After a busy day of having fun in Victor Harbor, you just want to have a nice relaxing meal. Maybe you’ve been exploring the local sights and enjoying that Fleurieu Peninsula hospitality. Hopefully you’ve jumped on the Cockle train to Goolwa or visited the educational South Australian Whale Centre. Now, you just want to rest have a good meal, a glass of wine and recap the days events. Well my advice is to make a night of it at Baudins Restaurant at the McCracken Country Club.
Baudins Restaurant is a part of the McCracken Country Club. The country club offers accommodation, an 18 hole golf course, bistro and Baudins Restaurant for a fine dining experience. To the left of the main entrance McCracken Country Clubs patrons enter a bar area which leads towards Baudins Restaurant. You are greeted at the main restaurant door by a waitress, and if your table is not ready you can make your way back to the bar for some pre dinner drinks.
The restaurant is in a large function room overlooking the picturesque golf course fairways. The tables are nicely spread out and consist of a mixture of booth tables and standard settings. Once our table was ready our waitress showed us to our booth table and we quickly settled in.
By comparison to other restaurants, the table was pretty bare. We didn’t have any place-settings, no cutlery, no side plates, just a stark table. It took about ten minutes before we were handed menus, which was not a good start. I could tell they were quite busy and with only two waitresses serving the room, you could see they were doing their best. It took about twenty minutes before we were served again to order food and some drinks and another 10 before the drinks arrived. Luckily the waitresses were friendly and we weren’t in any rush to leave.
The restaurants menu offers a good selection of meals created with locally sourced produce. We opted for the Chicken and Asparagus filled Filo pastry on a Napolitano base and the Twice cooked Pork Knuckle for our mains. For an entrée we chose a half a dozen Kilpatrick Oysters and for dessert we couldn’t resist trying the Eton Mess. Baudins restaurant also offers an excellent range of local wines to accompany your meal.
The meal started to arrive about twenty minutes after we ordered, which was a huge improvement from the initial service received. After eating the Kilpatrick Oysters all I can say is wow! The oysters were cooked to perfection and the balance of flavours was sensational. I must say these oysters were some of the best I’ve had. And do you know what, the food only got better from there.
Our mains arrived shortly after that and the chicken and asparagus filo was crispy, providing that crunch with every bite. The chicken and asparagus filling was not dry or over cooked. The filo encapsulating the moisture of the filling without it seeping through. Additionally ,that Napolitano puree added an extra smooth texture which enhanced a good meal.
What can I say about the twice cooked pork knuckle except it was a good size and the crackling was…. Awesome! It was served with creamy mashed potato, some braised cabbage and a spicy plum and ginger sauce. Full of flavour but a little hard to cut, more because I just didn’t know where to start. Do you go, crackling, meat, crackling, meat or do you have the vegetables first. Once I’d made my choice it was delicious and extremely filling. The plum and ginger sauce combined with the pork was always going to be an absolute winner.
With the main courses out of the way we patiently waited for our Eton Mess. Again we weren’t disappointed with the product placed in front of us. Unfortunately with no spoons available we had to wait while the staff searched for suitable spoons. It was a case of, do I need a spoon to eat this? I’m sure the other patrons would understand! It is Eton Mess! Although they returned with two different spoons it didn’t matter, as the Eton Mess was fantastic. The folding of meringue with the smooth cream and raspberry coulis was tantalising on the palate. Baudins’ Eton Mess was a perfect way to finish off a quality meal.
The Verdict
In my honest opinion Baudins Restaurant has a lot of potential to be an elite restaurant. I’d say the kitchen cohesion and food preparation must be excellent, because it reflects on the food that they produce and present to their customers. I cannot fault the food, the flavour, the menu options, they were all excellent. My main concern is the main room floor management needs a little improvement. The staff is friendly and helpful but the lack of room control, makes them look a little overwhelmed. A little thing like showing your customers to their tables with menus in hand gives the service some efficiency. Pre-setting tables so your customers aren’t waiting for cutlery, all reflect a well thought out service. With quality food on offer these minor front of house issues should be easily rectified.
When you are in Victor Harbor, I recommend making your way to Baudins Restaurant, their food is excellent and you must try their Eton Mess, over and over again. Have a great evening, drink some good local wines and tell them, Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!
McCracken Country Club’s Baudins Restaurant additional information.
For Bookings, Baudins Restaurant is located at the McCracken Country Club, McCraken Drive, Victor Harbor. Phone: 08 8551 0200
Book your McCraken Country Club Accomodation here
Baudins Restaurant is open for dinner service Tuesday – Saturday nights
Entrée Prices range from AUD$6.00 – $16.00 Main meals AUD$18.00 – $44.00 Dessert prices AUD$9.90 – $16.90
Baudins Restaurant rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)
Decor =8
Atmosphere = 8
Service =6
Price = 8
Food =10
Overall = 8
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