I’m always one for a meal in an unusual location. So when I heard that the food at the Old Convent in Orange was good, it didn’t take much to convince me we had to go. Initially told that it was a weekend cafe, we found out the hard way (i.e. visiting it) that it is actually a Sunday only cafe. Open Sunday only? It’s an unusual strategy but we ring ahead to check whether they are open and they are indeed and we ask if we need to make a reservation which they recommend.
Nestled in the hills of Orange in the area of Borenore we take the short drive there and we park in the driveway. We are the only car there at this time so we walk through the sandstone buildings and peer into a doorway into what looks like a private dining room. Facing it there’s what looks more like to be the restaurant area. We’re greeted warmly and as we are the only guests thus far, we can choose where we’d like to sit either inside or outside, As it’s such a beautiful day choose the sun dappled side area outside which has a cool breeze running through it.
There’s no menu to read here. The waitress simply reads off what is available today which happens to be three dishes, a panzanella salad with rack of lamb, a salmon and potato pie and a pea soup. As we both love rack of lamb we choose this and I am partial to fish pie too (and if I could have fit it in we would have ordered the pea soup too!). As it was we had to cancel our lunch at another restaurant as we couldn’t fit in two courses (many places have a two course minimum).
Mr NQN takes a walk around the grounds to take some pictures while I flick through magazines. We start to hear the sizzle of food and some delicious aromas waft out. In the meanwhile a table for four arrives and sits outside. After about 25 minutes our food arrives. It’s impressive looking certainly and after the obligatory photo taking we dig in.
Rack of Lamb with panzanella salad $25
The rack of lamb is divine. It’s moist and succulently juicy and comes with a tangy toasted bread, roast tomato, cucumber, black olive, baby caper and red onion salad. And you’d better believe I picked it up and gnawed on the bone extracting as much meat as possible.
Salmon and potato pie $25
The salmon and potato pie is topped with discs of fork-tender potato and large chunks of salmon and a creamy leek sauce. It’s seasoned liberally with dill which I always like and is accompanied with a balsamic and olive oil dressed rocket and avocado salad where the serve of avocado is very generous.
I walk past the cake display where I see an impressive looking pistachio topped cake. The waitress asks me “Are you sure you don’t want any dessert?” and then adds for good measure “It will make a good photo”. I’m not sure if she is taking the mickey or not (nor do I particularly care) so I order a slice of the pistachio citrus cake.
Pistachio citrus cake with citrus compote and yogurt $10
It arrives with a syrupy citrus compote and a generous serve of natural yogurt and two sets of cutlery. I stick my fork in and the syrup has soaked in giving it a super moist quality. The toffeed pistachio topping is nice but not earth shatteringly crunchy as I thought it might be. Mr NQN happily polishes every last crumb off and we head off back to the “Big Smoke” with contented tummies.
So tell me Dear Reader, when you see a menu, is there a dish you always have to order if you see it?
The Old Convent
Convent Road, Borenore, Orange, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 6365 2420
Open: Sunday only 11am-5pm
Cash Only
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54 Comments | Add your own
Sounds like a nice weekend away! Question is, was it worth the three and a half hour drive from Sydney?
This eatery looks so intriguing, I wish I were in Australia so that I could visit. The dish that I always like to order is potatoes, especially mashed potatoes. But for dessert, anything goes. The dessert display looks amazing in your photo!
What a lovely looking place! The salmon and potato pie looks amazing. When I see something with mushrooms and truffle oil, I have to have it. And, cheesecake, I always order that too.
That salmon pie looks like my cup of tea. There is NO WAY I would not have been able to NOT order that!
A must order dish? Probably for me, Marinara Pizza.
My kryptonite is confit of duck!
