E.X.P Modern Fun, Fine Dining
EXP is cool, its experimental, its utterly focused on its location, the native flavours of the surrounding valley and your dining experience
E.X.P is a 2 hat restarant offering experimental twists on modern, Australian in the heart of the Pokolgin village in the Hunter Valley, 2 hours north of Sydney.
We went to E.X.P for the first time when it was at the Oakvale Winery Cellar door. I remember sitting in the old restaurant for the first time, being utterly transfixed by the food, the textures, the flavors. The experience simply wasn’t what I expected outside of a major metropolitan center.
E.X.P at Oakvale Cellar door
The restaurant moved to the Pokolbin village in 2020 where the Chef/Owner Frank Fawkner has very carefully created an E.X.Perience that includes not only his superb food, a decor in modern rustic, superb service, a chefs bar at which you can sit and look directly into the kitchen and a wine E.X.Perience curated by Harrison Plant.
Surrounding you are are house and locally made jars of sauces, vinegars and relishes. The furniture, the plates and the cutlery are unique, locally made and crafted by local artizans. The feeling as you enter is friendly, welcoming and clearly with a focus on you, as the customer.
The entrance to E.X.P was originally a clothing shop and the exterior really doesnt present the E.X.Perience you are about to be offered. As you enter, the restaurant is dominated by the long black stone bar fronted by tall, locally made leather seats for those customers lucky enough to get a seat at the bar. The other dominating feature is the completely open kitchen. Guests sitting at the bar are literally 18 inches from Frank and the team as they carefully prepare each dish.
The Kitchen Crew
Frank started cooking in a local Hunter Valley Cafe at the age of 15. He was part of the team that opened the Crowne Plaza hotel and he moved to London to work with Tom Aikens. After 3 years he returned to join Troy Rhoades-Brown at Muse in Pokolbin.
Frank, hard at work making my food…
E.X.P is located alongside Franks “Side hustle” the fantastic and sadly lamented, no longer in operation, cafe and bakery, Fawk Foods.
Food is the heart of EXP. and we create dishes that are our EXP.ression of Australian cuisine. We offer a tasting menu that is centralized on flavor and we aim to get shine a light on premium produce and wines from the Hunter region and around Australia. Guests are guided through the experience by our team chefs, sommelier and waiters.
The restaurant only offers a degustation / tasting menu which is constantly being changed and tweaked as new ingredients become available in the valley. The menu can almost be used as a food map of the Hunter Valley. Frank focuses on locally grown and locally made ingredients. Frank personally has a small farm, and he grows a lot of the produce used in the restaurant, particularly the rarer and hard to get items.
To be clear, despite the appearance of a rustic country chic, nothing is out of place in E.X.P, every item, every ingredient is very carefully considered and placed with an attention to detail that is sublime. The food is modern, fun, light and incredibly tasty. Flavours and textures of traditional dishes are experimented with in a way that builds layer on layer of flavour, into something that is new and unexpected, yet familiar.
The duck ham is a great example of this. The dish is described as Duck Ham, your brain tells you that you are looking at a perfectly formed, miniature ham sandwhich. What you are about to snafflle is a Red Gate Farm duck served on sourdough crumpet with red wine and grape chutney. This is not your grandma’s ham sandwich but will leave you craving more as much as your Grandmas did.
The snacks offering at the start of the E.X.Perience
Each meal will come with a bread dish. The bread is made fresh daily, the recipe changes regularly and the butter is house made. I have found myself filling up just on the bread as I cant stop eating it!
House made Brioche, house made native pepper berry butter
Each guest is greeted and sat by the superb front of house team, lead by Harrison Plant. The experience of being welcomed into the E.X.P family is genuine, warm and honest.
The meeting of food and wine in this restaurant elevates the great, to the truly sublime. Each wine pairing with each dish, complements, elevates and sometimes transforms the food. This is a place where food and wine are both stars and are truly brought together as a conversation.
Newcastle Prawns
The wine list is entirely Australian, mostly Hunter Valley local and is as meticulously crafted as the food. The list is managed and presented by Harrison Plant, who is one of the best natural palates I have ever met in my life.
Be prepared to have your palate expanded and introduced to rare, hard to find and sometimes, unique wines. Harrisons introduction and explanation of particular wines and the matching of the wine to a dish, have inspired me to jump to my phone and immediately order it.We have dined at world rated restaurants that don’t understand this conversation in the way that E.X.P do.
Petit Four selection paired with a sublime Botrytis Semillon
When you dine at E.X.P, ensure you come with an appetite, order the matched wines, always order the “extra offerings” and there are always extra offerings!. Keep space to sample at least one of Franks Home Made Ice-creams. The Davidson Plum coated in white chocolate and nuts is a particular favorite.
Home made icecreams, always leave some room to fit this in!
So, there are no romantic vineyard views, instead EXP is entirely about the internal experience. IMHO the best seats in the restaurant are at the bar, which is an expanse of dark granite enabling you to gaze directly into the kitchen and watch the team as they prepare your dining E.X.Perience. Personaly this is my go to experience. The kitchen is small and its an amazing experience to watch the dance of a small team in a small space. The kitchen team are at work meticulously assembling the plates, the front of house space spin past clearing the bar diners plates and bringing you your next glass of wine. You can smell the food as its prepared, my favorite to experience is the ingredients being smoked in the hibatchi.
My favorite part of the restaurant, the Sommeliers section
Summary
E.X.P is a superb, perfectly formed little gem. This is a polished yet rustic experience, where food and wine are brought together in the hands of an extremely talented and highly experienced front and back of house team.
This is a place that you can start a conversation with the people next to you and leave having met new friends, which to me is the core experience of a great meal shared.
I would not bring children here unless they are old enough to appreciate the experience.
The team at E.X.P deliver an experimental, passionate, polished experience that is second to nothing in Australia.
Scoring 20/20
We use the Sydney Morning Herald Scoring system for consistancy.
The score is based on multiple visits to the restaurant for many years.
10/10 points for food
Deliciousness, technique, complexity, quality of produce, balance, presentation, consistency, style, innovation, integrity.
5/5 points for hospitality
Attitude, friendliness, efficiency, pacing, attentiveness, professional skills, knowledge, COVID safety.
3/3 points for experience and setting
The "buzz" or "vibe", consistency, view, table spacing, noise levels, something extra (such as a kitchen garden or counter dining).
2/2 points for value
Is it worth it? I have chosen to return many times as one of my “go to” restaurants since 2015. I constantly recommend it to friends and colleagues and now to you.
