25th September 2011
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon four of us headed to Circa The Prince in St. Kilda for a Sunday lunch menu and for me to complete No. 40 from my list. After entering through the first floor entrance and up some stairs, i passed through the restaurant and met up with two of my friends on the outdoor deck for a drink before heading in for lunch and to wait for our final member. The deck with a view over Fitzroy St. down to the beach it was a good place to hang and wait for people and have some cool drinks on a sunny Sunday.
After our last member of our party arrived we finished a drink and chatted for a while before heading into the main dining. A beautiful relaxed dining room with an open sun roof and comfy chairs and a very contemporary fit out. The Sunday lunch menu consisted of four courses with the first two courses being set and a choice of 4 main courses and 4 deserts. We also received some warm sourdough bread with some very nice butter. Was so good that we asked for seconds which i used to mop up the next course.
The first course consisted of a chestnut soup, with ham hock and artichoke chips. Firstly presented beautifully with just circular disk of ham hock covered in a batter with circular artichoke chips and some cubes of vegetable. The chestnut soup was poured over the top of of the other ingredients until they were swimming in a grayish soup. However the chestnut soup was delicious and rich in flavour and the ham hock disks were met with noises of appreciation. A great start to the meal.
The second course consisted of 4 smaller dishes to share. The first to come out was the cumin flavoured beetroot with goats curd and pine nuts. Beetroot is not normally my favourite food but it had good flavour and was well matched with the other elements.
The next dish was a shaved octopus with beans and a nice juice. The octopus was cooked well and tasted amazing with the beans.
The third dish was a suckling pig pieces, with slices of abalone and mini vegetables. Quality pieces of meat and the abalone was excellently cooked and not chewy. The final dish was braised hare with polenta. This could have been the best dish and smelled amazing but the hare was slightly over salted and needed a lot more of the polenta to combat the hare . However the dishes as a whole were of excellent quality.
For mains by accident we all ordered different main courses and sampled all the main courses on offer. I went with the slow cooked lamb with roasted artichoke, goat's cheese and vegetables. The lamb was perfectly cooked and i didn't need to cut the lamb as it fell apart when the knife was anywhere near it. The other elements of the dish were good but not great but the lamb was pure perfection.
The three other mains were salmon, mushroom risotto and a eye fillet (not cooked to the medium rare to rare specification). These mains however were cooked well and were met with approval.
The final course was desert with me and one other choosing the Queen of Pudding. A base of lemon curd sponge, with a layer of raspberry jam and topped with meringue. Accompanied with pouring jug of vanilla custard, it was a beautiful dish with every element being beautiful and a well balanced dish. The meringue was the best element as it was soft and slightly crisp. The other deserts were Nougat praline semi freddo with strawberries and mini doughnuts and a chocolate tart. All of these were definitely appreciated.
Four course of quality, exceptionally cooked food with a good mix of simple amazingly cooked food and complex high end technique food for $77. Excellent value and cooking and nobody left feeling hungry and with some of the members of the group that is always a surprise. The noises heard from our table would have told you everything you needed to know about the quality of the food. A great Sunday lunch and a exceptional restaurant.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Italian
20th September 2011
On a Tuesday night i managed to finish off number 39 on my list as me and Oli went to The Italian for dinner. A vast, expansive three tiered dining room showed some surprisingly warm touches in a space often dedicated to business lunches and dinners.
Oli having already arrived first had been presented with the wine menu and had already ordered a beer. I selected a beer from the decent selection but decided to bypass the wine. We were then presented with the menus whilst the waiter explained the wide selection of specials for the day. An extensive menu broken down into various sections (antipasti, primi, pasta, fish, meat and sides) offering a wide variety of choice and several good options to choose from.
However for entree i choose the special of pheasant ravioli. Three giant disks of pasta cooked perfectly al dente with a rich gamey, meaty filling and a delicious jus to accompany provided bold Italian flavours with some slightly uncommon and exotic ingredients.
For main course i went with the twice cooked half duck with savoy cabbage and orange sauce. The slightly caramelised orange sauce was delicious although there was not enough of it and the half duck was well cooked and fell apart from the bones easily. The rich duck was completed well by the lighter cabbage and it was a great dish.
