Hunter Escape: Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop

What’s in a name?


The Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, situated on the grounds of the Tempus Two Winery, definitely has a distinct and whimsical name to boast about. It has a vast array of cheeses yet is so much more than a specialist cheese shop. They’re well-stocked with gourmet cooking ingredients and, apart from their cheese and deli meats display, are also in possession of a cheese room, a cured meats room, as well as a gelato bar.


Taste-testing of their cheeses is welcome and we settle on a wedge each of King Island smoked cheddar (which we later discover is available pre-packaged at our local supermarket) and the in-house Smelly Cheese Shop single brie alongside some sopressa salami and crackers for dinner. But before we leave we must, of course, sample their gelato.


Now that, my friends, is not a miniature cone sitting beneath standard scoops of ice-cream. Rather, it is a normal-sized cone being completely dwarfed by two huge/humungous/ginormous/mutant-sized scoops of gelato as large as Monsieur Poisson’s fist for the bargain price of $6.50. For the purposes of research and variety, we decide to try two flavours but never expected quite such generous scoops! Two separate groups of people walking past us said, “Look at the size of that ice-cream!” Yes, looky indeed.

Now, quantity is nothing if there isn’t equivalent quality to back it up. I’m happy to say that the coffee crunch and pistachio flavours were both exceptional. Neither possessed lurid colouring and both were delicately smooth. And, although this may sound stupid, the pistachio gelato had plenty of nutty pistachio flavour instead of that sometimes almond essence/marzipan taste. Needless to say we struggled to get through the gelato but did triumph in the end following a slow and extended battle. Following that a dinner of savoury cheeses and salami was most welcome.

Tempus Two Winery, Hall 1, 2144 Broke Rd (corner McDonalds Rd), Pokolbin NSW
Tel: (02) 4998 6713

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  10am-5pm
Sat & Sun  10am-6pm


happy eating!

Don’t forget to enter the Le Chasseur product giveaway courtesy of Kitchenware Direct!
Leave a comment at the end of the post and remember to send an email to mademoiselledelicieuse@gmail.com as well, with the subject line of “Le Chasseur” and include your full name as well as a copy of your comment in the body of the email. (Some entries so far have yet to send me an email – I need this so I can contact you to let you know you’ve won!) Entries close Friday 15 July 2011.

17 comments:

  1. Haha - love the name! I'm not sure that ice-cream is big enough though... :o haha

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  2. holy crap that ice cream is massive! <3

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  3. Ewww to smelly cheese! :p

    Mmmmm that ice cream is what dreams are made of. Seriously. Imagine if a little kid got that, they'd be over the moon hehe

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  4. Your Hunter Valley trip looks so romantic - and delicious. And a massive gelato is just the thing to round out a cheese tasting!

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  5. now that's a gelato's worth for ya money! mm king island smoked cheddar is AWESOME! yummm

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  6. Oh wow that IS one massive gelato! I think pistachio flavour is the flavour to judge a gelato place on ;) Haha and the name of the cheese place makes me imagine it to be quite smelly =D.

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  7. Wow i have not been to tempus two for a very long time but now i believe i need to return, that looks like my sort of smelly cheese shop!

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  8. I love the Smelly Cheese Shop, always managed to find some nice goodies there.

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  9. ohh i love the smelly cheese shop! i didnt want to leave the fridge room. and that is the most gigantic scoops of icecream ive ever seen!

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  10. Hey Tina, I want that gelato again too! Although maybe just one scoop this time =p

    Hey Ladybird, not sure how the name came about but it definitely has a ring to it, eh?

    Hey chocolatesuze, definitely the biggest ice-cream I've ever had served to me!

    Hey irene christiana, and there was no way of knowing it would be that huge! *faint*

    Hey Phuoc, haha, but smelly is sometimes good! Think parmesan...

    I'm not sure I'll ever come across another ice-cream cone quite like it!

    Hey Betty, be prepared to share!

    Hey Bel, it always feels like a different world when we're at the Hunter and I definitely think that adds to the romance.

    Hey Vivian, serious value!! And heheh, I have a wedge of King Island smoked cheddar in my fridge right this minute =p

    Hey angie, it's actually not smelly at all! Doesn't even smell like cheese really, but that gelato...woah!

    Hey muppy, yes, then you can sample wine and gelato at the same location =D

    Hey Dumpling Girl, but I seriously never expected to find such excellent gelato.

    Hey sugarpuffi, haha, I didn't go in. We got distracted by the gelato!

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  11. Hey Sara, I can honestly say I've never had such a big ice-cream cone in my life!

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  12. Was that cheese and salami plate a sampler or did u pay for it? YUM

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  13. Hey Bernyzz001, sorry, wasn't very clear on that - while the store welcomes customers requesting sample tastes of their cheeses, the platter pictured above was assembled ourselves for a few items we'd purchased.

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