Estelle Bar & Kitchen

Estelle is at the forefront of a growing gang of Melbourne restaurants finding a new path for fine dining. The food is ambitious and creative but the spirit is indie and the experience is more about tasty fun than gourmet gravitas. Ryan Flaherty and Scott Pickett do yin and yang in the open kitchen at the rear of a shopfront that's cosy and a bit retro. Choose your five-, seven- or nine-course adventure (all great value) then sit back for dishes such as pork jowl with superb crackling, the richness offset by blood-plum gel. There's similar light and shade in a striking dish that matches confit octopus, sumac and pickled beetroot; grilled john dory is more restrained, underpinned by roast onion consomme. Going on for three years old, Estelle is mature enough to have classics, including an olive oil sponge that dissolves without trace. It's frolicsome and light-hearted, like the restaurant.