Finally i went with the profiteroles. Two large beautiful chioux pastry cases was sliced in half and filled with a praline ice cream and then covered with a decadent dark chocolate sauce with crisp crunchy praline pieces. The dish was excellently constructed and the matching of flavours was great. The praline ice cream filling instead of cream was an interesting and well appreciated take on the classic.
Hearty Italian flavours that are not going to revolutionise cooking but were perfectly done. For three courses and drinks for $100 each, it was decent value as well.
On a Tuesday night i managed to finish off number 39 on my list as me and Oli went to The Italian for dinner. A vast, expansive three tiered dining room showed some surprisingly warm touches in a space often dedicated to business lunches and dinners.
Oli having already arrived first had been presented with the wine menu and had already ordered a beer. I selected a beer from the decent selection but decided to bypass the wine. We were then presented with the menus whilst the waiter explained the wide selection of specials for the day. An extensive menu broken down into various sections (antipasti, primi, pasta, fish, meat and sides) offering a wide variety of choice and several good options to choose from.
However for entree i choose the special of pheasant ravioli. Three giant disks of pasta cooked perfectly al dente with a rich gamey, meaty filling and a delicious jus to accompany provided bold Italian flavours with some slightly uncommon and exotic ingredients.
For main course i went with the twice cooked half duck with savoy cabbage and orange sauce. The slightly caramelised orange sauce was delicious although there was not enough of it and the half duck was well cooked and fell apart from the bones easily. The rich duck was completed well by the lighter cabbage and it was a great dish.
Finally i went with the profiteroles. Two large beautiful chioux pastry cases was sliced in half and filled with a praline ice cream and then covered with a decadent dark chocolate sauce with crisp crunchy praline pieces. The dish was excellently constructed and the matching of flavours was great. The praline ice cream filling instead of cream was an interesting and well appreciated take on the classic.
Hearty Italian flavours that are not going to revolutionise cooking but were perfectly done. For three courses and drinks for $100 each, it was decent value as well.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Ezard
14th September 2011
Coming into the last few months of my list, it is getting to the business end of the restaurants with some of the bigger names still to come, including number 38 being Ezard. Having been around and awarded 2 hats since 1999 the restaurant is renowned for its strong flavours.
Having been excited about this one for a while due to my love of strong bold flavours and spice, i had done a little bit more research on this one than some of the others and was torn between choosing the degustation menu or the signature dish of the restaurant (masterstock fried pock hock). I decided that i would prefer the degustation but would request a switch of one of the main dishes to the signature dish. I figured given the similar price between the main courses that it wouldn't be a problem.
However after being seated in the dark downstairs basement dining room and being offered a bottle of saporo, this request was declined. This was a little disappointing and i feel some of the other top end (2 & 3 hat restaurants) would have been more flexible.
However after that initially disappointment the service was very good and very professional, efficient and engaging. The courses came out in fairly quick succession but not so quick you felt rushed and they wanted your table for a future diner.
First up was a plate with both an appetiser and the first course. The appetiser was a salmon tartare with cucumber foam served on a Chinese soup spoon. Awesome light cucumber flavour mixed well with salmon tartare.
This was accompanied by the first course of an oyster shooter floating in reduced sake and mirin with a strong chili hit and the palate perfectly cleansed by the accompanying nori roll. A first hint of the powerful but clear flavours to come.
This was then followed by the bread accompanied by Parmesan, garlic and rosemary infused olive oil and a selection of three spices to go on top; a schewan pepper, roasted chili and rock sugar and a crushed nori. all great flavours but the combo of the sweetness of sugar and the after hit of chili was the best and was amazing and didn't hold back with the chili hit.
The next course featured a sesame crusted kingfish sashimi with creme fraiche custard, black garlic and a citrus and hazelnut dressing. A very small dish but quality sourced fish with clean flavours and well matched dish.
The third course was my favourite dish of the evening. Crab dumplings in a tom kha broth with salmon roe with the broth poured at the table. The broth was rich and powerful and but did not overpower the great crab flavour in the dumplings. Amazing combo.
Unfortunately my favourite dish was followed by my least favourite dish. A salad of asparagus, Persian feta and witlof with poached egg and hazelnut dressing. It looked beautiful but the Persian feta completely overpowered the other more subtle ingredients. It still tasted good but for me not a well constructed dish.
