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 six of our favourite restaurants to get your ‘dego’ on:
Good old-fashioned hospitality and a contemporary menu are at the core of The Herring Room on Pittwater Road in Manly. A whitewashed corner façade opens into a rustic dining space of recycled timber, intimate table settings and leather couches, ideal for lingering over a memorable meal.
Enjoy a romantic date night over a five-course degustation which may include dishes such as pan-seared Hokkaido scallops, garlic and chilli prawns, pan-roasted fish of the day and orange and almond cake with yoghurt foam for dessert.
Expect a unique and personalised dining experience using the very best local produce when engaging Marefold Private Catering and Events on Bruny Island. Dine at some of the most beautiful places on the island on sensational Tasmanian produce, or have Marefold cater to your private home or holiday accommodation to ensure a meal or event to remember.
Private catering events in Hobart and the surrounding area are also part of the Marefold service as guests devour Chef Simon Ford’s creations, such as freshly shucked Cape Bruny oysters, cultured raspberry granita, pickled shallots and coriander flowers.
A contemporary and refined dining experience centred around a Chef’s Counter concept awaits at new restaurant on the Perth CBD block, ANY Dining on Queen Street. Creations are made, finished and presented directly to customers from a fully open galley kitchen, which is closely coupled with an intimate, comfortable and relaxed dining room comprising banquette seating.
Choose the tasting menu or dine à la carte on dishes like cured fish, spring onion, cucumber and lime, Stoneaxe Wagyu, raw Wagyu, artichoke and caviar and pumpkin, curry leaves, seaweed and wattleseed.
Savour the flavours of sumptuous Sardinian cuisine in South Yarra at Da Noi on Toorak Road. Spread over two levels, this Italian restaurant sets the mood for romance, with white linen-clothed tables and dim mood lighting complementing a cosy and intimate atmosphere. Ensuring only the freshest produce is highlighted, Da Noi's ever-changing menu incorporates a wealth of Sardinian influence, artfully crafted into innovative Italian dishes that carefully balance elements of rusticity and refinement.
Handmade pasta plates like truffle brie and ham hock tortelli are just an example of what to expect, alongside mains such as twice-cooked lamb neck, eggplant and rhubarb; finish with hazelnut ice cream, roasted pumpkin and cinnamon.
Inspired by the harmony between fine art and fine dining, Sydneysiders head to Carte restaurant on Glebe Point Road for degustation delights featuring pristine Australian ingredients. This Glebe dining destination is the brainchild of Chef Bing Liu, who creates edible art to touch the senses in luxe surroundings, setting the scene for an exciting and unique sensory experience sure to be memorable.
Delve into dishes such as WA marron, crustacean espuma, vanilla and kaffir, dry-aged free-range duck and sherry balsamic gastrique and chocolate bar, raspberry and Chambord ganache to end a memorable meal.
Visit Parliament House on the corner of George and Alice Streets in Brisbane and enjoy lunch or dinner at Strangers’ Restaurant. Expect a quintessential Queensland dining experience, featuring Modern Australian dishes created using the finest quality local ingredients, in elegant surrounds of white-clothed tables, timber arched windows and art deco-style pendent lights.
Kangaroo fillet, Davidson plum, riberry salsa, bunya nut pesto and a buckwheat cracker get the juices flowing, followed by pan-fried cobia, lemongrass, broth, shaved fennel, snow peas and samphire, enjoyed with a glass of Golden Grove Rosé Brosé.
