Royal George Hotel in Kyneton serving delicious dumplings worth fanging it up the Calder Fwy
A flurry of activity has seen Kyneton re-stake its claim to the title of Victoria’s most delicious town and these distinctive dumplings and chicken kiev croquettes are helping to secure it, writes Dan Stock.
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Kyneton is having a moment. Again.
Long the cause of countless Escape to the Country dreams due to the wine-dine good times on offer, a recent flurry of activity — after a spell off the boil — has seen it re-stake its claim to the title of Victoria’s most delicious town.
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There’s the fabulously named Tipsy Rabbit wine bar set to open next month along with a new pasta place next door to my favourite French restaurant in the state, Midnight Starling.
There’s the always excellent Source Dining still serving country-generous fare with flair but now taking pre-prandial gins and tonic at Animus down the road makes for a properly celebratory day or night of it.
There’s Tansy Good now trotting out hits for those who have memories of her soused sardines and fabulous French technique from her North Carlton/ Spring St heyday in the 80s-90s, but it’s the return of Frank Moylan and Melissa Macfarlane behind the bar of the Royal George down the road that is perhaps the most exciting.
The husband-and-wife duo have been, over the years, responsible for much loved pubs in town — the Eastern European The Crimean in North Melbourne — and country, including The Farmers’ Arms in Daylesford and ran the Royal George to great acclaim in the late 2000s.
Both are working the floor this Sunday lunch, and it’s quickly clear we’re in the hands of those who have hospitality running though their veins.
Even though it’s a full house they are both quietly calm and winkingly cheeky, greeting and guiding to tables either in the handsome dining room for those who had the foresight to book, or in the bar and its anteroom for those who, like us, took a chance but thankfully arrived early enough to snag the last tables.
It’s little wonder it’s busy — and not just with those here for $9.50 pints of Carlton Draught, though how good is seeing a sub $10 pint? — for this is the type of space it’s easy to spend time in, whether with a group, with the kids or simply with your thoughts.
A touch of taxidermy (including a very lost duck) and artfully chosen vintage pieces (thanks to Melissa’s keen eye) add colour but the bones of this 160-year-old beauty remain much as they were.
Along with Carlton, there’s Castlemaine’s Shedshaker on tap — as well as proper Czech Budvar if you’re lucky, a nod to the duo’s love of Eastern Europe.
The wine list is a tight, well-chosen cellar of local drops and Euro flings, where $40-odd will get you both a bottle of vermentino from Chalmers in Heathcote or a Muscadet from France and wines by the glass — whether an $8 Rhone rose or $12 Yarra Valley gamay — are poured at the table. It’s these little touches of innate class that add up to a whole lot of yes.
The equally sharply priced menu is a broadly Eastern European carte of greatest hits with a few eclectic outliers, such as Nashville pickle chips just because “we tried them when travelling in the US, and loved them”.
They are indeed a revelation. Lightly battered gherkin slices served with a punchy chipotle mayo, they are the bar snack from which it’s hard to look back ($8).
A terrific chutney of sweet and spice is on dunking duties for the Bulgarian banista, a fat filo cigar filled with pork and cabbage ($5), while a plate of wonderfully sharp pickled octopus teams chilli heat with cool mint tzatziki for a triple threat of tastes ($13.50).
You probably don’t need me to tell you to order the chicken kiev croquette — why has no one done this before? — and it’s every bit as good as you’d imagine a hefty crunchy crumbed nugget of garlicky chicken dripping in butter would be. It’s $5 you’ll be happy you spent.
Fabulously fragrant makanek — Lebanese beef sausages — come on a chunky smoked tomato sauce with daubs of creamy labne to swirl through ($13.50). A touch of honey sweetness finishes a plate that might have you calling for a serve of ciabatta ($5) to mop dry, though you might equally save your carbs for both serves of the dumplings that are fang-it-up-the-Calder great.
Whether you plump for the fat Siberian pelmeni — filled with pork and beef and served with sour cream and paprika — or the Ukrainian vareniki filled with a potato and quark mix on a splosh of onion puree, you can’t go wrong ($13.50 each).
And while I’d skip the oddly deconstructed Mess for dessert ($15), I’d happily snack on the roasted cauliflower seasoned with sharena sol — a salty Bulgarian seasoning of paprika and fenugreek — with another beer instead.
Great booze and terrific food at a country-keen price, let’s chalk it up as another win for Kyneton.
Royal George
22 Piper St, Kyneton
Ph: 5417 2345
Web: royalgeorge.com.au
Open: Thurs-Sun dinner; Sat-Sun lunch
Go-to dish: Pelmeni dumplings
Score: 14/20
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