The Wandering Reviewer
+5
It's been 4 and a half years since I last reviewed Altair and in that time, the food, service and atmosphere has continued to be outstanding.
With my first ever Valentine's Day dinner which I booked while overseas, we sat down to a Chef's 7 Course dinner with wine that complemented the food.
A dinner like this is a true culinary experience and with each course, you are given a lovely explanation of what you're eating and the wine they've chosen to match.
To start with we had trout and cauliflower tart, row, dill, seaweed, viola - two bites of beautifully blended flavours that along with the Junmai Ginjo wine set the benchmark for the night.
Course No. 2 was charred scallops, chorizo, dried olive, wild dill, olive plant with a very light Fiano from Heathcote. I'm not much of a seafood fan but I could've had a couple of servings of these scallops. Light and delicate with a fresh bite from the chorizo.
Course No. 3 was swordfish, ceviche, roie gras, misco, kohirabi with a lovely wood Katherine's Paddock Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley. Having recently returned from South America were I'd eaten alot of ceviche - this made my experiences there look amateurish.
Course No. 4 was probably my favourite but alas it was the lamb which I'll write about shortly. Quail ballotine, red cabbage, barley, fried mushrooms, garam masala and a Gewurztraminer from Freycinet in Tasmania. Deboned quail that just kept on giving me more with each small bite. Anymore than the portion served and I would've felt overindulged.
Course No. 5 was roasted baby carrots, lardo, pork floss, nori & wakame macadamia butter with a superb Grenache from McLaren Vale. Perfectly cooked with a touch of crispy that blended well with the macadamia butter.
Course No. 6 was corned lamb, labna, saltbush raisins, sumac, wild dill and ash. Surprise for us was the 2016 Altair Syrah blended especially by Michelle the owner. Keep your eye on this one people. The blend was excellent.
By now we are on a total foodie high and along with other diners who we were chatting with, started to pace ourselves for the upcoming desserts.
Goats milk pannacotta, honey, grilled figs, pollen, honeycomb with a Cuvee Crut Cava had us almost ready to give up our day jobs and work as kitchen hands. Then followed by french toast, maple, berries and brown butter ice cream with a Late Harvest Riesling. Does it get any better? Nope! This was dining at it's best.
But wait. There's more. No not steak knives. There was engaging conversation with locals and non locals who were also there celebrating Valentine's Day. There was the delightful waiting staff always floating in and around the tables making sure their guests glasses were full, plates swept away after empty and topping up our water. Michelle is a 'hands on' owner who clearly knows her stuff when it comes to wine, food and ambience. Nice lighting, good room temperature and even the wafting aroma of wild lemon myrtle coming from the bathrooms made it all feel surreal.
10 our of 10 Altair and all staff, chefs and owners. A Valentine's Day to remember. How am I ever going to face a pizza again?
Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. High chair available. Clean toilets. Parking available on Yarra Street or on side streets. Dietaries catered for. Wifi - who cares because you'll be indulging yourself in a food experience like no other.
Open for breakfast 9-12 Saturday and Sunday. I love the menu, with some old favourites and some new/ interesting dishes. My long black was perfect and the Bloody Mary was terrific. Great service, nice decor and ambience. Will definitely come back.
Decided to pop in here to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Restaurant looked great, very elegant. We were introduced to the menu and it was interesting. Rather than the degustation, we decided to go alacarte. We had the abalone with squid ink pasta, cured salmon, barbecued carrots, forcilized pumpkin, corned lamb, duck and finished with the dark chocolate tart with burnt fig ice cream. Overall, a really good meal and well paced. Wonderful place for an occasion.
Hmmm, 4 stars, probably not fair to rate as a 3.
Now I am a harsh as I’ve only ever been to one place I consider 5 stars and it just so happens that Altair is remarkably similar in style with their approach to the wide variety of ingredients they use to present these fantastic meals. We enjoyed a 5 course experimental menu with some really tasty courses and probably only one that was not as delicious as the rest. To their defence it was experimental and that’s the reason they provide the occasions to test out new things. Was a pleasure to dine here and we can definitely recommend this as somewhere to experience genuine fine dining, which is somewhat rare this far out. Put it on your wish list.
