During our last visit to Melbourne, we were fortunate to dine at Attica (currently ranked 20th in San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list) after booking 3 months in advance. It’s been a bucket list restaurant and I was really excited to finally try it. The menu is $295 per person for a 17 course set menu degustation.
We had a 6pm booking and when we got there, the doors were still shut as they hadn’t actually opened yet. After a few minutes wait, we were inside. It was dark and my heart kind of plummeted, purely because darkness meant I wouldn’t be able to get good photos of the food (#foodbloggerlife). Luckily, we were seated underneath a light, so all was well again. Black translucent curtains are drawn over the windows, the plush carpets are dark and general decor was dark and moody except for the white table cloths on every table. Hot hand towels were provided to freshen up.
We were asked if we wanted still or sparkling water, and then presented with the wine list. I asked whether they made mocktails (yes they do), and our sommelier enquired into my tastes – sweet, sour, berries, or something sparkling? I asked for something sparkling and he presented me with two options – one using finger lime, and another using the quandong fruit. I chose the mocktail with finger lime, topped up with lemonade and/or carbonated water. It was lovely and refreshing. Mr FPJ ordered a 750ml bottle of Molly Rose Matilde saison beer ($28). The beer was poured into a glass, and then kept behind the counter on ice so that it wouldn’t go warm.
We were approached about to confirm our dietary requirements, which I advised was no coriander for Mr FPJ via email before the dinner. One of the waiters mentioned none of the dishes had coriander in them, except for one that used coriander seeds which was fine. He asked if there was anything else of concern, and Mr FPJ mentioned his dislike of cucumbers. Our waiter assured us there was no cucumber in any of the dishes. We were also advised that a menu of what we would have on the night would be provided to us at the end of our meal.
Course 1 – Ngerdi tomatoes – These tomatoes were grown in Ripponlea (the suburb which Attica resides) and were covered in green ants and drizzled with an ant gin sauce. It was a bit of an initial shock and set the scene for an unorthodox dinner. The tomatoes were plump and juicy, and the ants a little crunchy. I couldn’t taste much gin in the sauce, just a bit of acidity.
Course 2 – Pearl meat with quandong – I don’t think I’ve ever had pearl meat before (a muscle found in pearl oysters) so this was a first for me. It had the texture and taste of abalone or scallop. The quandong is a native desert peach and added some sweetness. This had been smoked in paperbark and was fresh and tender.
Course 3 – Happy Little Vegemite – A tin box was placed on our table filled with two small steamed Vegemite scrolls. We were told they were just like regular scrolls but a steamed bun version. These was one of our favourite courses of the night! The steamed bun worked well as it was super light and fluffy, and still hot from the oven with a generous lathering of butter and vegemite. Amazing. I actually did ask if they would consider doing this as a take-away option! It hands down beats Bakers Delight.
Course 4 – Pumpkin Salada – This consisted of 5 layers of filo pastry sandwiched between pumpkin miso cream. Very crispy, delicate and sweet.
Course 5 – An imperfect history of Ripponlea – There was a story behind the three mini tarts that arrived in a small bowl. The black tart was filled with Earl Grey tea cream and topped with blood sausage to represent the English influence in Ripponlea. The tart filled with corn cream, chicken floss, dill and topped with chicken soup jelly represented the large Jewish community. The red tart with quandong, native peppers and lime represented the Aboriginal heritage. What a lovely way to represent people. The Jewish tart was my favourite – a delicious chicken soup tart!
Course 6 – Oysters cooked the traditional way – Our two natural oysters were served on a large charcoal box, drizzled in lemon juice with a sprinkling of finger lime on top.
Course 7 – Chewy carrots – These carrots from Ripponlea had been dehydrated for 12 hours over native pepperberry leaves so that it became slightly limp and chewy. It came served with a tarragon and smoked egg dip. I loved the natural sweetness and slight caramelisation of the carrots. But at the same time, I was thinking – this one course is just half a carrot?
Course 8 – Emu liver brioche – Another first for me was emu liver. Small pieces of brioche had been topped with the deliciously smooth and addictive emu liver parfait, and brushed with Davison plum jam for contrast. This little morsel was another favourite of the night – a perfect balance of flavours. Buttery and delicious.
Course 9 – Saltwater crocodile ribs – We were told this was going to be quite messy as we had to use the knife to cut the ribs in half, then use our hands to remove any ribs and cartilage. Our waiter brought over fresh hand towels for our use. It’s hard to describe what crocodile tastes like. It wasn’t fishy but had the texture of fish. It also tasted a little like chicken but much lighter and without the solidity. It was succulent and soft but it was filled with numerous bones and cartilage. I had to take caution in eating it so as to avoid poking the inside of my mouth. The ribs had been covered in a sweet honey pepper sauce which was lovely. A waitress was telling us that it was hard to classify crocodile – is it seafood? is it white meat? If people have a fish allergy, can they eat crocodile? Attica did much research into it before placing it on the menu.
Course 10 – Hand picked crab and wattle bread – This came served with a crab shell on the plate (to make an impact), and some butter on the side. We were told to butter the inside of the flatbread, stuff it with the crab meat, and eat it like a sandwich.
The crab meat was sitting on macadamia nut puree and I believe some natural yoghurt as it had a slightly sour taste. I followed our waiter’s instruction and stuffed the flatbread ‘pocket’ with some butter and crab. No complaints but I wished there was more of it.
Course 11 – Kangaroo with truganini – The salted red kangaroo tartar was hidden underneath native sugar leaves from Tasmania and drizzled with cultured cream. The kangaroo was delicate and not overpowering, contrasting well with the sharp flavour of the leaves and tart finger lime on top. I liked how natural the dish seemed. The dish was named after a woman considered to be the last full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian. I was the first to point out the cucumber in the dish. Considering one of the waiters had told us there would be no cucumber in any of the dishes, this was a bit of a let down in such a prestigious restaurant. Luckily it wasn’t an allergy, just a dislike.