Dish number 5 was a dish of mulloway, mushrooms and a plum wine dressing that was also poured at the table. The fish was perfectly cooked and fell apart gently when provoked. The broth was also very rich and good, maybe a slight bit too sweet. However a great dish.
This dish was a dish comprising of the simple combo of apple and pork but done in a Asian inspired way with fantastic results. Sweet pork belly with peanut dressing and apple slaw salad. The pork belly was great cooked to be soft rather than crunchy and crisp. This was a great dish but i probably prefer the apple and pork dish served at The Point.
Now the penultimate dish and the last of the savoury courses. Here you are offered the choice of 2 dishes. Either the Chinese roast duck or the wagyu beef. Having had plenty of steak at other restaurants i choose the duck. (Also the wagyu beef was an additional $20). Perfectly cooked pink duck with a hint of schewan spices and accompanied by a green chili and oyster sauce (beautifully rich and powerful) and creamy coconut rice. Bold powerful flavours that enhanced the duck and created a memorable dish.
Before the desert course, there was a pre desert palate cleanser of rockmelon, a type of lemonade and a sprinkle of Vietnamese mint on top. A very good palate cleanser and nice flavours although little substance.
The final dish was the sweet dish of chocolate and passion fruit torte with blood orange sorbet. (Also available was a desert tasting plate - extra $15). Having had a work lunch and birthday cake i wasn't feeling up to challenging the desert tasting plate. The chocolate and passion fruit torte featured a passion fruit puree centre encased in a chocolate mousse then covered in dark chocolate and with a little chocolate base.
The light blood orange sorbet was the perfect complement to the rich dark chocolate and passion fruit torte. This dish worked beautifully and am glad i choose just to have this one rather than stuffing myself with the tasting plate.
Some great moments and some bold rich and aggressive flavours made for a great evening out and an appreciation and realisation of why this restaurant had been so successful and received recognition for the last decade plus. However some of the dishes didn't work for me and as such this restaurant failed to force its way into the top 5 of my favourite places so far and will have to settle for top 10.
Coming into the last few months of my list, it is getting to the business end of the restaurants with some of the bigger names still to come, including number 38 being Ezard. Having been around and awarded 2 hats since 1999 the restaurant is renowned for its strong flavours.
Having been excited about this one for a while due to my love of strong bold flavours and spice, i had done a little bit more research on this one than some of the others and was torn between choosing the degustation menu or the signature dish of the restaurant (masterstock fried pock hock). I decided that i would prefer the degustation but would request a switch of one of the main dishes to the signature dish. I figured given the similar price between the main courses that it wouldn't be a problem.
However after being seated in the dark downstairs basement dining room and being offered a bottle of saporo, this request was declined. This was a little disappointing and i feel some of the other top end (2 & 3 hat restaurants) would have been more flexible.
However after that initially disappointment the service was very good and very professional, efficient and engaging. The courses came out in fairly quick succession but not so quick you felt rushed and they wanted your table for a future diner.
First up was a plate with both an appetiser and the first course. The appetiser was a salmon tartare with cucumber foam served on a Chinese soup spoon. Awesome light cucumber flavour mixed well with salmon tartare.
This was accompanied by the first course of an oyster shooter floating in reduced sake and mirin with a strong chili hit and the palate perfectly cleansed by the accompanying nori roll. A first hint of the powerful but clear flavours to come.
This was then followed by the bread accompanied by Parmesan, garlic and rosemary infused olive oil and a selection of three spices to go on top; a schewan pepper, roasted chili and rock sugar and a crushed nori. all great flavours but the combo of the sweetness of sugar and the after hit of chili was the best and was amazing and didn't hold back with the chili hit.
The next course featured a sesame crusted kingfish sashimi with creme fraiche custard, black garlic and a citrus and hazelnut dressing. A very small dish but quality sourced fish with clean flavours and well matched dish.
The third course was my favourite dish of the evening. Crab dumplings in a tom kha broth with salmon roe with the broth poured at the table. The broth was rich and powerful and but did not overpower the great crab flavour in the dumplings. Amazing combo.
Unfortunately my favourite dish was followed by my least favourite dish. A salad of asparagus, Persian feta and witlof with poached egg and hazelnut dressing. It looked beautiful but the Persian feta completely overpowered the other more subtle ingredients. It still tasted good but for me not a well constructed dish.
