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Loam

The best regional restaurants exude a sense of place, and on that count alone, Loam sits with the top of the pack. The comfortable, simple dining room affords a brilliant view of olive groves, farmland and distant Swan Bay, while the “menu” – really a list of ingredients that will feature in two, four, seven or nine courses (your choice) –keeps an emphasis on the locally sourced and foraged. Local pine mushrooms might be teamed with crisp veal tongue; bass grouper could arrive glistening with pork fat and sharing space with avocado cream. Aaron Turner’s cooking can lean towards the experimental – sake-cured scallops with red cabbage gazpacho, for instance – but his strike rate is admirable, underlining plenty of well-honed method in the madness. A locally focused wine list and excellent service help make this one of Victoria’s regional must-dos.