You Are What You Eat – 7 Venues for Delightful Degustation Dining

If you have ever wondered what a degustation menu is but have been too afraid to ask, we have the answer for you.

‘Degustation’ is the French word for ‘tasting’ – it is a menu where you can try lots of different dishes; some restaurants can offer up to 20 courses, but usually it is a four or five-course offering, sometimes with matched wines.

Also known as a Chef’s tasting menu, it is the ideal opportunity to test your culinary adventurousness when it comes to food and gastronomic trends.

Here are seven venues to get your ‘dego’ on:

 

Experience a fresh, intimate and unique fine-dining experience at Table by Canberra Gourmet on Scollay Street in Greenway. This limited-seating restaurant delivers an amazing celebration of great food and exquisite flavours in elegant surrounds of candle-lit tables, fresh flowers, blond wood and twinkling fairy lights, as Chef Thomas Heinrich delivers an eight-course degustation menu.

Think starters like koji-cured hiramasa kingfish, handmade miso, tomato, crème fraiche, fukuraijun and aged mirin; followed by braised pork jowl, jicama and apple slaw, golden sesame and chilli. 

 

Offering up a taste of some of Daylesford’s freshest produce combined with smooth sophistication and elegant style is Chef Hat-awarded Sault on Ballan Daylesford Road. Views are abundant and inspiring with the restaurant taking in 180-degree vistas of the surrounding lake, lavender fields and forest. 

Catering to every need, Sault will adjust the atmosphere to suit; romantic rendezvous, celebrations or a group getaway. Head Chef, Jack Powlay creates seasonal delights with produce from the onsite gardens and the results shine in four-course menus plating up choices such as duck breast, baby beetroot, mizuna, blackberry and young pine oil.

 

A beautiful bistro on the banks of the majestic Tweed River in picturesque Murwillumbah, Tweed River House on River Street is the place to dine, drink and socialise. With sweeping views of majestic Wollumbin, this magnificently restored century-old house evokes the gentler pace of the Northern Rivers, where you can dine on the terrace, or inside under the statement chandelier and elegant pressed tin ceilings.

From carefully curated menus showcasing seasonal produce, including a nine-course degustation, expect plates like confit tuna, basil, pine nuts, white anchovy and aubergine caviar to start, before slow-cooked beef, miso mash, mushrooms, bordelaise and quandong.

 

If cravings lean towards the true flavours of Italian cuisine, stop by Entrata on Glenhaven Road. This Glenhaven restaurant is all rustic charm with exposed coloured brick walls, pale green velvet bench seats and dark wood furniture blending seamlessly with glowing pendent lights, to create a moody dining experience.

Plating up fare from the roots of old Italy with a modern twist, groups can dine on the Italia A Tavola menu, a six-course menu focusing on different regions of Italy with paired wines crafting an exciting culinary journey of Italy. 

 

Passion, quality ingredients and experience are on the menu at La Belle Vie Bistro on MacGregor Terrace in Bardon. Classically refined, this smartly set venue regales in a classic French bistro ambience of crisp white linen, crystal vase lighting, dark wood fittings and floor-to-ceiling views of a breathtaking Brisbane city panorama.

From the lunch and dinner degustation menus, say merci to starters of Tasmanian salmon gravlax, mustard, dill, rocket salad and crème fraiche; moving onto pan-fried quail breasts, honey and spice sauce, butternut purée and roast cauliflower.

 

Inspired by Northern Italian roots, Oster on Bridge Road brings casual, regional osteria-style dining to Richmond. Unfussy local food and wine hosted in a warm neighbourhood eatery await, in rustic surrounds of glowing pendents, a marble bar and exposed brick walls; or take a seat at bifold windows opening streetside and people-watch in this trendy Melbourne suburb.

The Chef's tasting menu delivers traditional concepts steeped in slightly radical ideologies, taking diners a little out of their comfort zone, with offerings like scallop crudo, pickled red onions, buttermilk and red capsicum extract.

 

Just 15 minutes from Adelaide, overlooking the rolling patchwork of Piccadilly Valley, is Mount Lofty House, home to Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant. An elegant atmosphere awaits, styled with true refinement and opulence, where intimate seating is set with white linens, a dark oak bar, open fireplace and ambient lighting, creating a welcoming space where diners can expect magnificent views as an accompaniment to their culinary experience.

Combining a menu of produce locally sourced or grown onsite, expect visually stunning degustation plates like hiramasa kingfish, smoked soy dressing and pickled radish; followed by Wagyu tenderloin, bone marrow and onion jus.