Dish number 5 was a dish of mulloway, mushrooms and a plum wine dressing that was also poured at the table. The fish was perfectly cooked and fell apart gently when provoked. The broth was also very rich and good, maybe a slight bit too sweet. However a great dish.
This dish was a dish comprising of the simple combo of apple and pork but done in a Asian inspired way with fantastic results. Sweet pork belly with peanut dressing and apple slaw salad. The pork belly was great cooked to be soft rather than crunchy and crisp. This was a great dish but i probably prefer the apple and pork dish served at The Point.
Now the penultimate dish and the last of the savoury courses. Here you are offered the choice of 2 dishes. Either the Chinese roast duck or the wagyu beef. Having had plenty of steak at other restaurants i choose the duck. (Also the wagyu beef was an additional $20). Perfectly cooked pink duck with a hint of schewan spices and accompanied by a green chili and oyster sauce (beautifully rich and powerful) and creamy coconut rice. Bold powerful flavours that enhanced the duck and created a memorable dish.
Before the desert course, there was a pre desert palate cleanser of rockmelon, a type of lemonade and a sprinkle of Vietnamese mint on top. A very good palate cleanser and nice flavours although little substance.
The final dish was the sweet dish of chocolate and passion fruit torte with blood orange sorbet. (Also available was a desert tasting plate - extra $15). Having had a work lunch and birthday cake i wasn't feeling up to challenging the desert tasting plate. The chocolate and passion fruit torte featured a passion fruit puree centre encased in a chocolate mousse then covered in dark chocolate and with a little chocolate base.
The light blood orange sorbet was the perfect complement to the rich dark chocolate and passion fruit torte. This dish worked beautifully and am glad i choose just to have this one rather than stuffing myself with the tasting plate.
Some great moments and some bold rich and aggressive flavours made for a great evening out and an appreciation and realisation of why this restaurant had been so successful and received recognition for the last decade plus. However some of the dishes didn't work for me and as such this restaurant failed to force its way into the top 5 of my favourite places so far and will have to settle for top 10.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Jacques Reymond
8th September 2011
A decision during the middle of the day saw me surprisingly get a 7pm booking for that evening at Jacques Reymond's 3 hat establishment. Even on a Thursday night i was surprised that i was able to get a table at such short notice and given the amount of people who filled the dining room it was even more surprising.
After turning up at the restaurant, a converted prahran manor house that has housed his award winning restaurant since 1992, i has to ring the door bell before being allowed admission into the house. Greeted by a extremely pleasant and competent host i had my coat taken and was shown to my seat in the main dining room (the house is separate into three separate downstairs dining areas with an upstairs private function area) located in what would have been the living room of the house. High ceilings, beautiful lighting and furnishing and a beautiful presented and elegant table and place setting greeted me.
First note on this dinner was the service, rather than the wait staff feeling as if they were doing their job they were incredibly positive, welcoming and acted as if they truly enjoyed being there and discussing the meal and talking to you whilst being extremely polished and . You were made to feel important and like they really cared rather than asking the questions was just part of their job. The next part was the ambiance with you feeling a million miles away from the busy main road and the vibrant dining room added another level with people sounding like they were truly enjoying a unique and amazing experience and had to discuss each course.
We started with a pre dinner Gougeres. An amazing delicate flaky chioux pastry with beautifully cheesy Gruyère.
After ordering a glass of Tolangi chardonnay, i decided on the 8 course degustation menu (which ended up being 9 course due to a free additional course) consisting of 6 (+1) savoury dishes and 2 deserts followed by petit fours. The dishes were all amazingly presented and having a ridiculously amount of textures, flavours and techniques.
The first dish was the tea smoked chicken and watercress soup, potato foam, and a tempura wakame oyster. A rich soup with distinctive flavours that each shone through whilst complementing each other perfectly.
The second course was a gazpacho of tuna, daishi and pure natural tomato jelly and red plum. Even though it was tuna, my least fish i was absolutely beautiful dish (even better than the high standard of the rest of the dishes) and good flavours.
The third dish was the fish dish and featured a deep sea rockling flavoured with coffee and anchovy flavouring. Amazing strong and great fish flavour which was matched perfectly with a hazelnut foam, hazelnuts and slightly nutty rice. Amazing cooked fish and great produce matched with ridiculous techniques and flavours.
