Iron Gate Kitchen, Pokolbin

Iron Gate Kitchen is the newest Iberian inspired restaurant in the Hunter Valley in Pokolbin set in a gorgeous Spanish style mansion. With an Iberian menu to match the Iron Gate Estate wines, come along to see what the food and space is like.

Iron Gate Estate's 25 acre or 10 hectare winery was first established in 1996 and the cellar door opened in 2001. The stunning Spanish style building has a mix of terracotta tiles, hand painted tiles, plus of course iron gates after which the estate is named. The brief for Iron Gate Kitchen was to create a menu that would pair perfectly with the long standing winery's wines.

Visitors to the Hunter Valley are often constrained to restaurant menus with 2 or 3 course minimums or tasting menus. But Iron Gate Kitchen's menu is a la carte with no minimum. Iron Gate Kitchen's Head Chef Lara Hagan explains, "The Hunter Valley needs a lunch destination that no longer has a per head price. We wanted to offer a scalable menu for every price point". And even on these very early days, it has turned out to be a popular spot as it is open all day for breakfast and lunch 6 days a week and for dinner on Friday nights. There is also a 9 course Gatekeeper's Menu for $79 per person.

While there is a pizza oven, the bread here actually comes from a local bakery Rutherford bread. This white sourdough is good for soaking up the olive oils.

We also start with some garlic oyster mushrooms in olive oil. These are good paired with the bread with a light garlicky touch to them.

The wood smoked spiced almonds are incredibly moreish. I dare you to stop at just one of these. They go well with the spicy margarita cocktail too (and the Sangria is worth trying too). The mixed olives has a 8 varieties of olives all grown 15kms up the road. These are marinated in Spanish olive oil and served warm.

And a tip: if you're looking for picnic or food supplies for the weekend ahead, these olives plus other local honey and condiments are available to purchase along with imported charcuterie and cheeses in the fridge opposite the open kitchen.

In the spirit of the iconic salt cod croquettes that were created as it enabled seafarers to preserve cod so that it could travel long distances, Lara mixes the rehydrated salt cod with other fish trimmings used in the restaurant so that nothing is wasted. These are moreish with a squeeze of lemon juice for piquancy.

The crispy fried artichoke hearts are crumbed and deep fried until golden and served with vegan paprika aioli. A lot of the menu is gluten free and there’s a lot of choice for vegans. In fact everything that we are eating today is gluten-free.

It's time for the mains and sides. The first main is a local lamb shoulder braised in red wine lamb stock for 4-5 hours. It is given a final fire through the mibrasa charcoal oven before serving to give it a nice smokiness. It is then paired with a fresh salsa verde. The lamb is soft and just needs a bit of seasoning but the salsa verde lifts the rich meat nicely.

The chicken breast is a whole, sliced chicken breast cooked on the Josper Grill and the finished on the mibrasa charcoal oven on a bed of spiced peppers and onions cooked down until sweet and almost sticky. The chicken breast does tend to be a drier cut but the delectable sauce and vegetables underneath it add moisture.

The heirloom cauliflower is their version of a vegan steak. The whole heirloom purple cauliflower is spiced and cooked in the coals and is served with a vegan almond skordalia with pepitas and crunchy slivers of marcona almonds. Lara laughs and says that it reminds her of her time in the Girl Guides cooking over fire.

Escalivada are a famous Catalan roasted vegetable tapas dish and these is made up of eggplant, zucchini flowers and squash on an eggplant tapenade. The eggplant is luscious and perfectly cooked.

Hands down everyone's favourite side is the fried corn ribs seasoned simply with coriander, lime and salt. Corn ribs are so much easier to eat than corn on the cob and yet despite how simple it is, it's so moreish and I end up eating three corn ribs.

The wood grilled baby broccolini and lemon is a simple treatment but is a good side to go with the meat.

And for dessert, it's a slice of a classic Basque cheesecake that is sublimely creamy and served with a glass of Pedro Ximinez. This wonderful combination brings out the sweetness of the raisins that make up the sherry and the cheesecake is incredibly creamy.