Duck

Pierre’s

Tasmanian oysters

★★☆☆☆

Chicken and duck rillette, fresh baguette, cornichons, apricot puree, lemon

★★☆☆☆

House cured ocean trout, radish, beetroot, goats cheese

★★☆☆☆

Cape Grim scotch fillet, shoestring fries, green salad, red wine jus, cafe de Paris butter

★★☆☆☆

Cape Grim eye fillet, celeriac puree, wild mushrooms, tawny port reduction

Basically a pile of mushrooms with a TEENY TINY piece of average tasting steak underneath.

★★☆☆☆

Duck a l’orange – confit duck leg, roasted chat potatoes, braised green beans, orange glaze

Overpowering orange glaze.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Extremely disappointing considering the number of awards they have received. The food was mediocre and pricey, the service was average and the red lighting gave this place a darkroom sort of feeling.

Pierre’s

88 George St, Launceston, TAS

(03) 6331 6835

Man Mo @ WTC

River side of World Trade Centre, 38 Siddeley St, Docklands 9077 9598

Prawn Dumplings

Tasty filling, soft thin dumpling skin

★★

Cantonese Roast Duck

Deliciously crispy skin with tender juicy meat. If only the portions were bigger.

★★★

Curry Laksa

★★

Overall:

As soon as we entered Man Mo we couldn’t help but be impressed by the refined decor. This place was without a doubt one of the more fancier Chinese/Malaysian restaurants that I’ve dined at. There was initially a bit of confusion with our booking but the staff here were very helpful, and sorted everything out in no time. A wide selection of dishes are available here however the dishes are somewhat pricier than your typical Chinese/Malaysian restaurants. Note that parking rates at the World Trade Centre during weekdays is outrageous. If only diners at Man Mo could get their parking validated.

manmo 2

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Harvey Publicity. All food ratings & review are purely based on my own experiences and how I felt about the service, food and quality at the time of visit

The Hardware Société

118-120 Hardware St, Melbourne 9078 5992

Fried brioche, French earl grey tea and rosewater panna cotta, raspberries, meringue

Rather pricey for the size of the dish. Ordinary brioche, sweet chewy meringue, tart raspberries (that balanced out the sweetness of everything else), delightfully smooth and subtly flavoured panna cotta.

= Not bad

Confit duck, spiced orange cous cous, chestnuts, pomegranate, crispy root vegetables

Flavourless reheated duck, sour pomegranate, average cous cous

= Not bad

Overall:

A bustling place that always has crowds of people waiting outside for a table (regardless of the weather). What impressed me the most was the staff organisation and teamwork. Everything ran very smoothly and service was quite fast considering how busy it was at the time. The décor was charming (butterfly wallpaper, quirky hanging lights) but the food was a let down. I’ve previously tried the baked eggs as well as the scrambled eggs, and found those dishes to be good but nothing I would ever crave. The Hardware Société isn’t on my favourite brunch places list, but kudos to them for remaining so popular for so long.

Stokehouse City Restaurant

7 Alfred Pl, Melbourne 9525 5555

Spiced zucchini fritters, fetta, dukkah yoghurt

= Not bad

Twice cooked half duckling, cucumber, orange and chilli

= Not bad

Jerusalem artichoke & goats curd tortelloni, burnt butter, rosemary and sunflower seeds

= Not bad

Roasted pumpkin, goats cheese, olive & hazelnut crostata, cavolo nero puree and watercress

= Not bad

Overall:

We went to the downstairs “casual bar and eatery” and found the food, service and ambience all to be so-so. There is also an upstairs “fine dining restaurant” where the menu seems much more enticing than the menu offered downstairs (which isn’t surprising as the menu upstairs is crafted by The Age Good Food Guide’s 2014 Young Chef of the Year, Ollie Gould). So if I ever do come back, I’ll be sure to dine upstairs as opposed to downstairs.

Champions Bistro

37 Springs Rd, Clayton South 9544 9929

Smoked oyster, apple, horseradish

Beef tendon, salted macadamia praline

Duck liver, rye crisp, mountain pepper

Charcoal chicken wing, celeriac, scallop, lemon pith, miso foam

House baked sourdough with butter

Hapuka, nettle broth, broccoli leaf, pork fat

Kangaroo, native plum, sorrel, dried berry

Pynegana cheddar, mustard sheet, muntries

Tangelo, black garlic, brioche, fromage blanc sorbet

Jerusalem artichoke ice cream, dehydrated chocolate mousse, fragrant tea jelly

Overall:

Things I knew before dining here:

1. former Vue de Monde chef Clinton McIver heads the kitchen

2. reviews have been very complimentary and at one point this place was booked out for months in advance

With this in mind, I walked in with fingers crossed hoping that this place would live up to its expectations. Unfortunately for me it did not. Although I enjoyed everything that was offered on their tasting menu, nothing in particular sent my tastebuds into a frenzy. However the menu here is constantly changing depending on seasonality and other aspects so perhaps it was just the current menu that failed to impress me. I also found each course to be quite small and left still feeling hungry.

