To dine for

The end of another financial year. Another couple of hundred restaurant meals. More food, more wine and more money for both than ever before. What are the trends, where is it all going? Don't ask me. But these are 20 of the dishes of the past six months, in no particular order, that have made an impression (other than on my waistline). Enjoy.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Smoked trout broth, crackling, basil seeds, fresh smoke
Attica, Balaclava, 9530 0111

With bistro this and rustic that everywhere, how stimulating to find someone such as Ben Shewry, a chef whose creativity seems to blossom each time I visit Attica. The thing about Shewry's individual creations is that the cart stays behind the donkey: his food is as delicious to eat as it is fascinating. This fish dish arrives with a smoke-filled glass cover; as it's lifted to fumigate your dining space, a delicious broth is added by your waiter and the fun begins. A sensory grenade of smoked ocean trout, pork crackling and slippery basil seeds that delivers olfactory pleasure, sublime flavours, surprising textures and a snap, crackle and pop when that porky rind and fishy consomme meet. (Entree, $23)

Smoked kingfish, spelt blini and scallop dust
Oyster Little Bourke, city, 9650 0988

Another kingfish dish, this time with a faintly Italian accent from chef Joe Vargetto. The fish is cured in sugar and pepper before smoking by that Melbourne master of piscatorial value-adding, Tom Cooper. It's then rubbed in mirin and some other secret liquor. Vargetto serves this firm, sliced fillet with a tobiko (flying fish roe) mayonnaise, a fennel and witlof salad, spelt blini, a horseradish cream and a salty-crunchy dust of dehydrated scallop roe, for another flavour dimension and a most pleasing grainy texture, like Aussie bottarga. This is a lunchtime dream: original, satisfying, light yet powerful. Oh, and fun, too. (Entree $19)

ALL BEEFED UP

Fillet steak aux poivre
The Court House, North Melbourne, 9329 5394

Now fess up. When was the last time you had steak au poivre? And was it any good? I thought so. To my complete surprise, this is my outstanding steak of the year thus far, a retro classic turbocharged by chef Jocelyn Riviere, new on the scene at The Court House. Three elements make it memorable: great fillet beef (yes, fillet), perfectly cooked with a coarse black pepper crust; a glossy, light, but utterly delicious brandy and veal jus; and - like the caramel inside the chocolate - a slug of beautiful, rich, glossy bone marrow inside a croquette of parsley hash brown. How the three sang together made the three tenors sound tone-deaf. (Main $38)

Braised beef cheek
Bistro Guillaume, Southbank, 9693 3888

Black as a nugget of coal, this marinated and cooked, and cooked, and cooked again piece of meat looks like a fist-sized truffle. This is a classic no-shortcuts daube, soft but revealing marvellous, long-cooked red wine flavours and served with stunning mash, baby vegetables, lardons and cooking juices. A reminder of why French bistro cooking is the foundation of so much that is good to eat. (Main $39)

Beef tataki
Nobu, Southbank, 9696 6566

There's a long list of must-haves at Melbourne's Nobu, one of the international chain's 20-odd restaurants. Funnily enough, sushi ain't one of them. The black cod with miso; the new-style sashimi and the tiradito - morsels that fuse Japanese and Peruvian flavours. All musts (if you can afford them; prices have gone ballistic since last year's launch). But the absolute must is the rustically plated beef tataki: thick tiles of quality seared beef fillet (virtually raw within) garnished with a hauntingly delicious ponzu-soy dressing, minced onion and the most delicious crisp-chewy fried garlic wafers. It all just marries so well. Who cares that it gets made to a formula all round the world every day? ($26)

WITH AMORE

Quaglietta in terracotta
Yarck Tea Rooms, Yarck, 5773 4233

Great food is a cornerstone of great memories, and I have nothing but fond memories of lunch at Yarck in March: a gently paced series of Italian morsels of high quality, but none more so than the baked-in-the-pot quail. A terracotta pot, brought to the table radiating heat, in which has been roasted a number of charry-caramelised vegetables (sweet potato, potato, baby fennel, red capsicum, yellow squash with plenty of thyme, myrtle, salt and pepper, not much oil) and a single, large quail stuffed with a herby forcemeat of pork and veal. Sunday roast. (Main $32)

