Drum roll please for my review of Vue de Monde, also known as the restaurant of the year as rated by the Australian Gourmet Traveller and received a 19/20 rating from The Age Good Food Guide 2007. Just an info for those wanting to go here, it might be necessary to make a reservation around 6 months prior or so, case in point: I made my reservation on January and was only able to get reservation for lunch, and not dinner. But, that might work in my favour because a dinner at Vue de Monde will cost you back approx. $250 =p
So, off His Fusiness and I went on a Tuesday lunchtime to Vue de Monde. The restaurant is located in its own building; complete with the new Bistro Vue and Cafe Vue on the same compound. I personally love the decor; modern without being cold, it was still warm and welcoming. A plus: they have a mirror above the kitchen, so you could see your food being prepared and arranged by the chef. Plus I got to see the famous chef (at least in Melbourne, he's like a local celebrity =p) Shannon Bennett, in action (I love chefs who still cook at their own restaurants).
Vue de Monde offer two types of menus for lunch: the Menu Gourmand (5 - or more courses) and the Menu Du Jour (3 courses). After a long deliberation (and some convincing from the waiter (which His Fusiness found to be a wee bit annoying)), both of us decided to go with the Menu Gourmand. I figure, hey, we might not be able to get any reservation at this place for a very long time, so might as well go all out, well not ALL out, but sort of halfway out (don't worry, I'm still sane as I'm still reluctant to spend $250 on a lunch). Now here's the catch, you don't actually pick the 5 courses, your waiter picks them for you. Which was a bit odd and I admitted that I was anxious, but I decided to bit the bullet and live dangerously. There's no turning back now! =D
(Please excuse the description, it was simply too hard to remember the actual name of the dishes) First appetizer that arrived in our table was Snails. I adore snails. The snails were cooked with a bit of a butter, truffle oil, and some sort of avocado paste. It was tender and an excellent way to start the lunch. Now, I was feeling confident about our waiter's choices. The second course was tartare of crayfish. It was interesting and unexpected, but in a good way. After that, came the Cauliflower risotto with Parmesan and osso bucco sauce. It was basically cauliflower, but done in a way that supposedly mimicked the texture of risotto. It was really rich, but His Fusiness was not too keen on the texture of the cauliflower. Fourth was quail pie, which was one of my favorite, if only it was bigger! =D and Last but not least, my absolute favorite, Vue de Monde's version of Taco with Wagyu beef. The taco shell was made from sweet corn bread, so it was crispy, but instead of getting the usual salty taste of taco shell, it was sweet, which was a fancy change from the usual Taco. It was serv
ed with pea chick chips, which were deep fried and practically melted in your mouth. Now, a good thing with any restaurant that serves degustation menu, you usually don't simply get exactly 5 or whatever courses. You get more courses that you ordered because the restaurant will give you complimentary courses; usually appetizer (our snails), something to clean the palate with before dessert, and petit fours.The presentation of the food was superb. Everything was so dramatic and surprising, and nothing was more
surprising than the tomato consomme with gazpacho jelly that they served in order for us to "clean our palate" before dessert (I love the way they called it "clean the palate" =p). It was served in a shot glass, with.. get this, ok, are you ready? with dry ice inside! Apparently it helped keep the jelly cold. So we got two shot glasses brimming with smokes, which we were supposed to down by using straws. Well, it was refreshing, and I promise you, not as scary as it sounds =) And now, dessert. OH. MY. GOD. It was the best, absolute best passion fruit souffle I have ever tasted. To
o bad it was small. The souffle was perfect, its sweetness was exactly like passion fruit, but without the sour taste. So, it wasn't exactly 5 courses, it was more like 8. And of course, at the end of the course, His Fusiness and I was really, really full, which tend to happen when you eat degustation menu. You might be deceived when you see the portion and think that it might be necessary to eat Indomie once you get home, but boy do those little portions pile up! We also got complimentary petit fours; 5 bite sized desserts, which were excellent.
Overall, I enjoyed dining experience at Vue de Monde. However, I suspect that my experience was very much shaped by the superb food, as much as the flair and finesse of the presentation of the food itself. Vue de Monde still have quite a way to go before it reaches Tetsuyas' success and reputation, but they are certainly on the right track.
www.vuedemonde.com.au
Normanby Chambers, 430 Little Collins St, Melbourne.
