Supernormal

30th November 2015

Whilst in the city looking for some early Christmas shopping, i decided to drop in and grab some food at Supernormal. This is a similar venture to Golden Fields that was previously in St Kilda by the same owner, Andrew McConnell who has a series of restaurants throughout Melbourne. Located in the corner on the ground of an all glass multi storey office building, the location is an interesting choice and weirdly contrasts the interior of wood, blank white walls and occasional LED signage.

The night i went was packed and loud for a Monday night (rather than a quiet break from shopping) and i was lucky to get a seat at the counter tops overlooking the customary Andrew McConnell open kitchen.

The menu is a modern Australian version of Asian food and cuisine with an emphasis on sharing and snack food broken up into several sections.

I decided on 2 small dishes and a slightly larger dish followed by a similar desert i tried and loved at Golden Fields. (I resisted the desire to order the White Cut Chicken with Sesame, Wombok and Chili Oil salad as i have previously had it at Golden Fields and recently at Taste of Melbourne). As I was dining by myself they offered the option of half serves of their dishes which allowed for more variety.

I started with one of the specials - a half serve (single piece) of Beef Yakatori served on a wooden skewer and flavoured with pepper sauce. Well cooked beef with a slight hint of peppery seasoning and flavour was a decent and tasty start.

The next dish up was Pan Fried Spicy Beef Bun. Served piping hot, a crisp bun packed full of shredded beef that had been marinated in a rich sauce which added a good flavouring and decent hit of spice to the fall apart meat.

The last savoury dish i choose was another of the daily specials, Buttermilk Chicken with a variety of sauces. A little fiddly with the bones intact and only chopsticks to eat with (i probably could have asked for other cutlery), so i mostly used hands (although the food was again piping hot). A crispy outer shell encasing the chicken was excellent and the sauces were great too.

After the savoury dishes i moved onto the desert which was an old favourite from Golden Fields, smooth and delicious Peanut Butter Parfait surrounded by a sea of Salted Caramel sauce with a scoop of decadent and rich Soft Chocolate and covered in a smattering of crushed peanuts. Excellent balance of flavours and a simple but perfect dessert that i could eat forever.

Along with a couple of glasses of beer, the tab came to less than $60. Good helpful and informative service that despite the busy dinner service was always there when u needed it. A similar venture to an old favourite and well worth a visit.

Roving Marrow

10th October 2015

For my 32nd birthday i organised for me and friends and family to head out to a new restaurant that i had heard good reviews of and had been awarded a Hat in the latest 2016 Good Food Guide. Located in the back of the recently renovated Astor hotel in the northern part of Lygon street on the corner of Elgin Street, the restaurant was a small section located past the bar in the back corner. Simple and sleek decor, furniture and plates, glasses and cutlery.

After an initial drink in the bar, we headed through to our table in the restaurant. Whilst trying to decide on our approach for our meal, we decided to go with some snacks of Oysters with condiments (which i didn't have) and a Cigars of chicken liver parfait, date and salted peanut. A crisp shell filled with rich chicken parfait and topped with date puree and crushed peanuts, it was a great start to the meal (although my brother Joe would not agree).

After much debate and helpful advice from our waiter, we settled on four different shared dishes with sufficient to share between the 8 of us. We ended up with half of the dish each.

The first dish was Mozzarella 'pasta',  peas, chevre & basil. Mozzarella fashioned into fettuccini style pasta with excellent flavour and complemented by the flavours of the peas and peas and basil puree.

The next dish was my personal favourite, expertly cooked pieces of roast duck, roasted brussel spouts and crisp nuts. Warm, rich and decadent with excellent flavours and perfect balance.

The next dish was the Chinese roasted pork belly, perfectly cooked and crispy and covered in a layer of red peppers and red cabbage. It was an excellent dish with perfectly cooked individual components and worked well together.

The final main course was chunks of Cape Grim beef and mixed with slices of sweet onion, turnips and radishes. The beef was cooked perfectly and the dish was homely warm and delicious.

For dessert i choose the Passionfruit dessert with a bowl made of white chocolate and coconut filled with passionfruit puree, liquorice sorbet and shaved white chocolate over the top. Excellent flavours and textures

I also finished with a dark chocolate truffle cover with black sea salt. Was very rich and a great mix of sweet and salty and a great way to finish the meal.

All the dishes were a perfect mix of quality ingredients, great cooking with a mix of precise modern techniques and homely warm feeling dishes.Also at $15 for main course they came in at a bargain for such high quality food even if you do need a few mains to fill you up. Combined with a diverse and long drinks list with our bottle of wine coming in at $50 and quality and helpful service this was a rare treat of a night out with the meal all up for my appertisers, mains, desserts and wine coming in at $65.

Mr Wolf

5/9/2014

With having to work late to finish some work on a Friday night I decided to offset that by treating myself to some takeaway food from a Good Food Guide restaurant. As I was having a craving for Pizza and with Mr Wolf (14.5 out of 20) within a 10 minute walk from the office I decided to order a take away pizza and a dessert.

After ordering on the phone, i headed over to Mr. Wolf. Located on Inkerman Street on a busy corner in St Kilda with a dark but clean dining room with a long bar along the back wall in front of the kitchen.

For the Pizza i went with the Calabrese pizza (tomato, mozzarella, parmigiano, salami, peppers & chilli - no olives). Thin crisp slightly charred base with sparse but flavourful toppings, it was a slight cut above regular pizza. However it was also at a higher price point than most restaurants.

