Like sibling venue Restaurant Botanic , Tom Tilbury’s team at The Botanic Lodge can forage the trove of native and international ingredients in the Botanic Garden. The menu here is a world away from the urchin, emu fillet and foams of Restaurant Botanic, though. Instead, it puts elevated twists on nostalgic playground favourites.

As a tribute to his dad’s signature dinner, Tilbury is serving barbequed lamb skewers with a burnt-onion paste and pickled beetroot. Or, there’s fish’n’chips with potato rösti; a garden greens pasty served on a crumpled tuckshop bag and topped with grated cheese; and a crumbed Tommy Ruff sandwich, with iceberg lettuce and mayo. Crusts off, of course. For dessert, choose from a Golden Gaytime semifreddo, a lamington with quandong jam and coconut ice-cream, pavlovas, and Kitchener buns with Davidson plum jam.

Even the cocktails get in on the game, with drinks like Home Among the Gumtrees, a refreshing drink made with rum, house-made macadamia and strawberry gum oregeat syrup and lime served in a ceramic koala.

Tilbury describes the venue as both indulgent and casual; you can drop by for a glass of wine and a pasty, or settle in for a set menu (at either five or seven courses). Expect a soundtrack for the 80s kids too, with tunes from Dire Straits and The Clash.