Course 12 – Beach potato – This potato had been cooked half in sea kelp, and half in sand to keep the moisture in. It came covered in kelp butter emulsion, cream and cheese. It was very tasty – almost like potato with sour cream and cheese. But I felt it was more of a side dish than a main course.
At this stage, we decided to order more drinks. After finding a non-alcoholic beverage list, I chose another mocktail – the rainforest cherry and vanilla ($10).
Sadly, it was far too sweet, almost like cordial and I ended up watering it down with my glass of water, and then leaving it altogether. Mr FPJ chose the tomato and verjus from the non-alcoholic menu, and added in vodka to turn it into a Bloody Mary. The tomatoes in the drink tasted very green and raw, and there wasn’t much vodka in the drink. It was disappointing that we both didn’t enjoy our second set of drinks.
Course 13 – Marron with desert lime and XO – Our individual marrons arrived still in their shell. The marron had been cooked to perfection and slid out of the shell very easily.
The natural sweetness of the marron combined perfectly with the sharpness of the lime and house made XO sauce. It was a rather simple dish with the marron able to stand on its own. This was indulgent and I savoured every juicy bite. MR FPJ’s complaint was that there was still good marron meat in the claws but we weren’t given a utensil to crack it open. I guess we weren’t meant to? But he used his teeth.
Course 14 – Lamb Souva – One of the waiters came around and said ‘Let’s go for a walk’. We were led through the kitchen out the back, to a small courtyard containing a micro herb garden, tall tables and stools, and an outdoor BBQ. Cooking over hot coals was a lamb for our next course – the lamb souvlaki.
I felt sorry for the girl standing outside (it was 40 degrees that day) in between the lamb spit and more hot coals on the other side. We were the only ones outside, so the staff must stagger all the groups of diners.
Course 15 – Finger lime and Sugarbag honey – The whole finger lime had been slow steamed for about 5 hours, and came covered in marmalade, rare honey from the sugarbag stingless bee (they only produce about 1 litre of honey a year per hive) and cream.
The finger lime split open after I cut through it, spilling out the small caviar like balls of citrus. I’m more of a sweet tooth, and don’t really like/appreciate the more sour desserts. This was like biting into a lemon. It was SOUR in capitals. My least favourite dish of the night, but I made myself finish it. The honey at least was sweet and I tried to lick most of it to get rid of the sourness.
Course 16 – Black ant lamington – A large square lamington was placed in the middle of the table, along with two small plates for each of us which had been smeared with a bright red rainforest raspberry jam (from Queensland). Our waiter proceeded to cut the lamington in half revealing what was inside – half pepperleaf and milk sorbet, and half Daintree chocolate sorbet. There was a tiny sliver of lamington sponge around the ice cream to give it a more traditional taste, but in my opinion there wasn’t enough of it. Plus it had been completely coated with black ants. I actually didn’t mind the lamington (though it was mainly ice cream and I did secretly wish for a bit more chocolatey lamington sponge). The ants didn’t have much of a taste, they simply added some crunch and protein. They did get stuck in our teeth afterwards, and we were busy trying the dislodging-of-food-particles-in-between-teeth-via-tongue trick.
Surprise course – we were celebrating my birthday and I was surprised with a small chocolate cake with strawberry milkshake sorbet topped with milk chocolate sauce. The cake was almost like a souffle – soft, fluffy like a cloud, and still warm from the oven. The chocolate sauce was divine and we quickly mopped it all up. I didn’t think we would finish it as it was a sizeable cake, but it was gone in less than a minute.
Course 17 – Bunya Bunya – The last course of the night were two small spheres in the skin of bunya nuts and filled with the bunya nut ice cream, sitting on top of real bunya nuts. It was a nice small final piece to finish off our meals. It was an extremely small final course but we honestly could not fit in any more.
In contrast to the plush velvet and dark tones of what would be a formal dining situation, there’s no actual dress code at Attica, so we were dining amongst those in shorts and a t-shirt. Service was attentive (with a minor slip up of the cucumber in one of the dishes) while being unobtrusive. I found it was also quite laid back and it was nice to chat to the wait staff about the dishes and our visit to Melbourne. There were several different waiters/waitresses at our table, with no dedicated person, so it felt a bit disjointed. The little walk to the courtyard at the back was a nice way to break up the dinner, and seemed like another effort to casualise the experience.
The food focuses heavily on Australian native plants, berries and meat, which is great for those wanting that experience, especially those from overseas. Vegemite, quandong, wattleseed, Davidson plum, sugarbag honey, bunya nut, finger lime, lamington, emu. Everything seemed to be straight from the garden, paddock to plate and local. The entire dinner experience took 4 hours.
Being one of the World’s Best restaurants, I had high expectations for Attica. I can certainly appreciate the technique, use of flora and fauna and presentation. However, it just wasn’t that tasty on the palate. You know that type of feeling where you drool over the food, and it tastes as good as it looks and smells? Well I didn’t get enough of that from Attica. It is fabulous for those not from Australia to be able to experience a fine dining version of Aussie tucker, but in this instance the meals didn’t seem spectacular enough to warrant the cost.
If you would like to try Attica, note that bookings open at 9am on the first Wednesday of each month for three months in advance.
Attica
74 Glen Eira Rd, Ripponlea, Victoria
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday: 6pm to late
Foodgasm 6.5/10
Value for money 5/10
Service 7.5/10
FPJ score 19/30
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