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Big city chef, old village pub: Why Matt Moran’s bustling country charmer is worth a stop on your next road trip

Classics such as beer-battered fish and chips, chicken parmigiana and burgers share billing with a Chef’s Menu that takes things up a notch, including lamb shanks, grilled pork chop and a terrific take on deep-fried prawn toast.

Terry Durack
Terry Durack

The Rockley Pub on Budden Street commands its own corner of the village.
1 / 8The Rockley Pub on Budden Street commands its own corner of the village.Wolter Peeters
By heading for the dining room, you’re stamping yourself from outta town.
2 / 8By heading for the dining room, you’re stamping yourself from outta town.Wolter Peeters
The prawn toast is a beauty.
3 / 8The prawn toast is a beauty.Wolter Peeters
The puffy, grill-marked flatbread is perfect for sharing.
4 / 8The puffy, grill-marked flatbread is perfect for sharing.Wolter Peeters
The lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies.
5 / 8The lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies.Wolter Peeters
The scotch fillet is nicely scorched under melting puddles of garlic and herb butter.
6 / 8The scotch fillet is nicely scorched under melting puddles of garlic and herb butter.Wolter Peeters
Sticky date pudding: the perfect winter dessert.
7 / 8Sticky date pudding: the perfect winter dessert.Wolter Peeters
Chef and restaurateur Matt Moran outside the pub.
8 / 8Chef and restaurateur Matt Moran outside the pub.Louie Douvis

14/20

Contemporary$$

The Rockley Pub has commanded its own corner of this little village in the Central Tablelands of NSW since 1872, outlined against the region’s vast blue skies like a castle of old.

But what looks frozen in time is actually all a-bustle, as big-city chef Matt Moran makes a long-term commitment to the area in which he grew up. The Moran family farm, sprawling over creviced valleys and tree-covered slopes, supplies beef, lamb and pork to his restaurants Aria, Chiswick and Chophouse.

Prawn toast tops an entire slice of sourdough with prawn mousse.
Prawn toast tops an entire slice of sourdough with prawn mousse.Wolter Peeters
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In 2021 he bought the local pub, and in 2022 he reopened it, installing Stephen Manley, formerly of Aria and Chiswick, as general manager. Manley oversees a delicate time in the pub’s history as it transitions from past to future. Some smartening-up work has been done, and new chef Simon Borghesi has moved from the Argyle Inn in Taralga.

If you prefer your country pubs ungentrified, you have until next year to get to The Rockley. For now, it’s largely unchanged, with local farm managers letting off steam at the front bar, and the pool table getting a thrashing on Saturday nights. By heading for the dining room, you’re stamping yourself from outta town, as most locals still take their food in the cosy bar.

Lamb shanks in a rich red-wine sauce on garlic mash.
Lamb shanks in a rich red-wine sauce on garlic mash.Wolter Peeters

The chef has a “slowly, slowly” brief, with plenty of pub classics on the menu, under the helpful title of Pub Classics. But now the beer-battered fish and chips, chicken parmigiana and Rockley beef burger share billing with a Chef’s Menu that takes things up a notch.

There’s market fish with Jerusalem artichoke ($42), for instance, and a grilled pork chop with celeriac, apple and macadamia ($42). And a terrific take on deep-fried prawn toast ($20) that tops an entire slice of sourdough with sea-sweet prawn mousse, and sends it out with a little herb salad and a dollop of harissa aioli. It’s a beauty.

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Borghesi has a passion for cooking with fire that stems from his time working with Argentina’s legendary Francis Mallmann. I’m guessing he’s behind the idea of puffy, grill-marked flatbread ($28) to share, topped with rocket leaves and finely sliced prosciutto (from the Moran farm, cured by Pino’s Dolce Vita). It’s another substantial dish, easily matched with a beer from the bar or a chilled Grenache Mataro 2021 rosé with a refreshingly dry undertone from Kirk Pengilly Wine ($16/$79).

Me, I’m here for the lamb shanks ($40); the thought of which has kept me going over hours of dodging potholes (I took the scenic route). Lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies – the things that get you through winter.

Lamb shanks are the culinary equivalent of electric blankets, bed socks, open fires and knitted beanies – the things that get you through winter.

Second chef Makayla Booth is on the pans tonight, and sends out not one but two shanks enrobed in a rich red-wine sauce on a cushion of super-smooth garlic mash. There’s also a ladleful of broad beans from Borghesi’s vegetable patch for good measure. It’s a good dish that straddles the city/country divide.

Scotch fillet from Tathra Place ($45) is nicely scorched under melting puddles of garlic and herb butter, with a grating of Taralga horseradish. More internal insulation comes with a textbook sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream and syrupy sauce ($15).

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The textbook sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream.
The textbook sticky date pudding with vanilla ice-cream.Wolter Peeters

The closest parallel I can think of is the tiny hamlet of Jugiong in the Hilltops region of NSW, where an old pub was given a new lease of life with a clever restoration. The Sir George is now a luxury overnighter, wedding venue, bakery and beer garden, drawing folks off the highway to its door and regenerating the town, while maintaining a “public bar”.

With plans to move the front bar to the side, install a private dining room and cellar downstairs, and develop the ground floor into a dining destination, the Rockley Pub also has a very different sort of future. Here’s to its innate charm and spirit remaining on tap for another 151 years.

The low-down

The Rockley Pub

Drinks: Beers on tap and wines sourced from the Central West

Vibe: Country pub with country (and city) grub

Go-to dish: Red-wine-braised lamb shanks, $40

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Terry DurackTerry Durack is the chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and Good Food.

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