Maxwell Restaurant review, Fleurieu best restaurants | delicious.SA: Regional 50

There’s plenty of kitchen wizardry at Maxwell Restaurant — but don’t worry, it’s certainly not style over substance.

Maxwell Restaurant, Coffin Bay oysters with gin and tonic.

Cnr Olivers and Chalk Hill roads, McLaren Vale

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maxwellwines.com.au

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An open box of black pebbles lands on the table. There’s no cutlery; we’re armed only with our hands and our curiosity. But where is the food?

Upon closer inspection, two of these pebbles are not pebbles at all, but bite-sized squid ink meringues, filled with an apple and oyster emulsion that’ll transport you to the nearby southern coast. Ah.

It’s just a taste of the kitchen wizardry led by chef Fabian Lehmann that not only whets the appetite but also sparks conversation and puts a smile on diners’ faces.

Maxwell’s degustation is a wondrous journey of flavour, texture and technique. Delicate crabmeat and lobster is blanketed with a flawless, transparent sheet of tomato consomme. A bigger dish of kangaroo with pepperberry, fermented blueberries and cabbage is hidden under a veil of macadamia milk foam.

It’s not style over substance – these are dishes that tickle the tastebuds as much as the curious mind. Local produce is at the fore, not least in the desserts that might celebrate something as unlikely as the beetroot, while a considered cheese selection to finish is hard to top. And it’s all served in a tastefully-designed, serene and light-filled dining room, where huge windows overlook the winery’s lush grounds.

If it’s a more casual affair you’re after, Maxwell’s hedge maze and picnic grounds are available for booking, as is a more adventurous mushroom tour that finishes in the winery’s 100-year-old limestone cave.

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• Hours: L Thu-Sun
• Bill: Degustation $110
• Wine: Wine list
• Chef: Fabian Lehmann