Osborn House is a boutique hotel located in the Southern Highlands, in Bundanoon, just 1.5 hours drive from Sydney’s CBD. The hotel is amongst bushland and gardens with sweeping views of the hills around it. As you enter the property, take time to take in the beautiful scenery of Morton National Park. We are staying at the hotel later this month, but visited especially for their fire feast since it ends in late November.
When we heard about the fire feast offering at Osborn House, we booked in a second, having had fond memories of Argentina and Asado. Asado is the traditional Argentinian BBQ where you cook over special built BBQ’s. Osborn House hosts their own South American BBQ or ‘Fire Feast’, headed by Argentinian chef Segundo Farrell with the meats and veggies cooked over open iron dome frame on a huge fire pit, planchas and infiernillo.
When you arrive at 11:45 for a 12 noon start, you’re greeted with a chilled glass of Rameau d’Or Rosé which was lovely, the perfect drink to sip whilst you watched the food cook.
Rose in hand, head towards the fire and iron frame and you’ll find all the huge chunks of meat; tomahawks, chickens as well as the veggies; corn, cabbage and pineapples hanging from the frame over the flames. They’ve got potatoes cooking flat on the planchas and the empanadas and salt cooked trout behind on the infiernillo.
Whilst you’re waiting for the key dishes of the mains, you’re served some mouthwatering entrees. The ‘seagulls’ (or patrons) do go wild, lacking a little bit of patience for the staff to come around, but no need to, for there is food aplenty, even to have more than one of each piece.
There is flatbread with avocado, charred orange, onion and coriander, and a chorizo roll as well as the most amazing pulled beef empanadas, filled with the tastiest meat and egg, cooked on the infiernillo. Top it with some illajua sauce and enjoy this delicious snack, and it is one of our favourite foods of the year.
We then head inside for the salads while we wait for the meat to be served. They need a little more of an orderly system here and more direction to patrons. We weren’t quite given instructions, so by the time we figured out we were meant to be seated upstairs, the patrons had beelined for the banquet table and tucking in without an orderly arrangement. Perhaps a long table or staff should direct each table one by one as it seemed a little free for all. Anyway like with the entrees, be patient and wait for there is plenty.
In the beautiful dining room, the central circular table features all the sides, roast veggies, beetroot salad, greens and tomato, and cabbage cooked over the flame. The sides were all lovely and the perfect accompaniment to the meal. That said, most of us are out salads while the meat was being prepared.
Staff bring out small plates of the meats; a very moist and nicely seasoned chicken, sliced beef – perfectly cooked with good red flesh, and also a portion of the delicious salt baked trout. The meats were excellent and you could absolutely have extra plates as the staff came around.
Desserts were the smoked pineapple (which we had seen hanging on the iron frame asado), served with charred fruits, finished with Frangelico A La Plancha and Meringue as well as the Dulce De Leche pancake cooked ‘A La Plancha’ with the ‘Pines Ice Cream’. Kurt commented that he’d happily just eat spoonfuls of Dulce De Leche.
Definitely generous portions and you could continue requesting more if you wanted. It was probably the most full we’ve ever been. The whole experience was great and we look forward to booking again next year.
Osborn House
When: every Sunday until Dec 4 (check website re 2023
Time: 11:45-4pm
Price: $150 pp