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A SUNNY DECEMBER MORNING IN NADI, FIJI

Tubbymistress is sitting in the backseat of an old taxi, en route from Fiji’s international airport to the palm-tree lined paradise known as Denarau Island. The contrast between the streets of Nadi and the tourist hotspot is immense, as if a veil of instant paradise has been made to order, leaving the rest of Fiji shrouded in third-world darkness.

FRIENDLY TAXI DRIVER (glancing at Tubbymistress in the rear-view mirror): There is regular time, and there is ‘Fiji time’. Only the planes run to schedule, you know.

The taxi headed over the narrow bridge and into Paradise.

The dining room at the pretty La Petanque

La Petanque is more south of France than Fiji. Instead of palm trees, you’ll find a beautiful garden that winds down to an equally charming restaurant. Instead of wonderful but sometime forgetful ladies delivering pina coladas to bikini-clad Tubbymistresses reclining on poolside deck chairs, you’ll find polite and friendly staff who make a habit of greeting you at the door as you arrive. The one thing that La Petanque and Fiji have in common is that they both seem to run to ‘Fiji time’ – perhaps not a bad thing if you’re here for a leisurely Sunday lunch.

Coffin Bay oysters, served with cabernet and shallot vinaigrette

The food lives up to La Petanque’s celebration of elegance and colour, a feast for the eyes as much as it is for the tastebuds. The menu is unmistakably French, with overt name-checking of Australian ingredients to emphasise the locality and quality of its produce, including ‘Coffin Bay oysters’, ‘South Gippsland-farmed rabbit’, ‘Moorooduc vine tomato tart’, ‘Port Phillip Bay snapper’, ‘Dromana and Devon Meadows green beans and baby vegetables’. The warm salad of spring vegetables, which was shared between two, was sourced locally but looks like a French summer: it’s the epitome of simplicity on the plate and, so light and fresh, I could easily have eaten it all.

Daube provençale, King Island ox cheeks, light Shiraz jus, baby carrots, broad beans and mash

Such is my love of duck, there was one main almost screaming to be eaten. The duck breast with green beans was a fanned array of sweet, tender meat, accentuated by the many textures and flavours on the plate, including the subtly aniseedy star anise. Tubbymaster’s Daube Provençale, King Island ox cheeks was a nice alternative to the ubiquitous steak: incredibly rich in flavour and decadently combined with mash and red-wine jus, lightened visually with a sprinkling of broad beans and yellow petals. Tubbymaster is hardly fussed about seasonality when it comes to red meat, and this got the thumbs up.

Tarte fine aux pommes (Red Hill apple tart), mid spices ice-cream, caramel sauce

The Red Hill apple tart was a natural choice for dessert. Apple and pastry doesn’t get much better than Shannon Bennett’s tarte tatin at Bistro Vue: a caramelised wonder that comfortably feeds two, so magical that no other tarte tatin has lived up to its memory. The La Petanque tart falls into this category but, casting the Bistro Vue yardstick aside, this is a nice way to finish a meal, a tiny drop of caramel-infused ice-cream the only indication that this plate contained anything at all.

It’s a shame you can’t rush perfection, as this underrated restaurant would have been that much better if the meals were served a smidge quicker (aside from the tart, which is advertised with a 20-minute wait). The service and food is otherwise excellent: vibrant and pleasant on both counts, the latter tasting as if it’s been lovingly crafted for you to enjoy. Mark La Petanque down as a place to visit the next time you’re planning a trip to the Mornington Peninsula.