Everyone needs time out, even if it’s a for a few measly hours, and if (like me) you’re a bit time poor, here’s a great way to get away from it all: lunchtime degustation. INDULGENCE!

I like to think of it as a weekend away in a day. That’s just what lunch at Berowra Waters Inn feels like anyway, especially if you arrive by seaplane.

Whether you drive here or grab the seaplane from Rose Bay, you arrive on the water, with a launch picking you up either from the plane, or the car park across the river and dropping you at the jetty.

The degustation menu consists of seven courses, each accompanied by something delightful to drink, designed to compliment each dish.

We start with crab, corn & foie gras, lovely delicate flavours served with Pierre de la Grange Muscadet Sevre et Maine.

Next up, ocean trout, smoked milk & dashi – almost too pretty to eat, served with Joseph Cattin Pinot Blanc from Alsace – a dry yet fruity number that I mistook for Riesling.

Our third course is a perfectly poached egg with ham and potato, served with a local craft beer – Happy goblin Ale – a perfect match.

Chicken, mushrooms & yeast is our next dish, looking nothing like what I expected – beautifully presented with an equally surprising match, Mac Forbes Blaufrankisch. surprising because I’ve never heard of this type of wine let alone the label. Clearly I need to get out more.

Our next dish is even more unusually presented: melt in your mouth braised short rib, with a crunchy green coating, served with sweet onions and a Spaniard; Coto de Hayas Crianza from Campo de Borja.

And then the beetroot and liquorice dish arrives – my absolute favourite. Delicious AND beautiful. It’s a crime to spoil this little work of art on a plate, but clearly a crime not to eat it. So I do my best to make it last, savouring every last morsel.

It’s served with a Burgundy; Jacoulet Ratafia de Bourgogne.

Dessert arrives in the form of hazelnut, chocolate & apricot, a delicious little praline mousse served with another Spaniard; Fusta Nova Moscatel from Valencia.

And sadly our condensed weekend away in a day comes to an end.

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