SA Weekend restaurant review — Watervale Hotel in the Clare Valley

Serving a spectacular homegrown salad is symbolic of the approach of this exciting Clare Valley hotel, writes Simon Wilkinson.

Nicola Palmer and Warrick Duthy at the recently-renovated Watervale Hotel on September 17, 2020. South Australia. Picture Matt Turner.

Is there anything sadder in the food world than the standard pub salad, the pathetic pile of limp lettuce and pallid tomato put on the plate in full knowledge that it is bound to return to the kitchen untouched, to scrape into a bin?

The salad at the Watervale Hotel, on the other hand, is a joy to behold. A ceramic bowl is filled with leaves and stems of lettuces, cabbages and other greens; slices of beetroot, cucumber and squash; apple, radish and a mix of petals and blooms. Everything has been plucked or snipped or pulled from the ground that morning. It’s like frolicking through a magical cottage garden – which isn’t far from the truth.

Because as splendid as the transformation of this historic Clare Valley hotel is, it only tells part of the story. Equally important is what is happening up the road at Penobscot Farm, the source of all these ingredients.

Both pub and farm are owned by well-known locals Warrick Duthy and Nicola Palmer, whose commitment to this project and the benefit it can bring to the wider region seems boundless.

The courtyard where we sit at lunch, for instance, required weeks of excavation before it could be paved and finished with beautiful quarried stone.

Citrus cake and poached cumquats at Watervale Hotel, Clare Valley.

At one end, a dozen or so splayed trout hang from wire frames suspended above a fire pit, like macabre prayer flags. A pair of wood ovens will soon be installed there as well.

Next to us, an electric door slides back automatically to reveal a shimmering stainless steel kitchen with the proportions and inventory you might expect to see in an international hotel. Another opens to a lounge and bar that, like all the rooms inside, have been restored with a blend of period features (polished floors, pressed metal, Chesterfield chairs) and contemporary flair.

The bigger picture goes beyond having a deep wallet and a good architect. Duthy and Palmer have also overseen the development at their farm, where the produce from biodynamic gardens and orchards is already integral to what they offer. So are the relationships they have developed with nearby farmers to supply lambs and chickens.

Penobscot Farm salad at Watervale Hotel, Clare Valley.

All this ambition and altruistic thinking translates into a dining experience that is commendably down to earth.   

The welcome is genuine, service thoughtful and friendly, prices no more than you would expect. Palmer runs the kitchen and ensures the cooking never gets ahead of itself. This is still a pub after all, and the menu is the same throughout the hotel.

A bowl of Spanish-style king prawns is not for the faint-hearted, with the crustaceans’ heads staring out of a dark, oily emulsion rich with paprika. The heads aren’t there just for looks – their mustard and other gloop give the sauce a pungency that makes it terrific for dipping bread. The deshelled prawn meat, however, has gone beyond springy to soft in most cases.

Grilled rainbow trout and sorrel butter at Watervale Hotel, Clare Valley

Filo cigars are filled with a lightly spiced lamb mince sourced from offcuts from the two whole carcasses that are purchased by the hotel each week. They come with a simple dipping sauce based on yoghurt that, like the smoked butter, the ice creams, vinegar and much more, is made in house. Given the focus on local provenance, it is a little strange that the two fish on offer are Northern Territory barramundi and rainbow trout of no fixed abode.

The trout (available whole or as a half) is thrown into a hot griddle pan until the skin is striped black from head to tail but the orange-pink flesh is still luscious. The tang of fresh sorrel from the garden features in wilted leaves and a melting pat of butter.

Watervale Hotel owners Warrick Duthy and Nicola Palmer. Picture Mark Brake

Flat-iron steak – a full-flavoured cut from the oyster blade – is grilled to medium rare, sliced and laid on a super-smooth sweet potato puree. A big splash of chimichurri, the South American herb, garlic and vinegar salsa, adds the knockout punch. Each plate has a bespoke salad accompaniment but that Penobscot bowl should still be obligatory.

A warm citrus and almond cake, still crisp at the edges from the oven, is topped with glossy domes of poached cumquats, and partnered by a scoop of lemon verbena ice cream. It’s a memorable dessert with the farm at its heart again.

As the garden grows, the fruit trees develop and the link with the kitchen becomes even stronger, the Watervale is going to be quite something. A pub with good salad. Who would have thought?