St Hugo Restaurant - ROWLAND FLAT

On this 35 degree day after a morning of wine tasty a degustation would have knocked us out so we picked the $45 2 course. Sweet potatoe almond and pepita salad entree was imaginative offer enough texture to make it interring. The Indian flavours cane through and was not overpowering the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoe. Chicken and hazelnut boudin with barberry gravy was a real treat. Chicken was cooked to perfection and very moist with almonds adding crunch. The gravy was flavoursome working well with the berries that sprung with sweetness. Tender Potatoes gave this dish a nice base. This is crazy value for such great produce cooked by experience chefs in a surrounding that is world class. You could easily take a visitor used to Nappa Valley or Tuscany and show off how wineries are done in Australia with pride here.

We arrived to do the 8 course degustation with matched wines for a 40th birthday. The building and surrounds are stunning a gorgeous back drop to what will be a great meal. We are slightly early so ask about doing some tastings and are informed that we can buy a wine flight or there will be a charge for tastings. Due to the impending long lunch the wine flight was not really an option and considering that we were about to fork out a small fortune for lunch paying for tastings wasn't appealing (suggestion for improvement if guests are booked in for lunch waive the tasting fee for a couple of tastings it's a small gesture but would improve the experience). Lunch, as expected, was excellent. The service was excellent all through the meal and the food was divine. It was a great way to celebrate an important birthday.

We visited the winery, unfortunately we were too late for lunch : the kitchen had just closed, such a pity. The wine tasting was quite expensive, $15 to try 4 of their wines wasn't much in the glass to try), the wine that we did sample was fabulous. We were given complimentary beetroot dip which was very nice. The venue is stunning with a lovely outdoor area. Given there are a abundance of other wineries in the area, I would say that if I were back in the Barossa I would rather give them a visit then come back to St Hugo.

One of my new favourite places – St Hugo at Rowland Flat in the Barossa. Only one year old, it’s fine dining, it’s degustation, it’s excellence in wine and food matching or ‘wine centric cuisine’ as they call it – and all in a stunningly renovated 1850’s ironstone building, four years in the making.

Lovely dinner to celebrate the end of our anniversary getaway. The food was lovely, the atmosphere was intimate and the fresh produce was a highlight. St Hugo's differed from a lot of other winery/restaurants we've been to... their philosophy was to match the food to the wine rather than the other way around... the wine was paired perfectly to an exquisite dish. Well worth the trip! @sthugo Neetz88 We had: king fish ceviche fillet of lamb chocolate and avocado tart black currant jellies (surprise petit fours)