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Although the location may come as a surprise to some, the name and reputation of this modern Japanese eatery is familiar to many foodies throughout the world and is what largely accounts for the huge success owner and head chef Wakuda Tetsuya has enjoyed since relocating in 2000.
Famous for its world-class 12-course degustation menu and sophisticated wine-matching, the restaurant offers an excitingly diverse and exotic range of flavours inspired by both Asian and European cuisine. It's a rare treat indeed and at $175 a head (plus $75 for matched wines) you want to be experiencing some of the best food you've ever tasted. At Tetsuya's you most definitely are, which is why many are prepared to wait up to four or five months for a table. Our booking for six people was made just seven weeks prior, however, and for an experience as incredible as this I would have happily waited seven more.
Positioned in grandiose fashion at the end of a long, gravel driveway with suited waiters at the entrance ready to greet you, it's easy to get excited about Tetsuya's before you've even stepped inside the place, let alone caught a whiff of the food. Set among immaculate, awe-inspiring Japanese gardens, the restaurant offers two main dining areas and a number of private rooms for larger parties. On entering, we weave our way though the main corridor until being seated at a table in a private dining room, with surprisingly little in the way of ambience. Minimalistic, barefaced décor in the form of pale walls, stray sculptures and an odd painting here and there hints 1980s boardroom, but we soon become indifferent to our surrounds as full focus falls upon the extraordinary creative fare being brought before us.
Tetsuya's stunning Japanese gardens, at nightfall.
The menu for our evening's degustation (which changes daily) kicks off with an exquisite cold corn soup with saffron and vanilla ice cream, followed by delicious smoked ocean trout and avruga caviar — two incredible dishes that seem an impossible precedent to beat. A 2007 Maverick Trial Riesling from South Australia's Eden Valley is matched perfectly with the trout and several more wines from the Eden Valley make appearances. Our knowledgeable and attentive waiter informs us that several wines have been created exclusively for Tetsuya's, such as a 2005 Pierro chardonnay from Margaret River and a New Zealand 2006 Felton Road pinot noir (possibly the best red wine I have ever tasted).
Each dish impresses, though some more than others, with highlights including the restaurant's signature dish, the confit of ocean trout with konbu, daikon and fennel, so fresh and succulent it falls apart with your fork in a most satisfying way. The roasted breast of quail with sofi polenta and shitake mushrooms is another unanimous crowd-pleaser with distinct flavours and textures to top anything else you've tasted before. The leek and crab custard, along with the seared fillet of veal with wasabi butter are two other micro tastes of heaven, with winning wine complements coming in the form of a heady Terra Rossa cabernet sauvignon from 2003 Parker Estate.
There's no doubting the considered planning that goes into the menu and order of courses at Tetsuya's, and Wakuda has clearly gone to great pains to ensure a delicate balance of flavours is maintained throughout the dining experience, perfecting the rhythm and contrast of mild and spicy, and salty and sweet.
To end the evening of decadence, we enjoy mini helpings of apple tarte tartin followed by chocolate and coffee pavé with cocoa infused jelly and praline ice cream — small mouthfuls of heaven which by now I imagined would have sent me over the edge. The quantity and richness of food, however, has been so well apportioned that not a single groan of over-indulgence can be discerned as we bounce our way out of the restaurant in gleeful appreciation of our evening's meal — helped somewhat by our lighter wallets.
