Food For You Reviews: The Good Table

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday with good friends over a long lunch at ‘The Good Table’ in Castlemaine.

Castlemaine has quickly become the place for many to go for their ‘tree change’. Because of this there has been a mini explosion of fantastic food venues. This is now my third review in Castlemaine, previously reviewing ‘Origini’ and ‘Public Inn’. And I’m pretty certain it won’t be my last review in this amazing little metropolis.

I find my new found love of Castlemaine a little amusing when I think back to a few years ago when my friend parents moved to Castlemaine. I remember initially thinking that they must have been bordering on insanity for moving there. I couldn’t comprehend why they would have moved there of the all places they could have chosen. The only thing I knew about the place was the hard sweet treat ‘Castlemaine Rock’! Soon after my friends parents settled in to their new home in Castlemaine all I recall hearing was, ‘Castlemaine has the BEST bakery, Castlemaine has the BEST ice cream shop, Castlemaine has the BEST’…blah blah blah! I would roll my eyes and smirk every time I heard these comments.

Oh how ignorant I was being!

There IS so much of the ‘BEST’ going on in Castlemaine and ‘The Good Table’ is an example of this. Located in the main street, ‘The Good Table’ pride themselves on simple seasonal fresh local produce and foster a strong relationship with their producers. They focus on organic, free range and sustainable and encourage their guests to share their dishes or dine degustation style.

Our group decided to indulge on the six-course degustation for $55 per person. The staff at The Good Table were fantastic at catering for all of our dietary requirements such as gluten free and one person not wanting seafood. We were treated to ‘Barilla Bay oyster with finger lime’, ‘smoked Eel terrine with prosciutto and croutons’, ‘Berkshire pork rillettes, brioche, rhubarb compote’, ‘Crystal Bay prawn agnelotti, lemon butter, saffron zucchini’, ‘pan fried baby snapper with green explosion mixture’ and ‘crumbed Warialda osso bucco, caper mayonnaise, petit herb salad’. All of these dishes were a wonderful sample of the ethos of The Good Table. Flavors and textures were perfection. Presentation was flawless.

Oyster

Eel

Staff offered to wine match to all the dishes for an additional cost. This is a fabulous experience for those wanting to experience the BEST of what ‘The Good Table’ has to offer.

As an after lunch bonus above the restaurant is the newly opened balcony bar ‘Hickster’. Serving stylish drinks watching the world according to Castlemaine go by is an exceptional way to spend a Saturday afternoon.