The Shared Table Buninyong restaurant review 2024

When the pub closed down for renovations in this country town near Ballarat, a posh restaurant stepped up and the move is paying off in the food stakes.

How do you get new diners into your fancy country restaurant?

Moonlight as the local pub.

I’m sure that wasn’t on chef Dianne Ray’s bingo card in 2019 when she launched her cosy Buninyong fine diner The Shared Table, 20 minutes from Ballarat.

But like all reno projects, the Crown Hotel’s had run overtime, taking the teeny town’s supplier of hot chips and steak off the menu for almost 18 months.

Filling the fried void was a smart move by Di, if you ask me. In what other universe would we see Bert and Beryl from the ‘Yong order ‘proper’ fish and chips ($32), and maybe – just maybe – be tempted to try tofu doughnuts ($16) for the first time?

Or if they’re feeling adventurous, a ‘mosaic of seafood’ ($23) which tightly rolls the catch of the day with Granny Smith apples and dill in nori (seaweed). This visit it’s chilled, buttermilk-poached Silver Lake smoked eel, salmon, kingfish and trout from Tuki Trout.

The Shared Table Buninyong is also moonlighting as the local pub during renovations. Picture: Matt Ray Photography.

Ray, who worked as a nurse before stints at local catering company Peter Ford, Mitchell Harris Wine Bar and Craig’s Hotel, isn’t interested in bells and whistles dining.

The Shared Table’s dining room is at once cosy and comforting, with chic adornments suggesting a fancy touch. Exposed red brick walls and timber beamed ceilings, tin-shed roof, sleek walnut timber tables … it’s giving elevated country farmhouse vibes.

There’s also a sophistication to her cooking, but what carries her food is her produce obsession. The fresher, the better it seems, with Ray swinging by the restaurant during this service to lob off some lettuce she had just plucked from her garden.

It’s probably why the frizzy green leaves in my ramekin, slicked in superb honey wasabi dressing with edamame and pickles, is one of the better sides I’ve had recently. Prioritising pro-produce (and some cheffy know how) also explains why that squidgy sweet potato noodle dish is so balanced ($28).

Chef and owner Diane Ray makes most things from scratch from locally sourced produce or vegetables he’s grown herself.

A medley of mushies, plucked locally from Mushroom Connection, buries us in indulgently rich umami layers, while fluffy fragrant dill lifts us to sprightly heights. Fiery XO, made from sunflower seeds, keeps the heat at a levelled tingle, while the texture of those squishy noods is just too much fun.

Good ingredients aren’t forgotten on the drinks front. Underbar sommelier Tony Schuurs calls the shots on cocktails (and wine) with an all-Victorian brief. He makes the cocktail and mocktail shrubs (syrups) from what’s gathered or grown in the region – or given to the restaurant.

The first of the season rhubarb gets a go in both a tart and ginger-fizzed mocktail and the rosemary spritz. Wild elderflower is plucked from a local laneway for a effervescent St Germain champagne cocktail.

The rhubarb sundae will unleash your inner kid.

Wines are under $16 for a glass, with most bottles under $100. Try the Attwoods pinot gris or 2006 Welshman’s Reef sticky semillon for dessert.

If you’re into meat, there’s plenty of that too – especially on the snack front: Sichuan spiced fried chicken ($32) and slide-from-the-bone tender lamb ribs ($19) are doused in a sticky black vinegar caramel and have enough sweetness and spice.

Poussin ($40), which means tiny chicken, is poached to retain juice in the legs (not so much the breast), then charred crisp and finished with a Korean bulgogi sauce, which adds dimension to the layered dish: served with a pea tart and asparagus.

While those tofu doughnuts, bouncy, deep fried orbs have a wonderful squish swiped in a red miso caramel and would convert even the fussiest of eaters.

Pull up a chair, grab a glass and venture beyond the pub picks for a taste of proper country cooking, served with heart and soul.