Slightly different to my normal bakery visits, the idea of a 5 course lunch, with wines and friends, sounded pretty good and certainly needed to be experienced.

The Bark Mill Tavern at Swansea hosted their first long lunch, during the Great Eastern wine week on Tassie's east coast, early this month.

When Louise heard that the Bark Mill was doing this long lunch, she thought we can't miss this out, as Swansea has great memories for us and who better to share it with, Pete and Steve, while introducing them to the east coast.

Bags packed, which included Tom and one dog, Suki. (Milly the other dog had a restful weekend away from the family) our accommodation attached to the car, and headed to Swansea. We set up Tom and Suki at the caravan park, with his lunch snacks and entertainment. Then set off to meet our friends Pete and Steve at the Bark Mill after they settled into their Rocky Hills accommodation.

My wife Louise and I, with good friends Pete Williams and Steve Walsh, joined 37 other people to the intimate long tables of gastronomical proportions. Each of these 5 courses were matched with wines from surrounding vineyards that complemented each dish.

We sat down to a glass of Boomer Creek's 2019 Sparkling Joy, looked at the mouth watering menu, and the the first course was delivered, a local cheese and meat platter.

Louise loved this along with the sparkling wine, even liked the blue cheese was creamy and not something she would normally eat. I must admit, I love cheese, but not cheese with moldy bits, a mental thing and it doesn't seem right. The meats were nice, one a little spicy but good. Pete and Steve really enjoyed the Boomer Creek sparkling, they thought it matched really well.

Next up, a glass of Riesling from the vineyard The Bend, near Swansea, and a plate of King fish sashimi with capers, rocket, lemon zest, and wasabi. Steve enjoyed the Sashimi with wasabi given his interest in the Japanese culture and cuisine. Wasabi isn't something I'd usually have, but did like it with the fish, where as Louise was looking forward to trying sashimi but unfortunately she didn't enjoy this dish at all, apart from the wasabi. So the guys had more King fish to try. The Riesling certainly matched the fish well.

Third course, Char-grilled quail with rosé grapes and ajo blanco sauce teamed up with Springvale Estate's 2018 Reserve Chardonnay. This was Pete's preference, as this is not something they would regularly cook at home. I haven't had quail for a few years, but I'd certainly have this again, especially with the chardonnay it was delicious.

The dish I was looking forward to, fourth on the list, braised lamb rump with carrot puree, purple cauliflower and red wine jus served with Priory Ridge's 2020 Pinot Noir. This was Louise's favourite dish, and she liked that the Priory Ridge Pinot complimented this so well.

I loved that you didn't need to use a knife, the meat just fell apart, cooked to my perfection. I love a good Pinot, and this certainly topped my favourite dish of the day.

To finish off this adventure of delicacies, came the desserts made up of lemon meringue tart, lemon citrus tart, caramel tart and a deconstructed cheesecake and Freycinet's Botrytis 2019 gloriously sweet, decadent and luscious dessert wine.

Yes I am a sweet tooth (don't tell my doctor though) and loved the lemon meringue tart, actually I think we all did like the selection, as there was no crumbs left on the plates.

Pete told me that he and Steve, have enjoyed similar experiences whilst travelling throughout the UK and Australia, and the idea of creating a space to enjoy the local food and wine and to be able to relax in the company of friends, is such a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

We all loved the food, the wine and the atmosphere the lunch created, and the service from the staff was excellent. The rest of the afternoon was relaxing in the sun, who mentioned "nanna nap"?

We are definitely planning to go to another long lunch. Where to next Pete and Steve? Cheers