Restaurant review: Hidden Goulburn Valley eatery Turbine at Trawool Estate a world away

You may forget how you found Turbine restaurant but not its lamb curry, that’ll have your tastebuds in a spin from first bite— and checking-in at this regional hotel overnight.

Kara Monssen

3 min read

January 25, 2022 - 11:00AM

Food

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Melbourne usually spends January beachside, so why not buck the trend, boycott crowds and make tracks to Trawool instead. Traaa … where?

In this weird and worrying time when jetting overseas is as questionable as flying to Sydney, packing an overnight bag and heading inland for your summer vacay seems like a safer bet. Trawool Estate, the Goulburn Valley’s newest upscale hotel, is 90 minutes up the Hume Freeway, nestled off the beaten track among eucalypt trees and golden hills.

The red-bricked fortress was the Railway Hotel in the 1800s but will be remembered more as the Trawool Valley Resort in the ’80s.

New owners took over in 2018, ditching the side-of-the-road motel vibes and giving each of the 27 rooms a mod makeover.

Betel Leaf with jackfruit, citrus, chilli. Picture: Rob Leeson.

Nearby Mitchelton Wines did this a few years earlier with jaw-dropping results – and judging by the sparkling SUVs in the visitors carpark, things look to be working nicely at Trawool. Pre-Covid, the estate’s fine diner Wild Water opened, with postcard-perfect views of the ruggedly beautiful, wind turbine-lined Goulburn Valley hills.

But the out-of-towners aren’t here for just this.

Instead they’re secretly packing out executive chef Eric Kwek’s hidden mod-Asian outfit, Turbine.

Enter via the hotel’s bottom floor, hidden away from it all behind an unassuming black door.

She’s moody inside, with dark walls and velvet drapes blocking all windows ensuring no reference to time or day.

A jazzy soundtrack, persistent cocktail rattling and a jasmine rice aroma permeates – it’s at once Asian beachclub meets underground Melbourne restaurant. Very cool.

After losing count of Turbine’s almost-openings and the ongoing staff shortages last year, Kwek for the meantime is cooking a concise, Singaporean-leaning set menu that plays with Vietnamese and Thai flavours.

Kingfish kinilaw is a magical dish. Picture: Rob Leeson.

At $65, it’s superb value and generously filling.

Start with noodly jackfruit strands wrapped in fragrant betel leaf that have enough citrus zing, chilli heat and freshness to rouse the tastebuds.

A lone rice paper roll of braised pork belly stuffed with vermicelli, Vietnamese mint with sticky plum sauce is simple yet effective, winning over small and big mouths alike.

Things amp up when the kingfish kinilaw lands. The Filipino favourite jumbles fat, lime-cured white fish chunks with cleansing, crunchy cucumber, avocado and fiery red chilli.

The best bit? A colourful smattering of two kinds of fish roe spiked with wasabi and Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin. It sounds wild but tastes magical, with brilliant texture and levelled flavours.

If you’re daringly hungry – as there’s already plenty of food at play – the chef’s glossy vegetable fried rice ($12) or nanjim-dressed Sapphire Coast oysters ($6 each or five for $25) may tide you over until the main event.

Kwek’s vegetable fried rice. Picture: Rob Leeson.

Kwek’s major flex is curry. He’s learned from some of the industry’s best, cooking under Thai food king David Thompson at Long Chim and Adam D’Sylva at Coda. Growing up in Singapore, his mother made his favourite Malay-style chicken curry on special occasions.

I’m told this will get a run when al la carte begins in February or March.

Until then, the khao soi lamb hits just right with an aromatic gravy so indulgently good you’ll slurp it like soup. There’s gnarly, charred ribs with tender meat sucked clean from the bone and sharp pickle for bite – a rock-star dish that’ll have you booking a room and passing out in a food coma.

You can’t miss the khao soi lamb curry. Picture: Rob Leeson.

An almost-liquid dessert of Gelato Papa’s specially created lychee or Thai tea flavours slip through the cracks in the tummy as a nice finisher.

As do the cocktails at the bar, including the quenching yet complex gin and thyme syrup creation, which uses limoncello made with lemons plucked from trees around the property. Sommelier Connor Murphy’s Victorian and French-leaning wine list is also vast and impressive, propping up hyper-local Goulburn Valley producers and nearby Seymour’s Wine By Sam.

Whether you get lost far or close to home this summer, Turbine will take you for a spin through Thailand to Trawool and back again. A wild ride worth the trip.