Aubergine is the Good Food Guide’s number one pick in Canberra, described as one of the country’s best restaurants. It remains the only two-hatted restaurant in Canberra.

I had it saved for a special celebration, and last week I finally had the chance to try the dynamic and changing menu that prides itself on innovative combinations of local produce in new and imaginative ways.

The decor and service set the scene for elegant fine dining and Cyril, Aubergine’s French sommelier, deserves all the praise he receives in reviews.

We were also well looked after by Marta, who was equally knowledgeable about the menus, warm and thoughtful.

The menu is a set four courses for $90 with an additional chef’s starter plate of savouries. These were one of the highlights of the meal.

Parmesan crisp with cheese fondue

Smoked potato crisp and raspberry salt

Nori cracker with cured blue mackerel, almond cream and cucumber

……all very delicious.

The next course was also fixed, and equally good, sweet and sour sardines with asparagus, grilled avocado and quail egg.

For Entree we chose:

Kingfish ceviche,green mango, nectarine, tomato and kaffir lime

There was the option to add some sea urchin for an additional $8 per person – which I don’t think we would worry about doing again.

Seared wagyu sirloin, smoked eel cream, eggplant jelly and daikon

I didn’t realise that this was a beef tartare dish or I may have chosen the Quail ballotine with purple carrots, beetroot, iso and ume plum sauce instead.

The Mains we selected were the:

Poached John Dory, braised lettuce, celtuce, seaweed and mussels

and the Lamb rump with sweetbreads, caramelised endive and black garlic.

But the pick of the mains was the Pork belly grilled over charcoal, with roasted and pickled fennel and cherries as this had the best flavours.

The bread and cured butter was also lovely.

Thanks 

Desserts that we chose were:

…the Brown butter ice cream, almond praline and frozen lemon myrtle milk. It’s easy to see why this is the signature dish that remains constant on the dessert menu..

..and the Capsicum sorbet, red fruits and berries , tapioca and shiso.

There was also the options to swap dessert for a cheese course.

However, the Chocolate Ganache Cake with ginger cream, maple and miso ice cream at another table looked particularly magnificent.

An excellent choice for a special night!