Since opening five years ago, Embla has offered one of Melbourne’s quintessential dining experiences: eating at its kitchen bar. This is not to say all other seats are duds – they’re obviously not given the constant queue for walk-in spots reserved for “the disorganised or those looking for some spontaneity in their lives” – but eating bathed by the warmth of the wood-fired kitchen, watching vegetables and meat char and sparks fly, speaks to the elemental nature that underpins Embla’s approach to both food and wine. It’s all about not messing with ingredients – letting soured cucumbers do their crisp, tangy thing with dill and feta; perfectly cooked bavette steak getting elevated by fermented porcini; or a passionfruit posset proving how good a friend pineapple ice can be. Same goes for the wine. Embla’s is a brilliant list, collated with wit and wisdom and one of the earliest and most influential proponents of natural and minimal intervention wines on Melbourne’s dining scene.
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide 2022
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot of the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national Top 80.
Kristoffer Paulsen
