Australia's new top restaurant pushes the boundaries of fine dining with dishes served on crocodile skulls
The 16-course tasting menu is based solely on native Australian ingredients. Guests can sample specialties such as crocodile tongue, kangaroo, emu and wallaby, while the courses are served in different spaces of a three-story building, and the milkshake is consumed from an emu eggshell.
One of the most unique dishes is Crocodile Tears, which the chef makes with slowly confited and grilled crocodile tongue, and then serves it on a real crocodile skull. According to the chef, the final version of the dish took nearly thirty attempts before it reached the desired flavor and texture.
Justin James, formerly known from Restaurant Botanic, offers a less solemn, much more relaxed experience this time: the dishes arrive on plates made of bunya nuts, in dishes covered with kangaroo skin, or even in emu eggs, and each plate comes with a short guide on how to eat the dish.
The restaurant currently offers a 16-course menu for AUD$495 excluding drinks, making it one of the most expensive dining experiences in South Australia. But its ambitions go far beyond its price tag, as the chef’s aim is to create a restaurant that showcases the future of modern Australian cuisine, using only Australian-sourced ingredients.
