In a sacred dining room overlooking a quiet lake, truffle-studded honey falls over triple-cream cheese and French toast – an escarpment of ripe butterfats. Dessert is one of hundreds of luxuries at Lake House, Australia’s defining country indulgence for 40-plus years.

Its chief comfort, though, might simply be choice: four courses with three to five options each. Tiny heirloom beetroots as sweet as their golden complexion shelter under candied winter leaves. Sacchetti – little bundles of pasta filled with local mushrooms – are heady with taleggio. Blushing pork fillet hemmed by its crackling might follow, or a pithivier plump with pumpkin and raclette, exacting in its pleats.

Some pleasures can be bought: a seasonal bounty of Lake House-grown produce, or chardonnay reared on that same blessed terroir. But that warble of contentment that colours the room? That’s the birdsong of inspired hospitality; it’s priceless.

Good to know: Make a weekend of it and spend the night in the luxe accommodation.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.