ezard at adelphi Ph: 9639 6811 ; 187 Flinders la, MELBOURNE 3000 www.ezard.com.au Modern Australian, $$$, ** for Food & Ambience Open Lunch noon-2.30pm dinner Mon-Sat 6pm-10.30pm, Closed Some public holidays; Licensed; AE DC MC V Chef Teage Ezard & Sharn Greiner (21-9-11) Owner Teage Ezard (11-10-10)

Mietta's Review
The hard architectural edges have been smoothed off this mostly sunken restaurant making it a comfortable place to dine particularly if you're into creative Australian cuisine. Chef Teague Ezard has made distinctive choices on everything you can put in your mouth, except the water. As Maggie thatcher would have said, "there is no alternative". The extremes of ingredient combinations have calmed a little over time and the accent is now on what could be described as the Neil Perry Asian mixture. The comfortable middle class clientele seem to enjoy the chef's prescriptive approach to restauration which, given the prices, is just as well.

Other published opinions

Gourmet Traveller 2012 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: Two Stars "Order poorly and Teage Ezard's punchy, predominantly Asian food can overwhelm with attention-seeking flavours. But outlay the time and money for the degustation (budgeting for the star-studded cellar, too) and things slot into place, the meal gradually building rather than booming"

Age Good Food Guide 2012 Score: 17/20, 2 Hats

The Australian Veg Food Guide 2011 Score: Food 5 Service 5 Ambience 5 Value 4 "It is a joy to eat at ezard. With a stellar reputation for modern Australian 'freestyle' cuisine, ezard pays careful attention to veg dining"

Age Good Food Guide 2011 Score: 17.5/20, Two Hats

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011

Gourmet Traveller 2011 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "There's still an unmistakable sense of drama as you descend into the Ezard bunker. The long, lithe space of clothed tables, wall-length banquette and bustling kitchen stirs excitement and expectation in equal measure"

Age Good Food Guide 2010 Score: 17/20

Gourmet Traveller 2010 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Ezard is a well-oiled machine. From the comfortably upholstered dining room to service that makes up in precision what it lacks in warmth, there's a real sense that all systems are functioning and in their correct place"

The Australian A List, 50 Great Australian Restaurants, John Lethlean, Necia Wilden, 5-09-09 "Teage Ezard graduated from chef tp restaurateur long ago (his other place. Gingerboy, can be sublime and patchy in turn) but his pioneering, self-described "Australian freestyle" signature dining room has lost little appeal"

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 17/20

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Dylan Roberts Teage Ezard's sleek basement diner is nudging its 10th birthday but shows no signs of weariness or complacency. Rather, its ease and confidence make it a joy to settle into the well-upholstered, neutral toned dining room"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 17/20, Two Hats "Opened n 1999

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Now eight years young, Ezard is ageing gracefully. Service has always been a strength but it's sharper than ever"

Herald Sun Dining Out, Simon Plant, 21/3/06 Score: 18/20 "Six years after he opened his restaurant, Teage Ezard is finding new ways to enchant and astound us. Capable staff anticipate your every need and the cellar is exceptional. It's pricey, but for an exciting high-end experience that never, ever feels formal, Ezard is hard to beat."

Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 17/20

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide ** "Six years in the basement of the Adelphi Hotel have not dampened Teage Ezard's enthusiasm for big flavours and artisan plating. Eating here continues to be an exciting experience as Asian European flavours and techniques are tossed together in a skilful juggling act."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide Best business lunches "If contemporary food is appropriate, both Ezard and Pearl maintain the same high standards, but with more of an edge in terms of what's on the plate and what surrounds you as you wheel-and-deal."

Age Sunday Life, Australia's 20 best restaurants Mathew Evans 05

Herald Sun Eat Bob Hart 11/6/05 "From the day it opened six years ago, chef Teage Ezard's basement eatery has offered some of the hottest food in town - literally, at times. Teague is a culinary superstar and an original thinker. His food is fresh, skilful, at times unconventional, but deliciously consistent."

Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 17/20

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide ** "One of Melbourne's most creative young chefs, Teage Ezard gravitates towards a style informed by Asia. Master stocks, citrus-or soy-based dressings, powerful aromatics and the use of seafood and raw vegetables give Ezard'sfood a lightness and power."

The Foodies' Guide 2004, Allan Campion,'Come and experience Teage's attention-grabbing modern Australian food.Asia and the middle East with classic European touches inspire the menu.Each plate is a work of art,as is the grooviness of this whole place.'

Age, A2, 17/4/04, John Weldon,'for $105 per person ($175

Herald Sun, citystyle, 23/3/04, Stephen Downes, Score 17/20,'a superior act. An important restaurant, it might be expensive in all respects. But you're getting here some of Australia's most advanced cooking in the national style.Service is perfect and the wine list is enormous and expensive. Nine table whites and seven reds are available by glass, and many half bottles are listed.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, 3 red stars, excellent wine list,'refined and mannered...radical Asian-infused food...at the root of all the dishes is a sound technique that creates basic, backbone flavours.Great staff, and an informed wine culture, makes this an extraordinary package for the adventurous eater.'

Age Good Food Guide 2004 18/20

Age, A2, 28/2/04, Matt Preston

Vogue Entertaining & Traveller, March April 2003

Age Good Food Guide 2003

Sunday Age, Sunday Life, Eat Streets, 27/4/03, Dani Valent

Sunday Age, Eat Streets, John Lethlean, 30/6/02

The Herald Sun (Weekend), 10.11.01, Bob Hart

Sunday Age, 26.11.00

The Herald Sun, 21.09.99, Stephen Downes Score: 13 out of 20."

Age, 07.09.99, John Lethlean Score: 16 out of 20