Daylesford eating out: Cliffys, Hot Chocolate Apothecary and Daylesford Larder

 

While on a short break in Daylesford, we really enjoyed meals at Cliffy's Emporium, the Hot Chocolate Apothecary and Larder Daylesford.  The town is a great place to wander along shops on the main street and relax in cafes run by the hippies and hipsters.  It caters well for the tree changers who have escaped the big smoke for a more relaxed rural way of life that still offers the good coffee and gourmet fare of the city.  The food on offer is not cheap but it an absolute delight.

Cliffy's Emporium

30 Raglan Street, Daylesford
www.cliffysemporium.com.au

Cliffy's Emporium was established in the 1950s as a general store with a wide range of products and today the store still has many local foods and goods they on sale to the locals and tourists coming for meals, coffee and shopping.  The rustic building looks like it could hark back to the town's 19th Century gold rush days. 

Sylvia had read that the place is very popular and had booked us a table.  We were taken through the warmly painted cluttered main store through to a quieter grey room which used to be a bike shop next door.  There were free tables in that part of Cliffys o a Friday morning but later when we passed we saw queues outside the door.

Our waiter was the same guy who had served us at the Daylesford Hotel the previous night.  Being greeted with his familiar smile made us feel like we were in a quirky small town sitcom where there is only one waiter in town.  The service was a bit slow but we were on holidays and 

I had been interested in the pumpkin toast with dukka and feta but then I found out that the soup of the day was a white bean soup served with cheesy croutons and lots of coriander.  I asked to order it before it was available for lunch and was informed that the kitchen was fine with this.  This was meant to be available 20 minutes later for lunch after I ordered but the kitchen was happy to serve it early .  

It was lovely but I did not feel that including the croutons were enough of a reason to not serve the soup with bread.  Luckily Sylvia had plenty of toast and gave me some of hers.  I also added some of her greens when she said she was not going to eat all of them.

Sylvia had the Vego country breakfast ($33): fried eggs, haloumi (which she asked for instead of the goats cheese), sautéed greens, avocado, tomato, mushroom, and sourdough toast with a gruyere hash brown on the side ($7).  She raved about this and declared it her favourite of all the meals she had in Daylesford.  The haloumi with lots of golden crispy batter was really good and the hash brown with the gruyere was amazing.  And I loved that there were so many leafy greens.  It was so filling that there was plenty to share and she still brought home a tub of leftovers.

After our meal, we had a look at main room with the diners sit among the general store displays.  The shelves are stacked with preserves, condiments, and toiletries.  In one corner were straw brooms, bottles of lollies and odd shaped pumpkins.  A display cabinet has freshly baked cakes on cake stands near to a giant glowing ice cream cone that overlooks boxes of lollies and lollypops.  You can buy eggs and soap and wine and so much more.  All beautifully arranged with fairy lights and bunting.

Hot Chocolate Apothecary

22 Raglan Street, Daylesford
www.daylesfordhotchocolate.com

I noticed three businesses in Daylesford calling themselves an apothecary.  This is not unexpected in a town that welcomes alternative types: traditional healers, environmentalists and artists.  I could not pass up the opportunity to visit a cafe called the Hot Chocolate Apothecary.  The place was a charming as the name.

It was beautifully designed with wooden shelves and a steampunk brass steamer that suggested ancient wisdom was used to create the hot chocolate.    It would not have been surprising to see it filled with creatures of myth such as goblins and fairies.  Rather the few seats were mostly empty as most of the many customers seemed to be stopping briefly for a takeaway order.

When we first arrived we sat on a couple of wooden stools at the counter.  Then the two fancy vintage velvet chairs by the window were vacated and we swooped on them with delight.  We felt very smug to get the best seats in the house and were sure everyone else whether wanting a seat or not would be very jealous.

It felt like magic could be performed here with the shelves of jars of what might be a witches potions and powder.  The place was even overseen by the watchful gaze of a toy hare in vintage clothing that looked like it had come from the world of a fantasy novel.  Finally we turned our attention to the menu.

