14th June 2012
After being out on tuesday for a late dinner, i was back out again (this time slightly earlier) on thursday night this time in the city at Pei Modern with a friend. A new restaurant (opened in February) from renowned Sydney chef Mark Best (Marque - 3 hats) this was billed as more of a bistro rather than a fine dining extravaganza but with the quality of a exemplary chef. After having seen a review in the age (15/20 indicating a hat worthy restaurant) and having walked past a few times in the past month i felt i needed to give it a try.
Located at Collins plaza on the ground floor of the Sofitel lobby it was under the big canopy that covers the entrance way, allowing us to sit outside and watch poeple go by without a thought for the perpetual rain that seems to be aflicting Melbourne at this time.
The restaurant inside was split into 2 sections with a bar and casual bar snacks on one side and the rest of the restaurant to the other side with the bar splitting the 2 areas. Dark with soft lighting and edgy furniture. We opted for the alfresco dining area outside which offered the same level of comfort but with an open view.
After getting settled and asked by several of the staff if we wanted the heating turned on, we settled in with the wine menu, (i choose a glass of white that was very nice) and the reletively small but enticing menu.
After a few deliberations, i went with the whole 3 courses and settled in for a throughly enjoyable dining experience. After we selected our food, we received some housemade sourdough bread delivered in its own cloth bag with housemade. Very good quality and a great introduction.
For entree i setlled on the almond gazpacho with blue swimmer crab with red grapes and parsley. A vibrant flavoursome, rich and creamy gazpacho with hints of almond and lemon is matched with beautiful chunks of fresh and delicate crab. The grapes provide a different tangy flavour and the parsley added an additional freshness. A sublime dish.
The main course was a beautifully presented dish of roast rabbit, saltbush, wakame and jerusalem artichoke. The rabbit was clearly slow roasted and was beautifully moist on the inside (although a couple of pieces were the tiniest bit rubbery on the outside) and excellently paired with a mix of nutty and salty flavours. I choose to accompany this with a side of Dobson's chips which were amazingly crunchy on the outside and have great flavour.
Unfortunately my favourite course of any meal was a slight let down after the inspired cooking of the previous 2 courses. Good and well worth having but certainly not in the same class as the other 2 courses. I went with a mix of white chocolate, mandarins, sorrell sorbet and milk wafers. Extremely fresh and very good flavours indivudally and wonderfully presented but the sorrell sorbet drowned out and muted some of the other flavours especially the white chocolate. A reweighting of the different ingredient sizes could have lead to another winning dish but as it stands it was only above average.
Food that was certainly very much more hit than miss and several highlights acomapnied with great service meant it was worthy of the 1 hat that will likely be bestowed on it in the next Good Food Guide. For 3 courses and a side dish and a glass of wine for $100 was decent value and is well worth a visit.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Bistro Theirry
12th June 2012
After heading out for more marathon training and returning to the office to pick up some stuff i ended up being too late to go around to a friends to hand over some DVDs, so being close to 9pm and way too late to go home and cook i decided to head out for dinner. After checking they would be still open (and not too upset about having someone come in so late) i headed to Bistro Theirry for dinner.
I headed into a restaurant with dim lighting, fancy table settings and a very french themed interior and waiters with heavy french accents that felt like it could have been right on the banks of the Seine. After taking a seat looking out onto Malvern road, i was offered a wine list and 2 menus, regular and a list of specials for the day.
I selected a glass of Chablis that was very reasonably priced at $12 and the wine list was very extensive with a slight tilt towards french wine but a big mix and very reasonably priced (no massive mark ups). For the food there was a dozen options for entree and main courses. I decided given the time frame that asking for the full three courses would be a bit much and given my love of deserts i went for the main and desert option.
For main course i went with a fairly simple dish of traditional steak frites. A thick juicy and perfectly cooked eye fillet steak with a perfect pink inside and had a crust of peppercorn accompanied with the pepper sauce. Excellent sourced meat and the double pepper flavour gave it a real boldness. The thin fries were crisp on the outside and moist on this inside. I also ordered a side dish of haricots verts sautes. Sauteed green and white runner beans in a delicious mix of garlic (that could be smelt as soon as they arrived) and thinly sliced almonds, it was perfectly cooked and an excellent tradition side dish.
For desert i went with another french classic of Crepes Suzette which was a masterclass in classic french cooking. A large thin crepe folder in the middle of the plate with a perfect grand marnier and orange sauce liberally covering the crepe. Topped off with orange sorbet and to finish orange rind that had been caramelised and covered in icing sugar. Great technique and additional touches created a flawless piece of french cooking and an sumptuous desert.
With the bill (a reasonable $90 for 2 courses, a side and a glass of wine) i also received 2 complimentary dark mint chocolates. A very traditional french restaurant that sticks to tradition and creates memorable hearty french classics with some modern touches. If you are out in toorak this is well worth a visit and is up there or close to the 1 hat french restaurants.
After heading out for more marathon training and returning to the office to pick up some stuff i ended up being too late to go around to a friends to hand over some DVDs, so being close to 9pm and way too late to go home and cook i decided to head out for dinner. After checking they would be still open (and not too upset about having someone come in so late) i headed to Bistro Theirry for dinner.
I headed into a restaurant with dim lighting, fancy table settings and a very french themed interior and waiters with heavy french accents that felt like it could have been right on the banks of the Seine. After taking a seat looking out onto Malvern road, i was offered a wine list and 2 menus, regular and a list of specials for the day.
I selected a glass of Chablis that was very reasonably priced at $12 and the wine list was very extensive with a slight tilt towards french wine but a big mix and very reasonably priced (no massive mark ups). For the food there was a dozen options for entree and main courses. I decided given the time frame that asking for the full three courses would be a bit much and given my love of deserts i went for the main and desert option.
