miss Amelie (Woodonga) 01/2019

Woodonga, in Victoria, is a twin city with Albury, separated by the Murray river that forms the border between New South Wales and Victoria. Neither of them are noted foodie eating stops but miss Amelie was recommended. It lives in a former railway station

which has been refurbished into a clean but unexciting restaurant.

had only two dishes - local asparagus coddled hen's egg cheddar custard, black olives, potato chips,

 a riot of colour, taste and texture that I thoroughly enjoyed and spanner crab and bug tail spaghetti, crayfish bisque pangrattato, a fancy name for breadcrumbs,  parsley, chili, garlic

a dish I regard as showing a total disregard for the fine and delicate tasting seafood. The ingredients were excellent but the combination turned this sea food pasta into just a pasta in a sharp sauce.
Score: 13.5/20

Woodland House (Prahran) 12/2018

Since Jaques Reymond sold his eponomous restaurant, renamed Woodland House a few years ago we've reviewed it three times see https://1001dinners.blogspot.com/search?q=woodland+house  with moderate to high praise. 

Neither the venue nor the format of the meal has changed but the food does. Last week we enjoyed the eight course degustation menu. You could have five courses, if you wished.and fortunately they did not insist that everyone should have the same menu.

The meal began with a variety of small bites

Local scallops, fermented chanterelle

Mussel and foie gras

Jerusalem artichoke fetta, Kombu tart, salted egg yolk

and spiced duck tongue with bamboo salt. 

Here, perhaps the thought of the eating a duck's tongue might have disturbed some patrons. If it did they were missing a treat. Each of these tidbits was a delight  and that was only the first course. 
Next we were served wild garlic, poached calamari, seaweed butter,

a wonderful combinations of flavours and textures. Grilled scampi, white asparagus, saltbush where the only bad thing was this photo!

Brioche buns 

accompanied the Murray cod, green almond, smoked oyster 

which was prettily presented. 
King Island wallaby, miso broad bean, pepperberry

 was colourful but rather bland.
Glazed Peckin duck, beetroot, horseradish

turned out to be my dish of the day. The flavours suited my palate. The sweetness of the beetroot blended perfectly. Duck l'orange couldn't be as good as this for me.

The Sher Wagyu fillet (How does one spell that word?), ginger mustard leaf XO 

a distinct Waghu flavour and was super tender but I prefer other cuts with a much higher fat content. Next came the desserts. A roasted white chocolate sandwich in a basket of flowers that they reminded me of my childhood.

Blueberry granita, elderflower, buffalo milk

was the last dish before we were presented with too many petit four.

We drank a Bindi Heathcote 2016 shiraz which was quite pleasant
I have enjoyed some very good meals lately and this was one of the very best. 
Score 17.5/20

Aria (Brisbane) 05/2018

*Click on pic's for enlargement. Aria, according to Google, is a long melody with an accompaniment, usually an orchestra. That's a very appropriate name for Matt Moran's Brisbane restaurant. Although there is no orchestra they serve a long and complicated meal which somehow fits the definition.
The restaurant on Eagle Pier, looks over the Brisbane river across the Story bridge, towards the city. A great scene both day and night.

A comfortable bar is separated from the adjacent restaurant by a wall of wine.

The restaurant occupies an elegant split level room with curved floor to ceiling glass wall. 

Well spaced tables are minimally set with white linen cloths. Extra cutlery comes with later courses.

One rather ordinary abstract painting adorns a wall but there is little wall space for decor.

The seasonal tasting menu offers four courses for $135 (/matching wines $190 or  premium wines $235) and seven courses $185 + wines $270 or premium wine $350. For the wine buffs it should be noted that they have an impressive wine list. A little out of step, as usual, I had saki with my meal.
It began with a lovely chef's amuse bouche-  a fig with cheese and a puffed grain

giving a great taste and textural variation.
Sourdough bread came with a caramelized butter as well as the normal butter. 

Kingfish, sea urchin, parsley, kohlrabi

Well disguised I now find sea urchin very palatable
Gold beetroot, sesame cheese, pear, witlof

A pretty dish but I'm not sure why all the ingredients are there.
Spanner crab, black rice, avocado, wasabi leaf

The delicate crab was rather lost with all the rest plus a little too much salt.
Wagyu bresaola, parmesan, eggplant, fried bread

A super palate cleanser.

I love wagyu  but drying it for a few weeks and serving it up like prosciutto really didn't cut it. 
Smoked pork, turnip, mustard

Simply the best dish of the meal
Roast duck, carrot, orange, wood ear mushroom

Equally as good as the pork.
Plum, gingerbread, yoghurt

Petit fours

 This was a beautifully presented meal, every dish a picture. I began to think of the problem of justifying everything that was being served. Would simpler have been better. The more ingredients one puts on a plate the more likely it is that someone will find something not to their taste. In this meal nothing offended my senses but the taste of many ingredients was diminished  so that some dishes became quite bland. Regardless you'd go a long way to get a better meal.
Score: 17/20

Woodland house (Prahran - Melbourne) 03/2018

Always elegant, decor is restrained and pleasant, we've eaten here a few times, in 2014, http://1001dinners.blogspot.com.au/search?q=woodland+house and 2015, http://1001dinners.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/woodland-house-prahran-032015.html

Table settings are simple, glassware and cutlery excellent quality.

Grilled scampi, salted roe, saltbush

Mussels and foie gras

Purple taro feta

Wallaby and pepper berry sable

Spiced sweetbreads with bamboo salt

Unfortunately the sweetbreads were lost with the thick breading and the coriander.
Spanner crab, tomato, kohlrabi, pomelo

Salt baked onion, grilled abalone, smoked oyster

Bread, which was very moorish, was served frequently.

Cape Grimm beef, buttered potato, radish and black salt

It's in there!
Fatty pork, slow baked cabbage, sorrel, black garlic

Mandagery Creek venison,pickled quince, juniper

Beauford cheese, truffle, buttermilk

A salad

Sweet coconut, last of the berries,lemon myrtle pepper

Baked chocolate, treacle ice cream, apricot vinegar

Petit four

Comments: Every dish was a joy to behold, beautifully presented, however some of the taste combinations left a lot to be desired. For me there was a tendency to use too many ingredients and sometimes to overwhelm what should have been the hero of the dish.
Score:14 /20