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13.5/20

The Cellar Kitchen at Avani Wines

Updated ,first published

Serving a wine-friendly, share-style Indian menu.
1 / 8Serving a wine-friendly, share-style Indian menu.Parker Blain
Chicken tikka skewers.
2 / 8Chicken tikka skewers.Parker Blain
The view from the restaurant.
3 / 8The view from the restaurant.Supplied
Goan choris pao (sausage in bread, Goan style).
4 / 8Goan choris pao (sausage in bread, Goan style).Parker Blain
Share plates.
5 / 8Share plates.Parker Blain
Perfectly paired with wine.
6 / 8Perfectly paired with wine.Parker Blain
Kingfish buttermilk ceviche with green chilli and salmon roe.
7 / 8Kingfish buttermilk ceviche with green chilli and salmon roe.Supplied
Perfect for sharing.
8 / 8Perfect for sharing.Supplied
13.5/20

The Cellar Kitchen at Avani Wines

Indian$$

A cellar door bathed in midday sun and the warmth of a family enterprise.

Since 1998, the Singh family have tended the vines you see from your table. After five years hosting many of Melbourne’s most exciting chefs for pop-ups in the mud-brick cellar door, they’ve now added a permanent menu of their own. Taking traditions from across India, the kitchen spins them in new directions. Aromatic chilli jam dresses milky burrata cheese, while a more classic Goan snack sees soft white rolls packed with clove-enriched chorizo.

Gorgeously alive wines, spanning nutty chardonnay to juicy syrah, match the likes of chana dhal decisively spiced with garam masala and star anise. A dry curry of lamb holds surprising lushness, courtesy of generous quantities of ghee; fold it between curls of hot paratha.

A help-yourself bowl of lemons sits at the entrance, steel tanks of wine ferment behind you, parents and children wander up and down the deck: a perfect day out.

Good to know: Tasting flights start at $50 for four pours, and can be paired with snacks from the menu.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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