Ernest and I did our celebrations 2-tiered this year. We had been trying to get away for Valentine's Day for a couple of years now but this year, as our boss is visiting us this romantic week, we decided to make this a quieter year.
Last week, I brought Ernest to see his favourite Top Gear live show and we were both entertained to bits by these funny British with their very direct commentary about cars and their nonchalance about people in general. Read all about it here.
Yesterday, on the V-Day itself, Ernest secretly booked us a nice restaurant in, of all aptly named places, Mojo's on Wilderness, Lovedale Hunter Valley. It is quite literally, in the wilderness.
The day started quite deary enough. It was raining for a few days already and we were snoozing in bed until close to lunch time. It was still raining. But since Ernest had made the reservation in this highly acclaimed restaurant, we thought we better start driving.
It took us 2.5 hours, 160kms and wet slippery road at average 110km/h in Ernest's beloved Skyline to reach Lovedale. When we reached Lovedale in close to the setting sun, the GPS then told Ernest to turn right, onto this patchy concrete pave-way. We still had about 1km more to go.
By then we were a bit worried. It was still raining, the sun is setting, there's no properties to be seem anywhere and now we are on this dirt path. Poor Skyline bumped the entire way and we seem to hear the rocks skimming on the underside of the car merrily like doing a tap dance.
Luckily, soon enough, a big flag signal the turn into the Mojo property and we gladfully turned into a more humanely paved carpark. This restaurant is hard to get to!
The entrance made me oohed with anticipation.
Mojo is a beautiful little restaurant set in a cottage. The interior is suitably decorated in a farm theme and had their lights dimmed low for this beautiful day.
As we were welcomed warmly into the cosy insides, we quickly forgot how hard it was to get here and settled comfortably into, in my opinion, the best seat of the house. We were seated by the pair of French louvre windows overlooking the vineyard. Our wooden chairs were cushioned and our table had love chocolates on our napkins. We had common poppy flowers snipped short and put in sherry glasses as cheerful decoration on our table. I note that other tables had the carpark view or no view or they had to share a long table with another couple separate by a big floral arrangement in a kettle. How quaint are their table decorations!
When we put in our orders for the night, we served swiftly served with warmed bread, some toasted olives, homemade dukkah and caramelised balsamic vinegar in olive oil for dipping.
I tell you, the caramelised balsamic vinegar is like nothing I have tasted. It is sweet and sour at the same time and it sure did warmed the cockles of my heart there and then. I told the waitress, can we buy a bottle home? She said of course! And promptly packed me a bottle.
Our starters came while we were nearing the end of the bread. I was surprised at the speed of service. Did they have a 2nd booking after us? Why were we rushed? My cynical radar perked up immediately.
Yet the food was delightfully presented and tasted great. I quickly forgave them.
Ernest had a trio of scallops lightly seared on polenta. It was an esquisite starter with very fresh scallops, although it may be more suitable for a lady and also Ernest did commented that he would prefer his scallops seared deeper to be able to taste that bit of burnt on the scallops.
Mine was a roasted confit of duck on a bed of mash and salsa with capers. It was a very flavourful starter with the heavy taste of game. The mash was a pleasant surprise. It might have been made with pureeing the mash with herbs and cream because the mash was creamy beyond comprehension and it was beautifully made. Might have been more of a men's choice, but I love it, love it, love it.
The main took quite a while to come after the starter. Perhaps Mojo has noticed how the starter had been abrupt and had paced the main course out. Any case, it was quite a wait and I had quite reach to a point where I might have raised my hand to ask where my food is and voila, it came right on time.
Ernest had a typical men dish of steak. It was a good fillet wrapped in prosciutto with a soft herb crust. It is accompanied by white onion puree, fondant potato and smoked bacon and eschallot sauce.
I had the grilled baramundi on a bed of salad and Bocconcini and pesto paste. I wasn't very impress with this main because the fish was not fully cooked! The skin had been crispy and yummy but unfortunately, perhaps the fish portion was a tad thick and maybe that's why it wasn't cooked through.
The Bocconcini salad was beautiful and I had actually cleaned the plate off of the salad before I realised the fish was not cook through. Too late to complain about the fish! Ah well, the whole Mojo experience has been very positive and I am quite happy to let this pass. If I am coming back here again, I will just order other dishes.
Although Ernest and I had been indulging in each other's presence during dinner, we couldn't help but kay poh and notice what couples came into the restaurant. Ah, love knows no bounds. I saw a couple where the man is in a wheelchair and the lady just pushed him into the resturant in the rain. They were determined to have a good time.
And of course, we saw a pair of gays and a pair of lesbians. The gay couple sat next to our table and it never fails to amaze me how vocal gay couples are. They waxed lyrical over the wine list, mulled loudly over their discussion on the menu and generally bitched to each other about their colleagues. Loudly.
It was a lovely evening with Ernest and I am very pleased with the whole Mojo experience. The staff were very polite and professional. They seemed to dance in perfect harmony in the restaurant and the food was marvellous. Ernest and I compared this to our disastrous Valentine Dinner last year on Mt Cootha Brisbane and concluded that food/restaurants in Sydney is still the best.
If you are looking for a perfect place to bring your partner to, Valentine's Day or not, I highly recommend Mojo's on Wilderness, Lovedale. Just dun order the fish.
Mojo's on Wilderness.
82 Wilderness Road
Lovedale NSW 2320
Ph: (02) 4930 7244
**ooh yes, Ernest gave me a little Alannah Hill sling bag as a Valentine's Day present. I am very happy that Ernest has finally learnt how to be a romantic! The bling on the bag tells me so. Love is in the air, I tell you.
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