Monday, November 3, 2008

A girl's afternoon at "Bucks" Bistro, Springton

We had wonderful rains yesterday morning. Humid as it was, the rain was much appreciated and needed. The late morning sun hid behind light grey clouds and only came out in full force mid-afternoon. By that stage my four friends and I were sitting in the most beautiful cottage garden setting at the rear of the new restaurant "Bucks" which is run by Poverty Hill Wines. "Bucks" is situated in the old blacksmith shop at Springton, a sleepy hamlet on the most southern edges of the Barossa Ranges about a fifteen minute drive south of Angaston (past iconic places such as Lindsay Park Stud, Collingrove Homestead and Eden Valley.)

Not only were there a range of beautiful wines to taste (even a 2004 Eden Valley Riesling, just beginning to show its soft and delicate texture and lovely aged flavours) but the menu was terrific. Between the five of us, we had an assortment of dishes. Some of the dishes on the menu were (starters): Goats Cheese and Fetta Vegetarian Lasagne ($9.00), Crumbed Oysters ($?), Salt and Pepper Squid and Soft Shell Crab with lime alioli ($11.50 - pictured below), and (mains): MSA Scotch Fillet Steak with Poverty Hill Riesling creamy garlic prawn sauce ($24), Pan fried Duck Breast with pinenuts, raison, orange, cherry cointreau glaze ($26) and a choice of salads or vegetables.

The atmosphere of the bistro, inside and out, is charming and inviting. A rustic old building with thick rendered walls and massive slabs of redgum it is one of the southern Barossa's historical treasures. The staff were friendly and courteous and that is another great attribute.

We enjoyed a pre-lunch tasting of some of the fine Poverty Hill wines: Eden Valley Riesling ($20 per bottle), the 2004 Eden Valley Riesling ($30) and the 2006 Eden Valley Merlot ($24). Of course, no "girls day out" is complete without a glass or two of bubbles and the Sparkling Shiraz sufficed nicely. We finished off with desserts and as we couldn't decide, on the advice of Peter (the manager of the bistro) we shared three of the dishes between us: chocolate cheesecake, strawberries & cream and jaffa slice ($6 each).

Many thanks to
Peter, Liz and their staff for such a wonderful experience. I hope that you enjoyed the rest of the bottle of our 2005 Riesling that I left as much as I enjoyed your 2004 Riesling! Although the Barossa is full of fine places to wine and dine, the value and ambience of Bucks is exceptionally hard to beat! Pictured below are the Salt and Pepper Squid, desserts and three of the five ladies (Denise, Jenelle and Lisa) who enjoyed the afternoon at Bucks.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I ordered the xmas special which was turkey and vegetables. As i was trying to eat the cauliflower i realised i could not get my knife through it as it was serverly undercooked, i then tried the turkey and it tasted disgusting, the worst i have ever tasted, I've had better in pubs. i then told the waitress of this and that i would like another meal so she took it back to the kitchen. Then to my surprise the chef came out and said to me "There is nothing wrong with it" in an angry voice looking down at my meal that she carried back out. I told her i would like another meal and she stormed off and muttered under her breath "Go f@#k yourself". I was disgusted at this so i told the waitress what she had said only for her to not even look me in the eye while saying "thats not my problem" My experience was awful - i was not rude in any manner to these people i just simply was not happy with my undercooked meal and was then disgusted and appalled by the lack of acceptable customer service. The chef was so abusive and the waitress clearly had no idea how to provide good customer service as attitude is a very important part of the job. I was so upset by this i left my friends birthday party and went all the way back to Adelaide where i live. So i drove all the way up there to be met with this kind of treatment simply because i was not happy with my meal. Will never go back to this place again as i have never had anyone be that rude to me and it was the worst meal i have ever tasted even the cranberry sauce was horrible. By the way the chef was also the owner so i suggest strongly that people give this place a miss cause with an owner like that its rotten to the core!

KARRA YERTA WINES said...

I am very sorry to hear that:( What a bad experience for you. I have been there many times, and have not had anything like that happen.
I will pass this feedback on to the owners, in the hope that they will get in touch with you to discuss. I understand that you did not have much luck with your issues on the actual occasion but think it is worth trying again.
Kind regards
Marie