Mornington Peninsula - Linden Tree Restaurant and Lindenderry Hotel

142 Arthurs Seat Rd
Red Hill VIC 3937
Ph: 5989 2933
Website: www.lancemore.com.au/lindenderry

This post is part of my Mornington Peninsula weekend courtesy of Mornington Peninsula Tourism and Q Strategies. Check out the other posts here:
-Heronswood Gardens
-Red Hill Estate and Max's Restaurant
-Peninsula Hot Springs
-The Long Table
-Woodman Estate
-Red Hill Brewery

The last stop in my extremely enjoyable Mornington Peninsula weekend was at Lindenderry Hotel to have lunch at Linden Tree Restaurant. Lindenderry Hotel is set on 43 acres, with a winery adjoining the 40 rooms accommodation.


The hotel itself is stunning, with beautiful touches everywhere. The courtyards are manicured and peaceful, great for relaxing. The surrounding bushlands have lush foliage, walking tracks, a lake and tennis courts for your enjoyment. There are luxurious lounge areas scattered around the hotel where you can sit and read some magazines. The rooms are nicely decorated, with large beds and sofas. The views from the rooms out onto the vineyards and bushland is picturesque.




The Linden Tree restaurant adjoining the hotel is open 7 days a week, everyday of the year. The restaurant has a variety of different dining options, and an extensive menu. On Sundays, you can have the Spanish Style Sharing Lunch option, which is what I got. To start off with, the lunch comprised of some sharing tapas. There was heaps of food on the platter, which included Chorizo, Crumbed Sardines, White Anchovy on Bread, Prosciutto with Melon, Pork Terrine and Pippies in Tomato Reduction. I really loved the white anchovy as well as the pippies. The pippies were super sweet and full of flavour. I liked the chorizo and crumbed sardines. The terrine was a tad bland, needing more flavour in it.


Before mains, there was a Bean Soup, which was wonderful. The tapas were so much that I was already quite full, so only had a few spoons of the soup. I didn't think I could eat much more, but when the mains came, I found some extra space in my stomach. The Grilled Skate was fresh and tasty, as were the Grilled Chicken. However, the star for me were the Braised Lamb and the accompanying sides of Roast Potato and Chickpea Salad. The stew was full of great flavour and the meat tender. The roast potato were divine, super soft inside and crunchy outside flavoured with super crispy bacon and onions. Lastly, the chickpea salad was soft and had a good tang to it.


By this stage, I was about to burst, but told myself that if I eat dessert, I won't need to eat dinner. The Dessert Platter consisted of Churros with Chocolate Sauce, Chocolate Mousse, Rice Pudding and Passionfruit Pannacotta. The churros looked rather awful but tasted quite good. They didn't have that nice crispy texture of the usual ones I'm used to. I really liked the chocolate mousse, rich in chocolate flavour and light. I'm never a fan of Rice Pudding and I can't say this one really did much for me, although Visal really liked it. So I guess it depends if you like rice pudding in general or not. Finally, the pannacotta was rich and creamy, perfect.


During the meal, I also got the chance to taste test all the Lindenderry wines. Like other wineries in the area, Lindenderry specialise in white wines as the climate is ideal for that. I really enjoyed trying their Chardonnays, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noirs. My favourite was the 2006 Chardonnay, crisp and bright.

All of the wonderful food is cooked by a small team led by head chef Tristan Steele. Tristan is very passionate about his food and makes use of local produce. He really enjoys his work as he loves the Mornington Peninsula area and the beautiful way of life that he gets to live there. Things operate at a nicer pace and the surrounds are much closer to nature. I think Tristan's view sum up what everyone I talked to in the area said. They love to live in this pristine environment, enjoy fresh food, clean air, less traffic and enjoying all the variety that the Mornington Peninsula offers.


You don't have to move to the Mornington Peninsula to enjoy it. As it is only a short distance away from Melbourne, it is very easy to drive there for a day, a weekend or longer. There are so many great places to stay, wineries and breweries to drink at, great fresh produce at many farms, glorious restaurant food from simple to complex, leisure activities like hot springs and mazes and finally, friendly people that will welcome you with open arms and tell you their stories. What more can you ask for. Do yourself a favour and take a trip down to the Mornington Peninsula soon. You can plan out your whole trip via the Mornington Peninsula Tourism website. I hope you have found some of the information I've provided here useful and it has given you some inspiration to seek out your own adventures.

Once again, I would like to thank Mornington Peninsula Tourism and Q Strategies for giving me such a great opportunity to visit the wonderful Mornington Peninsula area. I would also like to thank all the wonderful people I met on the trip, who were generous with their time in explaining things to me. A special thanks to Patty Karakostas from Q Strategies, who did a fantastic job in organising the trip and making sure I was well informed and organised.

My guest and I dined courtesy of Lindenderry.