It is a rare treat for me to be in any establishment that has a long menu of hot chocolates with not a coffee to be seen.  Too often in cafes the coffee offerings seem to hold all the excitement while the hot chocolate is served a a standard offering with very little thought.  So, given that I dislike coffee and love chocolate, this was a menu that made me feel seen. 

I ordered the Semi dark chocolate classic hot chocolate ($10.50) with an option of freeze dried raspberries ($4).  It was a lovely hot chocolate but not quite as dark and bitter as I like.  Next time I might try the Dark hot chocolate.  Though if I went again I would prefer not to be so full from brunch nearby at Cliffys.  We had looked longingly at the French and Italian hot chocolates that came with a croissant to dip in but just would not face such a filling option.  

Sylvia was absolutely delighted with her Deluxe Experience ($12.50): "our signature house blend topped with fresh whipped cream, choccy crumble and toasted marshmallow, served with a spoon for gooey yummy mixing".  She even was able to have this indulgent drink with soy milk for the hot chocolate so that she could keep her dairy intake down (the cream of course was still dairy).

One of the pieces of magic performed in the apothecary was that my pot of hot chocolate was not only wonderfully hot rather than so many warm "hot chocolates" I encounter but it also stayed hot for the second cup.  It was great we were able to have our hot chocolates before it got warmer later in our visit.  I hope we can visit again one chilly day when we are really hungry!

Larder Daylesford 

57A Vincent Street, Daylesford
www.larderdaylesford.com.au

After the Emporium and Apothecary I now turn to our visit to the Larder.  Yes the folk in Daylesford do have a way with words.  You can see a picture of the interior at the top of the post but the above picture shows the lovely counter of different coloured planks of wood.  If you go to Daylesford Covent the curret exhibition by Cecilia Cabalquinto includes a watercolour and ink image of the Larder Daylesford.

The Larder was a place of elegant rural simplicity with the menu that might have had inspiration from the influx of artisan farmers and paddock to plate chefs that have flocked the Daylesford over the past few decades.  It was hard choosing a lunch venue in Daylesford.  We had initially decided upon Harvest Cafe's breakfast menu had closed and we had been set on a tofu scramble.  This was a most excellent second choice.

We started with drinks.  I had a bottle of Strangelove Mandarin soda.  Sylvia went all hipster and ordered an iced soy Biscoff latte.  She loved dipping her Biscoff biscuit in the latte and was pleased with her choice.  To eat she had a generous scrambled eggs on toast  ($14) with some haloumi on the side ($8) .

I tentatively ordered the Roasted pumpkin salad with beetroot hummus, pomegranate, seasonal greens, quinoa, roasted hazelnuts and herbs with tahini dressing ($23).  I am wary of ordering roast pumpkin in cafes which can range from soft melting flesh in a charred skin to pale stringy undercooked chunks.  The Larder knew their stuff with pumpkin and had a magnificent huge wedge of roast pumpkin.  The curly kale was too raw by itself but was great with the lovely dressing.  And everything was better for the beetroot dip and quinoa.  It was a fantastic meal.

Before we left I got a peek at the gorgeous courtyard out the back with the trees in blossom glowing in the sunshine.  I think I might try and eat there next time.

And more places to eat in Daylesford...

Daylesford is indeed a tyranny of choice when it comes to places to eat.  I would return to all of these places to eat, as I would also return to the Daylesford Convent Gallery and Daylesford Hotel where we also ate during our holiday. And there were many other places would love to have eaten such as Harvest Cafe, Frangos, Sweet Decadence (with the gorgeous roof artwork) and the Himalaya Bakery in the main street.  I would have loved to get in the car to go for meals at the Lavandula Lavender Farm, Daylesford Cider, Sault and the Lakehouse.  I will also write about great ice cream by the lake at Walters and brunch at the Sunday Market when I write more about our sightseeing.

More posts on our Daylesford holiday (more to come):

• Daylesford Accommodation 
• Daylesford Hotel: a grand country pub
• Daylesford Convent Gallery