Celebrity chef Matt Moran’s flagship Sydney restaurant ARIA has a twin at the edge of the bustling Eagle Street pier precinct, the aptly named ARIA Brisbane. Its sleek stained timber furnishings of the reception area, bar and main dining room and the sweeping views of the waterfront all add as perfect ingredients to was a fantastic fine dining experience.
The cuisine largely falls into the modern Australian category with a mixture of seafood, white meat, red meat and vegetarian options and generally a single dish “per animal” that is on offer. There is also a five and seven course tasting menu available which in this instance was actually comprised of most of the entrèe dishes from the à la carte menu, one of the main dishes and one of the dessert dishes.
On this visit I opted for the seven course tasting menu with matched wines. Made up of five meat, one vegetarian and one dessert dish it provided a well rounded overview of what ARIA was capable of.
After a small appetiser, the first course was a tuna dish served seared and tartare with radish, capers and anchovy mayonnaise. This reminded somewhat of Japanese sashimi but with some creative modern influences.
Next up was a dish which I can say I’ve seen a lot of in recent times but never gotten around to trying – burrata. Made from buffalo milk on a bed of macadamia nuts and surrounded by small balls of rockmelon and watermelon. The thick and ever so slightly sour, almost like goats curd, burrata combined with the rounded sweet flavours of the melons, an interesting, well thought dish that satisfied my curiosity.
The next four dishes each made up the rest of the food groups, lobster, chicken, pork belly and duck. The lobster was grilled with tomato, basil, asparagus and lemon oil and was full of texture, complimented by the asparagus.
This was followed by the chicken which was poached with jamón, snow peas and almonds. I could see the intention of this dish but unfortunately seemed like it was lacking something, my least favourite.
All was redeemed with the pork belly which was grilled and served with crackling and blood peach and currant chutney. The chutney matched very well with both the succulent and tender pork belly and the accompanying 2012 Wedgetail Pinot Noir.
The savoury dishes was completed with the roasted duck, served with witlof, turnips and toasted buckwheat. The buckwheat was an excellent choice to pair with the duck, which was still pink in the centre and provided an enjoyable bouncy texture.
Concluding the tasting menu was the dessert dish of mango mousse with lime and black sesame ice cream. The ice cream was an interesting but welcomed touch and complemented the sweet juicy mango.
This completed a memorable dining experience that was comparable to other fine dining establishments.
The sommelier was well versed in the origins and flavour profiles of the paired wines, of which many are exclusively imported. Waitstaff were as expected of such a venue with the components of each dish being explains as they were presented.
There has been some mixed opinions of the à la carte and grill menu but the tasting menu definitely highlighted the best attributes of ARIA. The price point is not for everyone but is fair and reflective of the quality that I experienced on this visit.