Bendooley Estate is on a large property which has stunning gardens and a vineyard, situated in the Southern Highlands, located just off the Old Hume Highway in Berrima. It is a beautiful property that is really a one stop shop. It is a wedding venue, cellar door, restaurant, bookshop and has accomodation on site.

Bendooley’s restaurant is in the most beautiful setting. You can dine alfresco, or inside next to the bar, the fireplace or amongst the amazing backdrop that is Berkelouw’s Book Barn. If you’re shopping in the Book Barn, you’ll find plenty of new books and second hand books, as well as toys and trinkets. We bought a few books on our visit.

The restaurant has a range of meals with entrees, pizzas, generously portioned meals and indulgent desserts. We grabbed a few garlic pizzas and fries to begin with a drink or two. Be sure to pair your meal with a wine from the vineyard.

Our dining party was large so we tried a number of options including the linguine with blue swimmer crab which was a huge bowl of pasta topped with the crab. In addition we had a vegetarian option; spiced roasted butternut pumpkin with lentils.

The crowd favourite was the huge 250 g Angus eye fillet steak served with garlic puree, potatoes and salsa verde and truss tomatoes. Tender steak and well seasoned. From the ocean we also enjoyed the salmon with a turmeric and coconut curry, snake beans and fragrant rice. The fish was beautifully cooked and flavours worked well together. There is a good variety of options to select from.

We grabbed a few desserts to share; their signature citrus Tunisian samosas with a crispy pastry shell, drizzled with orange caramel and served with vanilla ice cream.

The watermelon, strawberries & pomegranate dish was a work of art on the plate, served with raspberry sorbet, kataifi & ginger syrup.

The chocolate ganache was an interesting choice; it was served appeared a little like a tiramisu.

Overall we had a beautiful lunch and enjoyed trying the variety of dishes.

By night the venue is turned into an event space that is perfect for any function. My sister actually had her wedding here a few years ago. She stayed on site and had amazing photographs by the lake.

Head to the cellar door and try our some of their cool climate wines. I loved their sparkling Chardonnay cuvée and bought a bottle of that to take home.

Bendooley Estate

3020 Old Hume Highway

Berrima

https://bendooleyestate.com.au

Hours

Bookstore

Open 9am-5pm

Restaurant

Open from 12 weekdays and 11 weekends