Brae is one of Australia's best restaurants and also places in worldwide top 100 lists. So obviously we were hoping it was good! We stayed nearby at Birregurra 1865 which I think pairs perfectly with the restaurant (and with the added bonus that the B&B owners will drive you & collect you from the restaurant again). Brae is a beautiful, small restaurant on a 30 acre property in the middle of nowhere (it's about an hour & half drive from Melbourne CBD). We were warmly welcomed and shown to our table. Australians do fine dining service right - casual, relaxed, cheeky and knowledgeable without being wanky/pretentious which can be annoying when dining in other countries. Every staff member we encountered was so lovely and friendly, it really made the night even more special. If you have dietary requirements you can let them know in advance, and if there's something on the set menu which doesn't take your fancy you can ask for something else. We were happy with the 14 dishes so stuck with that ($180pp, about £90) as well as the matching wine package ($120pp/£60). When you convert the prices to pounds it really is incredible value. The first 6 dishes on the menu are served as snacks - sometimes two to a plate. I loved each of these dishes - from the simplicity of the asparagus (served as two stalks on a plate, very minimal but just delicious), the incredibly refreshing pea tart and the impressive way of presenting a prawn two ways - the head, to suck out the juices with the body of the prawn wrapped in a leaf. I also really enjoyed the oyster even though I normally avoid them - I loved that it was served iced so it was almost like eating oyster ice cream. Weird but it worked perfectly. Onto the mains and I'll admit, there was a couple of dishes that didn't really work for me. The calamari dish had a too-powerful fishy taste for me - and I love fish. The broth was just a little overbearing for me. I am also not a fan of lamb and I was sorry to say the following dish didn't change my opinion - being washed in mussel juice didn't help. The broad bean broth though was one of the stand-out dishes and I can still vividly remember it now. There was a lot of strong flavours but they were really well balanced and the lovely creaminess of the yoghurt whey gave it a lovely finish. And the duck was the other highlight for me - I've never had such perfect duck in my life. I only wish there was a little more of the skin as it was just so lovely. I'm not really a dessert person but I couldn't fault any of these - the parsnip was an unusual thing to see on a dessert menu but the lovely crispness of it really worked. I enjoyed the matching drinks package - to call it wines is a little deceptive as there's a beer and sake in there too, but I was really pleased to see that for something a little different. The sommelier gave lovely descriptions of the wines which was really interesting and there wasn't one of them I didn't enjoy. The only negative thing I really have to say about Brae is about their water - they serve filtered rainwater and I just couldn't stand the smell of it. It didn't bother Graeme though so perhaps my sense of smell is just too strong, I ended up opting to have some of their lemonade instead to go with my wines. As others have said, this is a truly Australian restaurant and it was so lovely to relax in the countryside, enjoy the sunset and have a lovely evening of delicious food. - Reservations are essential and you'll probably want to book accommodation nearby as driving back to Melbourne after that meal would really be a struggle. - Brae are building their own accommodation onsite but it's very high end and around $500 per night, Birregurra 1865 is around $200. - Australian dining dress codes are pretty casual so don't feel the need to dress up too much read more