Flank steak… sliced on a bed of rocket and topped with thinly shaved parmesan. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Lamb ragu and ribbon-shaped pasta… the menu promised citrus, which was hard to detect. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Caprese salad… slices of ripe heirloom tomatoes plated with large slices of mozzarella. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Stuffed pasta shells… spinach, ricotta and Neapolitan sauce. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Focaccia… with a whipped ricotta and lemon dip. Photo: Wendy Johnson

It took a cool $4 million to fit out the gorgeous-looking restaurant at Murrumbateman’s Shaw Estate and the massive space is picture-perfect with views of a small dam and new vineyard plantings, writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.

Both refined and relaxed, the Shaw Estate restaurant focuses on a Mediterranean-inspired culinary experience. 

We made matters easy by ordering banquets ($79 a person). All dishes are the same except the first banquet has two meat dishes as mains and the second banquet two veggie dishes as mains.

First was soft, fluffy focaccia, enjoyed with a whipped ricotta and lemon dip, and a Tuscan broad bean dip. We loved the small dish of silky olive oil and sweet balsamic.

Arancini was next, well prepared with punchy sundried tomatoes marrying well with creamy goats’ cheese for a beautifully more-ish dish. 

The caprese salad was stunning in its appearance and taste – gorgeous slices of ripe heirloom tomatoes plated with large slices of mozzarella. Fresh basil leaves added taste and colour. 

The meat banquet featured a tasty and tender flank steak, artfully sliced on a bed of vibrant rocket and topped with thinly shaved parmesan. 

Lamb ragu and ribbon-shaped pasta was the second “meat main”. The menu promised citrus, which was hard to detect, and more lamb, please. 

The winning dish was the large, stuffed pasta shells, a feast for the eyes. Spinach and ricotta are a great combination and the Neapolitan sauce was well executed. 

The tiramisu was exciting – creamy, moist, boozy and decadent.

Shaw Wines’ top drops feature – at pleasantly reasonable prices – but other wineries are available. We loved the 2023 Shaw Montepulciano Rose ($12/glass; $48/bottle) and 2024 Reserve Pinot Noir ($15/glass; $65/bottle).

While the Doma Hotel Group is running operations, its extensive hospitality experience wasn’t consistently on show. While we had booked, we were seated late and then waited patiently for someone to bring us menus and a wine list. Forty minutes had now ticked by. 

The serving of the banquet dishes was confusing. A clearer explanation was needed on how matters would work, especially since a few of our party ordered the vegetarian banquet and the rest the meat banquet. It took too much effort for us to move dishes around, so people got what they ordered, with not all vegetarians or meat eaters sitting together. 

Paying the bill was not easy. We asked if the bill could be split evenly and were told yes. But after waiting for yonks, we were presented with individual bills with random differing amounts. Eventually, management was called to sort matters out. We were then told that splitting bills wasn’t an option. We waited once more while everything was recalculated as one total. Frustrating.

In the meantime, our poor bus driver waited outside… Thankfully, he was patient.