delicious.100: Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is crowned Melbourne’s best restaurant.

Many, many things make Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner by Heston such a flawless dining delight.

Heston Blumenthal at his namesake restaurant in Melbourne.

IT’S not for the fact it swaps The Fat Duck’s whimsy for culinary wit that transforms historical British gastronomy into the food of today.

Or that it offers a traditional restaurant experience, right down to the entree-main-dessert choices, and where those popping in for a steak and chips are as welcome as those sitting down to a full Chef’s Table extravaganza.

Dinner by Heston.

It’s not for the meat fruit — the picture perfect mandarin parfait that surpasses its Insta-hype — or the curried kangaroo swimming in a glorious saffron risotto that’s named Rice and Flesh. Nor is it for a myopic focus on produce and flavour that the small army of chefs transform into dishes the relative simplicity of which belies multilayered complexity.

Meat fruit.

It’s not for the pulley-operated spit on show, where glistening skinned pineapples twirl and tan golden to be served with the baked-to-order tipsy cake.

It’s not for the entry via the moody corridor that’s thick with the scent of moss and tobacco, nor the room inside that’s opulent in comfort, never stuffy in style.

Lamb and cucumber,

Lamington cake.

And it’s not for perfectly polished service that comes with a wink and a smile, or cocktails as inventive as the food, or the huge wine list that’s thoughtfully — and excitingly — created across all price points.

It’s that it’s all of these things that makes Dinner by Heston Blumenthal such a flawless delight.

Must-eat dish: meat fruit

VICTORIA’S BEST RESTAURANT: DINNER BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL

Crown Complex, Southbank.

Ph: 9292 5777

dinnerbyheston.com.au

Cuisine: contemporary

Chef: Ashley Palmer-Watts

Price: more than $80 a person for two courses, food only

Bookings: yes

Open: Fri-Sun, noon-2pm, daily from 5.30pm-late

Instagram: @dinnerbyhb

This restaurant was ranked the best restaurant in Victoria in the 2016 edition of the delicious.100.