10581A West Swan Rd, Henley Brook 
Phone: (08) 9296 1641
Tranquil and delightful – with a Twist
It’s a great place for a tea party – or a leisurely lunch, an intimate dinner, or afternoon tea with scones, jam and cream. Surrounded by beau
tiful herb and cottage gardens in the tranquility of the Swan Valley, this delightful restaurant provides comfort food with a twist, at an affordable price, with great customer service. You can wander through the enchanting gardens, and choose to dine inside (with a log fire burning on colder days) or outside on the verandah or patio. The garden would be great for family groups or weddings, too.
Head chef Clint and manager Rachael Graham, both winners of a Gold Plate Award in 2006, took over the venue on 1 July 2009, changed the name to Mad Hatters on Milston, and have lots of plans to modernise the place, while still retaining its traditional charm. Clint uses lots of local produce from the Swan Valley, and gets as much as possible from the garden – herbs, veggies and fruit for making homemade jams, sauces and chutney. The restaurant is fully licensed and is open from Tuesday to Sunday for breakfast and lunch, and now also open for dinner on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The wine list features produce from several of the local wineries, such as Sittella and Oakover.
We tried a drop of Sittella Semillon Sauvignon Blanc with our entrees, and agreed it was a good all-round wine that would go with almost any dish. As for the reds – I liked the Oakover Cab Merlot, but my drinking partner preferred the Sittella Shiraz. We sampled three of the entrees – Calamari – tender squid rings in a crisp, gluten-free batter, served simply with green salad leaves, a little balsamic, lemon and roast garlic aioli; Moroccan Chicken Skewers – mildly spicy, tender chicken skewers served with couscous and currants; and Arancini – the fresh clean taste of these traditional savoury rice balls was set off perfectly by a delicious homemade chutney. There are quite a lot of vegetarian and gluten-free options on the menu.
For one main course we had the Pasta dish – house-smoked chicken with local asparagus and fettuccini in a creamy sauce – the smoky flavour of the chicken permeated the whole dish, the asparagus was fresh and crisp, not overcooked as it so often can be. My colleague was very taken with this dish, and thought it should’ve been available as an entree also. The other main dish we tried was the Herb-crusted Lamb rump – which was tender and delicious, and served on a bed of champ mash (potato mashed with leek and spring onion) and whole roasted shallots topped with house chutney, crispy leek spines and a red wine pan jus. I really enjoyed this.
To finish off we had the Brule – a baked vanilla and raspberry custard topped with crispy toffee and served with a dish of whipped cream on the side, and we couldn’t resist trying the traditional Devonshire Tea of scones, jam and cream – always good value – featuring a dish of Clint’s homemade blood orange jelly as well as the usual strawberry and raspberry jams.