All big lunches should end with a massage. You’ll struggle to find such an offering in Sydney (a reputable one anyway), but if you’re prepared to make the drive to Bowen Mountain – just 75km from the city centre, then you’re in for a treat.

Amara restaurant, located within the stunning Spicers Sangoma Retreat, offers what we consider to be one of the country’s most leisurely long lunches.

For years, Amara serviced Sangoma’s silk scarf-wearing clientele only, but now locals and visitors alike can also enjoy its serene setting, superb food and luxurious facilities in one excellent lunch date.

The kitchen is headed up by Will Houia, who joined the team in 2020 from a sister Spicers retreat in Hidden Vale. While the dinner menu shows off the tricky techniques he no doubt mastered at Michelin-starred restaurant Relæ in Copenhagen, it’s the lunch menu that really demands the detour out of town.

Every day, Houia throws together what is called the Chef’s Harvest Experience – a daily changing menu that highlights the growers and producers of the greater Hawkesbury region.

Everything on the plate comes from within 100km of the estate, with much of the fruit and vegetables picked and pulled from neighbouring properties. In the spirit of a retreat, there are no difficult decisions to be made. Diners can simply sit back and let Houia take care of everything. While the daily-changing menu remains a mystery until you arrive, guests can expect a protein – perhaps a braised lamb shoulder or Hawkesbury River prawns – plus a colourful array of complementary sides.

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On our visit, it’s Melanda Park pastured pork roasted in the kitchen’s woodfire oven. Each generous round reveals a delicious contrast between the soft, succulent belly and its band of bubbled crackling.

A series of small bowls complete the meal, sweet sauteed onions, crisp lettuce cups dressed up with dehydrated Bilpin apples, and a slaw shaved from local greens supplied by nearby Harvest Farms.

To bind it all together, four slices of sourdough bread arrive still warm from the oven with a housemade caramelised onion butter on the side. All in all, it’s a simple yet sophisticated spread that tastes of pure country goodness.

Another advantage of coming at lunch is getting to enjoy the resort in all its daytime glory. As beautiful as the dining room is – with its oversized artworks and honey timber panelling – you can’t beat the wicker tables on the terrace which offer unending views across bushland, interrupted only by sparkling Sydney skyscrapers.

Even sweeter than the fresh fruit granita for dessert is the possibility of spending the afternoon on a sun lounger by the pool while everything digests.

Amara uniquely offers a Day Use Package that includes the Chef’s Harvest Experience, a 60-minute spa treatment and full use of the infinity lap pool and sauna (and for a good price too). It is one indulgent lunch experience.

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