Berowra Waters Inn

With a history as checkered as a Tony Bilson bow tie, it's happy times again on Berowra Waters as this sandstone icon shimmers once more. A Driza-Bone-clad Man from Hawkesbury River ferries food pilgrims and fashionistas across to a catwalk disguised as a jetty for a mini-holiday among the gum trees. The dining room is linen crisp, service focused and the view untouched for thousands of years except for the pepperings of leisure boats and seaplanes. Chef Brian Geraghty's stint at Quay asserts itself in dishes such as sigh-making scallops with horseradish cream and curls of root vegetable, and smoked eel with celeriac risotto that's all sweetly full of grace (in spite of some superfluous apple foam). Slow-cooked beef rib with tarragon braised leek is a solid performer. A moussed-up blue cheese cigar didn't quite see eye-to-eye with its red onion sorbet counterpart, but the golden rays of an after12pm sun and surrounding bushland make wonderful friends.