European

Marquee Restaurant

445 Toorak Rd, Toorak 9827 7938

Selection of breads accompanied with three house made dips

Mini wagyu burgers

Crunchy saffron arancini served with aioli

Braised lamb ribs served with sweet sticky sauce

Flash fried baby calamari

Grilled halloumi and chicken marinated in herbs

Thoughts:

Breads and dips – the ‘selection’ of breads comprised of sliced white bread and sliced wholemeal bread. These were cut up into primary school reminiscent triangles that were completely toasted so that they resembled slices of hard crusty croutons. I have never seen a restaurant serve sliced sandwich bread with dips before and found this to be quite bizarre and disappointing. The three dips that accompanied the bread were beetroot and sour cream, hommus and sun dried tomato. The amount of dip provided was certainly not generous and did not taste house made at all = Bad

Mini wagyu burgers – uninspiring wagyu patty served in a tough dry brioche bun messily thrown together with lettuce, tomato, relish, gruyere cheese and quails egg = Not bad

Crunchy saffron arancini – rather than being crunchy, these were stuck in your teeth chewy. I’m not sure how much (or if any) saffron went into these arancini balls but the only thing that I could taste was cheese = Bad

Braised lamb ribs – dry crispy ribs that came with a sparing but sweet sauce = Not bad

Flash fried baby calamari – the calamari was dusted with undistinguishable wasabi and was served with a side salad of pickled carrot and cucumber = Not bad

Grilled halloumi and chicken = reminded me of Nando’s lemon and herb chicken, but with haloumi melted onto the chicken = Not bad

Overall:

What happened Marquee? When I first visited years ago, this elegant restaurant served mouthwateringly delicious food. The menu used to be vast and interesting, and their mini wagyu burgers were unbelievably amazing, (one of the best that I have ever had) but not anymore. The quality of food here has definitely gone downhill and the menu is now limited to tapas. The restaurant itself is divided into two sections: a casual front section that is covered by gorgeous cream drapes that resemble a marquee (hence the name), and a stylish back dining section filled with dark leather seating and black timber furnishings. Although the dining area was fancy and relaxing, the atmosphere was unfortunately ruined by the out of place dance music that they had playing all night. Although the service is fast and friendly, I am sad to say that I don’t think I will ever venture here again.

The European

161 Spring St, Melbourne 9654 0811

Confit duck and mushroom pie, mustard and prune sauce

Tortelloni of roast pumpkin, ricotta and pine nuts

Seasonal mushroom risotto with truffle oil

Banana and date souffle, caramel and walnut ice cream

Thoughts:

Confit duck and mushroom pie – delectable pastry, enjoyable duck and mushroom filling, overwhelmingly sweet prune sauce = Good

Tortelloni – one word: bland = Not bad

Mushroom risotto – had an unusually high mushroom to risotto ratio, and a lovely aroma of truffle = Not bad

Banana and date souffle – light and fluffy. The banana and date combination made this souffle very sweet = Not bad

Overall:

Good service, relaxed atmosphere, food is average and rather pricey for the quality and quantity that you get. Would I come back? Probably not.

The Grain Store

517 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 9972 6993

Apple, rhubarb & ricotta pancakes

Chilli & fennel sausage, winter vegetable hash

Lemon meringue pie

Thoughts:

Pancakes – Extraordinary! The combination of tangy rhubarb curd, sweet apple puree, crunchy oat and honeycomb crumble and the fluffy ricotta pancakes was simply fantastic = Excellent

Chilli & fennel sausage – the egg was perfectly poached and sat upon the winter vegetable hash which was a mix of potato and sweet potato chunks. The chilli and fennel sausage was ordinary but the pear and cider relish was quite tasty = Good

Lemon meringue pie – lemon curd, marshmallow, tamarillo salsa, basil and two squares of buttery pastry made up this deconstructed pie. Despite having all the right ingredients there on the plate, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing = Not bad

Overall:

A wonderful brunch place that is hidden among dull office buildings found at the west end of Melbourne’s CBD. The food here is fresh, local, organic, and not to mention beautifully presented. The staff are friendly and there is a relaxed country kitchen feel here with its light open space and naturally colourful decor (fruit, vegetables, plants, flowers) that can be seen throughout the dining area. Best of all, this place takes reservations!

