Ezard has been around since 1999 and is renowned for their top class Modern Australian food with a bit of Asian inspiration mixed with some French technique. Depending on what day you visit, you can order a la cart, opt for the five or eight-course tasting menu or get the fixed price three-course menu. The restaurant is down the stairs in the basement and you can feel the elegance with the white clothed tables and fancy silverware. This is one for the fine-diners.
We went for the eight-course menu because it was my b’day and they had a special vegetarian and vegan eight-course menu which was great for my vegan brother.
Started with some fresh bread and assorted seasoning.
The amuse bouche was pickled cucumber with crème fraiche and crunchy puffs of wild rice. This got us excited for what was to come.
Next was the Japanese inspired oyster shooter in a yuzu, cucumber and apple broth. This was tasty and livened the palette.
The cured swordfish was sliced ever so thin, it almost looked translucent and it was topped with whipped sheep’s yoghurt, preserved seaweed, pickled ginger and puffed jasmine rice. There were lots of fresh flavours that complimented each other and the detail in the shavings and the slicing really gave this dish an amazing and fine texture.
A single dumpling makes you appreciate the detail. The steamed scallop dumpling was juicy and the skin was super thin. It was served in an aged hon mirin dressing that you could smell when it hit the table, it was intense and delicious.
The next dish was a salad of local asparagus. It was sliced thinly and placed like ribbons on the plate. So delish.
The Ora salmon was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth, it was so lovely. It was sitting in a beautiful citrus kosho dashi with an ink cracker on top for crunch.
Pork belly with crispy crackling and caramelised pineapple. Need I say more? The pork was drizzled with bulldog sauce which is like a Japanese BBQ sauce. So good.
The Chinese-style duck was super tender and was served on braised greens and tempura eggplant on the side and fermented chilli which added an umami kick.
You can choose to end your meal either with the pork and duck OR the sher wagyu and a small dessert OR you can end on the dessert tasting plate with five petite desserts. There were a few of us so we got to try all the options.
The eight score sher wagyu was amazing, cooked medium rare and topped with a delicate pepper jus. It was served with cubes of braised ox tongue and crunchy smoked potato croquettes.
We ended on the tasting plate for dessert. There was a selection of little desserts, chocolate mouuse, semolina cake, meringue, coconut ice-cream. A variety of yummy treats. We went there for my birthday so it was cute that they wrote ‘happy birthday’ on the plate. It’s a great place for a bit of a fancy pants dinner or special occasion.
I heart Ezard!
Olives x
Ezard
Address: 187 Flinders Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000
Website: https://www.ezard.com.au
Phone: (03) 9639 6811
Trading Hours: Mon-Fri: 12pm-2.30pm(lunch), 6pm-10.30pm(dinner), Sat: 5.30pm-10.30pm, Sun:closed