It certainly looks like a place I’d love to visit. Ha ha about the dessert ‘making a good photo’ though.
i always order pad thai at a thai restaurant, but wouldn’t get it other places. Don’t really have a must eat food. Though it used to be Tira Misu
I will always order a seafood bisque as it was the first dish that made me love food. I also can be counted on to order creme brulée whenever it’s available. I’ll take note of the Old Convent, it looks great.
For someone who’s only started eating lamb late last year, I’m finding myself munching on it everytime I see it in the menu!
I never go past gnocchi on a menu!
Good wholesome food but a little too far to venture to try. Nowadays, we really are spoilt for choice, there are so many great eateries!
When I go to a restaurant, I’m always on the lookout for any ‘new’ food or dish or one that I can’t replicate at home and that will be the dish I order.
This restaurant looks wonderful… I loved the photos and the ambiance of the place. What a great reporting job, Lorraine!
Oh my gosh. Yes.
I am a complete slave to the following:
Scallops.
Pork Belly.
Chocolate.
Anything else on the menu needs to be a superstar to even get a look in!!
What a great place! The food looks scrumptious and that blue sky is making me eager for summer…
Cheers,
Rosa
Eating at unusual places would be fun. I cant say I have ever tried it though. The lamb looks delicious. Lamb is great when it is cooked right.
Salmon pie with creamy leek sauce. That sounds like my kind of dish. The mister will definitely go for the rack of lamb.
That salmon pie looks delicious! Fancy a restaurant only being open on a Sunday?
Lorraine you are making a trip to Orange seem totally irresistible! I’ll have to go soon. For me if there are well cooked lamb shanks and a scallop dish I have to flip a coin. Definite must haves. For my Dad it’s a spaghetti Marinara.
Although I am pretty content with many foods
Wow…thats a fantastic place:)
I never knew there was a place called Orange in Sydney! HOW CUTE! It’s definitely a sunday-meal worthy place! The panzenella looks so good. And that pistachio cake! You know I’ve got a weakness for anything sweet Lorraine!
If there’s something on a menu I usually HAVE to get..is something with grilled prawns. or crispy anything. Like the crispy pork hock at Longrain!
I LOVE your blog! Reading it has become my daily essential.
There is no obligatory main dish that I lean towards- I love trying new things. For desserts, however, I have a relentless partiality for all things chocolate!
that rack of lamb does look amazingly good! nice find!
I’m starting to think the dish I always have to order is soufflé, regardless of whether it’s sweet or savoury!
I love eating a places that have a story behind them or a lot of character – It makes the experience so much better than your run of the mill cafe or restaurant.
When I saw that salad with what looks like a whole avocado you had me jealous
That pistachio cake also looks delicious, and something I should probably make for my pistachio loving boyfriend in the future.
What a lovely spot.
The food sounds amazing – s syrup-soaked cake is my favorite. 
Wow that salmon pie looks fab. Or maybe it’s just your great picture taking, ha!
That room you first spotted looks like it is not complete without a group of ladies sitting at the table knitting or croqueting
The lamb and salad looks like a delightful lunch, and I really like how they presented the cake too.
Must order items? Anything with goat’s cheese
they all look good…I cannot resist lamb…ill have lamb anytime….altho the salmon potatoe pie looks good too …hmmm maybe both!
That pie looks beautiful and I was sold on the pistachio and citrus cake.
Three things I have to order whenever I see them: eggs Benedict, unagi-don, and macarons!
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Orange. We usually just do the winery thing, but I think a visit to the Old Convent is a must on our next trip to visit them!
A must for me… well we eat hardly any meat at home, so I am a sucker for Lamb or Steak!
Sticky date pudding. Mmmmmmm….
oh I wouldn’t have expected less from you L- to get as much meat from the bone LOL
I’d love to see what it looked like in the center of the pie…although at the same time, happy to let my imagination run wild.
well
i would pray now not to gain too much weight !! bravo for this report !! and I would have done the same with the cake !! chers from Paris Pierre
and what do I hear?!! suller is officially finished in Australia?!! Ohh too bad revenge has started its countdown !! ahahaha !! Pierre
Wow! That place is really beautiful! And I love the way the restaurant inside looks light and airy. The food looks fabulous! Fresh and delicious and that Pistachio/Citrus cake is so luscious I’d pass up chocolate anything to try it! Great choice.