Whilst the pizza was good, the best part of the food was dessert. An amazing mix of Chocolate semifreddo, smothered in salted caramel sauce and a scattering of pistachio toffee popcorn. Rich smooth decadent chocolate with an amazing caramel sauce and offset in texture by the crunchy popcorn, it was a great mix of tastes and textures. Also whilst the pizza was on the pricey side, the desert was a bargain at less than $10.

Overall the pizza was a cut above but the main star was dessert. Worth a visit with helpful staff, quality food and a quality location and dining room.

The Grand

25th July 2014

For Oli's bday I headed back to The Grand for my first dinner out at a Hat Restaurant in Melbourne for a while. The Grand has retained its 1 Hat status each year since I last went in May 2011. Still located in an old pub on quiet residential street in Richmond, the main bar had seen an update since i was last their with new tables and a smarter less daggy interior. The Restaurant was still located through a small side entry door through the main bar which lead to a mix of old school dining with new school touches.

After being seated at a long table for 15 we were told that our host had organised a selection of entrees for us. On the selection was a sizable antipasto plate with a selection of excellent cured meats, buffalo mozzarella, pickled vegetables and bread sticks, whole char grilled calamari with parsley, capers and a wedge of lemon to drizzle over the top and finally the favourite of Potato gnocchi with brown butter and sage.

For my main course i went with the pan seared loin of venison with truffled honey & vincotto served with miniature king oyster mushrooms. Soft delicious perfectly cooked meat with the rich gamey meats offset with the sweeter accompaniments. The main course was accompanied by 2 sides generously provided by the host including oven roasted garlic and rosemary potatoes and a Rocket, pear, walnut and Parmesan salad. Excellent side dishes with the main and in their own right especially the salad.

I was a little disappointed that one of the desert i had eyed from the menu on the Internet was not on the menu in the restaurant but not too disappointed as the alternative was Bombolini - Italian doughnuts filled with crema pasticcera and served with honeycomb and caramel ice cream. Delicious!

Again service was good and dining room was nice. Wine list (which i didn't participate in) was extensive and varied and as with last time it was well worth the trip out of the way in Richmond.

Rosetta

5th December 2013

After discussing going to Rosetta with Em for at least 6 months and one cancellation we finally headed for dinner with Matt as well. Located at Crown it is the latest of Neil Perry's 3 restaurants at Crown with all three having a distinct different cuisine (Rockpool being the first with contemporary produce based cuisine, Spice Temple as a modern Chinese cuisine and Rosetta an old school Italian restaurant).

An old school classical restaurant located in a square box outside the front of Crown towers that has been decked out with no expense spared with a elegant foyer and entryway through to the main dining . (there was also a private dining area around the other side past stairs down to the bathrooms). The main dining room featured old school photos, old school chandeliers, drapes and comfy old chairs and banquettes. Also a old school new York style bar (but with some new school gadgets including a machine to melt block of ice and shape them into perfect circles of ice) and an extensive list of cocktails.

Old school dressed, confident and knowledgeable waiting staff that were maybe a bit too involved in the dinner at times but provided opinions and knowledge about wines drinks and food. After taking a seat ( i choose the really comfy banquette) and after much talking and not much looking at the menu we finally decided on drinks and dinner.

I decided on just a main course with a side and desert whereas Matt and Em went for a couple of antipasti items along with a main course each and after Em complained she was full she still finished off a desert as well.

Before the ordered courses came out we were offered some very good bread and excellent olive oil and there was plenty of refills of bread as we devoured it.

Em and Matt started with 2 antipasti that i tried a piece of each. The first was a dish of 3 decent sized meatballs along with a rich tomato sauce and a generous helping of shaved Parmesan. Very decent rich and flavoursome meatballs with good sauce and cheese.

The other antipasti was 2 thick triangular chunks of black pudding (blood sausage) which has been pan fried, maybe a little too much, with an excellent salsa Verde. The salsa Verde was excellent and cut through the richness of the blood sausage. However the blood sausage was a little too dry and a bit bland in flavour but a decent dish overall.

My main course was a dish of wood fired roasted lam loin served with a deliberate decent amount of fat and served slightly more cooked than usual as a result. This was an amazing cut of meat and combined well with a mixture of fregola, almond and preserved lemon. Great mix of flavours and a delicious dish.

This was accompanied by a side of extremely crispy potatoes with garlic and rosemary salt which were excellent. Didn't really match with the dish I choose but were delicious not the less.

For desert i went with a dish i have identified for a while and hoped they hadn't changed before i got to go to Rosetta. Described as Frozen chocolate, peanut and coconut semi freddo it was even better than described and expected. A peanut and coconut semi freddo covered in toasted coconut with a disk of frozen chocolate on the bottom surrounded by a pool of  coconut custard. All the elements of the dish were amazing and perfectly measured both individually and as a whole. A good mix of wonderful technique, quality ingredients and a well thought out dish.

Overall the restaurant lived up to most of the top billing it receives. Quality produce and ingredients cooked simply but expertly and with some imagination, perfect technique and with good presentation. Dishes were on the pricey side and definitely a restaurant for the grand occasion rather than a weekly experience but it was certainly special when combined with the service, extensive drinks list and a dining room that meets its mark. Very worth a visit and the wait.