Hats for greater Geelong and coast restaurants

CONNEWARRE eatery Moonah has taken out the best regional restaurant in the prestigious 2023 Good Food Guide Awards, one of seven greater Geelong and Surf Coast establishments to receive high praise.

Nestled among the coastal wetlands of Lake Connewarre in the Minya Winery, the unassumingly small 12-seat venue that is Moonah was given a big round of applause for sourcing produce from within a 200-kilometre range of the restaurant under the stewardship of founder and chef Tobin Kent (formerly of Brae).

It’s one of six repeat local entries from 2022 to this years list, with the Surf Coast’s Graham Jefferies’ receiving another gong for his Torquay restaurant Samesyn.

His former Geelong venue Tulip has maintained its reputation and has again made it into the 2023 guide.

The modern seasonal food through a French lens that is La Cachette in Geelong is another back to back entrant, as is fellow French restaurant Bistrot Plume in Belmont, and the rustic Italian specialists of La Cantina at Freshwater Creek’s Common Ground Project are also back.

Lorne institution Ipsos is another return entrant to the guide, known for its homely Greek cooking with an Australian twist it received hat status in 2019 and 2020.