Cottage Point Inn was originally a boat house, general store and post office for the boating community of the Hawkesbury, but these days it serves as a very charming award-winning restaurant serving modern Australian food.
The Cottage Point Inn is ideal for the romantic getaway, special occasion dining or entertaining clients in a sophisticated bush setting with sparkling river views. The building itself is simple, with the outdoor section covered by a marquee and carpeted to cover the old wharf timbers.
For lunch and dinner, the Inn offers an a la carte menu and a 7 course tasting or degustation menu, accompanied by an extensive wine list. Seating is largely outside under the marquee, although there are indoor tables, but most if not all enjoy a wonderful view across the water, with the occasional water skier scooting by, or a cruiser or a sea plane landing to bring more diners into the restaurant.
We enjoyed choices from the a la carte menu, which contains a broad range of gourmet selections for different palates and appetites. We were quite taken with the amuse bouche which arrived to awaken our appetites at various stages throughout the dining experience. The chef, Guillaume Zika, appears to be from the Heston Blumenthal school of cooking, as a number of his dishes involved some science and interesting flavour and texture pairings. It’s certainly a novelty (and an opportunity) to have a chef who has worked to some accolade in Paris and London, cooking up lunch and dinner in a remote neck of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park!
Altogether, the experience was an extremely pleasant one, with a visit from the kookaburras as we were preparing to leave. The exotic location makes the restaurant a romantic or special occasion dining experience. It would be an interesting if somewhat unorthodox choice for overseas clients who don’t otherwise have time to perhaps explore the Australian bush and the remarkable Hawkesbury waterways. Some online reviewers have remarked the lack of a plain table water, but the water at Cottage Point is not potable and so all water is bottled.
Cottage Point is the smallest and most unspoilt suburb of Sydney, located in the Ku-ring-gai National Park at the junction of Cowan and Coal & Candle Creeks. It is the home to around 52 residences, many of which appear to be holiday lets. To get there, take McCarrs Creek Road at Terrey Hills but veer left onto Liberator General San Martin Drive to the very end. Be prepared to lose telephone and internet connection when you finally make it to Cottage Point! But enjoy the peace and solitude, and try to remember you’re (still) in one of Australia’s major cities while you’re down there enjoying the hospitality and the view.
Sydney Sea Planes should be checked for special deals on a sea plane from Rose Bay to Cottage Point Inn.
