Highline Restaurant is a fine dining restaurant that uses local produce to create an exciting and Australian inspired menu. It’s located upstairs at the railway hotel in Windsor. The ingredients are top quality and sourced from local providers. It definitely celebrates and embodies the paddock to plate concept. Simon Tarlington is the man behind the menu and he takes you on a journey with every mouthful.
The venue décor has a modern vibe and there is a fireplace on the back wall and has comfy seating spaces. The menu was presented in an envelope, sealed with a red wax stamp, which was an elegant touch.
We started the meal with some farmhouse snacks, which were presented on a wooden board with pieces of chorizo, salami and oysters. The meats were tasty and the oysters were an interesting rendition of a Kilpatrick oyster. There were smoky chunks of bacon at the bottom with a dehydrated oyster on top. The smokiness complimented the texture of the oyster.
Warm bread was served in a cute little mesh bag with a side of Koojong Valley olive oil and salt.
The first starter was ‘variations of prawn and pumpkin.’ The delicate flavours and textures worked in complete harmony. Each element on the dish had its own character and no element overpowered the other. The pumpkin puree was so smooth and full of flavour, the thinly sliced disks of pickled pumpkin added a bit of crunch and acidity, the poached prawns were perfectly cooked and the prawn fluff had an intense prawn flavour and a subtle light and rough texture. The aroma of the prawn and pumpkin broth was enticing. It was a beautiful start to the meal.
Next up was the rabbit terrine. It had a full-bodied hearty flavour and was made really well. There was a beautifully cooked pink piece of rabbit in the centre. It was rolled in radicchio, which added a little bite of bitterness and the pickles were good to cut through the full-bodied flavour of the terrine. The side of shredded cucumber added freshness and the fresh figs added a light sweet flavour. It was topped with super thin buckwheat crisps.
Then there was duck. This was one of my faves. There was a slice of perfectly roasted Gippsland duck breast (so tender) with crispy skin and shredded duck leg with a caramelised top. Yes you heard correctly, this juicy duck leg stack had a bruleed top. You could crack your spoon into the top like a crème brulee. It was sweet and juicy, amazing!
There were some colourful root vegetables to accompany the duck and the celeriac puree was silky and smooth. The liquorice dust had a great flavour and was deliciously subtle and there was these super thin crispy, wispy carrot bits that added texture. The duck jus brought all of the elements together. It was marvellous.
The Oak Valley lamb was divine. It was so tender. It melted in your mouth because it was so tender. It was delicious. Did I mention it was tender? The celeriac and smoked chestnuts added a fresh crunch to the meal. And the lamb jus amplified the flavour of the lamb. There were three strips of lamb bacon, which were delicious. It had that smoky bacon flavour, it was interesting to have a different type of bacon. It was delish! The slices of pickled quince were sweet and sour and the celeriac puree was creamy. They were fantastic with the lamb.
For dessert we had the ‘choc-mandarin obsession.’ The chocolate was sourced from the Daintree rainforest in north QLD which is a chocolate farm in oz. The chocolate mousse was so smooth. It was full of flavour and not too sweet. The crumb was a combination of chocolate and dehydrated mandarin. There was different size bits in the crumb which created an exquisite mouthfeel with a bit of chew. There were bits of mandarin jelly, which were bursts of intense mandarin flavour and cheeky bits of fresh mandarin pieces in amongst the crumb. There were thin chocolate shards placed on top, which were super thin and crispy. Yum! The chocolate shards looked like branches from a tree emerging from the chocolate crumb.
We finished our meal with little squares of passion fruit jelly, which had a beautiful passionfruit flavour and was coated in a floral maybe lavender sugar.
They have a lovely wine selection so you can get your degustation on and pair a glass of wine with each of your meals. The ingredients used are from local providers and are of the finest quality, so the menu will often change depending on what’s in season. It was a nice escape. Even though the location was close to home, the dining experience made me feel like I was far away at a winery somewhere.
I heart The Railway Hotel – Highline Restaurant!
Olives x
Highline Restaurant
Address: 29 Chapel Street, Windsor VIC 3181
Website: https://www.therailway.com.au
Phone: 03 9510 4050
Trading Hours: Mon-Sat: 6pm til late
Note: Olive Sundays was invited as a guest to the railway hotel – Highline restaurant.
Gorgeously plated food, looks like a lovely experience 🙂