The Best Long Lunches in the Clare Valley
Ten tables worth building an afternoon around, from vineyard restaurants to heritage pubs.
If the Clare Valley has a signature event, it is not a festival — it is the long lunch: a table booked at noon and surrendered sometime after four, with local riesling doing the pacing. The valley's options run from polished vineyard dining to historic pubs that have fed travellers since the copper era. Here are ten tables worth building a whole afternoon around, north to south across the valley's villages.
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1
ClareSeed Winehouse & Kitchen
Clare's contemporary benchmark — sharp cooking and a deep local wine list in town.
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2
MintaroReilly's Restaurant
Mintaro's 1856 cottage restaurant, a long-lunch institution in the slate village.
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3
WatervaleWatervale Hotel
A pub elevated by its own organic farm — paddock-to-plate without the cliché.
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4
PenworthamSkillogalee Wines
Lunch on a cottage verandah folded into the vines of the Skilly Hills.
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5
AuburnTerroir Auburn
Regional produce treated seriously in Auburn's stone-cottage dining room.
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6
MintaroMagpie & Stump Hotel
Pub classics and local wine in an 1850 bullocky's inn with a generous beer garden.
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7
SevenhillSevenhill Hotel
The valley's crossroads local, equally right for a schnitzel or a slow afternoon.
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8
PenworthamBush DeVine Cafe
Bush-food-inflected plates with one of the valley's great vineyard views.
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9
AuburnRising Sun Hotel Auburn
Coaching-inn comfort and country hospitality at the valley's southern gate.
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10Clare
Mr Mick Cellar Door
Shared plates and easy wines in Tim Adams' relaxed Clare tasting room.
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Book ahead for weekends — the best tables in the valley are small, and Adelaide knows about them.
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