Jerusalem artichoke,teardrop peas and raspberries.
1/7Jerusalem artichoke,teardrop peas and raspberries.Colin Page.
Beetroot with abalone,pork jowl and smoked eel.
2/7Beetroot with abalone,pork jowl and smoked eel.Supplied
One of the plates at Brae.
3/7One of the plates at Brae.Supplied
Dessert at Brae.
4/7Dessert at Brae.Colin Page
Trout nut butter and salmon roe.
5/7Trout nut butter and salmon roe.Julian Kingma
Snacks at Brae in Birregurra.
6/7Snacks at Brae in Birregurra.David Clemson
Inside Brae.
7/7Inside Brae.Colin Page

Good Food hatGood Food hatGood Food hat18/20

Contemporary$$$$

Your experience begins well before you’ve taken a seat in the modern meets vintage dining room.

Perhaps you’re lucky enough to be staying in one of the guest suites. Even if not,an email might arrive suggesting that since your reservation is after sunset,you could arrive early to stroll the kitchen garden,or simply snuggle up near the fire in the front room and sip a drink.

Then,more than a dozen courses are set down by synchronised staff:a potato gem absolutely engulfed in feathery black ruffle,a tiny bowl holding smoked trout suspended in saffron custard that’s glazed with beetroot. Murray cod comes with the tiniest spheres of kohlrabi,and perfectly rosy duck is topped with pickled radicchio and sweet-and-sour plums.

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Service is like a dance:graceful and exacting. This remains one of Australia’s great dining adventures.

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Western Victoria
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