After the 3rd course i was offered an additional course. A caramelised scallop with a lobster dumpling and veal sweetbreads. A slight mismatch of flavours but every individual element was amazing especially the rich flavoursome lobster dumpling. And the slight mismatch of the individual flavours together was a slight hiccup in what was otherwise perfect dish.
The 5th course was a dish of pork in masterstock with fresh paperdelle with wasabi espuma and ponzu juices. The masterstock was rich and powerful and amazing and worked wonderfully with the pork and paperdelle. My favourite savoury dish of the night.
After this dish the servers came around with a choice of warm bread. Obviously designed to come out when freshly baked rather than just as a requirement for the start of a meal there was a choice of three breads and i went for the french epi bread with sesame seeds. Combined with beautifully creamy french butter it was so good.
Following this came out the 6th course being a rabbit, cooked sous vide until it was amazingly soft, tender and moist. Combined with crispy squid, spiced walnuts, compressed apple and a sherry vinaigrette, the textures and flavours were great if not a little subtle for my tastes. It like big strong flavours to be matched with my rabbit. However a great exhibition of technique, flavours and the meal was still of outstanding quality.
The final savoury dish was a beautifully cooked piece of wagyu beef, amazingly sourced and with perfect marbelling, it was an exquisite cut of meat with a slightly brown and charred outside while still pink on the inside. Matched with the black truffles (previously selected at an additional fee), a ketchup sorbet (which was slightly cold and had an amazingly strong but delicate flavour) and an egg white omelet containing daikon and a hint of chili. The wrapped omelet was delicious but the star had to be the combo of the well rounded flavour of the wagyu beef and the nutty truffles with the sorbet. Amazing.
The first desert course was served in a miniature martini glass with a bottom layer of orange gel with miniature strawberries inside, topped with a Tahitian vanilla mousse, coffee mousse and a caramelised nut filled dark chocolate ice cream and topped off with a coffee foam. A tiny bit too much coffee flavour for me but the dark chocolate with caramelised nuts was truly a revelation and the star. All the elements were amazing and worked ridiculously well together.
The second desert plate was the deconstructed cheesecake. So many brilliantly thought about individual elements to the dish and the presentation was out of this world. The thought process that had gone into this dish was awe inspiring but was still outdone by the flavours and taste of the dish. Casis soaked cherries, fromage blanc cream with a beautiful crisp icing sugar dusted pastry, a chocolate and bush pepper berries ice cream and a fruit block with a beautiful foam. Perfect!
After all the delights of these nine courses, the final flourish at the end was a selection of petit fours. These consisted of an extremely light and crisp churros regale with a decadent dark chocolate dipping sauce, a hazelnut fudge, fruit jelly in sugar, a crisp pistachio and lime macaroon with an beautiful filling and finally a praline truffle. Some small delight to cap off a wondrous evening.
I am sorry Momo, please move aside for my new favourite restuarant in Melbourne. Everything about this experience was first class and showed a level of polish and confidence in itself that is rare to find. I can only hope that the other two, 3 hat restaurants come to the party and match or even exceed the impossibly high standard made by Jacques Reymond.
A decision during the middle of the day saw me surprisingly get a 7pm booking for that evening at Jacques Reymond's 3 hat establishment. Even on a Thursday night i was surprised that i was able to get a table at such short notice and given the amount of people who filled the dining room it was even more surprising.
After turning up at the restaurant, a converted prahran manor house that has housed his award winning restaurant since 1992, i has to ring the door bell before being allowed admission into the house. Greeted by a extremely pleasant and competent host i had my coat taken and was shown to my seat in the main dining room (the house is separate into three separate downstairs dining areas with an upstairs private function area) located in what would have been the living room of the house. High ceilings, beautiful lighting and furnishing and a beautiful presented and elegant table and place setting greeted me.
First note on this dinner was the service, rather than the wait staff feeling as if they were doing their job they were incredibly positive, welcoming and acted as if they truly enjoyed being there and discussing the meal and talking to you whilst being extremely polished and . You were made to feel important and like they really cared rather than asking the questions was just part of their job. The next part was the ambiance with you feeling a million miles away from the busy main road and the vibrant dining room added another level with people sounding like they were truly enjoying a unique and amazing experience and had to discuss each course.
