Bess

The team previously behind Prahran's the Max is back - at this brasserie-handsome old bank that's all high ceilings, wicker chairs, big bar and checkerboard floor. Katie Krauss-Mitchell's modern comfort food is less Slanket, more Hermes throw - time and again tried formulas are given new life. The steak tartare is among the city's most beautifully plated: think hand-chopped meat, decorated with a spotted, opened quail's eggshell and mandoline-sliced radishes presented in almost floral fashion. Even hoary veal schnitzel is elevated, dusted with fragrant cinnamon and accompanied by purple slaw and taramasalata (creamed roe, though an inconsistent front-of-house team might not know as much). Among the sophistication, there's some simpler please-all-comers appeal, with a knackwurst dog, Bess burger and fish and chips. But the best is left for last. Eton Mess is re-imagined with perfect house-made honeycomb in place of meringue, the strawberries topped with shredded mint, and the cream folded into organic yoghurt with vanilla and honey; Bess's Mess gets our blessing.