Altair Restaurant - Eltham

It 's been 4 and a half years since I last reviewed Altair and in that time, the food, service and atmosphere has continued to be outstanding.<br/ With my first ever Valentine 's Day dinner which I booked while overseas, we sat down to a Chef 's 7 Course dinner with wine that complemented the food.<br/ A dinner like this is a true culinary experience and with each course, you are given a lovely explanation of what you 're eating and the wine they 've chosen to match. <br/ To start with we had trout and cauliflower tart, row, dill, seaweed, viola two bites of beautifully blended flavours that along with the Junmai Ginjo wine set the benchmark for the night.<br/ Course No. 2 was charred scallops, chorizo, dried olive, wild dill, olive plant with a very light Fiano from Heathcote. I 'm not much of a seafood fan but I could 've had a couple of servings of these scallops. Light and delicate with a fresh bite from the chorizo.<br/ Course No. 3 was swordfish, ceviche, roie gras, misco, kohirabi with a lovely wood Katherine 's Paddock Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley. Having recently returned from South America were I 'd eaten alot of ceviche this made my experiences there look amateurish.<br/ Course No. 4 was probably my favourite but alas it was the lamb which I 'll write about shortly. Quail ballotine, red cabbage, barley, fried mushrooms, garam masala and a Gewurztraminer from Freycinet in Tasmania. Deboned quail that just kept on giving me more with each small bite. Anymore than the portion served and I would 've felt overindulged. <br/ Course No. 5 was roasted baby carrots, lardo, pork floss, nori wakame macadamia butter with a superb Grenache from McLaren Vale. Perfectly cooked with a touch of crispy that blended well with the macadamia butter.<br/ Course No. 6 was corned lamb, labna, saltbush raisins, sumac, wild dill and ash. Surprise for us was the 2016 Altair Syrah blended especially by Michelle the owner. Keep your eye on this one people. The blend was excellent.<br/ By now we are on a total foodie high and along with other diners who we were chatting with, started to pace ourselves for the upcoming desserts.<br/ Goats milk pannacotta, honey, grilled figs, pollen, honeycomb with a Cuvee Crut Cava had us almost ready to give up our day jobs and work as kitchen hands. Then followed by french toast, maple, berries and brown butter ice cream with a Late Harvest Riesling. Does it get any better? Nope! This was dining at it 's best.<br/ But wait. There 's more. No not steak knives. There was engaging conversation with locals and non locals who were also there celebrating Valentine 's Day. There was the delightful waiting staff always floating in and around the tables making sure their guests glasses were full, plates swept away after empty and topping up our water. Michelle is a 'hands on ' owner who clearly knows her stuff when it comes to wine, food and ambience. Nice lighting, good room temperature and even the wafting aroma of wild lemon myrtle coming from the bathrooms made it all feel surreal.<br/ 10 our of 10 Altair and all staff, chefs and owners. A Valentine 's Day to remember. How am I ever going to face a pizza again?<br/ Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. High chair available. Clean toilets. Parking available on Yarra Street or on side streets. Dietaries catered for. Wifi who cares because you 'll be indulging yourself in a food experience like no other. <br/ <br/

Open for breakfast 9-12 Saturday and Sunday. I love the menu, with some old favourites and some new/ interesting dishes. My long black was perfect and the **** Mary was terrific. Great service, nice decor and ambience. Will definitely come back.

Decided to pop in here to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Restaurant looked great, very elegant. We were introduced to the menu and it was interesting. Rather than the degustation, we decided to go alacarte. We had the abalone with squid ink pasta, cured salmon, barbecued carrots, forcilized pumpkin, corned lamb, duck and finished with the dark chocolate tart with burnt fig ice cream. Overall, a really good meal and well paced. Wonderful place for an occasion.

Hmmm, 4 stars, probably not fair to rate as a 3. Now I am a harsh as I’ve only ever been to one place I consider 5 stars and it just so happens that Altair is remarkably similar in style with their approach to the wide variety of ingredients they use to present these fantastic meals. We enjoyed a 5 course experimental menu with some really tasty courses and probably only one that was not as delicious as the rest. To their defence it was experimental and that’s the reason they provide the occasions to test out new things. Was a pleasure to dine here and we can definitely recommend this as somewhere to experience genuine fine dining, which is somewhat rare this far out. Put it on your wish list.

A hidden suburban gem! Food was creatively put together and well plated. Good differentiation from regular restaurants. Service was excellent. The two of us shared 6 entrees plus dessert and all dishes were very good. Worth the trip to Warrandyte!