We started with a pre dinner Gougeres. An amazing delicate flaky chioux pastry with beautifully cheesy Gruyère.
After ordering a glass of Tolangi chardonnay, i decided on the 8 course degustation menu (which ended up being 9 course due to a free additional course) consisting of 6 (+1) savoury dishes and 2 deserts followed by petit fours. The dishes were all amazingly presented and having a ridiculously amount of textures, flavours and techniques.
The first dish was the tea smoked chicken and watercress soup, potato foam, and a tempura wakame oyster. A rich soup with distinctive flavours that each shone through whilst complementing each other perfectly.
The second course was a gazpacho of tuna, daishi and pure natural tomato jelly and red plum. Even though it was tuna, my least fish i was absolutely beautiful dish (even better than the high standard of the rest of the dishes) and good flavours.
The third dish was the fish dish and featured a deep sea rockling flavoured with coffee and anchovy flavouring. Amazing strong and great fish flavour which was matched perfectly with a hazelnut foam, hazelnuts and slightly nutty rice. Amazing cooked fish and great produce matched with ridiculous techniques and flavours.
After the 3rd course i was offered an additional course. A caramelised scallop with a lobster dumpling and veal sweetbreads. A slight mismatch of flavours but every individual element was amazing especially the rich flavoursome lobster dumpling. And the slight mismatch of the individual flavours together was a slight hiccup in what was otherwise perfect dish.
The 5th course was a dish of pork in masterstock with fresh paperdelle with wasabi espuma and ponzu juices. The masterstock was rich and powerful and amazing and worked wonderfully with the pork and paperdelle. My favourite savoury dish of the night.
After this dish the servers came around with a choice of warm bread. Obviously designed to come out when freshly baked rather than just as a requirement for the start of a meal there was a choice of three breads and i went for the french epi bread with sesame seeds. Combined with beautifully creamy french butter it was so good.
Following this came out the 6th course being a rabbit, cooked sous vide until it was amazingly soft, tender and moist. Combined with crispy squid, spiced walnuts, compressed apple and a sherry vinaigrette, the textures and flavours were great if not a little subtle for my tastes. It like big strong flavours to be matched with my rabbit. However a great exhibition of technique, flavours and the meal was still of outstanding quality.
The final savoury dish was a beautifully cooked piece of wagyu beef, amazingly sourced and with perfect marbelling, it was an exquisite cut of meat with a slightly brown and charred outside while still pink on the inside. Matched with the black truffles (previously selected at an additional fee), a ketchup sorbet (which was slightly cold and had an amazingly strong but delicate flavour) and an egg white omelet containing daikon and a hint of chili. The wrapped omelet was delicious but the star had to be the combo of the well rounded flavour of the wagyu beef and the nutty truffles with the sorbet. Amazing.
The first desert course was served in a miniature martini glass with a bottom layer of orange gel with miniature strawberries inside, topped with a Tahitian vanilla mousse, coffee mousse and a caramelised nut filled dark chocolate ice cream and topped off with a coffee foam. A tiny bit too much coffee flavour for me but the dark chocolate with caramelised nuts was truly a revelation and the star. All the elements were amazing and worked ridiculously well together.
The second desert plate was the deconstructed cheesecake. So many brilliantly thought about individual elements to the dish and the presentation was out of this world. The thought process that had gone into this dish was awe inspiring but was still outdone by the flavours and taste of the dish. Casis soaked cherries, fromage blanc cream with a beautiful crisp icing sugar dusted pastry, a chocolate and bush pepper berries ice cream and a fruit block with a beautiful foam. Perfect!
After all the delights of these nine courses, the final flourish at the end was a selection of petit fours. These consisted of an extremely light and crisp churros regale with a decadent dark chocolate dipping sauce, a hazelnut fudge, fruit jelly in sugar, a crisp pistachio and lime macaroon with an beautiful filling and finally a praline truffle. Some small delight to cap off a wondrous evening.
