Best places to eat and drink in Melbourne and Victoria this weekend

It’s an outrageously delicious croissant, that was a sellout hit last winter. And now the teams at Lune Croissanterie and Koko Black have teamed up — for one weekend only — to tantalise Melburnians’ tastebuds again.

Whether it’s a chilli fish dish to knock your socks off, a luxe long lunch under the shadow of Mount Sturgeon or a last meal at a suburban superstar, here are Dan Stock’s top picks for where to eat and drink this weekend.

FOR MELBOURNE’S HOTTEST DISH

It looks like a cauldron from the depths of hell.

In fact, you can barely see the fat fillets of white fish that come swimming in a soup of a thousand Sichuan and red peppercorns and a field of wok-fried chillies.

Though it looks terrifyingly intimidating, it is instead a marvellously dexterous dish, the layers of heat — from the chilli base notes through the lingering antiseptic tingle of the Sichuan pepper — deliver such a deftly delicious high you’ll say, to hell with tomorrow, let’s live for today and go back into Satan’s kitchen for seconds.

Welcome to Sun Kitchen and its sizzling chilli fish dish.

The sizzling chilli fish dish at Sun Kitchen. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Unashamedly pitched at the pointiest end of Melbourne dining, Sun Kitchen is the new Sichuan/Cantonese rebrand of what was Albert Park’s fancy fine diner, The Point, which had, for the past couple of years, also housed a yum cha restaurant on its ground floor.

Now it’s two levels of hot pots and dumplings and tanks full of snow crabs and crays, abalone and coral trout, with high-end seafood a focus across the large menu.

Don’t miss the sauteed crab.

On a stunning, black ceramic plate comes a puffy cloud of whipped milky egg whites, in which an equally stunning amount of chunky crabmeat is strewn.

Joined by tiny slices of asparagus that add vegetal tang, pine nuts for heft and nutty creaminess and a scattering of dried scallop slivers for umami depth, it’s an absolute knockout of a dish.

Sauteed milk with crabmeat and dried scallop. Picture: Nicki Connolly

But be warned: it’s also $68.

From the Cantonese canon, you’ll find eight fat prawns, fried crunchy and served in a lurid orange coconut and ginger sauce in which the respective sweet and heat riff off the meat, while a bowl of beef hor fun — wok-tossed beef, beanshoot and noodles — is simple, tasty stuff.

Filled to bursting with big-name local heroes and four- and five-figured Burgundies, the wine cellar is built for Black Amexes in the market for big, showy gestures.

But for a dish that’s truly hot stuff, head to the lake to spice up your world.

Sun Kitchen, 9 Aquatic Drive, Albert Park. sun-kitchen.com

FOR ADVANCED AUSTRALIAN FARE

You still have two weeks for one last — or a first — visit to Altair, the stylish restaurant that’s brought a touch of hip to the hippy hamlet of Warrandyte for the past six years.

Owners Michelle and Kelvin Shaw have called time on their restaurant that won hearts and minds — and a ranking of 37 in the delicious.100 — with its celebration of native ingredients cooked in exciting and innovative fashion.

Just two weeks left to try Altair’s dishes of native ingredients melded with traditional technique.

With Kevin in the kitchen and Michelle serving out front, dining at Altair is an unassuming joy, where such dishes as poached squid with Davidson plum or corned lamb with warrigal greens and finger lime meld native ingredients with traditional technique to winning effect.

With a strong focus on the Yarra Valley, the expansive wine list is priced for enjoyment, while sharp service never loses its air of country charm. Altair is a joy.

Get in while you can before the last service on July 19.

Altair, 152 Yarra St, Warrandyte. altairrestaurant.com.au

Kelvin and Michelle Shaw are closing their six-year-old Warrandyte restaurant, Altair.

FOR A LUXE LONG LUNCH

Planning a winter Grampians getaway? Don’t miss Saturday lunch at Royal Mail Hotel’s signature restaurant, Wickens.

With its extraordinary views, a long lunch provides the perfect opportunity to drink in the vista of rugged Australian bush and the craggy faces of Mounts Abrupt and Sturgeon beyond.

It also affords ample excuse to be led by one of the best sommeliers in the state into one of its best cellars and sure, you can knock yourself out on four-figured burgundies, but Matthew Lance also has brilliant, exciting drinking at entry level prices.

A wide-eyed journey of discovery awaits for both novice and expert drinker alike.

Royal Mail Lamb at Wickens in Dunkeld.

Still making the daily changing most of its famed kitchen garden, the food is better than ever — more rustic, less fussy than in the past.

It’s hard to fault, for instance, a plate of estate-farmed lamb, deliciously creamy fat crowning perfectly treated meat that’s simply served with sweet carrot puree and tiny pickled rounds offering crunch and contrast.

A tranche of Great Ocean duck is equally expert, the aged breast with genre-defining flavour comes with torched fresh figs, with slow-braised leg meat wrapped in leaf an added bonus. It’s a knockout.

Wickens at Royal Mail Hotel Dunkeld.

Try not to fill up on the excellent house baked breads — though fluffy butter whipped with brewers’ yeast makes it nigh on impossible not to order seconds — for dessert at the end is as memorable as beetroot teamed with bone marrow is to begin.

And the second best thing about a long lunch? It comes with added afternoon nap.

Wickens, 98 Parker St, Dunkeld. royalmail.com.au

FOR A CHOCOLATE HIT

One makes the best croissant, the other makes the best chocolate, so when you team Kate Reid from Lune Croissanterie with Koko Black you know something outrageously delicious will result.

Reprising last year’s collaboration as part of this year’s World Chocolate Day celebrations, their sellout pistachio and dark chocolate twice-baked croissant that was such a hit last winter is back at selected Koko Black stores.

Filled with a seam of Koko Black pistachio marzipan, with pistachio and cacao frangipane and dark chocolate ganache, Reid’s famously delicate, buttery croissant is then topped with chopped pistachios, and finished with shards of dark chocolate.

Available at Koko Black stores — Collins St, Royal Arcade, Doncaster and Chadstone — this Friday to Sunday only.

Get in early and join the queue.

kokoblack.com.au