Don’t be waiting to hear a pin drop. This is fine-dining in the key of 2026, when an open kitchen, effervescent service and talkative tables are just as commonplace as bag stools, custom Dinosaur Designs vessels, and hand-held snacks.

Vue, now 25, remains loyal to its biggest hits – damper cooked tableside, Blackmore wagyu, macadamia tofu – but it keeps pace with the times, too. Sukiyaki-style kangaroo grasped with lacquered red chopsticks is plunged into a lip-smackingly savoury mushroom broth. Deboned quail legs wear an armadillo’s coat of glossy sliced truffle, with more truffle inside: a lush mousseline.

Plump marron rests on a custard with traces of the shellfish’s complex flavour. By the time the cheese trolley is wheeled out, the bounty of Beechworth, Geraldton, central Australia and Launceston has danced across your palate, a reminder of the embarrassment of riches at our door.

Good to know: Chef Hugh Allen is opening another restaurant, Yiaga, in Fitzroy Gardens in late spring.

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