Oakover Grounds

A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Set in the heart of the swan valley. I’m here for the pork and cider festival and pork and cider there is a plenty! Big range of ciders from your traditional Cornwall flat cider
To the more fruity sparkling kind! There was lots of pork choice coming in all shapes and sizes! I opted for roast pork in a brioche bun with apple and fennel slaw. Delicious! All courtesy of the lovely people at Herb Faust Food.

What better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than to pig out in a hidden gem in the heart of Swan Valley. I was really upset that I didn’t bring my camera with me!
The restaurant is situated inside a massive shed with decked out with rustic furnishing. Quite unfortunate that we picked such a rainy day to visit Oakover. Otherwise we could have sat outside and basked in the beauty of nature this winery has to offer. It was pouring so hard we could barely have a conversation.
I had a light breakfast already so I wasn’t feeling very hungry. Mr Pigu and I ordered 3 small dishes to share between the 2 of us.
We were both eyeing the pulled pork brioche burger so that was definitely in. The bun was so light, fluffy, and sweet — everything you would expect from a nicely baked brioche bun. The pulled pork was so tender and juicy — evident from the mess we made in the devouring process. The highlight of this dish was the sweet potato crisps — thin, crispy, sweet, and not disgustingly drenched with oil. I could eat a whole bowl of this by myself.
I can’t go past ordering school prawns whenever it’s on the menu. I’m quite lazy when it comes to peeling prawns so you can imagine why I love school prawns. These Clarence River school prawns from NSW were cooked perfectly for me — lightly battered, crispy, and still meaty even after being deep fried.
Mr Pigu is a big fan of croquettes so we added the beef cheek croquettes to our order. I’m quite the opposite, not a big fan of croquettes because the meat tends to be overcooked and dry. Surprisingly, the meat was not too dry and fell apart on first bite. The creamy mash that it was served on gave it some extra moisture and balanced out the saltiness from the croquettes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I was well impressed with the food. I think I’m going to have to bring the whole gang down so we can get more dishes!
Word of advise — don’t be a fool like us and try and pick a sunny day to head down to Oakover. You won’t regret it! The inside of restaurant was freezing cold which made us scoff down our meal faster than we would have liked.

Oakover Grounds is a Swan Valley winery that is doing a great job of standing out from the local competition — April’s Cider & Pork Festival and the forthcoming Beer & Beef Festival being two examples. On the food front, Oakover offers breakfast from 9am to 11am on weekends, and being only 20 minutes away in Ellenbrook it’s a great option for us.
The Oakover building is substantial, and there’s plenty of seating both inside and outside. Weddings are also catered for, and the staff appeared to be setting up for one when we arrived for breakfast. We chose to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and relaxing view — thankfully we managed to find some sun! The service was very friendly and orders were taken at the table, which saved a return trip inside. Cutlery and sauces were also brought to the table, which was a nice touch.
The breakfast menu has an interesting selection of items — no boring eggs on toast here (but I expect you could get it if you asked, and there is a full breakfast). Even kids are catered for.
My coffee (long mac) was good, and very welcome on a chilly Sunday morning. One thing that surprised me about Oakover was how serious they are about their coffee, although this makes sense when you discover that they share their premises with local roaster FiORi.
Breakfast was an easy choice for me — the crumbed ham with leek & potato rosti, poached eggs and cheddar sauce ($ 17). This was a really interesting combination — the rosti was beautifully crisp, eggs were perfectly poached and the crumbing on the ham was super-​light.
The ham surprised me a little as I was expecting more of a croquette consistency, but these were solid chunks of ham — not that there’s anything wrong with that! The cheddar sauce was full of flavour, but there was just enough to complement the rest of the ingredients without overpowering the rest of the dish. Next time I’ll be trying the pulled beef croquettes with baked beans & fried eggs ($ 21).
Renay chose the roasted field mushrooms with parmesan polenta, pine nuts, rocket & truffle oil ($ 19.50). This was a most enjoyable dish, the mushrooms were full of flavour, the polenta was smooth and cheesy and the truffle oil was present but not overpowering.
As I said above, they are serious about their coffee at Oakover and there’s all manner of gadgets and gizmos on display (and to buy). I was invited to sample the «Nicaragua» and «Costa Rica» blends while Renay waited for a takeaway coffee, which was a simple gesture but very much appreciated.
We really enjoyed our visit to Oakover Grounds, and love the fact that it’s only 20 minutes from home. The food & coffee is excellent, the surroundings hard to beat and the whole family is welcome. It’s a great place for breakfast, and we’ll definitely be returning for lunch.

Visited this winery for lunch today. Was impressed with the food but it did take 40 minutes to come out. But it was lovely to sit outside in the sun and enjoy a wine.

