Sydney Winter Holiday 2014 (Day 3): Echoes Restaurant at Blue Mountain ~ Review

After the long journey, we finally arrived at Blue Mountain just in time for lunch. We tried to find our regular Swiss Cottage Restaurant only to find that the place had closed down. There were suppose to be quite a few restaurants to choose from but since it was a weekday, most were closed.

After asking a hotel for the nearest open restaurant, we were directed to Echoes Restaurant.

The entrance view

History plaque near the entrance door

Check out the view they had..

Oh and that's me with an awkward smile.

We came on a very quite day with only another table occupied next to us. Seems like a fine dining setting but the feel was so laid-back and chill (probably because we were all not dressed up for the occassion). The weather was beautiful and we got to seat near the windows (next to the group of people at the photo). Those area are not outdoor FYI or else all of us would be freezing. The awesome valley view was definitely one of the highlights dining here.

Below are the dishes we got...

The Review

For appetiser we decided to get a mix of garlic bread and pesto & parmesan bread. I really like how warm and toasted the bread was and the pesto is definitely a unique topping from the usual garlic. Get the pesto & parmesan. The saltiness from the cheese and the savoury pesto were really nice :)

Soup of the day was Potato and Leek Soup. It's quite decent but I'd rather save my tummy for other things.

Dish: Grilled lamb rack, cashew nuts crumbs, honey & ginger potato confit, winter pea puree, mint jus.

Just a little fact, I am not exactly a fan of lamb. They just have this distinct taste and smell to the meat which I can't stand. I've tried a piece of this. The meat is tender and the sauce is nice but I'll stick to other kinds of meat thank you.

Dish: Pan roasted Barramundi with Parklands organic hand-picked salad

My dad's obsessed with Barramundi whenever he's in Australia so this is not something to be missed. I really like how crispy the skin was grilled and how soft the meat was - it literally just break easily when you cut into it. The fish was also well seasoned and the salad along with the dressing was a great companion.

Dish: Selection of Farmhouse Cured and Roast Meats, Grilled Vegetables, Australian Cheeses, 
Tomato Relish with some Grilled Sourdough Bread

If you can only get one thing, get this one! This dish is meant to share for 2 people which explains the size and the portion. All the meats were awesome. We had some sliced steak, parma ham, salami, smoked salmon and ham. This is heaven for meat lovers out there. And for the cheese, this was where we discovered our love for Walnut Cheese. That cheese is awesome for someone who likes creamy mild tasting cheese with a hint of nutty flavour. We also had some cheddar cheese (I think, sorry I'm not a cheese expert over here) and camembert. As for veges we had olives, grilled eggplants and more salads. Oh and you can see there's a sweet jam sauce over there to accompany the whole dish which taste great paired with the meat for a mix of sweet and savoury flavour.

one picture of this dish is just not enough

Dish: Char-grilled Angus Tenderloin, Parklands organic hand-picked salad, shoestring fries & sea urchin butter

My brother was obsessed with this dish because of the sea urchin butter, which in my opinion just taste like a normal butter. It's a nice butter though, just look at that oil oozing from the melted butter. The meat outer layer was rather bitter because of the grilling process but I really like how tender and well-cooked the meat was. The salad was also nice and fresh but our favourite part of the dish was.....

The fries.  It was well seasoned, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's an awesome fries. Plus the tomato sauce for some reason taste really nice.









In summary, if you can get only 2 dishes, get the Pesto & Parmesan Bread and the Farmhouse Selection Platter. The foods as you can see are mostly traditional western foods we loved and known which in my opinion blends well with the atmosphere and setting of the restaurant. Would love to pay a visit again to this place on a fine afternoon :)