amaru

been to the initial restaurant at clayton bowls, but the comeback was excellent. went there for lunch & it was nothing less to perfection. the additional crab salad w crab ice-cream was stunning. even the potato ice-cream dessert was one of a kind! service was emaculate & personal unlike some finediningwhereby service can be overthetop & professional but loses it's customer personal ttouch. definitely will return for more.

one of the bestdiningexperiences we've had. the service was impeccable, the ambiance was perfect and most importantly, the food was simply amazing. you get a casual finediningfeel from the place and we love that. the food is anything but simplistic though. amazing flavours and textures and spot on execution. planning return visits on our future melbourne trips.

amazing finediningexperience! i was here for my birthday dinner, seated at the chefs table. the service was outstanding. we were served with little delicious snacks followed by a 9 course meal. ambience was equally sophisticated and welcoming and interior was very modern and clean. every dish that came out was delightful and well thought out. perfectly balanced and interesting flavours. would highly recommend! ❤️

ordered amaru for two tonight and it was hands down the best finediningquality dishes we've ever had in melbourne. great value and we are looking forward to the new menu next week!!

let me start by saying the food at amaru is sensational. the way in which the chef plays with textures and flavours is quite wonderful. food doesn't burst with powerful flavours, but there is a subtle balance that's brings each dish together that just works. no menu for the degustation you are in the hands of the very talented chefs and boy do they deliver!

highlight dishes were the mud crab, the celeriac and the buffalo mozzarella ice cream!

decor is fantastic.

the only letdown of sorts would be the service. not that it was terrible it wasn't at all. but it just wasn't as professional as what you'd expect from a finediningrestaurant at $170 per head. the staff were young and a tad lacking in attentiveness. perhaps it will change as they gain more experience and it certainly won't stop me from returning, just something for them to work on i guess.

one of the bestdiningexperiences in melbourne. really intimate setting and the service is great. each dish was incredible and delicious.

an absolutely amazingdiningexperience, highly recommend. beautiful setting, finediningbut also had a personalised feel. staff service was above and beyond.
we had the sensorydiningmenu with minimalist wine pairing and all was faultless.
10/10 and one of the best finediningexperiences in melbourne.

a small intimatediningroom with big modern australian flavours. they are big on flavours and the dishes showcases native australian ingredients. we went with the sensory menu which gives us an experience of the wild aromatics. it was a 15 course menu and i must say it was truly impressive. the flavours were not what you expect and was very different. the highlight for us was the portarlington musssels, charred broccoli, and grilled lettuce, the smokey flavours were incredible and it kept us going back for more. the otway shiitake ice cream, sandalwood, cacao and black truffle dessert was very different and was a very nice finish to the meal. their homemade sourdough comes with creamed butter and it was simply amazing. the creaminess texture of the butter was so good. they do have a truffle supplement which complements to the courses and this is optional.

definitely worth a visit to experience true modern australian flavours.

an intimate small restaurant in armadele, said to be one of the best finediningin melbourne. got the chance to sit at the chef’s table, which i honestly expected to be seated in front of the chef. nevertheless, got the sensory menu of 8 courses for the night. started with lavender infused water, which was sweet and fresh. then the snacks came, they were all delicious and unique, really enjoyed it. the first course was mussels with cream sauce, the mussels were not fishy at all, really liked the cream as well, not too overwhelming. then, it was a new dish, mud crab with cannabis. the cannabis seeds were like congee, and it was also one of the highlights. the sourdough was served with buttermilk and sourdough oil with honey. the quail was treated like ham, it tasted like ham indeed. it was a bit too salty, but the meat was very tender. would recommend eating them with hands, made it more flavourful! next was the lamb sweetbread and eel. the lamb didn’t have an overpowering smell, which was good, even my friend who was sensitive to lamb smell could eat it. the eel was a nice addition too. the kangaroo was probably my favourite meat of all. it was very tender, and it had a strong hazelnut taste which i liked. i didn’t find the liquorice to be a suitable addition for the dish, but the onion was really tasty as well. for the desserts, the first one was shiitake ice cream, which was good, but couldn’t taste any shiitake at all, also, the truffle shavings didn’t really add anything. the second one was coconut ice cream with lychee meringue, kiwi ice cream, and fingerlime jelly. it was my favourite dessert of all. even though the kiwi was really strong, but the coconut ice cream balanced it all. the meringue wasn’t too sweet as well. the coconut ice cream was really refreshing. last was the goat’s curd with lemon myrtle and honeycomb. probably my least favourite of all. the goat’s curd had an unpleasant aftertaste. i personally could tolerate it when mixed with the lemon myrtle or honeycomb. however, my friends couldn’t finish the dessert, as the aftertaste was too strong. it was unfortunate to end the meal with an unenjoyable dish. we got another little treats at the end. olive oil pastille, which was sugar coated jelly. the jelly didn’t really taste like anything, but it was light and refreshing. really liked the pumpkin caramel, it wasn’t too sweet, and it was coated with pistachio, which added a nutty flavour. overall, it was a pleasant experience, however, it wasn’t so special and i would think twice to splurge on this meal.

