Restaurant: Three Brother's Arms

Restaurant: Three Brothers Arms pub

40 Venebles Rd Macclesfield SA

About 15kms out of Strathalbyn, in the quiet little town of Macclesfield is the Three Brothers Arms Pub. Cosy and inviting, the pub was originally called the Davenport Arms Hotel. It was built in 1841 and has an interesting history.

In the back beer garden, are the remains of the Goat's Head Brewery and a well sits in the back corner of the dining room.

Once used as a wishing well, many of the old Australian

pennies of yesteryear wishes can be seen embedded in the bar.

A town and pub of this age of course always has many a story to tell, and this one of course is no exception. Most interesting , was the curious death of a young Adelaide chemist. In April 1883, an inquest was held at the pub following the sudden death of Adelaide chemist, Robert Allott. He had been holidaying with a friend, local brewer Harry Conigrave. The inquest found no reason for the young man of 20 to have died, and so it remained a mystery.

What makes the situation so strange, is Allott wasn't ill and only became ill after receiving his "regular" medication from the local doctor, which he and two other doctors testified could not have killed Allott.

Although they found that local doctor Cecil Jackson was not at fault, rumours of his past soon surfaced which I think nowadays would have been looked into much further. Amongst other medical malpractices like illegal abortions, more importantly Jackson was accused of murdering his lover in Victoria. Elizabeth Maitland Hilder was the daughter and the sole heir of one of Jackson's wealthy patients. He had been attending Mr Hilder for a long time, and during the

time, Hilder became more and more ill. Elizabeth suddenly died, and the town took action, burning an effigy of Jackson, running him out of town. Curiously, when he left, Mr Hilder's health suddenly reversed, giving more kudos to the rumour that Jackson was poisoning him. (I got a lot of information from Curiosities of South Australia 4 by Russell Smith. These are great little books that I always take with me when having a country drive through South Australian and have seen a lot of little treasures because of it!)

Accompanied by my family (including my "surrogate" Australian family), we met up on a Friday night, next to a roaring fire at the pub.

We started with the Regional plate: bread, olives, Kanmantoo bacon, Kanmantoo Metwurst, Apple Chutney, Hamlet's Choizo Sausage, Woodside Goat's Curd and 3 Bros own Dukkah. ($22.90)

Absolutely the most wonderful start after the trek to the pub. The house made Dukkah was perfect! Just the right balance of spices and nuttiness, easily one of the best Dukkahs we have ever had and anything with goat's curd makes me happy! Beautifully presented, and full of local produce, fantastic.

I have made the pilgrimage to the butcher in Kanmantoo, buying bacon, metwurst and pepperonni. I think that they deserves their own blog, but will make mention of the absolutely fantastic products they deliver with their unique smokey fresh flavour. The butcher shop is situated behind a farm house, amongst the paddocks where you can just imagine Wilbur waiting for his fate!

The pub is famous for its large collection of beer. Apparently, it has over 300 beers available, focusing mainly on English beer. I tried the Landlord Timothy Taylors Sting Pale Ale (11.50 for 500ml) which was quite nice. I am not a big beer drinker, but I really did enjoy this. Interestingly, a few Canadian beers make the list, ones I have never heard of. I love that they have sourced boutique beers from around the world.

As there was such a large group, I didn't taste all dishes, but managed to get photos of most if not all that made it to the table!

Chicken Schnitzel Parmigiana (18.50) with added bacon.

I had the Twice Cooked Pork Belly with Cauliflower Cream, Garlic Broccolini and Plum Chutney ($22.50). Not a regular feature, I chose this delight from the specials board. I love pork belly, the crispy outside and tender inside is such a nice combination. I really enjoyed this , I thought the mash and broccolini were the perfect accompaniments to a really well done dish. Two of us ordered this, and I obviously got the better cut, as the other cut was mostly fat.

The 300gm MSA "1824" Porterhouse Cooked to Order with Olive Oil Mash, Spinach, House-made Tomato Chutney and Rosemary Butter (27.90) was cooked perfectly medium rare as requested. The steak was tasty and tender, but had obviously rested too long on a cold winter evening as it was getting on the cold side.

Grilled Lamb Burger on Turkish Bread and Basalmic Onions, Beetroot Relish, Whipped Fetta Salad and Chips (19.90)

Salt and Pepper Squid with Lemongrass, Ginger, Chilli, and Garlic Aioli (17.50). The squid was great, lightly dusted but the stand-out was the ailoli... magnificent!

Chicken Schnitzel with mushroom sauce (16.50)

Traditional Lamb's Fry and Bacon with Creamy Mash and Vegetables (16.50) was raved about by both her ordered it. Comments like how they remember it as a child, fantastic excellent were all mumbled from full mouths!

I obviously liked this dessert a lot and didn't write down the name of it! It looked to me like the perfect winter dessert.

Warm Lemon and yoghurt Cake with Poached

Quince, Toasted Almonds and Cream Chantilly (10.50)

Chocolate Peanut Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream and Iranian Fairy Floss (10.50)

I had a really great night at this pub. The atmosphere was cosy, warm and fun. It really is the perfect winter pub to visit. Mel Pritchard and Shane Ortis (formally of Coolngatta Cafe at Aldinga Beach) have done a great job settling into Macclesfield.

I think Mel has chosen the menu well, non-pretentious, good pub food. If she keeps the specials rotating, the permanent menu is perfect and what is expected in a country pub.

The beer list is intriguing and will attract menu lovers of the brew I am sure.

Shane is great in the bar, but a bit of that "chefness" in him comes out a little front of house. We were never asked if we wanted a second drink, despite only 5 tables being full most times during the evening, and he always seemed rushed and short with the customers. It almost felt like HE was doing US a favour by attending to us at times. Having said that however, by the end of the evening he was relaxed and friendly and our coffees came out very quickly!