Bar Midlands only uses Victorian produce.
Good Food hat15/20

Bar Midland

Come for the ethics,stay for the hospitality.

The menu is inspired by southern France and northern Italy.
Critics'Pick

Boomtown Cellar Bar

History-steeped space where wine is made and small plates rule.

Peter Dunn and his 20 month old daughter Eleanora on the Dunn’s North Blackwood spud farming family farm in Central Victoria. They’ll be part of the Trentham Spudfest,a festival celebrating all things potato.

Goodbye music festivals,hello food festivals? Where to plan your next regional road trip

From community-led harvests,to cheese and bread workshops with Australia’s best,regional food festivals have a lot to offer – and they’re booming. Here’s our pick of five to visit this autumn.

  • Bianca Hrovat
Temperance House,where Ali Currey-Voumard has a summer kitchen residency.

Is this regional town now up there with nearby Daylesford in the quality dining stakes?

There’s a top chef serving farmhouse French food in heritage digs,another cooking affordable public bar dishes in a cosy space on the main street,and a much-needed pub in a picturesque small town nearby.

  • Emma Breheny
Grilled blue mussels on a bay leaf spear.
Good Food hat15/20

Pioneering dining at Bar Midland in Castlemaine's grand dame

With climate change in mind,the tasting menu is built within tight parameters:no refined sugar,and only wild introduced species for meat.

  • Gemima Cody
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Go-to dish:Potato gnocchi,pumpkin and gruyere cream with sage pangratatto.
13.5/20

Bistro Lola restaurant review 2017

Catch a case of Castlemania at Bistro Lola at the Theatre Royal

  • Gemima Cody
Viennese coffee with whipped cream at Das Kaffeehaus in Castlemaine.

Das Kaffeehaus

Das Kaffeehaus presents the flavours,odours and ambiance of a grand Viennese coffeehouse in Castlemaine.

  • Matt Holden

Taste of the Orient

Chef Joe Lam is dwarfed by towering bamboo steamers in his tiny kitchen. With

Naam Pla Thai Kitchen

Some of Victoria’s finest Thai food lives behind the unlikely stained-glass

Apple Annie’s

Salted caramel puffs and orange mouna brioche filled with bittersweet Cointreau