Tart or a Trio of Ices. Mother commented that the Ices sounded like something from an Enid Blyton book, but the literary connection was not enough to tempt us from the berry tart. We both devoured it from the crisp outer shell all the way to the last scrape of gooey vanilla custard. Some plump red berries were pierced onto the fork in the middle of this sugar deconstruction.
Perfectly full mother and I walked out of the Healesville Hotel and had only gone three shops when we discovered the perfect ending to our outing, shoes! There in the window of the Black Cat Boutique was a pair of shiny plum brogues that looked good enough to eat, let alone wear. So we hurried inside...and now my dears I sit typing away in my stockings and bra for I refuse to take off the plum shoes tied to my feet.
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