Lasagna pizza
Pizza e Birra, St Kilda, 9537 3465

Just when we thought the pizza new wave had finished, another set came through late last year and early this year. With a waistline that makes pizza something of a luxury, I don't eat the stuff as often as I want to, which is every day. Pizza is a special occasion, and this is a special pizza: a big base layered with tomato sugo, thinly sliced ham, mozzarella, multiple dollops of creamed ricotta and a judicious scattering of grated parmesan at the end producing a salty, golden brown patina. Fresh basil leaves finish the job. The restaurant's title suggests a cold beer; me, I'm thinking a cheap nero d'avola or primitivo from southern Italy. Grazie. ($17.50)

Vitello tonnato
The Botanical, South Yarra, 9820 7888

Less is always, well, less in the hands of Paul Wilson, a chef with the handy knack of adding dimension rather than unnecessary complication and embellishment when he builds a dish, in this case his take on the classic poached veal with tuna sauce. No Italian would recognise it, although the caramelised figs, wafers of gorgonzola piccante and anchovy-laced tuna sauce would all sing a familiar song. Wilson plays with this one: our memory is of a version with sliced radish, Jerusalem artichoke, caramelised fig and wafers of gorgonzola, capers and a variety of herbs such as purple basil. Textures, flavours, surprises and deep, harmonious satisfaction. Any less would be, well, not enough. (Main $28)

Spaghettini with eel and pangrattato
Trunk, city, 9663 7994

The world needs a marvellous new dish added to the unofficial pasta archive every few months. So far this year this has been it for me: a nest of spaghettini tossed with smoked eel in a garlic-chilli-parsley olive oil, sprinkled with chopped chives and, for crunch, a fine fried breadcrumb pangrattato. It is rich, fragrant and subtle; an important part of the 2008 eel renaissance. (Main $26)

Veal tongue with tuna sauce
The Italian, city, 9654 9499

Andy Logue at The Italian knows his customer base and keeps things simple, but not predictable. This is his take on vitello tonnato, but instead of poached veal prime cuts, he uses chargrilled tongue topped with a herby tuna sauce, grilled chilli and fried basil leaves. It's a departure, but one worth taking. And along with his tripe and fegato (calves liver), Logue's service to offal lovers is worth noting. (Entree $19.50)

Tortellini
Church Street Enoteca 9428 7898

Chef Ron O'Bryan's passion for Italian food shines like the lights reflecting off the Grand Canal and you can see it across his menu at Church Street. His tortellini of three cheeses - Reggiano, ricotta and pecorino - is rich and perfectly suited to winter. As a starter, with its aged balsamic and sage butter sauce, pine nuts, raisins and Meredith goat's cheese scatterings, it has a deep, intense and very satisfying effect; the pasta is light and perfectly cooked. Bellisimo. (Main $28)

SCALING UP

Kingfish sashimi
Taxi, city, 9654 8808

It's the fish that ate Melbourne (and Sydney): kingfish has swum its way up the food chain to become an indispensable arrow in any chef's quiver, and this dish shows it off to maximum effect. Thickish raw fish slices layered like fallen dominoes with speckles of Avruga (a mock caviar), a spring onion and sesame sauce the consistency of pesto, and a fat strip of salty-tangy bronze-coloured ponzu jelly. Alongside, a crunchy linear nest of dressed, shredded daikon. It's modern, it's Japanesque, it's clever and memorable. Quite a mouthful. (Entree $24.50)

Smoked tuna broth
The Royal Mail, Dunkeld, 5577 2241

Japan and its food are said to have been very influential on modern Spanish gastronomy. You can see it in this tea-coloured broth of smoked tuna that has a distinctly dashi-like scent and texture. Which means we have a Victorian chef cooking food in the Western District that is inspired by a restaurant in San Sebastian, which in turn embraces a Japanese aesthetic. Texture and mouthfeel are pivotal: an earthy flotsam of translucent radish wafers, mustard cress, beetroot shoots, rocket flowers and finely sliced raw shiitake and king brown mushroom - depending on the season - float on the surface. A complete treat. (Degustation $100)

Seafood bean curd roll
Flower Drum, city, 9662 3655

We go to lunch at Flower Drum maybe once a year. It's rarely exciting. But this year was something different - a series of interesting, beautifully crafted dishes, of which this was a highlight (alongside roasted duck with dried mandarin skin sauce). How they do this I'm not sure, but somehow a piece of silken tofu is given a skin in the fryer: it's then stuffed with a prawn, shiitake and scallop mince so lively and crunchy it creates quite a juxtaposition against the jelly-like curd. The whole thing is cooked in a steamer and served with a brown sauce of some kind. Just one keeps the memory of the experience lingering for months. ($9.50)

CRACKING GOOD

Poached saffron egg with yoghurt soup
Maha, city, 9629 5900