Open just two days a week and with only 16 seats, Underbar (oon-de-bar) plays a great game of hard-to-get. But the magic happening in this brilliant little diner behind a prosaic, unmarked Ballarat shopfront both explains and justifies the wait. Chef-owner Derek Boath, an alumnus of New York’s multi-Michelin Per Se, creates constantly changing, seasonally driven dégustation menus; 10-ish courses of adventurous, clever, original, but – best of all – completely delicious food that can have you planning a return visit before you’ve completed the current one. It’s a menu full of highlights, perhaps a chawanmushi threaded with crab meat, a perfectly cooked sliver of lamb rump served with bread and butter pickle and romesco sauce, or a dessert that makes the most of wild blackberries, dark chocolate and frozen meringue. There’s a great drinks pairing too, which might include both vintage cider and kombucha. The room is minimalist, the service warm, the encounter unforgettable.
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
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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.
Parker Blain