For main course i went with a fairly simple dish of traditional steak frites. A thick juicy and perfectly cooked eye fillet steak with a perfect pink inside and had a crust of peppercorn accompanied with the pepper sauce. Excellent sourced meat and the double pepper flavour gave it a real boldness. The thin fries were crisp on the outside and moist on this inside. I also ordered a side dish of haricots verts sautes. Sauteed green and white runner beans in a delicious mix of garlic (that could be smelt as soon as they arrived) and thinly sliced almonds, it was perfectly cooked and an excellent tradition side dish.
For desert i went with another french classic of Crepes Suzette which was a masterclass in classic french cooking. A large thin crepe folder in the middle of the plate with a perfect grand marnier and orange sauce liberally covering the crepe. Topped off with orange sorbet and to finish orange rind that had been caramelised and covered in icing sugar. Great technique and additional touches created a flawless piece of french cooking and an sumptuous desert.
With the bill (a reasonable $90 for 2 courses, a side and a glass of wine) i also received 2 complimentary dark mint chocolates. A very traditional french restaurant that sticks to tradition and creates memorable hearty french classics with some modern touches. If you are out in toorak this is well worth a visit and is up there or close to the 1 hat french restaurants.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Golden Fields - Repeat Visit
22nd May 2012
After completing some more marathon training around Albert park, i decided to not bother cooking or heading back to work to grab clothes and just try to head into St. Kilda and go to Golden Fields. Despite coming in straight from training and in shorts, they let me have a seat at the bar (just next to a table with owner Andrew McConnell).
After starting with a glass of Grenache blanc, i also received some cumin covered seeds. A very nice bottle of wine and good additional touch of the seeds.
Similar to the last time i came i decided to forgo any heavy main share dishes and have a selection of small plates. Given the limited selections involved with McConnell restaurants (Cutler & Co., Cumulus Inc. and Golden Fields) i had some duplicate dishes from the previous trip and some new dishes.
The first dish was a different dish of pork belly rolled in a thin layer of chicken with kimichi and a chili sauce. Beautifully cooked meat with full flavours and more than a hint of chili and bite. Great flavours and cooking and perfectly put together dish.
The next dish out was a favourite from last time, the Hot Lobster roll. Still amazing with a hot buttered roll filled with a generous serving of cold poached crayfish with kewpie mayo and a garnish of watercress.
After this came a dish of soft shell crab, alternating pieces of lightly battered soft flesh and crisp legs combined with a slightly spicy and slightly sweet dragon sauce and a slice of lime to splash over the top. Very nice but a little too much of the crunchy legs.
The final savoury course i choose was also a dish from the previous visit. I went with the rustic shanghai pork dumpling with chili vinegar. Beautiful fleshy pork belly stuffed in a doughy dumpling. The chili vinegar provided some bite and additional flavour and was a good dish.
For desert i went with a repeat of the previous visit with a great dish of peanut butter parfait sitting on a puddle of beautiful salted caramel topped off with a scoop of soft chocolate and some chopped peanuts. Excellent dish and one of my favourites. Superb mix of flavours and textures. I was also accompanied with a free desert wine. Surprisingly with the ingredients (peanuts) it matched very well and was more subtle, fresh and less sickly sweet than most desert wines.
Overall a great return visit with a mix of old favourite dishes and new dishes that i enjoyed. Very small amount of dishes but each one very well put together and full of flavour. Good wine list and very decent value. A favourite for a light, quick dinner.
After completing some more marathon training around Albert park, i decided to not bother cooking or heading back to work to grab clothes and just try to head into St. Kilda and go to Golden Fields. Despite coming in straight from training and in shorts, they let me have a seat at the bar (just next to a table with owner Andrew McConnell).
After starting with a glass of Grenache blanc, i also received some cumin covered seeds. A very nice bottle of wine and good additional touch of the seeds.
Similar to the last time i came i decided to forgo any heavy main share dishes and have a selection of small plates. Given the limited selections involved with McConnell restaurants (Cutler & Co., Cumulus Inc. and Golden Fields) i had some duplicate dishes from the previous trip and some new dishes.
The first dish was a different dish of pork belly rolled in a thin layer of chicken with kimichi and a chili sauce. Beautifully cooked meat with full flavours and more than a hint of chili and bite. Great flavours and cooking and perfectly put together dish.
The next dish out was a favourite from last time, the Hot Lobster roll. Still amazing with a hot buttered roll filled with a generous serving of cold poached crayfish with kewpie mayo and a garnish of watercress.
After this came a dish of soft shell crab, alternating pieces of lightly battered soft flesh and crisp legs combined with a slightly spicy and slightly sweet dragon sauce and a slice of lime to splash over the top. Very nice but a little too much of the crunchy legs.
The final savoury course i choose was also a dish from the previous visit. I went with the rustic shanghai pork dumpling with chili vinegar. Beautiful fleshy pork belly stuffed in a doughy dumpling. The chili vinegar provided some bite and additional flavour and was a good dish.
For desert i went with a repeat of the previous visit with a great dish of peanut butter parfait sitting on a puddle of beautiful salted caramel topped off with a scoop of soft chocolate and some chopped peanuts. Excellent dish and one of my favourites. Superb mix of flavours and textures. I was also accompanied with a free desert wine. Surprisingly with the ingredients (peanuts) it matched very well and was more subtle, fresh and less sickly sweet than most desert wines.
Overall a great return visit with a mix of old favourite dishes and new dishes that i enjoyed. Very small amount of dishes but each one very well put together and full of flavour. Good wine list and very decent value. A favourite for a light, quick dinner.
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