Jackie M.
Google
(4.5 stars)
Late afternoon light paints the stone walls of this former 1860s stable a glowing orange. It streams into the glass-fronted dining room, where (very) well-spaced tables give you the airspace to completely focus on your own conversation. A bubbly floor team explain how the ($60/head) all inclusive menu works, while we neck jalapeño margaritas ($19/each). As Wagga Wagga’s premier wedding venue, the kitchen have evolved a formula that allows them to serve a lot of people fast.
Entrees are set - extraordinary salad greens and tomatoes from the garden, a generous portion of bread oil and dukkah, then a plate of hot canapés. Each item—smoked trout croquettes made with four types of cheese garnished with pickled ginger; kangaroo kofte and puff pastry tarts with darkly caramelised onion jam—punches flavour. Mains you get to select yourself. The Riverina lamb rack is evenly cooked with a juicy pink interior, and a surprisingly good sweet potato. Crisp cabbage roesti is the star of the chicken supreme, accompanied by sticky chickpeas and spinach gomae—a Japanese-inspired sesame treatment. A bowl of garden-fresh cooked vegetables is equally as compelling as the mains.
Dessert isn’t my favourite course, but I liked the burnt butter peach that came with the panna cotta. I found the orange blossom flavouring, mulled wine syrup, edible flowers and gingerbread crumble to be overkill. For a $6/cheese add-on we tried three local cheeses on a well-presented cheese board, prompting a drive to Coolamon cheese the next day. Local produce and careful cooking makes Magpies Nest Restaurant a winner whether you’re here for a wedding or for a romantic dinner for two and a twilight stroll through the grounds to take in the sunset.