Breakfast is a relaxed affair in the restaurant, guests take a table along the windows and witness the morning unfold along the sweep of coast stretching as far as the eye can see. A two-step menu includes help-yourself artisan cereals, pastries, fresh fruit and cured meats while an a la carte menu features hot breakfast items from the kitchen: think free range eggs and local bacon, or blueberry pancakes!
After a morning filled with walks and wildlife, or simply spent relaxing, appetites are up for lunch. A three course seasonal menu is designed to be both light and satisfying, a perfectly planned ‘elegant sufficiency’. If the weather is fine, guests can enjoy an alfresco lunch on the terrace overlooking the ocean; in moodier weather, it’s more fun to watch from inside!
Dinner is served in the restaurant, as the light falls and the view turns inwards. A four course menu changes daily, combining the freshest island and regional ingredients with seasonal flavours. Dinner hits include beautifully sweet local marron and line-caught whiting plus sinful desserts such as white chocolate panna cotta with lemon myrtle macadamia crust.
In keeping with the Baillie Lodges Culinary Philosophy, a diverse selection of Kangaroo Island and South Australian wines and beers has been hand-selected to pair with each seasonally changing menu. Alternatively, guests can choose their own bottle from the convivial open bar or help themselves from the walk-in cellar.
Especially at sunset, guests gather around the Great Room’s open bar, which offers premium wines, craft beers and top shelf spirits, including Baillies 9 wild gin and the local honey liqueur. Staff are on-hand to assist with mixing a cocktail or making a suggestion, and sunset drinks are served each evening to allow guests to mingle and share the day’s discoveries.
The generous at-home feel at Southern Ocean Lodge means guests are free to peruse the selection of premium South Australian wines on offer in the walk-in cellar, and choose whichever they like to take to the table. The cellar wines are hand-selected, with many only available at the state’s cellar doors. The experience is a virtual winery tour of South Australia, all in one glorious location.
Every suite has a complimentary in-suite bar, which includes daily-replenished local treats, as well as South Australian loose leaf tea and an espresso coffee machine. Guests can relax after a day’s adventures with cheese, nougat or chocolates, as well as soft drinks, juice, wine and beer sourced from Kangaroo Island and the greater expanse of South Australia.
Executive Chef Tom Saliba heads up the Southern Ocean Lodge kitchen. Tom brings a passion for fresh seasonal produce and a drive to work with local producers to the dining experience at the lodge. A dynamic, daily approach to designing each menu – where local and regional ingredients are the stars – is essential to the Baillie Lodges Culinary Philosophy which steers the dining experience across all the lodges. Tom takes inspiration from the lodge’s wildly beautiful natural surrounds to bring the landscape to the plate in a clever interpretation of the sights, scents, tastes and emotions.
In this way, each dish invokes a memory of the destination, so guests dining in the restaurant have a lasting sensory memory of the day’s adventures at Southern Ocean Lodge. Tom is a strong believer in the sustainability side of food, from both environmental and economic perspectives and takes a nose-to-tail and root-to-shoot approach to produce. Working closely with Kangaroo Island’s small-scale farmers feeds neatly into this philosophy, where the whole food is used in line with its seasonal availability. The result is a feel-good, essential and unforgettable taste of Kangaroo Island.
Understated elegance and attention to detail coupled with sensational service and wonderful food and wine… I cannot imagine anything better. The staff were wonderful. I have never experienced better anywhere in the world and I have been lucky to travel extensively. The lodge will be my new benchmark by which any future accommodation and service will be measured.Tony, Australia January 2019
Southern Ocean Lodge is all about getting lost in the wilds without sacrificing one iota of comfort.Tatler Travel Guide December 2018
A year-round destination, Kangaroo Island has a climate as dynamic as its scenery – from season to season the island yields fresh perspectives.
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A personalised itinerary of guided adventures or 'signature experiences' is included in the tariff, allowing guests to encounter abundant wildlife in the island's ‘zoo without fences’.
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A stay with Baillie Lodges is about the connection with the landscape, its culture and wildlife, a celebration of superb regional cuisine and luxurious lodgings to sink into at the end of the day.
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