Watervale Hotel review, Clare Valley best restaurants | delicious.SA: Regional 50

A destination pub like the spectacularly renovated Watervale Hotel has the Pied Piper-like power to draw people to a region.

A dish at the newly-renovated Watervale Hotel, in the Clare Valley. Picture: Matt Turner.

37 Main North Rd, Watervale

[phone]

watervalehotel.com.au

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A destination pub like the spectacularly renovated Watervale Hotel has the Pied Piper-like power to draw people to a region.

Owners Warrick Duthy and Nicola Palmer (also head chef) have overseen a makeover that includes an impressive new kitchen (where you can watch all the action during the Chef’s Table dining experience), a sleek indoor dining space, private art-packed rooms and a large outdoor area with a restored old jail at the rear for special dining experiences.

If you’re lucky, you might see Nicola out the back smoking butter on the new fire pit. There, large chunks of beef, chickens, fish and vegetables hang in a smoky haze, sending mouthwatering aromas across the space.

The results are written all over the menu; barramundi with smoked pumpkin puree, or for the adventurous, a (1.2kg) tomahawk beef steak (cooked medium rare as all red meat here is).

Smaller dishes include lamb cigars with minted yoghurt (crisp on the outside, succulent within) and a steaming bowl of sauteed Spanish-style SA prawns served in a broth so full of depth and flavour, it begs to be slurped.

The couple has a strong focus on ethical, sustainable ingredients, many of which are plucked from their organic/biodynamic Penobscot Farm. As a result, the menu’s vegetable offering is impressive and a daily salad is made up of whatever was plucked that morning.

The wine list is stellar, too. Warrick puts a lot of care into the curation of a drinks menu that champions local Clare Valley producers and wine, spirits, beer, and sake from across the globe.

Finish it all up with house-made sorbet or ice-cream.

Full list: See the best restaurants across all our regions

• Hours: L | D Mon-Sun
• Bill: E $4.5-$32 M $22-$48 D $8-$14
• Wine: Wine list plus BYO | Corkage $15
• Chef: Nicola Palmer