Five excellent country restaurants to plan a holiday around

An izakaya-distillery deep in the mountains. A fine-dining revelation among dunes and scrub. A spiral staircase to Central Victorian heaven. If you dine for the thrill of the discovery as much as one spectacular bite, this year’s Age Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year finalists might send tingles down your spine.

Each left a big, tasty impression on our team of Guide reviewers – who book anonymously and pay their own way – to stand out from a crowded field.

Some, like Torquay’s Surf Hotel, mark a fresh chapter for a well-known site. Others, like nearby Samesyn, prove that you can cook with conscience at no cost to deliciousness.

There are roughly 80 regional restaurants in this year’s Guide. Each year, we see the standard climb higher as restaurateurs outside Melbourne tap into place, community and hospitality excellence at all points of the compass. Here are five of the very best.

Barragunda Dining, Cape Schanck

Estate-grown produce drives the veg-forward menu at Barragunda, turning up raw, cooked or plucked from the library of preserves filed beside the kitchen. To begin, crisp crudites alongside a fluffy sabayon dusted with leek ash, and a dish whose blunt menu description – “spent hen, fermented quince, daisy bush” – disguises a mini sausage roll with a dab of fruity sauce. A dish of rosy rounds of black Angus paired with wood-fired sugarloaf cabbage uses beef raised just metres away from the dining room. An inspiring expression of modern regionality.

While you’re there: Stop at family-run Hawkes Farm in Boneo for coffee, fresh produce and, on weekends from 10am, the best hot chips you’ll ever eat – no exaggeration.

113 Cape Schanck Road, Cape Schanck, barragunda.com.au

Bistro Merenda, Daylesford

Climb the spiral staircase inside the 1858 building housing Bar Merenda to reach this mustard-coloured, 18-seat dining room. Here, a four-course offering of French-leaning dishes is tweaked weekly, but you’ll certainly find charcuterie rendered from pork down the road, and pretty green salad dressed with fine judgment. Otherwise, there could be soup – comforting lentils in adroitly seasoned stock during winter, a bright fish-studded broth with rouille when summer keeps the dining room bathed in golden light until late. Classic roasts and braises are served for sharing; desserts, however, are not. Co-owner Andy Ainsworth’s wine list happily follows the local, small-batch bias.

While you’re there: A visit to the bustling (and dog-friendly) Daylesford Sunday Market is a no-brainer (assuming it’s a Sunday).

117 Vincent Street, Daylesford, barmerenda.com.au

Koji Bird, Bright

Good luck nailing down the KPIs of Koji Bird. A restaurant at a distillery sharing space with a daytime coffee operation, it’s the izakaya that defies definitions. Debate them over a shochu sour featuring parent business Reed & Co’s hooch as you witness skilled chefs command the fierce-looking charcoal-fired oven. Sweet-fleshed trout from nearby Harrietville is served with its own crisped skin and a sharp ume dashi. Charry yakitori – perhaps chicken oysters – are primed with an umami-rich koji glaze, the tasty fungus proving its worth in both the distillery’s Japanese spirits and on the plate. And dessert – an ice-cream sandwich made with passionfruit-spiked sake lees – is built for little and big kids alike.

While you’re there: Don’t leave the High Country without detouring via Beechworth, where bakeries, bars and pubs are bountiful in historical surrounds. Stop in for a pint at Bridge Road Brewers, or peruse the cellar door at Pennyweight Winery.

15 Wills Street, Bright, reedandcodistillery.com/koji-bird-restaurant

Samesyn, Torquay

The eclair says it all: feather-light choux, crisped onion and piped custard made from a cheddar-rich medley of cheeses otherwise destined for landfill. This is Samesyn in one bite: waste is not merely saved, but dressed to impress. Chef-owner Graham Jefferies’ seaside restaurant has no bins and no traditional waitstaff. The same person who’s chatting to you at the table may have also picked the garnish or braised the meat. Whey appears with oysters, then later as a caramel that adds funk to a dark chocolate and sourdough dessert. Chicken fat makes for decadently crunchy toast alongside roo tartare. Plus, 100 per cent of profits go to local charity Feed Me.

While you’re there: Stock up on award-winning snags and other meats on Gilbert Street at the second outpost for Barwon Heads butcher Benno’s Meating Place.

3/24 Bell Street, Torquay, samesyn.com.au

Surf Hotel, Torquay

Jo Barrett has done it again. After her bowls-club restaurant triumph, Little Picket, and ethical home meals business Wildpie, the 2023 Age Good Food Guide chef of the year is back cooking with former Oakridge colleague Aaron Brodie at an old coastal motel that’s now a gorgeous pub with rooms and views. Dim sims set off your nostalgia sensors, despite their more sustainable wild boar filling. Perfectly crisp schnitzel is made with wild venison, an eco-friendly choice. Everyone is welcome, the food is cooked with heart, and underpinning it all is an inspired environmental responsibility. What a spot.

While you’re there: In town for the weekend? Grab a loaf from Starter Culture in North Torquay, a new spot baking pastries with house-churned butter and golden sourdough with a seven-year-old culture.

35 The Esplanade, Torquay, surfhotel.com.au

The winners of the 46th Age Good Food Guide Awards will be announced on Monday, October 12, presented by Oceania Cruises and T2 Tea. The awards ceremony will be live-blogged via The Age from 3pm; the Guide reviews will be available on the Good Food app from 8pm. Pick up a free 56-page Good Food Guide liftout in The Age on Tuesday, October 13.

The home of the Good Food Guide, the app is free for premium subscribers of The Age and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.