At the Heads, Barwon Heads: seaside dining

 

On the weekend I had one of the wonderful summer moments when I joined my family to celebrate my mum's birthday at a restaurant called At the Heads in Barwon Heads.  It literally was on stilts over the sea.  I had such a nice time I wanted to share some photos.  However when I got home, I found I had very little photos of the food.  So I will have to make up for that with photos of the beach. 

Barwon Heads, where the Barwon River meets the Bass Strait, is best known for being the town where the Aussie television series SeaChange was filmed 25 years ago.  At the Heads blue weatherboard shed was the exterior for Diver Dan's boatshed cafe.  I think I might have gone there years ago but maybe I just went past it.  Driving over the iconic wooden bridge, I could have seen At the Heads if I had not been too busy checking the GPS as I know I was already running late.  

Barwon Heads was busy on that beautiful summer's day.  By the time I arrived at the restaurant late, I was met with sympathy and we all exchanged our stories of the difficulties in finding a parking spot and how far we had to walk.  It was worth the effort to walk into the gorgeous restaurant with high rafters, wooden tables and chairs and plenty of space.  Most impressive are the views of the sea through the huge glass windows that surround the diners.

Once I had taken in the view, I discovered that our group was big enough that there was a table for nephews and nieces with their partners and a table for my parents and siblings and aunt.  I was out of my seat catching up with everyone when the starters came out.  Everyone shared plates of octopus; prosciutto with cheese and sourdough bread; and croquettes.  I arrived back at my seat in time to grab a potato, corn, miso, cheese and chives croquette with a creamy sauce.  It was really crispy and delicious but my attention was on more catching up.

Then the mains arrived.  I had ordered the one vegetarian main, which also seemed to gluten free and vegan.  I took a hurried photo of the menu but it was too blurred to read and it was not updated on the website.  The sprouting cauliflower was the feature with roasted parsnip, served on a bed of freekah, creamy sauce and salsa verde, topped with thin discs of apple and what I think were parsnip crisps.  Everything was cooked beautifully, the flavours were superb and it was an absolute joy.
 

 

Many in my family had the fish and chips which was huge and filling.  Susie had the grilled gluten free fish and chips.  Andy had the prawn linguine.  Dave was late and his fish and chips were ordered before he arrived.  Fran enjoyed her meal and mocktail but mentioned that it was a shame that the mains had no vegetables or salad.  Side dishes had to be ordered separately.  This is not a cheap place to eat.  My main cost $38 and was one of the cheaper mains.  But at least I felt good about all the vegies in my dish.  I would have also liked to have tried the tomatoes with sesame cream and nori or the broccoli with miso and saltbush.  

At my mum's end of the table was a bottle of champagne.  Not all of the family were able to be there.  My sister in Dublin had thoughtfully arranged for the restaurant to surprise mum with the bottle when she arrived.

My meal wasn't too filling so I had a hot chocolate afterwards.  The service was great and the most memorable moment was the waiter impressing us with memorising the 8 or 9 different drinks: the skinny latte, the soy latte, the regular latte, the cappucino, the flat white and on and on.  My hot chocolate wasn't hot enough for my liking but it was wonderfully rich with lots of cocoa flavour.   

I checked back on my blog and found that my last mention of Barwon Heads was April 2012 (in the same month that I went to Monsalvat which I also visited last weekend!).   I have fond memories of fun with the family on the beach building sandcastles and swimming by the 1927 timber bridge across the estuary of the Barwon River.  Over almost 100 years the bridge has seen many changes including consultations and protests in the decade after SeaChange when the state government considered a new bridge, mirroring some of the storylines of the tv show that revolved around closing the bridge.  I am glad they upgraded the bridge and were able to maintain the historical integrity and spectacle.

It was such a lovely time at the restaurant that we were all a little reluctant to leave the blue skies and blue waters of the seaside town.  I had time to take photos as I took off my sandals and paddled through thw water's edge on the way back to the car.  Blogging works so much better when I am not socialising and can focus on photos.  Hence there are more photos of then food.  But food is only ever part of the story.  Although I don't have too much to say about the meal, I would definitely be back for more, even without the magnificent surroundings..

 
At the Heads
1A Jetty Road, Barwon Heads, VIC 3227
Open: Mon-Sun 12pm-late
https://attheheads.com.au/