Margaret River? You’ve got to be kidding. May as well be Albania.

As your eyes adjust to the brown brick gloom of the cavernous dining room,surprise number two emerges,full of flashing lights,stainless pipes and digital readouts like a flux capacitor on Doc Brown’s dashboard.

It is in fact an Enomatic wine dispenser machine,not one,but six of them. Each machine dispenses eight bottles meaning Tall Timbers officially has WA’s biggest wine offering under argon. Add to that,its extensive wine list has every wine – yes,every wine – sold by the glass. We reckon each Enomatic costs about $20,000,so that’s $120,000 right there. Serious investment.

The guy bringing all this innovation is Ed Fallens – something of a local identity we discovered – who also owns a brewery over the road,a busy bottle shop and a big,old country pub. Tall Timbers is a separate venue.

Anything standout about the food? Well … you decide. Beef burger,steak sandwich,fish and chips,garlic prawns,chicken parmi. Rump steak,sirloin steak,pork chop and three kinds of fries.

See what I mean? Pretty much standard fare. But then,you’d be deeply suspicious if the menu included anything with an espuma of yak placenta. It’s all in the cooking and the cooking is OK.

Garlic prawns were a gamble,as they always are at these places,but these were sweet and moist and well tender. The creamy garlic sauce was perfectly calibrated,just enough garlic to call it garlic prawns but not enough to bludgeon you on the head with weapons-grade allium heat. Tasty sauce too. I think we detected a hint of Pernod in it.

It was garnished with a scatter of sliced spring onion and we just loved the upturned dariole mould of white steamed rice. Maybe that was Doc Brown’s time machine at the back of the room and we’d been transported back to the era of Darryl Braithwaite and Gough Whitlam. Nice dish.

We shared a plate of what they call “Three Ryans Lamb ribs”. Nope,no idea. Should have asked. But the ribs were spot on. We’ve had some bad versions of this magnificent ovine invention created at Bread In Common and copied ad infinitum by lesser chefs. The secret is a double-cook. A good low and slow braise to render fat,inject flavour and make the meat tender,followed by a blast of charry heat on the grill. Bingo. Well done. My dining mates are serious eaters with good food knowledge and they too proclaimed these fatty,juicy ribs a winner.

An angus beef burger looked reassuringly simple on the menu,as in,not loaded up with stuff you don’t want or don’t need. I asked if the chef could cook the patty rare. There was a minute of hesitation,followed by “I dunno,” followed by,“I’ll check,” followed by a trip to the kitchen and a “should be OK.”

In the United States,specifying the doneness of your burger patty is common and expected.

In Australia,it causes consternation and,in worse case scenarios,a “Yeah,nah,chef doesn’t do it like that” response.

Tall Timbers’ chef obviously got the memo. The patty was pink and dripping inside with a good char on the outside and juices spilling down one’s palms and heading south toward the elbows. It was,in a word,magnificent. And simple. Garnishes were kept to a minimum and were super tasty,especially a smoked tomato relish. The bun was OK. It came with chips.

A vegetarian special was curiously ordered by my trencherman mate who loves steaks,beef ribs,tomahawks,barbecued everything and thinks chicken is a vegetable.

This dish is not chef’s happy place. Making gnocchi and saucing it with beetroot puree,goat cheese,pistachios and field mushrooms ensured it was a dish of muddy flavours,dodgy textures and confused ingredients. Ew.

The true innovation at Tall Timbers is the wine flight taster,$15 for 10 wines. You’re encouraged to cruise the Enomatic,insert your card and choose the wine you want to taste. You can do this 10 times. Each pour is just 25ml. It’s a tiny mouthful,but if you’re driving,it’s a great way to have a drink and still drive.

Very impressive,and for those local wine producers who are showcased,it’s a slick way of getting punters to try your wines without having to host them at your cellar door. Very impressive.

If you’re down Manji way,you should call in to Tall Timbers. Food is (mostly) good and the wine service is next level.