TwoTripleFour
Cassegrain Winery
10 Winery Dr
Port Macquarie, NSW
With top rating for restaurants in the Port Macquarie area on TripAdvisor, TwoTripleFour comes with huge expectations. Fortunately, they live up to them too. This place is relaxed and casual while also being meticulous and really hitting the mark with their creative, tasty food. Perched inside Cassegrain Winery (see separate write up here), it’s actually part of the Bills Group of eateries. It’s a paddock to plate concept here, and why wouldn’t you be with the vast array of great produce in the area!
We were here for a lazy lunch and decided to start with a few drinks. Mlady went with the unusual Fig Jam Old Fashioned. It was a quirky take on a traditional drink that worked really well. The fig flavours and sweetness were certainly evident but didn’t overpower the drink.
Sir went in a different drink direction and had the Long Point Vineyard alcoholic ginger beer. It had the great flavours you’d want and expect from a typical ginger beer but with a little more kick at the tail. It was something we’d gladly have again - and again.
We had originally planned to have a meal of grazing plates but couldn’t resist the mains on offer. That said, we did decide to have one grazing plate to share, and what a beauty it was! The Near River Produce Pork Scotch Egg was possibly the best Scotch egg we’ve ever had. It was that good. The pork had great flavours and the egg itself inside was perfect. The curried mayonnaise that came with it was so good too. It had great flavours but did’t overpower the rest of the dish at all.
On to main courses and first up was the Milly Hill Lamb “Barnsley” chop served with mint sauce and garlic chat potatoes. It was a surprisingly filling dish. The lamb was nicely cooked and the sauce was lovely. Then lets not forget those beautiful garlic chats - they were to die for! A few stems of steamed broccolini on top added some colour and went well too.
Up next was homemade linguini with smoked duck, chorizo, roasted peppers and zucchini ragu plus Parmesan. It was a rich combination with some big flavours that combined really well. Again too, it was a filling dish.
Restaurants in wineries are a thing and have been for quite a while. For us, it’s a good thing too. Its a relaxed room inside and there’s a lovely deck area outside that’s perfect for a warm day. The outside tables have cover too. This restaurant is the product of co-owners Chef Adam Blanks and Pete Cutcliffe who runs front of house. It’s a venture that has gone from strength to strength and doesn’t look like stopping.
We were very impressed with TwoTripleFour. It embodies the chilled vibes you’d want at a winery with the creative flair of local produce lead menu that kicks goals. This is a place we’ll definitely be returning to.