Foodie Destination, St Isidore Restaurant, NOW CLOSED

Gourmet Traveller – 2016 Australian Restaurant Guide.

Quote “As welcoming as a friends home, a meal at this modern farmhouse – restaurant is also an exploration of the best produce be it fish, fowl, veg or vino. Braised then well-charred octopus tentacles with a lemon wedge and a splodge of light aioli is a study in idyllic simplicity, while an entree of smoked potatoes, baby beets, boiled egg and feta showcases the garden’s bounty. Crusty bread from a local baker is handy for mopping up the miso butter on succulent dashi-marinated chicken with baby vegetables, and local snapper gets a well-balanced Thai treatment in a restrained green-papaya salad with deep fried egg from the hens just outside the window. Friendly staff suggest a stroll through the garden before finishing with an excellent warm chocolate tart with salted peanut-caramel ice-cream, another example of young chef Alex Delly’s gift for balancing flavour and texture without over doing it.”

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Travellers’ table article: “Where to eat and drink on NSW’s South Coast”, December 15, 2015

“The summer playground for Australia’s southern capitals: Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne people come to the Mollymook Milton Ulladulla area for the fishing, beaches, boating and now, the food.

Just to the north of Mollymook on the Princes Highway is the historic town of Milton. On the road out to the showgrounds is St Isidore​. You get an idea of what’s on the menu when you stroll the immaculately tended vegetable garden and chook yards overlooking a dam and Pigeon House mountain in the distance.

Depending on the time of year up to 70 per cent of your meal may be sourced from the garden, the rest coming from the farms and fishing boats nearby. Chef Alex Delly​, who made his way here from Melbourne’s Circa and Ezard via Bannisters, lets the produce speak for itself sending out delicious little plates such as zucchini flowers with whipped feta, spinach and baby leek or something more substantial such as “grilled half-a-chook” which is served with charred savoy cabbage and sherry sauce.” Written by Richard Cornish. Read there full article

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‘Sun-Herald’ article ‘Traveller on Sunday’, October 2015:

Quote “St. Isidore (motto: Eat. Drink. Laugh. Live.) is tucked away on the back road to Pigeon House Mountain.

St Isidore? We’re told he’s the patron saint of farmers, peasants and rural workers. Born in Madrid in 1070, he married a woman who was also declared a saint (what are the chances of that?). It’s only when you pull into the car park that you realise how beautiful the location is. I’m reminded of ‘The Hobbit’s Shire’, and fully expect Frodo or Bilbo to be fellow diners, given the surroundings include a duck pond, ponies and loudly crowing cockerels. The waiting staff are also cock-a-hoop because St. Isidore has just been named one of the best regional restaurants in NSW by Gourmet Traveller.

Our lunch today begins with a couple of delicious local oysters served with a lemon and fennel granita, followed by a rather disappointing Kingfish escabeche and some melt-in-your-mouth grilled octopus. Rather than ordering from the menu, we’re served share plates. The chicken breasts are spiced with ras el hanout and served with baby carrots, onions and an almond honey dressing. As for the lamb shoulder, that comes with beetroot, orange, feta, pomegranate, red chard and baba ganoush. I much prefer the stronger flavours of the lamb.

For dessert, we’re given tastes of a trio of sweets off the menu: coconut and pandan pudding, organic almond creme brulee with quince, and warm chocolate tart with salted caramel roasted peanut ice cream. Obviously the chocolate tart is a winner – because my fellow diners have eaten it all by the time the plate reaches my end of the table.” Written by Steve Meacham, ‘Food Australia’

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‘Time Out’ Weekend Planner article, 2015:

Quote “A nice option for lunch is St Isidore just outside Milton. Again, this place is all about locality, with ingredients grown in their stunning gardens (take a wander through after your meal). Heat yourself up from the inside out with the crisp, melting confit duck leg. And the warm chocolate tart with roasted peanut ice cream will have you moving down here in a shot, it’s that amazing”.

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Contented Traveller writers, Gordon and Paula wrote, 2015:

Quote “St Isidore Restaurant is tucked away in the picturesque hills of Milton in the foodie mecca of the Shoalhaven area of NSW, Australia. The focus is on the quality of the produce, and much of it is sourced locally, including their own kitchen garden.The restaurant looks good, the setting is amazing. This is a fine dining establishment, where you least expect it, which is not really correct, as the Shoalhaven is the centre of many culinary finds”. Read their full article: ‘Contented Traveller‘

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Urbanspoon review by S Wall: “This little unassuming place tucked away in the picturesque hills of Milton in NSW is well worth a visit. The restaurant so pretty and the setting is delightful. You will not be disappointed. The service is relaxed and would put any top restaurant in Melbourne to shame. But it is food that shines. Do not leave with out having tried the middle eastern spiced duck spring roll. They are totally moorish. My rabbit stew with polenta was generous, rich and lip smackingly tasty. Followed by a warm chocolate tart with salted caramel ice cream and praline. Like a gourmet snickers. Yum! I was so satisfied I could have dropped into a food coma”. Try it! There was nothing not to like- even the marbelled butter served with the near perfect bread was delicious -as were all the sides. Clever St Isidore chef”. Urbanspoon foodies feedback.

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Good Food Guide: “St Isidore chef Alex Delly and his partner Jo have opened their dream restaurant just where the town ends and the rolling paddocks begin in Milton NSW. Delly conjures up bright, garden-fresh dishes that celebrate their bucolic surrounds. A sunny egg dribbles on to creamy primrose-pale corn, with beetroot, carrots, turnips, baby broad beans and nasturtium leaves, while delicately flavoured spatchcock comes with carrots, brussels sprouts and a speck and sherry jus. Divinely crisp-skinned snapper and mussels with jammy sambal and garlic shoots has great flavour, although the green papaya salad next to it was low on contrasts. Sesame pork and prawn cakes looked the part, but were rather too pink inside. The crisp shell and fluffy filling of a superb warm chocolate tart and salted caramel is a dream in itself. Especially with roasted peanut ice-cream”. Full foodie article in Good Food Guide.

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Gourmet Traveller, “Quote “Chef Alex Delly St Isidore Milton NSW melds his Greek heritage with cross-cultural acumen to the seasons to create dishes such as a deceptively simple octopus with aioli: smokey, tender and rich. The slow cooked lamb shoulder, egg plant & haloumi is a refined classic”. Full foodie article in Gourmet Traveller.

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Melbourne foodie’s, Rick and Edith W. wrote:  “We were uncertain about the options for dining out in Mollymook at our last visit over the Christmas period 2012, however we found a charming garden restaurant, St Isidore Milton NSW pushed all our buttons. If you appreciate fresh, bright and appealing dishes with balanced combinations of flavours, spices and textures, then this quality establishment should do it for you”.  Mollymook News feedback.

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Destination Mollymook Milton Ulladulla