date of visit: Thursday 28 June 2012
We’re becoming very skilled in the art of eating our dinner early, to accommodate the baby, to the extent that, when booking, I now ask “when do you start dinner service?”.
Clearly The Highway isn’t used to such uncool customers because the lady who took my booking had to check! 5:30pm it was.
When we arrived our allocated table (even though at this stage we were the only people there!) wasn’t really going to work with a highchair – something that the waitress noticed before we were seated and sorted out immediately. We ended up with a perfect, cosy table in the corner.
With the baby in tow we cracked on with ordering our food, enjoying a couple of drinks while we looked over the menu. We were dining in the middle of Game Week – which had been one of the drawcards – so we could have chosen from dishes such as goat pie, a tasting plate of game sausages, kangaroo, emu and crocodile. In the end, none of us ended up trying out these dishes (the goat pie was almost picked) …
Andy went for the beef schnitzel with gravy (how predictable!) while I had the spaghettini with Spencer Gulf prawns, chilli and garlic. Other choices were the lamb rack and a main course serving of the crumbed lambs brains.
Main courses at The Highway aren’t particuarly cheap – they all hover around the $30. However, portion sizes are generous (to say the least) and I suspect that had we had entrées we wouldn’t have been able to finish our mains. My spaghettini and prawns was lovely – the pasta was al dente, the prawns were well cooked and it had just the right combination of chilli heat and garlickyness. I am a huge fan of spaghetti with chilli, oil and garlic which is really what this dish was, with prawns and cherry tomatoes added. I’d definitely order this again.
The lamb rack was very highly regarded and the lambs brains got the thumbs up, even though they were served on an excessively large pile of mash. Andy demolished his schnitzel with the help of the baby – who seemed to approve of the chips in particular! We also had a side of roast vegetables which was a really interesting mix: beetroot and fennel alongside the usual suspects.
Service wise, The Highway has got it spot on. The two waiters who dealt with us were both professional and efficient while being friendly and accommodating. Best of all, the baby was treated as though he was the most important guest in the restaurant (which, of course, he was!).
The Highway demonstrates that a pub can serve good, interesting food and be a better than average venue for a meal out. We’ll definitely return.
Always wondered whether HWY was a cut above ordinary pub grub. What is the wine list like, anything interesting?
Cheers
Adam
The wine list is ok (a few spelling mistakes though!) – I wouldn’t describe it as being exciting or particularly out there. They cover all the bases and across a really solid range of price points. There’s a very generous selection available by the glass. I can’t imagine they’re trying to build the world’s most exciting wine list though – what they have will do a good job of finding something for everyone. One thing I would say is that it’d be great if they had more than one Riesling available by the glass!!!!
I’ve had dinner quite at the Highway quite a few times in the last few years (it used to be my local) and have always been quite surprised by the quality of the food and the service. We’re taking my Dad there for his birthday in a few weeks time so it’s good to hear things are still up to the usual standard!
Hope your dad enjoys his birthday! We were actually there for my mum’s birthday & she enjoyed it!