Cottage Point Inn

Beautiful restaurant, interesting stunningly presented food. Great location, watch out for spiders. Be warned though, NO HIGHCHAIRS only 2 menu options for kids. Not a child oriented restaurant. Understandable for the location. Best menu item was Asparagus first course.

When I first booked this restaurant they did ask whether we were arriving via sea plane or boat but I much prefer the drive, it 's part of the experience. And it 's not incredibly hard to get to, it 's just windy roads, no lines on the roads, elevation and barely any street parking. You then walk down a steep pathway to the wharf and restaurant. Now the best time to come here is for lunch on a beautiful sunny day, if anything else don 't even bother. The ambiance is to be enjoyed when you can actually see it well. Upon arrival we were seated inside but as the waiter described the best thing about this restaurant is every table has a view . Which is the case, we had a view most definitely. The main server who took our order and recommended the only cocktail on menu made awkward conversation with us and tried to suss me out as a chef. We opted for the a la carte option as not everything appealed to us on the degustation menu. For starters we choose local grown mushrooms with roast hazelnut, shallots, coffee brown butter sabayon and line caught snapper served raw (carpaccio style), persimmon vierge, finger lime basil. My favourite was definitely the starter dishes, the snapper was delicious and my partner adored the mushrooms. They did serve small entrees including a bread basket before the starters, what I liked to call cheese balls and escargot sponge. For mains, we had New Zealand blue eye trevalla with confit young onion, sorrel purée, marjoram clams and a wagyu dish I can 't recall the name of. I wasn 't completely sold on the fish, I had such high hopes though, but it was cooked more on the raw side. I didn 't like any of the supplements, they didn 't really suit the fish especially that purée. My partner enjoyed the wagyu the most, it was well medium. He was unimpressed by this latest trend we 're seeing of waiters pouring the jus or finishing touches of mains at the table though, especially with shaky hands. Finish it in the kitchen or give the diner the choice. Unfortunately it was more downhill from there, to be honest I wish we had skipped desserts but we went ahead anyway. We ordered the Mont blanc tartlet with chestnut rum cream, white chocolate ganache, buttermilk sorbet and an odd combination of chocolate peas called green chocolate. My tartlet tasted raw and unfinished and that green chocolate combo..well let 's just say that fusion was a complete disaster, a destroyer of taste buds and not in a good way. So after all that, only two dishes actually tasted nice and it was an entree and side of pommes dauphine. After that we 'd had enough and were ready to leave. It turned out there was another surprise of chocolate honeycomb bits on sticks to be provided but we were already at the register trying to pay so we could leave. The service was very slow and initially attentive at the start but then the main server pretty much disappeared after that and then as we were ready to pay, we had to wait for him to finish up chatting up other guests as it seems no-one was allowed and/or too afraid to serve us our check except the first waiter who took our order was ready to attend to us and then they still expected a tip. The real point of coming here is novelty of the views and secluded location. After that worn off, it was simply over priced, unremarkable food service and long drive home. Definitely could get much better elsewhere for the same novelty experience. I was unimpressed and not likely to return.

There was a special at Cottage Point Inn right before a friend from the States was coming to visit so I snatched up the opportunity to show her the beautiful Hawkesbury River FOOD Our deal involved a main, dessert and glass of wine. On arrival we were served a complimentary pumpkin soup served in the cutest little cup. This was followed by the salmon with squid ink pasta main and ended with the largest souffle I've ever seen. I'm not the biggest fan of cooked salmon but I thought this one was done rather well. Whilst the first few bites of the souffle were enjoyable by the time I hit the middle it was a bit of a sugar overdose and I wasn't able to finish it off. [hidden link] [hidden link] [hidden link] SERVICE The place was very busy for a Thursday lunch but the waitstaff all seem very experienced at handling a full restaurant. VERDICT The food was decent but the biggest draw card about this place is definitely the view as you are sitting right alongside the Hawkesbury River. There's not much at Cottage Point and so it's a very quaint and peaceful area perfect for sitting back with a glass of wine, enjoying the scenery and relaxing. There is also minimal mobile phone reception so you definitely feel like you've escaped from Sydney even though it's less than an hour away from the CBD.

We had a Sunday lunch at Cottage Point Inn. The restaurant is nice with a lovely view on the waterfront. Regarding the food, it was nice and definitely what you could expect. 'Le poisson cru ' and the market fish were both good, the 'green ' chocolate was surprising and really delicious. Regarding the service, it was far too slow as the meal lasted 3 hours. This is definitely something they have to improve.

A birthday celebration. The view is spectacular! But parking on the road is a bit difficult. Of coz one can arrive in style on a waterplane from Sydney Harbour. We were provided w a semiset gazpacho w basil oil, really refreshing. Then scampi (special of the day), also v tasty. Veal tartare seasoned w oyster n lemon dressing, cucumber n tarragon, caper cracker was a dish that I would go back for. Creamy goats curd, cauliflower couscous, stringy bark honey, mint n coriander was a bit too strong. We ordered butter poached market fish (i cant remember the fish), lemon, capers n kale, pan fried gnocchi, clam beurre blanc. This was the best dish of the day. The fish was perfectly cooked n tender, and all the flavours just worked perfectly! The grilled wagyu rump cap, shaved foie gras, marinated brown mushroom, roast onion n lemon puree, blackberries was a true disappointment. The steak was too rare, really just lightly seared, so it was really a bit chewy. Then we had a complimentary choco n coconut dessert. The sourdough bread n lemon butter was also wonderful. Problem is with the really nice and relaxing envoirnment, we cant drink as we do have to drive back a windy road.