The restaurant is a ranch which is over 100 years old. Both the ranch home and the homestead shack were built by a Scottish homesteader John Turner. For 16 years, he raised Clydesdale horses and, with growing success, built a bigger house and acquired more land.
In 1902, Turner sold his homestead to the Wright family, who went on to sell it to the MacKays in 1916. The MacKay family held on to the land and buildings until 1988. Since then, the property has been a tea house, a pub, a bed and breakfast and now, a restaurant.
The homestead shack was built before 1900 and is left open for you to take a look around.
Dining here is a totally relaxed and comfortable experience. We wandered around, looking into all the different rooms. The original layout of the ranch has been preserved, giving diners individual and cozy rooms to eat in.
Entrance
Parlour
Kitchen
Old Stove
We sat in this sunny room, looking out over the grounds, rolling hills and busy bird feeders.
The place itself is enough to talk about, but what about the food? Janet wanted the ribs, but they had run out. From write ups we have seen on the internet, this is not the first time they have run out of ribs. We can only assume they must be delicious, so we will definitely have to go back again and hope for better luck.
To start, we shared some Crab Cakes, which were lovely and very crispy. Eamonn had the Tenderloin, with roast potatoes and veg and Janet had the Flat Iron Steak with fat potato wedges and salad. Both steaks were lovely and tender and very tasty. Our server tempted us with desert, so we shared a berry crumble (it was a never ending portion) and it was truly delicious. It was a good hearty meal.
The bill, when it came, was presented in a book, which just invites you to stay a while longer! It came to just over $100 and $120 with the tip, which we thought was good value, given the quality of the food, service and the setting.
There are a couple more buildings in the Car Park.
J&E
