Plates with Mates: Lunch with a Group

Plates with Mates:

WHERE TO BOOK LUNCH WITH A GROUP

The Margaret River Region is spoilt for choice when it comes to lunchtime fare. Best enjoyed with friends and family, we handpicked the top places to enjoy lunch while visiting with a group. Just remember to check each venue’s opening hours and ensure you book ahead.

WORDS | KATE JONES A long the scenic Caves Road and just out of Yallingup is Swings & Roundabouts winery. The spacious cellar door leads out to a huge lawn, where you will find plenty of shaded tables, two nature playgrounds and an ice-cream kiosk, all set to a backdrop of an undulating vineyard and lake. Live music is hosted every Sunday year-round, and in summer a pop-up Kombi Corner bar on the lawn will serve beer from Busselton’s Rocky Ridge on tap. We recommend sampling Swings & Roundabouts’ wine range at the cellar door before ordering an antipasto board and mouth-watering woodfired pizzas to share. Dogs are warmly welcomed.

After a winery lunch with an ocean view? Wise Wine in Eagle Bay is perched on a hill overlooking the Meelup Regional Park and turquoise waters of Geographe Bay, the only winery in the region with ocean vistas. Wise Wine produces gin as well as wine, utilising their own grapes for the spirit base. Visit the Tasting Room for a relaxed, seated tasting and marvel at the shiraz gin, mandarin gin, pisco or award-

winning pinot grigio (bookings essential for groups of six or more).

Colonial Brewing Co. is a large brewery in the heart of the Margaret River Region and ticks all the boxes when looking for a group lunch affair, especially with kids and dogs in tow. It is home to a large playground and golf driving range, keeping the kids entertained for hours while you enjoy craft beers and live music. If you have been to Colonial, another iconic and family friendly brewery in the region to try is Cheeky Monkey Brewing Co, fit with a playground and lakeside views.

Clancy’s Fish Pub, just out of Dunsborough’s town centre, is a great option if you have an appetite for fresh seafood platters, chilli mussels or zesty fish tacos. If you like spicy dishes, try their popular ‘fried mice’ entrée - deep-fried jalapenos stuffed with capsicum cream cheese. At the rear of the venue is a grassed area for the kids to run wild and shaded outdoor tables suitable for wellbehaved pooches. Visit on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy free, live music, and check upcoming gigs and concerts on their website.

discover

the new seasonal menu at xanadu

Celebrating head chef Aaron Lim and his formidable marriage of food and wine from the southwest.

xanaduwines.com

This image, Swings & Roundabouts. Below, Generous pub-portions will leave your group content at the Augusta Hotel.

For seafood-loving groups who want to explore the very best of Dunsborough’s nighttime food scene, look no further than Blue Manna Bistro. With its surrounding coastline being the great Indian Ocean and the calmer waters of Geographe Bay, Blue Manna was always primed to become a central hub of maritime cuisine. They strive to serve all their seafood from local and sustainable sources and the quality ingredients wash down well with a glass of wine. Perfect booking for a group birthday celebration that deserves good food.

Set in the Yallingup hills is the family and dog friendly Wild Hop Brewing Company. Easily catering for groups up to 20, their menu is ‘family style’ and ideal for groups to try a mixture of dishes. Unlike nearby breweries, you won’t find pizzas or burgers on the menu. Instead, they offer an ever-changing menu inspired by a wood rotisserie oven. A whole rotisserie chicken (brined for 48 hours and slow roasted over coals) is a menu staple, paired with fresh seasonal salads, roasted potatoes and condiments. Wild Hop’s beer range is batch brewed, so like the food menu, the tap list is always changing. The deck area is on one level, making it accessible for prams and wheelchairs.

By the calm waters of Geographe Bay and a stone’s throw from the iconic Busselton Jetty is Shelter Brewing Co. The massive family, dog, and wheelchair friendly venue dishes up woodfired pizzas from their Italian pizza oven (think prawn with nduja or pumpkin with feta), burgers and large share plates of whole fish, beef brisket and pork knuckle. Sip on a spritz, a local wine or a cold beer after a dip at the foreshore or come later in the afternoon to see the sunset over the bay.

At the southern tip of the region is the Augusta Hotel, set on the banks of the Hardy Inlet in the quaint town of Augusta. The outdoor tables and grassed area look out towards the meeting point of the Blackwood River and Southern Ocean, and inside the hotel are pool

Left, Wise Winery; below, Colonial Brewery.

tables and regular live music gigs. The menu has classic pub favourites, such as chicken parmigiana, fish and chips and steak sandwiches, paired with a list of local wines and beers. Dog and kid friendly, it’s a relaxed spot to fuel up after a morning in the water or after a visit to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

Aravina Estate in Yallingup offers a wining and dining experience for everyone, with a cellar door, a fine dining à la carte restaurant, a casual pizza bar and a new craft beer taphouse. The property is picture-perfect, with a lush lawn, towering trees and views over the lake and vineyard. The restaurant serves the finest local seafood, meats and cheeses of the region, but for a more casual lunchtime option, order pizzas from the Riviera Pizza Bar and sip on an Aperol spritz or Pimms in the sunshine. Live music is often hosted on the lawn during summer.

Towards Yallingup, Clairault Streicker’s Vineyard Kitchen is a gorgeous place to sit down with family for a special occassion. Picnic blankets are available in the summer to spread out in the gardens and indulge in a long, lazy lunch with a group.

Not far down the road is Black Brewing Co. A slightly more casual affair, the huge space caters for kids and adults and has a menu to support a range of tastebuds. Enjoy woodfired pizzas or shared plates on the expansive deck or in the beer garden.