When I arrived I noticed that Oakover is quite a lovely setting, with the real star attraction being the relaxing view over greenery and a lake. Once the rain finally subsided I could see why spending a leisurely lunch outside would be so appealing. But while we were confined indoors, we were lucky enough to be seated by the heater so we could warm up.
We start things off by ordering a couple glasses of wine upon recommendation of our waitress. The 2011 verdelho ($ 8.00) and chenin blanc ($ 8.00). Both are crisp but very sweet — I think for me I’ve been focussing on reds so much lately that my palate has changed for wine taste. But once we had some food the drinks went down much easier.
Looking over the food menu there’s a decent number of dishes to choose from. Everyone around us seems to be ordering burgers and chips, which I have to admit is quite tempting in such weather. But to get the full experience of Oakover we decide to pick an array of dishes to share between us.
After a bit of a lengthy wait (I think we arrived with the lunch rush) of about 30 – 40 minutes, our food all comes out at once. We immediately jump onto the mac and cheese bites with tomato relish ($ 10.00). There’s three fragrant cubes sitting in a tray, their edges golden and crisp. I have to admit I was expecting something that would look more like what Ace Pizza or Merrywell have with their fried mac and cheese, but it was nice to have something different and more traditional.
I found these well seasoned but a little lacking in their cheesiness. The texture is more on the al dente side which I think is important to achieve the required structure. I definitely recommend eating these while they’re hot as once they cool the cubes set a bit too firmly.
Since we’ve ordered a couple fried dishes we decide to be somewhat healthy and select a tomato, mozzarella, basil and bread salad with balsamic (I think this was around $ 21.00). I love a good tomato and mozzarella salad — it’s something we make quite often at home and is definitely best with a good scattering of sea salt, pepper and olive oil.
Oakover’s version is fresh thanks to the smattering of basil and the creamy cheese which is the star of the dish. The bread is a little too crisp and I think would have been better as some garlicky toasted croutons, and the tomatoes while juicy are a little softer than I personally find. I’m a person who definitely sides in the firm fruit and veg camp. In the end we did find this dish under-​seasoned so we cleaned out the cheese as the priority.
Our favourite dish of the day is easily the fried chicken wings with spicy mayo and house pickles ($ 10.00). First of all, how generous is that serving for the price! The wings are steaming hot, the coating on the outside crunchy and full of spices and seasoning. It’s so yummy, and definitely moorish. I find myself coming back for more and more even when I’m full to the brim. Very satisfying!
The pan-​fried potato gnocchi with mushrooms, Verdelho cream and pecorino ($ 25.00) was a dish that jumped straight out at me immediately. I’ve spoken often of my love and obsession with gnocchi, and sometimes I often worry that it’s at the detriment to new restaurants as I have a high benchmark to meet.
The gnocchi here is soft but has a high flour ratio which gives it a strange texture to eat. It’s not a bad taste, but I think a little work needs to be done on their ratio. The sauce is nice — rich and comforting; well suited to the wet and cool weather we’re experiencing that day. I did find that the mushrooms were too big though and needed some variety instead of just large field mushrooms cut in chunks I would have loved to see some other mushrooms like swiss brown, enoki etc to bring some diversity and textural variety to the dish. But in saying that — not everyone loves their mushrooms like I do!
While I could see that some people might really like this dish, I have to admit it was my least preferred for the lunch.
We’re pretty full after all those dishes but we’re not the type of people who can say no to dessert! We both agree to a nutella and banana popsicle ($ 5.00) which come out quickly. I have to quickly take a snap as they start melting instantly.
Having popsicles is a clever dessert offering, especially for a family friendly venue like this. While I loved the idea, I have to admit the execution was a little lacking for me personally. The texture was slimy, and in the places where the popsicles had been exposed without cover there was a thick film.
The nutella flavouring was dense which made me feel like it was literally just the two stated ingredients. I think a creamier and subtler version would have gone down a treat. But real chocoholics would probably relish the intensity of this.

Went here a couple of weeks ago for the Cider Festival. I’ve been here before for other events.
What a lovely place to head out of the city to & relax. They always seem to have something going on every couple of weeks.
It was great because this time they had buses going down to the Cider Festival which meant no driving & cider drinking which made me very happy.
The festival was very busy with lots of vendors of food & cider with lots of hungry, thirsty people.
The surroundings are beautiful with a lovely water feature in the middle.

Set in the heritage area of Swan Valley, came to the Oakover Grounds for the first Cider and Pork Festival.
The festival itself was a chilled relaxing vibe where everyone was in good spirits and having a nice time.
The surrounding of Oakover Grounds is spectacular very naturous and pretty. There is a gorgeous lake in the middle of the grounds and had some paddle boats. The weather was lovely also which made it shine!
Awesome festival and beautiful grounds, would be sure to come here again to try some wines and enjoy the lovely surroundings :)

It’s been 4 years since I came to Oakover last and the restaurant/​café has changed so much! I love the new rustic feel it now has and as always the grounds are gorgeous.
I was just disappointed that on the day of the car show they had sold out of a lot of the food choices we wanted, seems they underestimated the demand.

Stopped in here for a wedding function. Loved there very likeable wines. They have a restaurant on site which is very good for functions. I don’t know if it was a catered event. But when I ordered my steak. It said on the menu «done medium rare» allthough the steak i received was done more like leather. It was well over done and tough. But all things aside a nice winery with a very pleasant view of the vineyard and their man made lake, complete with ducks and nice grassy areas. Stop in here for a wine tour through the swan valley. Some nice wines to be tried here.

This was a beautiful place to have a wedding, the wine was amazing and I didn’t have a headache the next day, the food was great and the scenery made the venue much more glamorous. Seeing the vines out the windows while having a nice glass of wine or a local beer watching the ducks dip in the pond is a lovely day out.