Babae Ballarat restaurant review 2024

The regional city’s new hotel restaurant is behind a value for money fine dining experience unlike anywhere else in town.

Babae takes hotel restaurant dining to a new level.

Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore – or should I say, Ballarat.

We’re a world away, eating in technicolour and drinking in dreams.

If I didn’t know better, I’d guess we were in Daylesford, maybe the Yarra Valley – or a fancy friend’s holiday house somewhere I could never afford to buy.

But as fork finds my mouth and wine kisses the lips, it becomes abundantly clear we’ve struck gold in B-town.

Raspberries from the restaurant’s farm outside of Bendigo are muddled and fizzed with soda and egg whites to create the most refreshing pre-lunch sour.

Then there’s a two-bite mushroom cannoli made from a parfait of oyster mushrooms grown in Scotchmans Lead about 20 minutes’ drive from here.

And a sourdough that’ll steal your heart with every warm, butter-softening bite, made from a holy grail of local producers – including the bakery next door.

Babae is a few months shy of completing its lap around the sun, but this smart fine diner could well be the best dining experience in town.

Jerusalem artichoke and chestnut soup.

Run by boutique hoteliers and Goldfields locals David Cook-Doulton and Martin Shew, this intimate 30-seater is one of three restaurants launched by the powerhouse duo in the past 12 months. (The third, Terrae, lands in Bendigo this spring.)

Babae lives inside Hotel Vera, a seven-suite hotel that easily takes the prize of any reality reno show. It’s more home than hotel, more living room than restaurant.

Celebrated chef Tim Foster (Source Dining) moved into the space last year, after a botched deal with the city’s other fine diner turned sour.

Foster’s mission seems simple: celebrate local producers while reinventing the dusty ol’ degustation.

Nobody wants to be rocking in the foetal position after a dinner.

Here he makes lunch a sensible three courses, for a very reasonable $90 price, led by a procession of two-bite snacks, entree, main and dessert with the freedom to add extra courses for a fee. Dinner is $190 a pop, yet extra courses are built into that price.

Wine pair, or choose your own adventure – or go completely veggo (with notice).

No matter how you run the Babae race, the destination is undoubtedly worth every bite.

Foster’s vision, executed by head chef Eliott Phillips (formerly Lake House), is proper and polished, yet approachable and delicious for quizzical regional eaters.

Double down on duck.

We start with that two-bite cannoli, a whisper of umami frosting piped in a stubby cylinder of brik pastry. Magnificent. Next up, a puff of Castlemaine’s Long Paddock blue cheese inside a gougeres (choux) cloud. The third bite? Smoked Tuki trout and creme fraiche tart topped with Yarra Valley roe adding a fresh burst of energy.

A midwinter soup of velvety Jerusalem artichokes amps up the indulgence poured tableside over roasted oyster mushrooms, chestnuts and fried artichoke chips with oyster foam and a just-cooked googer adding extra lush with every mouthful. A clear standout.

Go one further and add truffles (for an extra dime); while not essential, they up both the wow and umami factor in one swoop.

We add an extra course, a seasonal haul of West Australian pan-kissed scallops, though in hindsight this wasn’t essential.

A deconstructed pink lady apple pie.

Showroom? Posh friend’s kitchen? We’re not in Ballarat anymore.

Instead you’ll need your attention for the double duck main, dry-aged breast, confit leg and a smattering of sauces and veg, as things start to overcomplicate.

It’s almost as if you can see Foster’s brain ticking over on the plate – there are many elements to wrap our minds and mouths around, and while all play nicely together, I wonder if it’s a little excessive? I felt more strongly about this point come dessert, a deconstructed pink lady apple pie decorated with green apple gel splotches, cardamom ice cream and a malted milk powder crumble. A milk chocolate ganache, studded with pistachios and hiding beneath a basket of katafi pastry, seemed unnecessary and out of place – though it didn’t stop me from eating everything.

Are we done with the degustation, tweezers and fiddly plating? Is fine dining dead? Babae proves it still has a place, when treated with the grace and care of Foster and his kitchen crew, a stellar front of house team and hotel custodians Martin and David.

Bravo, Babae.