The Town Mouse

312 Drummond St, Carlton 9347 3312

Goat’s cheese profiterole, caraway, thyme & honey

Crisp beef cheek, whipped white soy cream, black garlic, parsnip & yuzu

Slow roast red cabbage, prune, parmesan & red apple

Duck breast, caramelised yoghurt, sprouted wheat, elk leaves & wild mushrooms

Thoughts:

Profiteroles – creamy goat’s cheese encased in crisp pastry accompanied by the sharp taste of caraway and thyme. Regrettably, these were served cold = Not bad

Beef cheek – a combination of exotic ingredients that unfortunately resulted in an okay but unmemorable dish = Not bad

Red cabbage – who knew that you could serve cabbage this way? The sweetness of the cabbage, prunes and apples together with the saltiness of the parmasean resulted in a unique cabbage dish = Good

Duck breast – the duck was a bit chewy but everything else on the plate was delicious. The sprouted wheat provided an interesting texture = Good

Overall:

The menu is small (with everything fitting onto one page) but the ingredients that the chefs use are interesting and adventurous. The food here tastes fresh and is beautifully presented, while the service is good but can be a bit slow at times. The place itself is quite small with all of the seating being bar stools, and the decor feels cool and modern with its shiny black tiles and low hanging lights.

Spring St Grocer

157 Spring St, Melbourne 9639 0335

Overall:

When you see a crowd lining up for gelati on a FREEZING cold WEEKDAY night, you just know the gelati is going to be something special. The gelati flavours on offer are forever changing, but what remains the same is that they are always intriguing and unique. The ones we tried were:

Turmeric, Cardamom and pistachio
Salty caramel and chocolate
Banana and Dulce de leche
Goat’s curd, pear and walnuts
Yogurt elderberry
Pandan, coconut and lime

The one I enjoyed the most was the Pandan, coconut and lime as it tasted refreshing and tropical, and the flavours complemented each other really well. My least favourite was the Turmeric, Cardamom and pistachio flavour as I found the cardamom taste to be too overpowering. Even so, it was still pretty good.

I can’t wait to go back to this place on a hot summer’s day.

HD Cafe Bar and Grille

19 Royton Street, Burwood East 9886 8258

Filet mignon

Chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream

Thoughts:

Filet mignon – chargrilled eye fillet (that was cooked precisely as desired) served with scallops, king prawns, buttery mashed potato, steamed vegetables and a cream sauce. I was actually surprised at how good this dish was = Good

Soufflé – well cooked with lots of solid chocolate bits in it. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but it gave the dessert an extra chocolate kick = Not bad

Overall:

A little hidden restaurant just off Burwood Highway that serves an array of different dishes (Greek, Italian, Modern Australian). It is a family owned place with the husband as the chef, the wife front of house and serving, and the kids serving/milling around. The service was good but I’m not sure if it would have been the same if it had been a busy evening. Atmosphere was not so great, the place just didn’t feel very comfortable to me. Having said that, I would probably come back here again as the food was considerably tasty.

Hell of the North

135 Greeves St, Fitzroy 9417 6660

Duck liver parfait, Madeira jelly and Brioche

Duck rillettes, Gherkins, Crispy bread

Cassoulet

Thoughts:

Duck liver parfait – extremely smooth and well made, brioche was fairly average = Good

Duck rillettes – it was my first time eating rillettes and it made me wish that i had discovered it sooner! Strong salty duck flavour that had just the right amount of fat in it = Excellent

Cassoulet – a very hearty tomato based dish that consisted of pork sausage, pork skin, and cannellini beans galore = Not bad

Overall:

A relaxed casual atmosphere with attentive service (e.g. within a minute of the bread running out, more magically appeared). A place worth going to for a good quality late night meal as supper is served until 1am from Wednesday to Saturday.