Vue De Monde - Little Collins St.

Dum dum dum dum!
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 served 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. Too 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.

Bimbo - Brunswick St, Fitzroy

One lovely afternoon, His Fussiness, My Housemate the Happy Camper, the Curly One and I decided to ditch our studying (or more like a futile attempt at being more studious) at the State Library and go to our favorite road in Melbourne - Brunswick St, Fitzroy. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon with marvellous weather, which you don't get too often in Melbourne.

After walking up and down Brunswick St, visiting shops such as T2 (which has this wonderful concoction of their apple tea - apparently they put mint and rosebuds in it) and Nobody Jeans, my stomach started its routine groveling for food. The Curly One recommended that we visit Bimbo - our kind of joint since it has alcohol (yay for drinking in the afternoon) and food. Apparently the pizza was "really good in a way that I wasn't expecting it to be" (Curly One, 2007). So we each ordered a pizza. I had the Aglio Olio pizza with extra anchovies, Curly One ordered the Salmon pizza, and Happy Camper decided to order the Chocolate pizza. By the way, Bimbo also has this Vodka Infused thingy, which they placed in groovy fishbowl like thing on top of the bar - we didn't try it because we figured it was too early to get drunk. HA. I wish I had though! Oh well, more reason for me to go back! Heheheh =D

So anyways, the pizza arrived. I wasn't expecting much, since cafes don't usually serve good food - just average food. Boy, was I wrong!!!! First of all, it was quite cheap for a pizza about 9 inch - only $7.90. Second of all, the crust was thin and the topping was really generous. Mine came with a big chili in the middle of the pizza (which gave a nice spicy flavour to it), garlic confit (this I obviously learned from His Fussiness =p), and lots and lots of anchovies! Curly One's pizza was lavishly topped with salmon as well. And it was good. Boy, it was good. Easily one of the best pizza I have had in Melbourne. The topping of the pizza was simple, the crust was thin and crispy, in short, it was delicious-in-a-way-that-I was-not-expecting-it-to-be. And I like it when something or someone proved me wrong. and Happy Camper's chocolate pizza was excellent, without it being too sickeningly sweet (in contrast to Max Brenner's chocolate pizza, which I personally found to be WAY way too sweet).



The service was OK, it's a really relaxed joint, so you get the kind of service that you would expect from a place like that. The place itself is a bit claustrophobic for me. It's quite dark inside, with only red lamps placed strategically near the floor - basically the kind of place that makes you feel that it's already dark outside when in reality it is still 3 pm in the afternoon. There were lots of comfy sofas weirdly situated, one of them even faced a pillar.

After our early impromptu dinner, His Fussiness, the Curly One, and Happy Camper played a game of pool, where Happy Camper promptly beat the two guys' asses! Maybe it was the pizza, or the home brewed Bimbo beer, or the fact that she's just a way better pool player than the two boys, but Bimbo is certainly the place where you can kick back, enjoy a cocktail or two, and relax with your friends.


376 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.
www.bimbodeluxe.com.au

Grossi Florentino, Melbourne

First of all, this is NOT a vacation review. All i want to do is to create a restaurant review, and alas, friendster doesn't seem to have a category for that (damn you friendster! =p) so here I am, actually creating a blog.

We (that would be the boyfriend, His Fussiness and me) had my belated birthday dinner yesterday at Grossi Florentino, a restaurant that first opened its door 79 years ago and is regarded as an institution in Melbourne.

There are 3 separate dining areas inside Grossi Florentino: (1) Restaurant (if you’re feeling adventurous and deep pocketed), (2) the Grill (the averagely priced), and (3) the Cellar Bar (the most reasonably priced one). The restaurant was His Fussiness pick of the day.
Now, His Fussiness doesn't usually like going for Italian. He thinks it's all Pizzas (Dominos) or Pasta (whose image for him has been distorted by those ready made pastas and sauces at Coles). So there was a lot riding on our (mostly his) expectation of Grossi Florentino. We could either go home with a changed perspective, or a major disappointment (His Fussiness doesn't like good food, it's either really good or really REALLY good).

The restaurant was located on the second floor and as we climbed the staircase, we saw framed pictures of the eras gone by (hey, the restaurant has been there for 79 years, of course it has a lot of mementos). The decoration inside was old school glamour; opulent, without being too heavy - think Louis XIV without the gold. Lighting was dim enough that you can still see your dinner partner and the murals at the wall. Music of choice was of course, opera. It was fine dining at its best.

We started by sharing an appetizer. There were some exotic items inside the menu; like rabbit and foie gras terrine or what is hailed as being "the best ham in the world" (for those readers who are also fans of Bizarre Foods on Discovery Travel and Living, it's the black footed pig from an episode where Andrew Zimmern went to Spain). We settled for the Wagyu beef bresaola with pickled carciofi, goat’s cheese mouse, chestnut flower honey dressing with artichokes and salad. Now, as an avid fan of Wagyu beef (I've tried wagyu beef steak, salami, even prosciutto), it was certainly one of the best Wagyu variation that I've had. The beef was thinly sliced and the mouse was a perfect companion for it. The dressing brought in the sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the bresaola. It was clear that we were off to a good start.

I went for the Veal Cutlet with a “pizzaiola” style sauce of tomato (basically a combination of tomato, garlic, capers, and oregano) and he ordered Hopkins river ox fillet with Madeira sauce and foie gras. My veal was exquisitely baked. Tender and the potato gratin that came with my veal was crispy-on-the-outside-but-melts-inside-your-mouth. The sauce was simple without it being too much like a stock. His Fussiness food was excellent. The foie gras did not empower the beef, which came medium rare (just the way he likes it) and the Madeira sauce was perfect as it still retained its flavour. We hardly talked during the meal(a sign of really good dinner), but shared amicably (the portion was enough to make us feel generous with each other =p).

For dessert, I ordered the Chocolate soufflé and His Fussiness settled with a glass of Latte. My Chocolate soufflé was the perfect soufflé. Spongey, light, and a bit on the bitter side.
Oh, and because I'm a sucker for service, let me just tell you that the service was excellent. The waitress was attentive, without being too perky or eager. She even went with us downstairs as we were leaving =)

In short, if there is a heaven, they would only serve Grossi Florentino =D. His Fussiness and I went home content, and with a new appreciation for Italian food in Melbourne. Just like my good friend Inta says, "it's a city filled with Italian immigrants! Of course they have good Italian food!"

ps: no pictures this time, I was too busy enjoying my food, that I got lazy....... xp