COLDSTREAM BREWERY

694 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream - ph: (03) 9739 1794
www.coldstreambrewery.com.au

On our way home back from the snow at Mount Buller the other weekend, we decided to stop by Yarra Valley for a dinner. We did a quick search online to check what was around and saw good reviews on Coldstream Brewery.

The place looks like your regular pub with a long counter in front of a huge beer fridge, dull lighting and large wooden tables.

Thankfully, Coldstream seems to put a lot more attention on their food and beverage than on the decor. As soon as we sat down a friendly waiter came to our table to explain the menu and specials of the day. She explained the menu changes seasonally and is comprised mainly of locally sourced produce.

We got even more excited about the food when our entrees arrived.

Boys ordered a bowl of chips to get started. The fat chips were well cooked and the homemade tomato sauce was deliciously sweet and fresh.

Hot chips with homemade tomato sauce ($6.50)

Us girls shared the salad of the day - cos lettuce with goats cheese, walnuts and apple vinaigrette. Although presentation wasn't great, the flavours were up to scratch. We polished off our plate in minutes.

Salad of the day ($6.50)

For mains, everyone was so hungry that they just ordered a whole pizza each. The dough was a quite different from Italian pizza and looked like it was made with wholegrain flour. It was still thin, but not as crispy as I'd like.

Hot salami, tomatoes, jalapenos and mozzarella ($17.50)

Hot salami and jalapenos pizza: really, really hot - for chili lovers

Slow roasted goat, red onion, thyme and chevre ($17)

Roasted goat and chevre pizza: the best of the night. Goat meat was incredibly tender and juicy and went perfectly well with the goats cheese. I also appreciated that they used fresh thyme.

Artichoke and rocket pesto, pine nuts and fetta ($16.50)

Pesto, pine nuts and fetta pizza: very good flavours, but I'm not sure about the presentation. Pesto looked more like a puree. It would have worked much better the other way around - pine nuts in the pesto and slices of artichoke on top.

I decided to try something different and chose the pumpkin gnocchi.

Pumpkin gnocchi with sage, parmesan and spinach and walnut puree

I loved my dish. Gnocchi was soft, light and slightly caramelised, which gave it a lovely texture. Spinach and walnut puree went well with the pumpkin and the crisp fresh sage leaves added a whole new dimension of flavour to the dish.


Of course, we couldn't have such a lovely meal without drinks to match. Hubby ordered the beer degustation and got to try a bit of each variety they brew in house.


I'm not a beer fan, so chose the home brewed cider instead. It was quite nice and we ended up getting a 6-pack to take home.

Coldstream Brewery was a really nice surprise after a long day of skying. I slept really well that night :)