I am sorry Momo, please move aside for my new favourite restuarant in Melbourne. Everything about this experience was first class and showed a level of polish and confidence in itself that is rare to find. I can only hope that the other two, 3 hat restaurants come to the party and match or even exceed the impossibly high standard made by Jacques Reymond.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sapore
5th September 2011
For number 36 on the list, i headed into St. Kilda for the signature nights menu at Sapore. 3 courses and a glass of wine for $45 was a bargain that i decided was worth forgoing the full menu. Located on the Esplanade end of Fitzroy street, the dining room was a comfy, homely yet slightly romantic dining room which was a bit weird given it was me and a male friend eating dinner. The dining room also encompassed full glass windows giving a full view of the passers by.
With the signature nights menu, it started with 3 share entrees of pork terrine with Bruschetta, salt cured salmon with capers and creme and mushroom arancini. The pork terrine was great with beautiful bread. The salt cured salmon only had a slight salt curing to enhance the flavours of the Salmon and combined with the capers and the creme was a light and fresh and tasty dish. The mushroom arancini was a full mushroom flavour combined with the rice and a crisp outer casing.
For main, we had a selection of four dishes but both choose the main of gnocchi with rabbit and a tomato sauce. Tender fall apart rabbit combined fluffy gnocchi parcels and a homely tomato sauce. Nothing innovative but well cooked homely food.
For desert we again went with the same dish as the dark chocolate mousse, marshmallow and passion fruit balm was too irresistible. Quality dark chocolate mousse, with a slightly toasted marshmallow which was still light and fluffy and the passion fruit balm combined to form a trio of great flavours that worked well together.
Finished off with some extremely rich and decadent Milanese hot chocolate, it was a very good if slightly homely dish. Not going to win any awards for innovative cooking it was still quality Italian cooking that hit the spot. Also with a bill under $60 each it was hard to argue with the value.
For number 36 on the list, i headed into St. Kilda for the signature nights menu at Sapore. 3 courses and a glass of wine for $45 was a bargain that i decided was worth forgoing the full menu. Located on the Esplanade end of Fitzroy street, the dining room was a comfy, homely yet slightly romantic dining room which was a bit weird given it was me and a male friend eating dinner. The dining room also encompassed full glass windows giving a full view of the passers by.
With the signature nights menu, it started with 3 share entrees of pork terrine with Bruschetta, salt cured salmon with capers and creme and mushroom arancini. The pork terrine was great with beautiful bread. The salt cured salmon only had a slight salt curing to enhance the flavours of the Salmon and combined with the capers and the creme was a light and fresh and tasty dish. The mushroom arancini was a full mushroom flavour combined with the rice and a crisp outer casing.
For main, we had a selection of four dishes but both choose the main of gnocchi with rabbit and a tomato sauce. Tender fall apart rabbit combined fluffy gnocchi parcels and a homely tomato sauce. Nothing innovative but well cooked homely food.
For desert we again went with the same dish as the dark chocolate mousse, marshmallow and passion fruit balm was too irresistible. Quality dark chocolate mousse, with a slightly toasted marshmallow which was still light and fluffy and the passion fruit balm combined to form a trio of great flavours that worked well together.
Finished off with some extremely rich and decadent Milanese hot chocolate, it was a very good if slightly homely dish. Not going to win any awards for innovative cooking it was still quality Italian cooking that hit the spot. Also with a bill under $60 each it was hard to argue with the value.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Bonus Item - Ocha
2nd September 2011
Despite it recently losing its hat in the 2012 guide, i still took the 6 of us 6 weeks to get a booking for a Friday night at Ocha in hawthorn. Located on the corner of a busy intersection in suburban hawthorn attached to a pub, it did little to prepare you for the funky but extremely packed and noisy dining room.
Struggling to hear the waiters and even each other at times, the feel was far from the normal tranquil sophisticated setting of normal Japanese restaurants. Having never been to a proper Japanese restaurant such as this i was happy to be guided by others in the selection of dishes. Given the party size we decided to order a variety of dishes and share them between us.
We ordered some warm sake to start (ninja sake) that was very smooth and had good flavour. We would also order some gold leaf cold sake which had a less potent taste.
First to arrive was a dish we didn't order but was served compliments of the house - a small piece of fish marinated in sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Clean beautiful fish with a subtle but great flavour.
Next up was the Pork and vegetable gyoza. A slightly crisp outside dumpling casing and very good flavour even if the pork flavour was slightly less intense. The next dish was the crunchy prawn balls these were served very hot and with prawn meat packed inside the cornflake type fried outside. Very intense flavours and good contrast in textures. Great dish.
