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Aria

Aria is a harbourside hothouse of money and style. Glass walls enclose players, wine-heads, shakers, movers, the odd member of chef Matt Moran’s TV fan club and an impossible number of waiters. On the menu, the most daring things are the prices, but within the confines of suave conservatism, the kitchen still finds plenty of room to flex its muscles. Specials are often dazzling: smoked wagyu beef tongue, falling in soft wisps across soft-yolked quail eggs and girolle mushrooms is all elegance. Come during truffle season for jamón and duck egg showered with black gold. Poached beef fillet and braised silverside, with rich, clean broth, mighty bone marrow and horseradish, cornichon and mustard accessories, is emphatic in its subtlety. Desserts please rather than wow. For panache, look no further than the encyclopaedic wine list, handled, as with everything else, with practised aplomb.