Sunday Lunch at Lynwood Cafe, Collector

I love the idea of eating fruit from our backyard trees. Simple Man and I have both an apple and a plum tree and have stolen quite a bit of fruit off the neighbour's apricot tree (I'm eyeing off their figs too which have not quite ripened). There's something very earthy about eating locally grown fruits and veg and so the Lynwood Cafe, famous for its homemade style preserves, demanded a visit (note, we're not the only ones who think so - you need to book ahead by phone).


The Lynwood Cafe is set in an old country house in Collector, NSW, about 45 minutes from Canberra. The owners are renowned for their jams and chutneys, made from fruit grown on the property (for some reason on our visit Simple Man didn't seem content with waiting for lunch to sample some of the local fruits and chose to rip an obviously unripe apple from the tree, bite into it savagely and spit it out in disgust by the entrance to the cafe - quite a way to arrive).


The Cafe itself is decked out in classic country style. It looks quite rustic from the outside and inside the walls are decked with pictures of women riding horses in drizabones. There is a shady grassed area out the back and had been cooler it would have been lovely to sit outside under the trees.


The menu includes a good variety of entrees, salads and mains, as well as a winelist made up entirely of local wines. Simple Man and I shared the antipasti, designed to showcase some of the aforementioned preserves, for starters. We sampled the house cumquat marmalade (delicious!) and onion jam as well as a variety of treats including pate, what I think was a pork terrine, semi dried tomatoes and olives, all served with toasted bread. I would have liked to have been told a little bit about what was what on the plate, particularly the home made produce, but I had no complaints about the food.


I struggled to choose between the salmon cakes and the tuscan bread salad (neither the Kingfish nor the zucchini flowers were available when we were there) before choosing the later. It was probably a bad choice given I'd just eaten my fair share of bread and tomatoes with the antipasti, but the salad itself included a generous amount of baby capers and anchovies with a nice sharp tang from the vinegar.


Simple Man followed up with the beef and stout pie which was served with mash potatoes and one of the homemade chutneys. In his humble opinion, the pie lacked in flavour a little but he did describe the mashed potato as one of the best things he'd ever eaten in his life (although bear in mind potato is pretty much his favourite food).


I splurged (calorifically) on dessert, choosing a sensational lemon and polenta tea cake. It was really perfectly moist and scrumtious. Even the Simple Man, who generally abhorrs the concept of fruit or grains in his desserts, was impressed.


As we rolled our full bellies out the door we stocked up on a big tub of raspberry and rhubarb jam, which I'm sure will also be delicious (as an aside, most of the stash in their store would make excellent presents). I also couldn't help but eye off the Ploughman's Lunch on someone elses table which looked spot on, not only for the country ambience but also for the fresh local flavours. Definitely one for our next visit.


Lynwood Cafe
1 Murray St
Collector NSW 2581
http://www.lynwoodcafe.com.au/
Ph: (02) 4848 0200

Service: down to earth
Crowd: a mix of country and Canberra folk, kid friendly
Money: $$

($ = mains 15 and under; $$ = mains 25 and under, $$$ = mains over 25)