Nora - Melbourne

I'm a bit divided on my experience here. The highs were really high, but the lows were also really really low.<br/ <br/ First off, service and the venue was great. My only complaint was how secretive the waitress was about each dish. I totally understand keeping the diners guessing on the ingredients, but felt we would've appreciated it more if they had told us after the first few mouthfuls, instead of making us wait till the menu was emailed to us. I mean if you're going to serve ants in the entree or tripe as a dessert why not brag about it????<br/ <br/ Our starters and snacks and desserts were amazing, but the mains were a massive fail. I totally understand that the chef was attempting to play on<br/ the sweetness in Thai cuisine's savoury dishes, however I don't think he quite made it. Duck and banana isn't innovative, it's just not right (but the duck was perfectly cooked) and the granita over our mackarel was far too sweet for the fish.<br/ <br/ We also got the matched alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and the non-alcoholic ones are a MUST!!!! I dont often say this, but they were way better than their alcoholic counterparts. Brie and lychee? Who knew they'd go together. On the other hand though, whiskey and bread? Far too heavy handed.<br/ <br/ I'm still undecided on how I feel about Nora, all I know is I walked away craving good, simple dishes that I could appreciate without thinking too hard.

You have to try this place!!<br <br What you see does not equal what you eat.<br This place challenges your taste smell with textures that you thought you knew all into confusion.<br <br Awesome food, 10 courses of clever and craziness.<br <br I would highly recommend to have the non alcoholic drinks with your degustation as it compliments and enhances the food.<br <br Good job!

Had an absolutely fantastic dinner at Nora. I can't decide if I preferred the degustation here or Vue De Monde. While the restaurant is much more low key, the quality of the food is extremely high as is the overall dining experience. The unique flavours, beautiful presentation and overall flow of the meal was fantastic. The service was the perfect level of attentive, but not intrusive. For those who enjoy Thai/Asian flavours, I highly recommend.

Faultless. Experimental. Classy. Unpretentious. Delicious. These are all the words I can use to describe our dinner last night at Nora. From the moment we walked in and saw that there were only ten table settings for the whole restaurant, we knew this would be a personalised, intimate dining experience. The staff were so attentive and served us with a smile the whole night. The chef was able to accommodate our dietary requirements fantastically, and every dishes was packed so full of flavour, and so creative that it just left us in awe. The alcohol pairing worked brilliantly and was well thought out. One of the best dining experiences you will find in Melbourne. Highly recommend!

Honestly the best and most surprising dining experience I've ever had. I need more words in my vocabulary to describe the journey we took this evening. Like closing your eyes and blindly jumping in to the clouds.