On a more positive note the service was terrific and I loved the simple unpretentious atmosphere (this place is unexpectedly located at the Clayton Bowls Club and the dining area offers a nice view of the bowling green).

I am still undecided as to whether or not I want to venture here again. Perhaps so once the menu has completely changed.

Beletti Restaurant Cafe Bar

161 Lonsdale St, Dandenong 9793 1600

Chai Latte

Duck Risotto

Linguine E Gamberi

Thoughts:

Chai Latte – when it comes to chai lattes, this place has always been highly ranked on my list. Perfect for those who like their chai lattes to be sweet, aromatic and not overly spicy = Excellent

Duck Risotto – a generous amount of oven roasted duck pieces cooked with arborio rice, mushrooms, peas (which the dish could have done without) and red wine sauce = Good

Linguine E Gamberi – a light and tasty combination of linguine, prawns, cherry tomatoes, onions, basil, rocket, olive oil, chilli and garlic = Good

Overall:

The food can sometimes be a hit or miss depending on what you order, but the chai latte is always good (for my taste anyway). The service is attentive and the decor quite elegant. Note that this place is in the Entertainment Book.

Cutler & Co.

55-57 Gertrude St, Fitzroy 9419 4888

Seaweed and tapioca cracker with eggplant puree and black sesame

Rye toast with crème fraîche, smoked trout and Avruga cavier

Kingfish sashimi, green strawberries, sorrel and apple

Peas, baby zucchini, toasted seeds, onion and bergamot

WA marron, buttermilk potato, fermented carrot and Espelette

Smoked duck breast, boudin noir, beetroot and sour cherry

Wood grilled beef rib, kohlrabi and sesame

Cream, watermelon and lychee granita

Earl grey ice cream, chocolate, cherries and brandy jelly

Overall:

I was very excited to finally try out this place as I am a fan of chef Andrew McConnell having previously dined at his other restaurants Cumulus Inc. and Golden Fields, and absolutely loving the food. Located in an old metal works factory, this restaurant occupies a large interesting space filled with stripped back brick walls, high ceilings, exotic ferns and warm wooden tones. We decided to get the degustation menu (which changes quite often) and were quite impressed with the food served. The only problem with having really delicious degustation food is that before you know it, your plate is empty and you are left wanting more! This is definitely a place that I would visit again.

Montalto Restaurant and Winery

33 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South 5989 8412

Ricotta dumplings, roasted pumpkin, oyster mushroom, kale & pinenuts

Beef eye fillet, celeriac puree, asparagus, glazed shallots

Three pepper duck breast, whitlof tart

Overall:

The views that can be seen of the vineyard are simply stunning, and there are plenty of interesting sculptures scattered around the estate. Service was a bit slow even though they weren’t particularly busy at the time (weekday lunchtime). The food was beautifully presented although portions were smaller than what I would have liked. The dishes we ordered used fresh ingredients and were good but nothing spectacular. Would I come back just for the food? Probably not. But would I come back for the amazing views, unique sculptures and the wine? Perhaps.

When I was in Bangkok, Thailand…

Thailand is without a doubt my favourite holiday destination. Part of the reason is of course the food! There is an enormous variety of both Thai as well as non Thai food that is fresh, delicious and unbelievably CHEAP! Here is just some of what I ate:

Spicy pork sausage (moo yor), crispy rice cakes (eaten with the peanut/coconut sauce), Thai fermented sausage (sai krok Isan), spicy papaya salad

Goi See Mee noodles

Satay rice with pork and chilli jam

Tom Yum pizza

Gelato

Pad Thai omelette

Duck and egg noodles in Tom Yum soup

Waffles (pandan, chocolate, strawberry)

Thai boat noodles and fried dumplings

Spicy pork ramen with egg

Suki dry noodles (suki haeng) on a sizzling plate

Green curry stir fried rice with tuna in an omelette

Bean curd sheet rolls (filled with an assortment of meat, these get freshly deep fried on order)

Hot Pot train

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.