The Boat House: Peace and tranquility by Lake Burley Griffin

For a city completely moulded around a lake, it's always surprising how few opportunities there are to dine right by the waters of Lake Burley Griffin. Kingston Foreshore brought lakeside dining a bit closer, but even there you're mostly greeted with views of apartment buildings.

But lakeside dining doesn't get any closer than the Boat House, with just a footpath between you and the gently lapping water.

It's admittedly been some time since I last visited. Over the winter the restaurant had major renovations – the external deck now wraps all the way around the venue, and there are some contemporary additions both cosmetic and technological, with updated mod cons for their stream of functions.

Stepping inside the venue, you're greeted by pure tranquility. We're given the option of starting our night with a drink on the deck, an option we would have jumped at had we had more time.

We're seated in one of the dining rooms, looking out at the lake, and first handed the wine list – a 33-page tome put together by Kate Hibberson from Mount Majura Wines. Hibberson's influence is obvious with a generous and interesting selection of locals, plenty available by the glass, plus many more from across the globe. 

We decide to keep things local, opting for glasses of the 2016 Lerida Estate Pinot Noir Rose and the 2015 Mount Majura Vineyard Shiraz, a beautifully fragrant drop which has picked up a lot of awards and it's not hard to see why.

It's only now that we're handed the menu – there's no rushing you through here, and the entire evening continues at this gentle pace. We're also given a warm, fluffy brioche bun, baked in-house, which goes down nicely with lashings of butter.

There are two choices – four courses for $90, with a vegetarian option also available, or the seven course degustation for $120, with matching wines for an additional $70. Tonight we choose the four courses.

First up we're served an amuse-bouche – a smoked mussel sitting in a warm semi-sweet vinaigrette, and a duck croquette, which is a deliciously creamy, smoky morsel. 

Our first official dish, the trout rillette, is a stack of toasted brioche, trout, a dollop of yoghurt tinged green with mint and dill, and crunchy wild rice granolo sprinkled on top. The brioche on the bottom of the stack is quite crunchy and a bit hard to cut without the rest of the stack dismantling, but the combination of flavours is flawless, and one of the highlights of the evening. 

The prawn dish comes with two king prawns, sitting in a combination of buttermilk and chlorophyll, and topped with an artistic prawn cracker. The pork belly is the highlight – cooked beautifully with a spicy crust and balanced by dollops of avocado mousse, and walnuts and radish slices for a bit of crunch.

By now the sun's setting and the sky has lit up pink, casting a beautiful glow through the windows.

For our mains, we choose the spatchcock and lamb dishes. The slow-cooked lamb rump is a lovely piece of meat served with both roasted and dehydrated eggplant on a bed of chickpea purée. It's topped with wild puffed rice, which I find a bit distracting in the dish, and is the same topping used on the trout entree. But it's redeemed by the purée, which is spiced to create a creamy hummus. 

The spatchcock dish comes with two different cuts of meat – a poached breast and confit leg. The dish achieves a good harmony with the dollops of chicken jelly and miso braised cabbage.

Service tonight is spot on – waiters are relaxed and helpful and come and go silently through the door to the dining room all night.

Desserts come out beautifully plated – and they're just as much a treat for the tastebuds as they are for the eyes. The malt ice-cream is served with chocolate fondant, chocolate soil, and shards of a honeycomb and condensed milk paper perched theatrically on top.

The banana parfait is a grown-up version of a banana split with chunks of caramelised banana, banana ice-cream, chocolate ganache, creme chantilly and drizzles of even more chocolate. Both are generous servings and a challenge to finish, even for the most dedicated sweet tooth.

At a time when many eateries continue to get louder and buzzier, the Boat House is a tranquil escape. This is modern fine dining without being stuffy. We won't be leaving as long between visits next time.