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.
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