Post Cafe & Bar
Argyle Street, Moss Vale
Ph (02) 4868 3878
On our way to Callala Bay on Friday we stopped for dinner at The Post Cafe & Bar. We knew we’d be leaving Canberra at about 5pm so we made a booking for 6.45pm and we arrived pretty well on the dot. I had booked a table for four adults and five children and the Manager, Chris, very sensibly gave us a private dining room.
The Post Cafe is in the old Station Master’s House at Moss Vale, right next to the train station. Isn’t it a gorgeous old building? If you ask nicely Chris will tell you a bit about its history.
The room we were in had a reading corner…
I love the way the books are stacked.
There was a gorgeous fireplace with a mantelpiece holding a lovely collection of antiques…
… and just outside was the corridor between the main dining room and the kitchen, which featured these fantastic shelves, laden with serving dishes and glassware and other pantry items. I want this in my house.
The menu is written in chalk on an enormous blackboard behind the counter in the main dining room. We all stood there for five minutes contemplating the extraordinary number of choices before we walked down the corridor to our room. I wish I’d taken a picture of that blackboard but I thought that might be pushing things. (I found a picture elsewhere online… scroll to the bottom to see it) I wish they had a website I could point you to, with a link to the menu. Alas, I’ll have to try and remember what these dishes were called:
This one’s easy. This is the plate with olive and dips and bread. They were all DELICIOUS.
This one’s easy, too. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Ella had this and declared it to be “as good as yours, mum!” which is high praise indeed.
Madeleine ordered the Cheddar Souffle with Spinach Puree.
I was very proud to see her smother it in the spinach puree.
(sorry for the lousy shot)
I had a salad of roast beetroot, goat’s curd and lentils… and green beans and peas and quinoa and parsley.
I’m not kidding when I tell you this was hands-down one of the best salads I’ve ever had in a restaurant, EVER. I seriously want the recipe.
PJ had the smoked chicken and asparagus risotto. He was really annoyed at me for making him wait so I could take the picture. Five minutes later the bowl was empty.
Riitta ordered a chicken dish… I can’t recall what it was called exactly but I do remember it was spicy, and one of the flavour enhancers was chocolate. It came served with some rice and a little bowl of sour cream.
I love the presentation. Gorgeous.
Riitta’s husband, Juha, ordered a Thai salad. Again, I wasn’t paying enough attention to what everyone else was ordering so I can’t tell you anything about this other than Riitta and Juha shared this dish and Riitta said she had enjoyed the same salad during the time they lived in Thailand and that this salad tasted very authentic. And delicious.
I really love this old chair and the bookshelf. I took another picture because I was hoping the ghost of the Station Master would show up in the image.
It didn’t.
We knew about The Post Cafe & Bar from a previous visit; we stopped for afternoon tea on our way home from our October long weekend trip to Robertson. We had coffee and hot chocolates and we each ordered from the dessert/cake menu. If you are driving to the coast, or even taking a leisurely trip to Sydney, I highly recommend stopping in Moss Vale specifically to go to The Post Cafe & Bar for whatever meal you happen to be in time for. The service was friendly and quick, the ambiance was lovely, and every single meal was absolutely superb. How many places can you say that about? Not many.
PHOTO CREDIT: Highlands HQ
