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Mimi's,on the middle level of Coogee Pavilion,is a luxurious eastern suburbs home of conspicuous consumption.Edwina Pickles

17/20

Contemporary$$$

With restaurants trying their hardest to entice diners right now,the smart people arechasing the special promos:dine early for half-price cocktails,free beer with every burger,that sort of thing.

Even Mimi's,that luxurious eastern suburbs home of conspicuous consumption,throws in a free dessert (chocolate sabayon tarte,mandarin yuzu bombe Alaska) when you order a glass of dessert wine. OK,so the wine is a 1983 Chateau Rieussec Premier Cru Sauternes ($99) but still. Think of the money you'll save.

Or you could think of the money you'll spend,but that's a bit daunting. Set next toUna Mas and Will's wine bar on the first floor of the majestic Coogee Pavilion,Mimi's is unashamedly caviar-driven. The roaming trolley parks by your table to tempt with five-gram bumps of Oscietra caviar and a shot glass of icy cold Absolut Elyx vodka ($47). Or you could go for a more civilised (no licking of your hand) 10 grams served with fried golden puffs of potato ($98),or Mimi's scallop mousseline and caviar pie ($135). If it's revenge dining you're after,you'd have all of them.

Caviar and scallop mousseline pie with citrus butter.Edwina Pickles

While truffles are still around,you can have them shaved over everything in sight for $40 per five grams. When they've gone,invest your money instead in live Eastern rock lobster,mud crab,black lip abalone or 800-gram Heritage wagyu rib-eye ($240). As your financial adviser,I foresee a high return on investment.

The thing about Mimi's is that it's easy to see where the money is going. Shellfish is piled high on mountains of ice. Sixteen chefs work over grills and firepits in the glamorous open kitchen,including executive chef Jordan Toft,and head chef Jeffrey De Rome,formerly of Rockpool and Mike's Kitchen. There are flurries of liveried waitstaff,from young and eager to older and polished;with two long-term favourites,Ivan Klepac and Sam Di Stefano,bringing a little heart and soul to proceedings.

A daily special of Bass Strait scallop is gently touched by heat and a savoury squid garum ($16),and a smashing snack sees blue fin tuna belly and confit tomato over a crunchy warm crumpet ($16).

Shellfish and caviar piled high on mountains of ice.Edwina Pickles

You'd swear a relatively humble dish of Central European vareniki/pierogi dumplings oozing with potato and buffalo curd and sauced with whey ($44) wouldn't turn on the Mimi's crowd,but shower it with the last of the season's truffles,and it's the hot order of the night.

The dish points to De Rome,and shows the evolution of Mimi's into something that's more personal,less privileged. Quail comes straight off the grill with a forest green nettle puree and a slab of house bacon ($58),and huge Margra lamb cutlets have a challenging but satisfying chew,their lambiness turned up to high,complemented by braised winter greens and potato aioli ($112 to share).

A towering pile of crisp,golden pommes allumettes ($16) and a leafy salad,curly with Treviso radicchio and tart with fennel vinegar ($16),are entirely unnecessary necessary.

Go-to dish:Potato dumplings,buffalo curd,whey,black truffle.Edwina Pickles

Can you eat and drink well here on a budget? The springy bread and salted kefir butter is gratis,but otherwise,you'd have to pay attention. Ignore the Premier Cru Chablis,and go for the 2020 Dappled Appellation pinot noir from the Yarra Valley's Shaun Crinion ($90). Then you can spend the savings on a party-time fior di latte soft serve,dripping with extra virgin olive oil from Chianti ($25).

The switch from corporate money to personal investment has done Mimi's a power of good. Note the nervous thrill of a young couple doing their first caviar bump together;the graceful oval table of deep-in-conversation creatives.

It's exciting,dynamic,grand and unapologetically expensive,so it's not for everyone. But it elevates dining to something transformative and luxurious without losing its sense of fun.