Attica

With three Hats, the title of Best Restaurant in Australia, and ranked number 32 restaurant in the world -  Ben Shewry's Attica was definitely on the bucket list. And it doesn't take long after being whisked to your white table-clothed table by Attica's incredibly friendly staff to see why this Australian icon has won such a multitude of awards.  The term "magical" is definitely a start in explaining our incredible evening in this Ripponlea venue, with terms such as "exemplary" and "flawless" also appropriate.

Attica's Australian-inspired set-menu delights (and surprises), offering the likes of native ants, whipped emu egg and possum meat from Tasmania. For our starters, we were served (as named in the menu) Tac Oz, Aged Santa Clause Melon, Pearl cooked in Paperbark, Smashed Avocado on Toast, An Imperfect History of Ripponlea, Pav, Scampi and Wattlesoy, Chewy Carrots and Mutton Shell (black lipped abalone).

Tac Oz

Aged Santa Clause Melon

Pearl Cooked in Paper Bark

Smashed Avocado on Toast

Scampi and Wattlesoy

An Imperfect History of Ripponlea

Pav

Chewy Carrots

Mutton Shell

Whilst everything was delicious (and everyone had their different favorites), the Tac Oz (taco filled with native leaves) the Smashed Avocado on Toast (definitely not going to be able to afford a house eating this bad boy) and the black sausage tart in the Imperfect History of Ripponlea were the highlights of the starters for me.  The biggest surprise, however, was the Pav stuffed with cream cheese, and topped with a banana and ants.  Yes, I said ants.  However, once getting over the texture, the ants were surprisingly delicious.  The carrots were also a surprise - what appeared to be a rather uninspired "just a plate of carrots" actually consisted of an incredibly juicy and flavour filled dish that made it onto one of my fellow diner's top 3 dishes of the night.

The starters were followed by Hand Picked Crab and Sour Damper, Kangaroo Wattles and Waxflower, All Parts of the Pumpkin and Grilled Marron with Desert Lime.  I always thought that I wasn't a fan of crab - turns out I just haven't had incredibly good crab before as the Hand Picked Crab, which you could stuff into the fresh hot sour damper (after a smothering of butter of course), was ridiculously delicious.

Hand Picked Crab and Sour Damper

Kangaroo Wattles and Waxflower

All Parts of the Pumpkin

Grilled Marron with Desert Lime

About half way through our meal we noticed that the diners surrounding us started to mysteriously disappear, only to pop back up at their tables in about half an hour's time.  To be honest, when we saw the first table go, we thought they may have nicked off without paying their bill.  But to our absolute delight, we soon came to realise that the disappearing tables were not being led to the slaughter, but instead were taken to Attica's backyard garden, where we were met with a cold beer (or 3) and a classic Aussie BBQ cooking up a dish coined "Pests of the Neighborhood" (aka, possum sausages - served up in white bread of course - Bunnings eat your heart out).

To finish the evening we were served a Camel Milk Ice (served with more ants - just when you thought the servings of insects were over for the evening) and a Whipped Emu Egg with Quandong (which tasted as magnificent as it looked).

From it's incredible staff that made us feel welcome from the minute we walked through the doors (including an outstanding Sommelier), to its exquisitely mouth watering food and wine, it's no surprise that Attica is the New Fave.

Food: 5/5
Service 5/5
Venue: 4/5
Total: 14/15
Verdict: The New Fave - put it as Number 1 on the To Do List.