The Botanic Lodge

Like sibling venue Restaurant Botanic, Tom Tilbury’s team at The Botanic Lodge can forage the trove of native and international ingredients in the Botanic Garden. The menu here is a world away from the urchin, emu fillet and foams of Restaurant Botanic, though. Instead, it puts elevated twists on nostalgic playground favourites.

As a tribute to his dad’s signature dinner, Tilbury is serving barbequed lamb skewers with a burnt-onion paste and pickled beetroot. Or, there’s fish’n’chips with potato rösti; a garden greens pasty served on a crumpled tuckshop bag and topped with grated cheese; and a crumbed Tommy Ruff sandwich, with iceberg lettuce and mayo. Crusts off, of course. For dessert, choose from a Golden Gaytime semifreddo, a lamington with quandong jam and coconut ice-cream, pavlovas, and Kitchener buns with Davidson plum jam.

Even the cocktails get in on the game, with drinks like Home Among the Gumtrees, a refreshing drink made with rum, house-made macadamia and strawberry gum oregeat syrup and lime served in a ceramic koala.

Tilbury describes the venue as both indulgent and casual; you can drop by for a glass of wine and a pasty, or settle in for a set menu (at either five or seven courses). Expect a soundtrack for the 80s kids too, with tunes from Dire Straits and The Clash.