Neila

Neila is Alien spelt backwards, and Neila restaurant is certainly foreign to the environment in which it exists - the Lachlan Valley pizza belt. This place would drop jaws in Sydney or even New York. Anna Wong's food is pure adventure rather than just innovation, and at that rare level of creativity where her ideas end up tasting even better than they sound. Along with partner and restaurant manager Jerry Mouzakis, Wong grows exotic ingredients at their farm and orchard, guaranteeing freshness and sustainability. Consider melt-in-the-mouth pork hock with jujube (Chinese red date) salad; drunken Sichuan chicken with lime and enoki soup; and duck leg on fennel mash with peaches, beans and almonds. Wong's flavour instincts are unerring, the execution is exemplary, and her cooking is wonderfully inventive without a grain of pretence. Desserts such as spiced chocolate, orange curd and beetroot sorbet continue in the same adventurous spirit, while cheese selections are intelligent and interesting.