Strawberry

Three Williams

Duck Narnie

(peking duck, cucumber, shallots, fried onion, coriander, cabbage, orange hoisin)

★★★★☆

Wild Mushrooms

(lemon and garlic sautéed with wild mushrooms, mushroom and goats curd tapenade, fried egg, hazelnuts, truffle oil, parsley, sourdough)

★★★★☆

Golden Gaytime French Toast

(crunchy brioche french toast, vanilla ice cream rolled in a chocolate cookie crumb, chocolate crisps, fresh strawberry, toffee sauce)

★★★★☆

Splice Shake

(orange, apple and coconut blended with ice cream)

★★★☆☆

Banana smoothie with native honey, macadamia and wattleseed crumb

★★★★☆

Super Smoothie

(kale, apricot, apple, linseed, sunflower, almond, banana, ginger, cinnamon)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Terrific food, friendly service, minimalistic decor. There are often queues for this popular place during the weekend so we decided to visit on a weekday and were seated straightaway. It’s a place that’s definitely worthy of a return visit.

Three Williams

613A Elizabeth St, Redfern, NSW

(02) 9698 1111

http://threewilliamscafe.com/

Brae

Asparagus, sea butter, olive plant

Raw pea & lemon aspen tart, Brook trout & nut butter crisp

Prawn, nasturtium, finger lime

Iced Oyster, Beef tendon & mountain pepper

Chilled broth of broad bean, green almond, strawberry, fig leaf & yoghurt whey

Sourdough (made from hand milled wheat and baked on site) & freshly churned butter (made from locally sourced jersey cows)

Calamari, black lip abalone, broccoli & blue mackerel

Artichokes & salt grass lamb washed with mussel juice & citrus

Potato & jerusalem artichoke crisps served with a single poached yolk

Bass groper, cured back fat, walnut & butter braised turnip

Aged Pekin duck wood roasted on the bone, quandong, dried liver

Milk, honey & mandarin

Parsnip & apple

Rhubarb, pistachio, blood & preserved blackberry

Overall:

I visited Brae late last year so this post is a bit overdue.

Impressively ranked at number 87 in the world’s 100 best restaurants list of 2015, Brae is undeniably a place where you will find quality food and innovation. Located 130km southwest of Melbourne in the small town of Birregurra, our visit to Brae was indeed a fun little road trip. As soon as we arrived we noticed some construction happening right next to the parking lot. We later found out that this was to become six on-site accommodation suites which will open from February 2016.

As we stepped into the simple weatherboard farmhouse, we were warmly greeted and guided to our seats. Service throughout our meal was exceptional (as to be expected), with the staff being friendly, courteous and efficient. The origins of each dish was diligently explained and all my random questions about the food and the restaurant were happily answered. The atmosphere in the dining area was bright and comfortable, and we were also able to get a glimpse into the kitchen from our table which was nice.

A great deal of care and attention to detail was seen with the presentation of each dish, and although I throughly enjoyed sampling everything on their degustation menu, I did have my favourites and my not-so-favourites. My not-so-favourite was easily the asparagus. Sure it was fresh and crisp, but a single stalk of asparagus does not get me salivating. Luckily the asparagus was served first because it all went uphill from there. The absolute stand out dishes for me were the prawns and the iced oyster. The prawn heads and the prawn parcels bursted with amazing flavours, while the iced oyster turned out to be sweet and creamy, similar to a deliciously smooth ice cream with a gentle hint of oyster.

Our visit to Brae was a lovely experience and it is a great place to head to for memorable world class food.

Brae

4285 Cape Otway Rd, Birregurra, VIC

(03) 5236 2226

http://braerestaurant.com/

Addict Food and Coffee

Granola

House made coconut yogurt, fresh strawberry and orange, cinnamon, dried cranberries, raisins and apricots

★★★☆☆

Addict’s Pulled Pork Burger

12 hour cooked pork shoulder, slaw, jalapeños, gochujang mayo, salt and vinegar chips

★★★★☆

Grilled Cheese Kransky Big Breakfast

Bacon, fried egg, mushroom, smoked confit tomato, spicy apple and tomato chutney, gluten free toast

★★☆☆☆

Dark Choc Fondant Pancake

Wild hibiscus, strawberry, cacao crumble, mascarpone

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

I had a lovely experience but the food, service and atmosphere were nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps my expectations were set too high after reading so many glowing reviews about this place. Or perhaps we ordered the wrong dishes. Or perhaps we came on an off day. Perhaps perhaps perhaps!

Addict Food and Coffee

240 Johnston St, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9415 6420

Basilico

216 Blackburn Rd, Glen Waverley 9887 6288

Al Salmone gourmet wood fired pizza

Polpette Al Sugo (Meatballs) Risotto

Belgian Dark Chocolate and Strawberry dessert pizza

Thoughts:

Al Salmone pizza – thin crispy pizza base topped with slices of tomato, cheese, salmon, finely chopped leek, fresh basil, spanish onion, spring onion and cracked pepper. There was a generous amount of salmon on this pizza which made it noticeably salty, however the sweetness from the leek and onion helped to balance this out = Good

Polpette Al Sugo Risotto – tender Italian meatballs in a Napoli sauce. The sauce itself was tasty but the risotto was unfortunately hard and undercooked = Not bad

Chocolate and Strawberry dessert pizza – thin crispy base topped with deliciously melted dark chocolate brownies, fresh strawberries and four massive scoops of sweet vanilla ice cream. The base was superb and the ample amount of topping was fantastic. Hands down the best dessert pizza that I have tasted so far! = Excellent

Overall:

Great pizzas (there is a large selection of gourmet wood fired pizzas to choose from as well as original wood fired pizzas), average service, casual family-friendly dining atmosphere. But seriously, come for the Chocolate and Strawberry dessert pizza!