excellent restaurant. lovely food. beautiful restaurant. lovely staff. love how the restaurant isn’t over loaded with table- allows the restaurant to feel intimate & not loud. food served & present beautifully. a very enjoyablediningexperience which i would recommend.

had a greatdiningexperience here. the food was delicious. i’ve found that finediningplaces are very often overrated but this place is well worth the visit.

this place takes finediningto another level. you are greeted with a stark, clean and modern interior and very pleasant, informative and tentative waiters.

but the real focus here is on the food. you follow an 8 or so course set menu of well-portioned dishes that leave you satisfied but not stuffed. each dish is a unique, new flavourful discovery. my personal favourites were the desserts (pictured), especially the mushroom and black truffle soft serve!

i highly recommend to anyone looking for a dinner to remember!

ok, i don’t know whether this is an unpopular opinion or one of those unspoken ones. probably it’s just our luck but let just say we were disappointed with our experience at amaru. i’ve always wanted to come here after hearing so many ‘food critics’ rave about it, so we were so excited to come here to celebrate a special occasion. we got the sensory menu which includes all of their signature dishes.
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let’s start on a positive note, staff were presentable and deserve applause for friendly and efficient service. we received our starter not long after ordering, it was actually served very quickly, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in finediningas you don’t have to wait half an hour for a single dish. my favourite starter was the smoked duck ham, love that subtle smokey flavour. smoked eel was slightly crisp and creamy with the eel’s seafoodness. i found the dim sim quite ordinary, and the garfish a bit salty. they didn't get off to a strong start for us.
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here comes the disaster, the mussels with charred broccoli & grilled lettuce was extremely salty 🤢, even my partner with savoury tongue could not handle it, turns out they did over-season the soup. we get it, chefs make mistakes too. but it really left a persistent salty taste for us. mud crab 🦀 with iced apple did help wash out that salty taste on our tongue, it was refreshing and had a decent amount of crab meats. right after that, their sourdough with tasmanian goat butter if i recall correctly and balsamic honey. the crust of my sourdough was a bit too hard and thick for my liking, the butter was nice but not the best one i’ve had. the pastrami brined quail with dried peach, again a bit salty. maybe that’s what it supposed to taste like 🤷🏻‍♂️!? no real wow factor. lamb sweetbreads & sweetcorn with freshly shaved italian truffle ($45 extra over two dishes) the broth was clean and tasty, generously covered with truffle, makes it extra fragrance. the stand out savoury dish has to be the red kangaroo, cooked perfectly between rare to medium rare.
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their desserts are winners to me, start with strawberry sorbet 🍓was delightful, you can taste there were real strawberries in it. mixed it with citrus curd and frozen pistachio marshmallow, mmmmm it was so good! the otway shiitake ice cream 🍄 with shiso and cacao, topped with fresh truffle was absolutely to die for. that’s the wow factor i was looking for, one of the best ice cream i’ve ever had 😋. last but not least, the exquisite salted woodside goat curd🐐🧀 was actually a golden goat’s cheese cheesecake. the presentation was stylish and instagramable. flavors were distinct and creamy, with a soft, almost spreadable texture. my absolute favourite of the night.
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we ended our meal with olive oil pastille & pumpkin caramel which were quite a unique treat. overall i would give this place 3.5 ratings, it just didn’t meet my sky-high expectations (rated 4.9/5 on zomato). you would expect an incredibly innovative meal from an ex vue de monde sous chef but it was just satisfactory. if i am paying $195 for a meal, i expect the food to be perfect and unforgettable. such a shame as i really wanted to love this place, lovely staff but unfortunately we’re very unlikely to come back.

woke up on the afl grand final saturday and felt we haven’t tried a new place for ages. started flicking through zomato and amaru popped up in the finediningcategory. i was able to book on line for lunch. so by noon ish, we ended up at amaru.

when we got there, there was only one other guest seated on a stool in the bar seating area.

half way through our degustation course, i figured, there was prob no other guests turning up. it was just me, hubby and the guy at the bar. everyone was prob at the games.

i say to hubby “this is prob what the rich and famous do. reserve a whole restaurant and have a body guard ”.. 😂 this certainly wasn’t any experience i’ve had before. rather unique.
now that i’ve tried it, its enough. definitely would prefer to have other people at the restaurant. gives it a buzz.

food and service was nice. i’m not a cheese person, so couldn’t really taste/enjoy the signature dessert which was cream/cheese base. they offered another dish to replace, but i was already so full. the degustation course will definitely fill the tummy.

my only regret is the fact that i decided to go finediningon the day. i missed out on the element of waiting and looking forward to the event.

loved it. would definitely go again without any hesitation. value for the price considering finediningand the entire experience. very intimate setting but it felt very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
we celebrated my partner’s birthday and the chefs and team were very accomodating. we both really enjoyed it! thank you!