There’s something feel-good about EXP. It might be the compact dining room with locally made, organic-feel furniture and utensils. Perhaps it’s the open kitchen, chefs working quickly and efficiently in front of their audience of diners. Maybe it’s that chef/owner Frank Fawkner is such a nice guy. So nice in fact he’s opened Fawk Foods Kitchen & Bakery, because Pokolbin was lacking a great bakery. Or maybe that’s just his entrepreneurial spirit.

It’s more likely that it’s the whole experience. The tasting menu is called just that – EXP.erience. It’s made up of six dishes, while EXP.osure – the ‘preview’ menu, if you will – is three multiple-choice courses. Cultured butter infused with hay and smoked is served with (naturally) house-baked sourdough, perfect to get you through any hunger pangs while selecting your menu. If you need any help at all, the warm and unobtrusive staff has your back.

Slivers of scampi arrive swimming in a pool of tangy bisque, a chunk of cos lettuce on the side – it’s a grown up, 2018-appropriate prawn cocktail. Redgate Farm quail arrives on a bed of porridge with miso and leek, and it’s like being given a warm hug. The Petuna ocean trout is a healthy serve, meaty and succulent with a satisfyingly crisp skin, the accompanying grapefruit salad the perfect foil to the rich sea urchin cream. Dessert is a playful interpretation of a Magnum Ego; arriving on paddle-pop sticks set in a chunk of wood, it’s eucalyptus chocolate from the Daintree encasing wattleseed ice cream and a layer of lemon myrtle caramel.

Ever-evolving and always playful, the experience at EXP Restaurant is overwhelmingly positive.

Must eat dish: Redgate Farm quail, leek, miso, porridge