One of the highlights on my recent trip to Mollymook, and the only time I really acknowledged this was a birthday event, was the dinner at Cupitts Vineyard and Restaurant in Ulladulla. Roughly 10 minutes drive from our AirBnB, it was already fairly dark by the time we headed over for our 8pm reservation – a sure sign that summer was winding down. Since it was so dark we weren’t able to make much of the scenery around Cupitts but I understand that it’s set on quite a pretty landscape. The restaurant itself was a lovely modern rustic setting, with warm wood furnishings set in a large room with floor to ceiling windows, that I assume during the day would give a great view of the vineyard and provide lots of natural light.
We were greeted warmly and brought to our tables with only a short wait. The menu offered a dining special of 2 courses for $58 or 3 courses for $75, and matching wines for $18 (2-course) or $27 (3-course), which we thought was fairly reasonable overall. I generally lean more towards savoury, but I always like to look at the dessert menu to decide how I’m going to go too and after a quick glance, decided I wanted to aim for the 3 course with matching wines! I mean, it’s my birthday right?
Now from here the memory gets a bit sketchy because I’ve misplaced my notes and not all the items are available on their current menu online, so I’ll do my best to recall! The Man and I both had the entree specials: fresh half dozen oysters with a seaweed vinaigrette, and a fish croquette. The oysters were huge and fresh and creamy and just what I wanted to start the evening, served with a glass of champagne or possibly it was prosecco. The croquettes were light and tasty according to the Man. Two of the group ordered my other entree of choice which was a chilled apple soup served with scallops, that looked really amazing and I was told that it was delicious as it looked 🙂
The meal was off to a great start and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I recall being lost in many conversations that evening, which is going to be my excuse for not remembering what all the dishes were called exactly… though I do remember that my main was absolutely delicious. It was a perfectly cooked (and huge) piece of chicken served on a bed of bacon, mushrooms and wilted greens, and topped with crunchy thin slices of potato. The chicken was so tender and worked so well with all those classic chicken accompaniments of bacon and mushroom. The sauce… I don’t recall exactly other than it being a creamy delicious thing. It was possibly one of the best chicken mains I’ve had in a while, and I ate every last bit.
The mains overall were fairly generous and most of us were so full we weren’t 100% sure about dessert. Until the waiter came around and said there were two slices left of the lemon cheesecake and then those who were unsure were totally on board. The Man and I shared a coconut and mango semifreddo… or in our case, fully freddo, as it was quite tough to get the spoon through without smashing the plate lol. We decided it was a classier, richer, and overall better version of a mango Weiss bar :P. But it was tasty and refreshing all the same, oh and paired with a really lovely sticky riesling. Again, two of the group order my other option of the milk choc parfait with a peanut butter icecream. It looked decadent and amazing, look at that swirl!
What else can I say other than it was a lovely evening shared with some of my closest friends? The meal was absolutely delicious and everyone in the group was happy too. We all agreed that it was somewhere we would want to return to for lunch if possible so that we could take in the views and maybe do more tastings of the wines and beers.  Overall, great flavour, value and service 🙂 And a perfect way to end my little series on the south coast!
x,
A.
Cupitts Winery, Brewery and Kitchen
58 Washburton Rd, Ulladulla NSW
cupitt.com.au