Best things we ate in Melbourne in April 2023

From the fanciest potato salad in the sky, to a masterful pavlova and beef-loaded tacos — these are the best things we ate in April.

These are the best things we ate at Melbourne restaurants in April.

Smoked eel tart. Picture: Wayne Taylor.

Smoked eel tart

Atria, 650 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

The ‘fanciest potato salad in the sky’ may be underselling the brilliance of Atria executive chef Michael Greenlaw’s smoked eel tart. Greenlaw tumbles cleansing grapes with eel flesh and cream, beneath a potato crisp and caviar, creating insane smoky, sweet and salty pleasure.

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Sea Bream Tartare at Prince Dining Room

Sea Bream Tartare

Prince Dining Room, 2 Acland St, St. Kilda

St Kilda’s iconic Prince Dining Room has entered a new era, revamping the once casual restaurant into a fine diner. You must try chef Dan Cooper’s sea bream tartare, which beams flavour. The fish, raw and firm, lazes in a green herb oil pool with dried chilli flakes giving it an almighty punch, along with cooling apple cucumber and nori mayo. It’s wonderful, made even better with our waiter’s suggestion of a Clare Valley riesling — all lime without the squint.

Birria tacos at Chilpa

Birria tacos

Chilpa, 2 Railway Parade, Highett

Guadalajara’s famous beef birria tacos are snug with three cuts of tender beef, guac and a lip-tingling chilli, accompanied by a cup of consommé born from the low and slow cooking process. Tradition encourages you to dunk the taco, sip the soup, repeat.

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Atria’s mixed berry pavlova is a work of art. Picture: Wayne Taylor.

Mixed berry pavlova

Atria, 650 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

The skills and thrills also carry over to dessert land at Atria, with ex-Tonka chef Kay-Lene Tan’s clever teardrop shaped pavlova ($23) with lemon myrtle ice cream a work of art. Shattery yet chewy meringue, creamy, zingy indulgence of that native ice cream, the sharpness of those mixed berries within — it’s sensational stuff.

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