Next up was the Miso soup. This was my lease favourite dish and the flavours did not excite me. However everyone else seemed to enjoy it thoroughly and i will blame this on personal preference rather than any poor quality.
Following this was a selection of sushi and sashimi - consisting of avocado rolls, kingfish, tuna and salmon sushi and a variety of different sashimi. Well presented with a good selection the quality of the fish was great and the flavours were great with a gentle hit of wasabi in the sashimi.
The next section was a selection of tempura dishes, with some vegetable, prawn and nori wrapped crabmeat tempura. Delicious and flavoursome tempura batter combined with quality produce inside. The only issue was that the crabmeat flavour was a little overwhelmed by the tempura.
After much debate we decided that even though there was so many others dishes to try, we would move on to desert. The desert had a distinctly unjapanese feel to them but were no less anticipated for this. From an extensive selection of constant and a wide selection of specials, I choose the raspberry and white chocolate bread and butter pudding with vanilla bean ice cream.
The strong raspberry and white chocolate flavours were an excellent match and the soft slightly spongy pudding was truly excellent.
Other deserts included sticky toffee pudding, passion fruit mousse, green tea and red bean ice cream (only reasonably Japanese desert) and gooey chocolate pudding with chocolate fairy floss and ice cream. All homely delicious deserts and well appreciated.
Quality presentation of food, service and quality food combined with much conversation and fun meant a quality night out. Also excellent value at less than $60 per head. will be interested to see if the Japanese places still with a hat (shoya, Yu-U and Tempura Hajime) can match the meal tonight.
Despite it recently losing its hat in the 2012 guide, i still took the 6 of us 6 weeks to get a booking for a Friday night at Ocha in hawthorn. Located on the corner of a busy intersection in suburban hawthorn attached to a pub, it did little to prepare you for the funky but extremely packed and noisy dining room.
Struggling to hear the waiters and even each other at times, the feel was far from the normal tranquil sophisticated setting of normal Japanese restaurants. Having never been to a proper Japanese restaurant such as this i was happy to be guided by others in the selection of dishes. Given the party size we decided to order a variety of dishes and share them between us.
We ordered some warm sake to start (ninja sake) that was very smooth and had good flavour. We would also order some gold leaf cold sake which had a less potent taste.
First to arrive was a dish we didn't order but was served compliments of the house - a small piece of fish marinated in sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Clean beautiful fish with a subtle but great flavour.
Next up was the Pork and vegetable gyoza. A slightly crisp outside dumpling casing and very good flavour even if the pork flavour was slightly less intense. The next dish was the crunchy prawn balls these were served very hot and with prawn meat packed inside the cornflake type fried outside. Very intense flavours and good contrast in textures. Great dish.
Next up was the Miso soup. This was my lease favourite dish and the flavours did not excite me. However everyone else seemed to enjoy it thoroughly and i will blame this on personal preference rather than any poor quality.
Following this was a selection of sushi and sashimi - consisting of avocado rolls, kingfish, tuna and salmon sushi and a variety of different sashimi. Well presented with a good selection the quality of the fish was great and the flavours were great with a gentle hit of wasabi in the sashimi.
The next section was a selection of tempura dishes, with some vegetable, prawn and nori wrapped crabmeat tempura. Delicious and flavoursome tempura batter combined with quality produce inside. The only issue was that the crabmeat flavour was a little overwhelmed by the tempura.
After much debate we decided that even though there was so many others dishes to try, we would move on to desert. The desert had a distinctly unjapanese feel to them but were no less anticipated for this. From an extensive selection of constant and a wide selection of specials, I choose the raspberry and white chocolate bread and butter pudding with vanilla bean ice cream.
The strong raspberry and white chocolate flavours were an excellent match and the soft slightly spongy pudding was truly excellent.
Other deserts included sticky toffee pudding, passion fruit mousse, green tea and red bean ice cream (only reasonably Japanese desert) and gooey chocolate pudding with chocolate fairy floss and ice cream. All homely delicious deserts and well appreciated.
Quality presentation of food, service and quality food combined with much conversation and fun meant a quality night out. Also excellent value at less than $60 per head. will be interested to see if the Japanese places still with a hat (shoya, Yu-U and Tempura Hajime) can match the meal tonight.
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