Aru blends the flavours of Aru Islands, Indonesia, and China, with elevation from native Australian ingredients to the Melbourne food scene. We booked a last-minute reservation on a Thursday, and dined à la carte.
Food
We started with a spanner crab toast at $19 each. These were delicious. The toast was a soft, airy crunch with a punch of umami. On top was a balanced mix of black cabbage, pickled fennel and wasabi.
This was a lamb spring roll for $17. It had a great crispy exterior, filled with intense flavours of fatty lamb, onion relish, purple cos and sambal emulsion. We thought it was a good take on Indonesian food.
This was wagyu tongue and marrow for $25 each. Each was served with Vietnamese sate, pepperberry and betel leef. It was decent in flavour. There wasn’t much acidity, salts or herbs to cut through the fat.
The yellowfin tuna for $17 was also okay. It was marinated, placed on top fried rice noodles, red radish and shiso. We were glad we only got one of this.
Surprisingly for Mick, the heirloom tomatoes for $26 was lit. This was summer tomatoes with mapo dressing, fresh ricotta and crispy chick peas. It was refreshing, spicy and creamy, all in the one bite.
The king prawns comes in 2, for $35. This was grilled in sambal butter and garnished with Vietnamese mint. There was a tad too much sauce to protein ratio. The prawns had a nice char to them. Overall the dish was good but nothing special.
Mick’s mission to find a good duck in Melbourne continues, with this half duck for $79 climbing his rankings to number 1. This was a 14 day dry-aged duck with wood fired mustard greens, pickled muntries and bamboo. It was a unique combination that was done well. The duck was perfectly glazed with the most tenderized and juicy meat.
We got the Moreton Bay bug fried rice for $45. We had a few spoons and had to take the rest home because we were full. This dish also had spiced cray fish, sweet corn, bottarga and additional Yarra Valley caviar for an extra $10. It was good balance of sweet and umami, but needed a touch of soy sauce.
Service
We were seated at the front of the restaurant where we felt there were times we struggled to get anyone’s attention. The back of the restaurant was definitely more lively and attentive. The staff were friendly. The pacing of dishes was good.
Review
We thought it was an enjoyable meal, with some memorable dishes. We would return for the duck.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating.
