Within a stylishly elegant, intimate 30-seat Armadale dining room, Clinton McIver is serving up one of the most exciting showcases of Australian innovation and produce.

Across a multi-course menu that has surprise and delight at every turn, an opening gambit of a single onion crisp loaded with smoked sheep’s yoghurt and garfish is a tiny powerhouse of flavour and sets the scene for a procession of clever, alluring plates over the next two-plus hours.

Spanner crab with oyster ice cream and shaved apple ice is a triumph of texture, temperature and taste, while translucent prawn on deeply honeyed caramelised sheep yoghurt, with its shell atop, fried to a crunch, are just two highlights in a meal that rarely misses a beat.

Salt-baked celeriac with tiny pickled mussels in a nasturtium broth is as inventive as it is inspired, but so, too, is the dusting of liquorice over a slice of dry-aged kangaroo paired with quince caramel.

A “dirty potato” bridges the sweet-savoury divide in bonkers/brilliant fashion – who knew dark chocolate and potato could be such good friends? – while a picture-perfect cheesecake dusted in gold and served with mandarin ice cream is a fitting finale to a meal that’s clever and precise, a little bit of fun and a whole lot of tasty.

Sharp service and a covetable cellar for when the mood to splurge strikes complete the Amaru package which, two years on, continues to evolve and delight.

Must eat dish: Meredith cheesecake
Instagram: @amaru_melbourne