Review: Tinamba Hotel

Tinamba Hotel                          

4-6 Tinamba Seaton Rd, Tinamba Vic 3859.  5145 1484.  
Web site, inc bookings: www.tinambahotel.com.au   Facebook: www.facebook.com/TinambaHotel

OPEN:     LUNCH   Wednesday to Sunday.    DINNER   Wednesday to Saturday.

“A unique mix of quality culinary sophistication in a venue with a hint of opulence but still unpretentious.”

Location:             About 7 Kms out of Maffra you will find Tinamba, and adjacent to the crossroads is the Tinamba Hotel first established in 1874. This hotel has seen many changes, the most significant being in 2009 when the current owners, Brad Neilson and Damien Gannon, a couple of real Gippslanders, purchased it having sold their restaurant (Neilsons) in Traralgon in 2008.  Brad & Damien both were born and raised in Gippsland, a homecoming for Damien, born in Tinamba, just up the road for Brad who hails from Traralgon. Having purchased the hotel in May 2009 they promptly closed it for 3 months of hard work renovating it ready for re-opening on August 22^nd 2009.  On street parking is available right outside this typical country pub facade of the period and across the best kept grass verge in town you enter into another world. I described it like entering the “Tardis”.  3 months of hard work renovating this establishment (I would not insult it now calling it a pub), the Tinamba Hotel is something really special.

Immediately on entry there is a feeling of sophistication, even opulence, a grand piano adorns the entry area with Chesterfield arm chairs adjacent. The dining room is very well laid out with plenty of room between tables catering for intimate dining for couples and small groups or for larger groups by arrangement. The décor of deep rich colours with perfectly placed visual highlights and provides a theme which cries out relax, enjoy and savour. The seating is simple but comfortable, the table settings are the best I have seen in Gippsland, and the full table service is quietly professional with a hint of pleasant conversation and humour.  This is a serious dining venue and perfectly themed.

Menu:                  Menus here change on a weekly basis, sometimes more often due to the sourcing and availability of local produce which supports  other local producers, the hotel itself utilises its own garden for some herbs and vegetables.  Special dietary needs are catered for and listed on the menu which exhibits a well-rounded range of entrees mains and desserts to tantalise your tastebuds. The dishes on offer are extensive and an adventure into diverse culinary combinations.  On my visit for lunch, a soup, three entrees and four mains with a selection of sides combine well with a choice of three desserts to follow.  Dinner menus are more extensive, but all providing an amazing array of styles, textures, and flavour combinations. You owe it to yourself to read the menu fully.

Experience:        My visit for lunch, planned and with my wife and a colleague, who like me enjoys his food.  Booked for 12.30pm we arrived and were greeted almost immediately in a friendly professional manner, shown to our table which I have to say was set perfectly. Rare these days to see butter served in a butter dish and with a butter knife, such is the attention to detail at Tinamba Hotel.  

I ordered the Entrée Trio consisting of Sundried Tomato and Maffra Sage Derby Arancini. A crisp coating with light well balanced filling delicate and moreish.  A ham wrapped chicken pistachio sausage with cranberry gel, beautifully presented, the ham adding a mild flavour with a hint of sweetness to the smooth sausage filling and when mixed with the cranberry it was as good as Christmas.  The sweet potato and onion frittata with pumpkin puree was house made, light but firm, the pumpkin puree balanced the flavours so well.  

My main choice was a Thai Red Curry of pork belly slices, jasmine rice, kaffir lime and crispy onion dukkah. I enquired the heat range and was informed “very mild” so I requested it to be “beefed up” a little as I enjoy hot curries. “Beefed up” it was, and very well judged so as not to overpower the individual flavours of the red curry itself. The pork belly was tender juicy and still maintaining its form within the curry, its natural fat adding to the taste of the dish. The rice lime and dukkah were portioned perfectly to compliment the flavours but not overpower them. The added heat lingered in my mouth just as I like it.  

My wife and colleague both ordered the Chicken Saltimbocca, sunflower seed, Maffra cheddar and sundried tomato farce, prosciutto sweet potato mash green beans carrot puree and chanterelle mushroom sauce. The delivery of asparagus had not arrived that day so a serving of fresh broccoli dressed with pistachios and garlic oil was provided in its place. I tried some it was fresh delicate and slightly crisp. My colleague described this dish as “a balanced and perfect blend of flavours and textures”.  I could not add to that. I shared a sweet of Maffra cheeses date paste and croutons which was a light and tangy final course to end an exceptional lunch.

The coconut kaffir lime crème brulee with banana caramel ice cream was simply the best I have I ever tasted commented a very satisfied colleague. Service throughout was professional courteous and with a friendly twist.  

Summary:           This has to be possibly the best lunch I have enjoyed for many years, top quality food served in a quiet efficient and professional manner in a perfectly themed venue which is versatile and comfortable.  As described by one diner “unpretentious”. This is indeed a dining experience to be savoured, to be enjoyed and to be remembered for all the right reasons.  Make time (our lunch was over two hours!), make the effort to travel, make a booking, and if you are short of company, I would be happy to make up the numbers!