Goulburn's Eateries Carve Up

Goulburn & Surrounds’ restaurants and cafes have really stepped up the mark recently by receiving special awards and some have even been mentioned in the prestigious Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011. This year’s Guide is the culmination of seven month’s work during which time the 40-strong reviewing team checked out more than 1000 restaurants, bars and eateries, uncovering the best New South Wales food and dining experiences. They elevated 15 new restaurants to one-hat status and added 31 new restaurants to a book of 950-plus reviews that has become a foodies’ bible and which is now also a smartphone application. Meridian Café in Marulan, Willow Vale Mill Guesthouse in Laggan and the Greengrocer on Clifford in Goulburn were all mentioned in the Guide for their unique dining experiences. Local restaurants were also given the opportunity to be voted ‘Goulburn’s Best Restaurant’ through a competition run by Eagle FM and Country Energy recently, with Izabella’s at the Workers taking the title. ‘The competition came down to three finalists – Rose’s Café, Infuze Restaurant & Bar and us’, explained excited Izabella’s owner, Deborah Cabelle. ‘There was an awards night held at the Astor Hotel and the three finalists were invited. We were announced the winners because we ended up with the most votes’. ‘Izabella’s offers a high standard of quality meals because we employ restaurant and hotel trained chefs – skills you rarely find in a club. We also pride ourselves on being able to cater for everyone’s individual taste for any type of function’. Izabella’s at the Workers were also finalists in the 2009 & 2010 Restaurant & Catering Awards for Southern NSW Region. Goulburn’s culinary talent doesn’t end there however, with one of Goulburn’s most renowned restaurants, the Paragon Café being named one of the 5 finalists in the Contemporary Australian Restaurant category in the 2010 Restaurant & Catering Awards for the NSW South Coast Region