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Stokehouse

Restaurants like Stokehouse – with great locations and accumulated laurels – can too easily slip into complacency. But it’s the rigour and constant refinement of this seemingly casual dining icon that has kept it relevant. The Stokehouse never stops trying. Anthony Musarra’s relaxed, inspired-by-Italy modern food is easy to understand: seared and spiced yellowfin tuna, for example, with a salad of celeriac, apple, avocado wafers and smoked eel, all lemony and horseradish-charged. From the familiar (fish and chips) to the signature (garfish with polenta) and on to new territories (perhaps scallops with chorizo), Musarra handles seafood with aplomb. Throw in mature desserts such as a crostata with quince, chestnuts and Marsala sabayon and you’ve a stylish cuisine to match the surrounds. Service and wine show the same relaxed attentiveness. A Melbourne must.