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Degustation dining is a long, unhurried meal of small courses, with the kitchen deciding what reaches the table next. You hand over the menu and find out as you go. The menus here run from four courses to 15, and the settings include hatted restaurants, a winery cellar door and a historic railway.
Degustation dining in the RedBalloon range runs from a 14-course teppanyaki feast cooked in front of you at The Rocks to five wine-matched plates at a Hunter Valley cellar door. Some menus pair a wine with every course, some leave the drinks to you, and a few add a winery tour or a train ride. The city and the kitchen decide most of the mood, so pick those first.
At The Rocks, the 14 Course Seafood & Wagyu Teppanyaki Menu puts a personal chef in front of you with Australian and Japanese wagyu and prime seafood. In Mosman, the 2 Chef's Hat, 7 Course Tasting Menu at Bathers' Pavilion opens with a glass of Champagne each, and a hatted waterside restaurant in Rose Bay matches a wine to every course of its 7 Course Premium Tasting Menu with Paired Wines. In the city, the Luke Nguyen Degustation Dinner with Wine at Botanic House is served inside the Royal Botanic Garden. Up in the Hunter, a two-hatted kitchen sends out the Hunter Valley Mini Degustation of 5 Food and Wine Pairings at the Hungerford Hill cellar door.
The Q Train 5 Course Dining Experience serves a five-course seasonal degustation on the Bellarine Railway, with table service on board as it runs between Drysdale and Queenscliff. In Richmond, the 5 Course Greek Degustation with Matching Wines pairs each plate with a native wine. Kew's 8 Course Sri Lankan Shared Feast with Dessert is eight share plates chosen by the chef, plus a dessert each, and in Mordialloc the Asian Fusion 8 Course Degustation Dinner comes with a glass of Champagne each and a chance to talk to the chef. Moonee Ponds has a plant-based option, the 5 Course Vegan Meal with Bottle of Wine.
Palette at HOTA on the Gold Coast holds three Chef Hats from the Australian Good Food Guide, and its Palette Dinner Tasting Menu is built around ingredients from local farmers. In Brisbane, the 7 Course Chef-Hatted Degustation at Deer Duck Bistro is served among French Renaissance furniture, and the Nine Course Meal at Otto in Brisbane looks over the river. A romantic wine bar in Hamilton serves the 15 Course Middle Eastern Seasonal Tasting Menu, and Cairns has a six-course Modern Australian menu overlooking the marina.
Adelaide's National Wine Centre pours matched wines with a four-course lunch and sends you home with a bonus bottle. In McLaren Vale, a wine-blending masterclass leads into an eight-course degustation at d'Arry's Verandah. Perth's 6 Course Tasting Menu in 6HEAD Perth with Wine looks over Elizabeth Quay, and the Darwin Waterfront 4 Course Dining Experience with Sparkling is built on Northern Territory flavours.
A degustation voucher gives someone a booked evening instead of an object: a table, a menu already planned, and a night with nothing to organise. Most of the menus here are set up for two, which suits an anniversary or a milestone birthday.
If you don't know whether they'd rather watch a teppanyaki chef or sit down to Italian-inspired seafood, the RedBalloon gift voucher lets them pick the restaurant themselves. It's valid for five years, so there's no pressure to book next week.
Degustation dining is a meal of many small courses chosen by the chef and served one after another, often with a wine matched to each. The menus in the RedBalloon range run from four courses to 15, such as the five-course degustation on the Q Train in Victoria, and both guests eat the same dishes.
RedBalloon has degustation and tasting-menu dining in Sydney, the Hunter Valley, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, McLaren Vale, Perth and Darwin. A popular option is the 6HEAD tasting menu in Perth, six shared courses with a glass of house wine each at Elizabeth Quay.
It depends on the menu. The Rose Bay seven-course tasting menu and the Botanic House degustation pair a wine with every course, while Bathers' Pavilion includes a glass of Champagne each. The 15-course Hamilton menu leaves drinks to buy separately, and the Deer Duck Bistro degustation lets you add paired wines on the night.
Usually, with notice. Tell the restaurant when you book, and expect to give at least 48 hours' notice at venues such as the Hamilton wine bar and Deer Duck Bistro. Set menus can't be swapped for other dishes apart from approved dietary changes, and at Otto both guests get the same adjusted dishes.
Smart casual is the dress code on most menus, including Bathers' Pavilion, 6HEAD, Old Parliament House and Otto in Brisbane. The Rose Bay restaurant asks for smart dress, and the Cairns waterfront restaurant asks for neat clothing and footwear with no singlets. Bathers' Pavilion also says to leave swimwear and thongs at home.
Yes, on selected menus. The Hamilton tasting menu takes up to 12 guests, Palette on the Gold Coast takes up to six, and the Sydney Dining Dome degustation is set up for four. Each voucher covers the number of people named in its title, so check the guest count before you buy.
It depends on the menu. Most state that guests must be 18 or over to drink alcohol and that photo ID may be asked for, and the Q Train's five-course degustation doesn't permit children at all. If you're booking a family meal, check the guidelines on the product page before you buy.
A degustation is a chef-set run of small courses, while a three-course dinner is a starter, main and dessert, often with some choice. The 3 Course Set Menu with Drink in Melbourne CBD lets you choose your main, and more dinners for two are a click away if you'd like to choose more yourself.
Dining experiences for two has set-menu dinners where you choose more of the meal, and winery lunches and wine tasting and winery tours cover the cellar-door end of the range. Q Train fans can browse steam train experiences, and date night ideas has options for the rest of the evening.