Funny thing is, I usually order things I know and love and JP always orders something he’s never had before, the more unusual the better. Great pair, huh?
NQN, i’ve been following your site religiously for the past two years – you always bring a smile to face! I’d love to send you a little something from London – would you mind emailing me your postal address? (please also let me know if you have any favourite things that you can’t get there and i’ll happily hunt them down for you).
Miss B xx
http://agirlastyle.wordpress.com/
P.S. I always have to order anything with goats cheese, and while not strictly a dish, I am incapable of resisting proper jewel-coloured Parisian macarons.
Miss B xx
http://agirlastyle.wordpress.com/
Really a fascinating place for a restaurant! Although the hours are strange. Wonder how many people they end up serving in one day? It’s quite charming and I love the vine covered trellis outside.
The dishes look divine too. Especially the salmon and potato pie! The dessert looked interesting as well. All in all, definitely worth the time and effort!
I always have favorites at different restaurants I frequent. Am willing to try just about anything though.
What a lovely place to dine!!
all of the food looks superb, especially the rack of lamb,…mmmmmmmm!
The pistachio cake dessert looks so tempting too!
i’m curious, what happens on the other 6 days of the week? how bizarre that the place is only open on a sunday?! food does look good though
what a fun little place! i don’t think i could stop with just one slice of that crazy-moist, nut-ridden cake. what a treat!
I love the charm and character of places like this. The food looks delicious and I love it’s presented. I would have gone for that cake too!
Wow, that salmon pie looks fab and I could dig right into the avocado and arugula salad… as for menu must-haves…I find it virtually impossible to pass up a braised lamb shank, particularly if it is on an Indian or Middle Eastern menu. Sweet Potato fries are equally tempting
I love this idea! It’s putting good use to an old building, very green.
Natural oysters. And almost always, mussels. I know this sounds boring but living in Canberra, oysters aren’t always easy to come by, so whenever I do fine dining with the family I’m always hoping for plump lovely natural oysters!
Also, I love the look of those pistachios, even if orange-flavoured cakes aren’t much my thing!
New reader of NQN and it is a lovely way to get the day started….inspiring my dinner thoughts already!
Must have would have to be creme brulee…mmmmm By the way tried the caramel popcorn on the weekend – unbelievable – thanks
For me it’s zucchini flowers – doesn’t matter how they’re done, they are must haves.
What a lovely place.
My must order is lemon souffle, only seen it a couple of times but it has to be ordered.
Got to have pork belly if its on the menu. YUM.
Oh yum that cake looks divine! And the lamb too.
As for a dish I always order – well I usually can’t go past duck on a French menu.
Other times it’s usually steak only because I don’t eat much of it at home.
My must have is crab pasta (I’ve been searching for a nice recipe to replicate) and mushroom risotto. Wish I was having either for lunch instead of my boring cheese sandwhich.
My husband is the predictable one. Scallops always scallops. Me, my dream dish is whole dover sole, but that is a hard find. Lamb chops are a second and if they are with bread salad, I’ll hover over it gladly. My husband refuses to pick up bones, so I get mine and his.
Thanks for the comments on our place. The cafe is open on Sunday but we open for groups of 16 or more at anytime. We use the old classroom off the cafe for groups of up to 16 and the old church for groups up to 70.
If you could put our website and email details on your review it would be great.
I am lucky enough to have EATEN Josie’s pistachio cake! I don’t even like cake much as a general rule – but this one I couldn’t get enough of.
Oh – and the answer to question about whether a Sunday lunch at the Old Convent is worth the long drive from Sydney is a resounding YES!
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