Masons of Bendigo, Take Two

A little while ago, my friend Sandra and I went on a day trip to Bendigo by train.  It was a cold, wet day, but it didn't matter much as we spent it browsing through the many antique stores in Bendigo.

We stopped for lunch at the wonderful Masons of Bendigo - my second visit and Sandra's first.

 We started off with a glass of pinot noir and a Tooberac pale ale respectively:

Masons is all about sharing dishes, so Sandra and I, on our waitress's recomendation, ordered five plates to share plus dessert.

 We started off with the pork belly skewers with spiced quince, Szechuan and lime ($10):

These were followed by the duck san choi bau spring rolls with wombok, Masons oyster sauce and lime ($9.50):

Our next pick with the tempura fried Moreton Bay bug tails with  ponzu mayonnaise, spiced cucumber and lime ($13.50):

For some veges, we ordered the steamed organic broccoli with smoked miso butter and  fried shallots  ($9.50):

Our final dish was my favourite of all, selected by Sandra - the crispy fried soft shell mud crab salad with cucumber, beanshoot & avocado salad and nam prik mayo  ($13.50):

We then moved on to the most important part - dessert!  Sandra orderd the pick of the two - a burnt butterscotch icecream  with roasted strawberries and sesame crisp ($8.50):

I ordered the deep fried black sesame seed icecream with coconut and five spiced pears ($8.50):

This is a peek inside the crispy outside of the ball:

It was quite tasty, and I was especially fond of the pears, but I liked Sandra's dessert better.

This time, we had the opportunity to check out the beautiful windows upstairs at Masons, it being housed in an old glass shop:

As always, it was a pleasure to eat at Masons, and it is a must if you are in Bendigo.

Masons of Bendigo

25 Queen Street
Bendigo VIC 3550

Ph: (03) 5443 3877