Author: Mrs A
Location: Margaret River
We were treated to another warm, blue sky day here in the Margaret River as we headed into town to the Farmer’s Market which runs on Saturday mornings. We didn’t know what to expect, given the range of markets we have experienced around Western Australia – ranging from the very poor Derby market which sold a few cacti and a couple of home made jams through to the surprisingly delicious Carnarvon market with famous chefs serving up food. This market was fabulous – more along the lines of what we are treated to at Forestville or Warriewood markets in Sydney.
Rows of stalls with samples of sheep and cow cheese, fresh bread, cakes, croissants, vegetables and herbs, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, fresh meat, eggs and fish…the choice and sampling opportunities were endless. We picked up some sheep cheese (I discovered I can tolerate this in small amounts – yay!), vegetables and wood fired bread. As Mr A was listening to the story of the bread shop, I looked around to see what delights awaited us next and spotted an old friend from Sydney! We popped over to surprise her…
Fiona now lives about 45 km away from the Margaret River in Augusta, and runs a successful and growing business, Alkomy Kombucha. Kombucha is a sparkling, non alcoholic beverage which contains probiotics which help your stomach health as well as help clean your liver and overall boost your immune system. Our livers are already crying a little after all the wine tasting, so we bought a bottle to take with us. It was great to see Fi and catch up on how she’s doing now.
Returning to our sheep station we found the ‘Griswalds’ have moved into a spot next to us – two feral families headed up by a potty mouthed Australian bloke. Fortunately after setting up their tent they went out for the remainder of the day, returning us to our serenity. We enjoyed freshly baked bread, cream sheep cheese and sliced tomato in balsamic and olive oil for lunch, sitting under dappled shade overlooking meadows of yellow flowers and grazing sheep. It feels like France!
Carol and Nick, an English couple we met on the gastronomic tour yesterday popped over to see our mobile apartment. They are considering moving to an off road van from their 26 foot monster. We wandered over with a bottle of wine to check theirs out too – it is huge, with three distinct separate rooms, each separated by sliding doors – makes ours look tiny! Not sure we could have got into all the interesting locations we have visited with that length of van, however. We whiled away the afternoon exchanging stories while enjoying a cool white wine.
The evening saw us back in Margaret River for dinner. We had been told about and had read great reviews about a restaurant called Miki’s Open Kitchen. Set back from the street in an arcade area, first impressions were quite unassuming, but once we were seated we were in for a treat.
The kitchen is the centrepiece of the restaurant, with seating on three sides. Nothing is hidden here – we were able to watch everything being prepared as the chefs worked their magic. Miki’s is Japanese fusion, with some incredible food prepared. We chose the Miki’s Trust menu, an ever changing degustation. I lost count of how many dishes we were served, but each contained about three different morsels, every one consisting of carefully balanced flavours and perfectly cooked. They were served up like mini artworks, with delicate edible flowers adorning the ever unique serving dishes. What an experience!
A really lovely evening, and a relatively late night home for us – 11 pm!!