A hidden suburban gem! Food was creatively put together and well plated. Good differentiation from regular restaurants. Service was excellent. The two of us shared 6 entrees plus dessert and all dishes were very good. Worth the trip to Warrandyte!
Wow! What a special lunch! Really interesting and diverse dishes using native and seasonal ingredients. Each dish was sensational with very unique flavours. Service was wonderful too. A must try!
Definetely more like 4.5 stars. Amazing ambience and staff. We had a 6 course meal which was like so good, as if like I was having the best meal of my life at the moment and all with so good Australian native ingredients. It was a really good experience and each dish was so properly seasoned and presented. Specially the cured Barramundi, it was like on a whole different level.
Very good environment, nice service, well presented dishes, and amazing taste. We ordered the 2 courses light lunch including tea or coffee for $36 pp. the kangaroo cooked just on the right time, excellent.
We just happened upon this restaurant as we travelled out to the Yarra Valley from Melbourne. We are very glad! The menu is an extraordinarily accomplished balance of Indigenous and European foods achieving fascinating textures and combinations of flavour. I liked the structure of the menu which offers an array of entree sized dishes to mix and match. My favourite was the Spanner crab with fermented grains. My husband particularly loved the emu ham abalone and nettles. Service was friendly well informed and efficient. It was a treat to be attended by the owner and to discuss the philosophy of this owner chef and front of house team. We also found the wine list complemented the food very well
This is a high end restaurant that concentrates on using obscure and locally sourced produce. The menu is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
*******
Fine dining in Warrandyte! Popped in for lunch and they have a $29 lunch special which is two courses and a coffee. Soup had lentils, mushroom and onions and was interesting! Main was a choice of risotto or salmon roullets (?). It was enjoyable and definitely worth coming back to eat a la carte. Nice fitout and knowledgeable waitress.
Very professional, had a great evening at altair.
First time but I will absolutely come back more often.
I would describe this as a Food Experience!
The food served is a bit different And I enjoyed it a LOT.
The best way is to go with the 5 or 8 course dinner.
You get small servings, but at the end you had a full meal!
It is about the Taste sensation, a little journey of flavors and textures etc so to say.
If you want half a cow go somewhere else.
The waiters are super attentive and explain with each serving what you will be eating.
This was a fine dinning experience!
The only (little) remark I have but would be easy for them to fix is that with a reasonable full restaurant the ambient sound is a bit to loud .
This could be fixed with some sound insulation panels installed here and there etc.
I am glad I found this place :-)
The food was really good. We had the wagyu cheek, the oysters, chickpea fries and finished off with the poached rhubarb dessert. They all tasted amazing.
The portion size for the mains we're quite small but the waiters do give you the heads up on it before ordering.
There was no high chair available for kids.
Have had a lovely Sunday breakfast here a number of times but got taken for lunch today. Amazing flavours and excellent service! Lamb neck sounded a little confronting, even to this carnivore, but it was stunning. Next special occasion, wedding anniversary, I will not hesitate to go the degustation menu (which will be my first).
Food was amazing, staff were really friendly and attentive, great atmosphere. Perfect night.
Wow! What a special lunch! Really interesting and diverse dishes using native and seasonal ingredients. Service was wonderful too. A must try!
Nice place with fantastic food. Highly recommend to have a try. The service and quality is beyond the price. Really appreciate their love and attitude for food.
Michelle was an amazing host, who was so passionate about all of the dishes we tried, the most unique locally inspired Australian menu I have experienced, outstanding quality and combination of ingredients.along with an extensive list of Australian and local wines. Seemed to have plenty of space between tables we had a table in a private corner which was perfect for our lunch. I have left an absolute fan of Altair and would highly recommend this place based on my experience.
The highest standard of dining I have personally encountered. Truly amazing food. I have never had the desire to pull my phone out and take a picture of a dish until I visited this place. Seriously impressive.
The presentation of each dish, the quality of the produce, the flavours - all outstanding.
If you are a serious foodie and like your fine dining, put a three course meal at Altair on your bucket list.
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