Restaurant IGNI

"Spectacular as always, freshest ingredients, incredible favour combinations all artistically presented on the most pleasing hand made crockery. The serving staff are enthusiastic and always delighted to share the provenance of the ingredients and the inspiration for the dish skill-fully created by chef Aaron Turner . There’s a strong connection to producers here which I love. Same with the wine list, great selection of Australian and overseas varieties. Intimate atmosphere, beautifully lit for a relaxed dining adventure as you move through the degustation menu. A real gem in Geelong."

"We had the degustation menu. The food was ok but not fantastic. There's a long wait in between serves. Some of the portion sizes were ridiculous. There was one dish where we had a 2mm layer of puree. Couldn't even fill one spoon. Consideration the price it was quite underwhelming. Not recommended."

"Dined here and had the set menu comprising of the following dishes: - Small bite size snacks which includes crispy chicken skin with cod roe cream, saltbush vinegar crisps, oyster leaf, burnt citrus glazed radish, dried beetroot with macadamia cream, financier with duck fat topped with duck liver pate, and venison and murray cod jerky. A good mix of different flavours and textures to open up the palette, very tasty starters - Fresh spanner crab sitting on a rye crumpet brushed with honey butter, toasted with a soft and moist centre. Probably the favourite dish from the menu - Pipis and greens; nice aroma from the roasting, pipis were soft with some contrasting textures from the greens, cooked in pig fat for some flavour. Didn't felt greasy or heavy which was good - Cured red snapper and blood orange fruit wrapped with red coral lettuce; fish was lean and meaty with a burst of citrus from the fruit. Can taste the natural sweetness from the snapper but lacking some seasoning - Murray cod wrapped with cabbage savoy, grilled with woodfire; fish was tender and the cabbage added juiciness to the bite. There was some earthy herb flavour from the emu bush, chicken broth was gelatinous with a subtle savouriness - Brioche with honey glaze; bread was soft and sweet, nice and toasty outside. Paired well with the cultured butter and a bit of salt - Dry aged duck breast; meat was tender and the skin was slightly crisp, kumquat glaze added a subtle sweet citrus note. The side of Italian sausage was packed with flavour, not enough to pair with the duck - Smoked cauliflower puree and cheddar cheese veloute with grapes and topped with vine leaf; smooth and creamy, sweet with a mild cheese flavour - Artichoke tart; roasted artichoke with caramel as the filling, topped with preserved artichoke ice cream; sweet with a nutty note, tart was soft and crumbled nicely - Petit four; blood orange jelly and rhubarb tart Overall a pleasant dining experience; food was tasty but portion size was quite small for most dishes, especially the last two courses. Service was great; staffs were friendly and knowledgeable when explaining the dishes and the food was served in a timely manner."

"Small restaurant hidden in the alleylane. Waiters were very friendly. Unfortunately the meal did not meet our expectations. For a fine dining experience, we expect near perfection with each course as the sizes of each course were so petite. The snacks served were fairly average, we did enjoy the crispy chicken skin with the roe sauce. The oustanding course would have been the spanner crab crumpet. The duck was chewy and needed to be rendered more as we could still taste the fat and the skin was not crispy. The cauliflower puree was delicious however the amount in the bowl was so small that you could barely scoop any out of the bowel. I would recommend increasing the sizes of your dishes as they are quite small as most people will leave feeling hungry. The time each course is served needs to be sped up. It is not acceptable to wait 20-30min between courses. After reading the reviews of other customers I am also left unsatisfied with the food and price point as there are definitely many fine dining restaurants in Melbourne which would have delivered at this price point. We left feeling disappointed and not completely full."

"Dined at IGNI for Sunday lunch yesterday. From start to finish the food, service and experience altogether was amazing. The food was a great representation of less focus on flourishes, but more on creating absolutely killer dishes based on strong technique and great quality ingredients. The dining room was beautiful. Sunfilled with floor to roof windows, with a simple layout that's considered, but sleek. Service was second to none. Jo made my aunty and myself feel special, and it was one of the most memorable meals she's had for a while. Couldn't stop talking about. Would recommend to anyone visiting in Geelong to book in. Honestly first in class"