There’s no denying Tetsuya’s has a place in Australian food history, and it’s well deserved. With many celebrated chefs passing the pans over the 30-year tenure, the restaurant has been rite of passage for celebrated talents including Darren Robertson, Clayton Wells, Louis Tikaram and many more.

While in 2019, the dining scene moves towards more casual, produce-driven share plates, and a philosophy of simplicity reigns, Tetsuya has stuck to the classic approach to fine dining, with white starched tablecloths, hushed dining rooms and neatly tweezer’d plates of food.

The eight-course degustation is full of the clean, timeless flavours that the great chef is well known for. A heavenly bread course comes in the form of a croissant-style dough laced with dried seaweed and served with whipped truffle butter.

Seafood shines in a sublime plate of tuna sashimi, the delicate slices of deep pink fish seasoned so perfectly by the peppery trio of wasabi, ginger and mustard cress, and the tiniest amount of soy. A lingering savoury vinaigrette bathes poached scampi meat. The vinaigrette, infused with coffee, is a genius balance of the sweet crustacean alongside the savoury notes of the roasted coffee.

The confit ocean trout that’s made the history books remains an exemplary dish, the expertly prepped fish crowned with a crust of chives and crispy kombu and served with a crunchy salad of apple and bitter witlof.

Wait staff excel with recommendations and explanations, carefully pairing a fruit-forward ’06 vouvray with the delicate flavours of the sea, before a bolder Bachelet Monnot Bourgone to stand up to oyster pearl meat with chicken and an earthy shitake mushroom jus. It’s old school, and – while there is room for updates – in a food world where everyone wants to be new, there’s something charming about staying the same.