Culinary Director Isobel Whelan-Little Tells Us the Five Dishes You Need To Order at Kiln

“We’re heavily produce-driven, and that comes from my background of growing up on a farm in rural New South Wales,” she says.

That combination of local NSW produce and the restaurant’s custom kiln makes Whelan-Little’s menu full of unique standout dishes. And don’t forget, Broadsheet and NAB have teamed up for Bookings With Benefits, a dining program that gives you $50 off the bill when you spend $250 or more and pay on your NAB credit or debit card at selected venues – like Kiln – nationwide. If you’re heading to Kiln for a long lunch or celebratory dinner, here are five dishes to order.

Tuna tartare, smoked curd, white soy, nori waffle

Winter is when tuna is at its fattiest and most flavoursome. For Whelan-Little, the best way to showcase that peak is to serve it raw, tartare-style.

“We get the tuna in every day and we’re slicing it almost à la minute, just before service, so it’s the freshest it can possibly be,” she says.

The tartare comes dressed with winter citrus like blood orange, a subtly smoked curd, and a crisp waffle layered with nori for more of that maritime flavour.

“It’s the subtlety of the smoke, the beautiful acidity from the winter citrus at the moment, and this excellent tuna,” she says.

Steamed pippies, sambal

Pippies don’t get the same love as the more mainstream molluscs, but Whelan-Little is making things right. Loosely based on a previous dish of mussels and ’nduja, this one leans more towards spicy Southeast Asian flavours, with a house-made sauce similar to XO.

“All the leftover bits of the tuna that aren’t suitable for tartare go into this sambal. We’re smoking them, drying them, and then cooking them out in a heap of butter and oil.”

The dish is finished with native sea vegetables like seabliteand native herbs like river mint for a deep and complex flavour that lets those pippies shine.

“It’s got the hit of the acidity from the sambal, but then the real freshness and tartness of the raw [sea vegetables and herbs] that go in the end, and they’re just stir-fried through,” says Whelan-Little.

Wood roasted leek, almond harissa, sesame togarashi

Whelan-Little casts a wide net with her food – as seen in this combo of North African and Japanese flavours. This dish started as a staff meal, but has made it onto the restaurant menu with a spicy upgrade.

“[NSW farm] Living Earth had an abundance of these small, sweet peppers, so we fermented them, and then we thought, ‘How do we incorporate this into a dish?’” says Whelan-Little. “The easiest thing for us to do was lean into an almond harissa-type vibe.”

The leeks are roasted over the fire, seasoned with the almond harissa, and dressed with a unique take on the Japanese spice blend togarashi, combining gochujang, citrus and sesame. The result is one of Whelan-Little’s favourite dishes on the menu.

Whole dry-aged duck, rhubarb glaze, pickled condiments

Growing up, Whelan-Little’s parents raised ducks – and a family story is the inspiration for Kiln’s whole-roasted duck.

“When I was a young kid, I came home and I said, ‘Oh, we’re having duck again tonight?’ like, ‘Poor me’,” she says. “So having a whole roast duck is, like, my homage to my parents.”

There are a few embellishments on the original, of course. Whelan-Little says her mum would stew garden-grown rhubarb with her duck, while the Kiln version instead features a rhubarb glaze. House-made kimchi and seasonal persimmon offset the rich, fatty poultry, and a simple serving of crunchy greens helps freshen things up, too.

Confit potato, miso cured egg

As for sides for the duck, Whelan-Little’s pick is this crispy, crunchy confit potato.

“A whole-roasted duck, leaves, pickles and ferments, and then this potato dish is kind of what I grew up with,” she says.

The dish is essentially a double-fried chunky potato that’s slowly cooked in fat, pressed and cooked again for service, then served with a buttery sauce based around miso-cured and lightly cooked egg yolk.

The Broadsheet Dining Program Special Offer of a $50 discount when you spend $250 or more is available when you dine at a Participating Restaurant between 13 January 2026 and 16 December 2026. To be eligible for the Discount Offer, you must make a booking via the NAB Exclusive Booking Link for the Participating Restaurant which is found on the Broadsheet Booking Page and spend a minimum of $250 on your NAB credit card. Between 2 June 2026 and 16 December 2026, Select venues will also accept NAB debit card payments. The Discount Offer will apply at the Restaurant when you pay the final bill amount including GST and service fees and charges (if any) with your NAB credit card (includes a digital NAB credit card) or NAB debit card (includes a digital NAB debit card) at select venues. The Discount Offer is only valid once per booking and will not apply to any split bills and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers. For the full Terms and Conditions of this Offer, please click here.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with NAB.