Decided to just get out today after a couple of weeks of being housebound due to an injury, & we ended up in Woodend with hubby & discovered The Village Larder, in High St. What a find! It's really kooky & quirky & I loved all the original mid-century tables & chairs, just like Nanna had! The food is fabulous. We started with warm olives & a duck pate plate. The pate plate was gorgeous. It came with what I believe is their own house-baked sour dough "pulled" bread which is to die-for, & the surprise package for me was the pickled watermelon rind accompaniment...YUM!!! I've had pickled rind before & wasn't a fan, but this was delicious! There was definitely cumin (which I LOVE), in the pickling syrup, & clove, but I couldn't pick any of the other flavours. It also came with fresh rocket which complimented the pate beautifully, & some fresh peach which was nice to cleanse the palate. I then had the ciabatta with pork, fresh granny smith apple, & rhubarb/date relish & again with fresh wild rocket, but I don't mind that because I love the subtle pepperiness of rocket, & with such a rich dish it needed the greens to soften that richness. The pork was literally melt-in-the mouth but the dish itself was rather generous & would've been plenty big enough with just half of the ciabatta. In fact it could've fed the 2 of us easily, but it was beautiful. Hubby had this really nice spice-crusted chicken, which we found a little humorous when ti first arrived, because it looked a little, (just a little), like KFC, until you bit into it...& realized this was definitely in a class of it's own. The crust was so tasty & the chicken, of which I'm not normally a fan because it always seems dry to me, was so juicy & so tender. Nicest piece of chicken I've had in...forever. That was accompanied by, yep, you guessed it, a rocket salad, but this time with crispy witlof, fresh peach & chilli. Really yummy stuff! If you're going to Woodend or travelling through on your way to somewhere else, you seriously should stop & try The Village Larder. We also bought a ton of their produce to bing home, Ham Jam, Lamb Jam, Snag Jam, ginger infused oil, & blood plum jam, so can't wait to crank up the barbie & try the savoury jams. I don't think it will be very long before we're back there to try the rest of the menu & it's only an 87km trip...one way. What I really loved about this place is they support local producers, even the soft drinks we had were local...from Hepburn Springs if I remember correctly. Yum, yum, yum. This place is now placed very high on my recommendations list.

Approximate cost: $25

Great little cafe in Woodend. Enjoyed a super delicious brunch (pork ciabatta roll and jerusalem bagel), service was great. Would return in a heartbeat.

Approximate cost: $17

Everything a country cafe should be! Great look and feel and fantastic food based drawing inspiration from retro classic and local produce. Love it!

Approximate cost: $20

Can't go past the "Yummiest Ever Vegie Burger". It really is the best! Great menu and specials board. Retro surrounds, it's a real pleasure to eat here. Service is good. Can get busy though especially on weekends, so it pays to book ahead.