This refined restaurant and retreat might be well into its fourth decade but Lake House is as relevant as ever, rarely missing a beat under founder and culinary director Alla Wolf-Tasker and her phalanx of honed wait staff. 

Menus still sway with the seasons, with the lion’s share of produce now supplied by the restaurant’s own 15ha farm just minutes down the road.

Dishes are cutting edge but comforting, and always a pleasure on the eye – as is that view over Lake Daylesford. Over either a multi-course a la carte lunch or tasting menu, there might be a tarragon-spiked broth lapping a roll of succulent Milking Yard chicken, or a tanned tile of blue eye glistening in a beautifully smoky seaweed butter. 

Then there’s dessert. The Apple is an intriguing treat of Granny Smith granita below an apple-shaped shell of white chocolate encasing foam and jellies, followed by the daintiest of house-made petit fours to end.

Lake House might be synonymous with Daylesford, but it’s also the benchmark for regional dining that’s incredibly and memorably spot on.

Must Eat Dish: Milking Yard chicken rolled with farm herbs, broth, tarragon emulsion & oil