Lunch @ La Luna Bistro

As we were nearby adding another tripod to my ever growing collection we've taken the opportunity to revisit La Luna - it has been way too long between visits and it's undergone some redecoration - unfortunately those uncomfortable bentwood chairs are still there.






I really love the cow over the bar - there are more of these types of drawings along the stairs. In the upstairs rooms, you'll find cow hide print wallpaper completing the theme.

If you could read that chalkboard, you'd know that you can now buy La Luna's 8-week dry aged beef to take home.

We started as we did last time with the hand cured meat plate ($17.50):


served with olives, toasted and fresh breads.

A tasty way to get those taste buds working.

For mains:

I have the House made cotechino grilled with garlic buttered onions and mushrooms (17.50)

This is only a starter size and I could have had it larger but as cotechino can be very filling I thought it best to stick with the smaller serve.

How wrong was I! The grilling totally transformed the cotechino and I could have gladly eaten more of it - it's probably the best cotechino I've ever eaten.




Paalo chose the Char grilled Aged Eye fillet served with mash, roasted swiss brown mushrooms and red wine jus ($36.50)

It was most unfortunate that somewhere along the line Paalo's rare steak came out on the well-done side. As a testament to the meat even with this overcooking it was still tender and tasty. They were quite happy to cook up another steak without a problem but Paalo decided to stick with this piece.

With the afteroon proving perfect for relaxing, we decided to try the cheese



From left to right:
Roy des Vallees (sheep and goat milk cheese), Rouzaire Coulommiers, Mauri Artavaggio (smaller version of Tallegio), Cashel Blue, Sovrano (hard cooked buffalo milk cheese)



It was served with all this bread, cheese crackers, quince paste and apple slices.


We finished off with the dessert platter which was on the house



From left to right:
Panna Cotta, Lemon Curd Ice Cream, Brownies, Berry Compote, Raspberry Sorbet, Creme Brulee
All very delicious.


The details:
La Luna Bistro
320 Rathdowne Street, Carlton
Phone: 03 9349 4888

Open:
Lunch
Tuesday-Friday: Noon-3pm

Dinner
Tuesday-Sunday: 6pm-10pm

Brunch
Saturday-Sunday: 11am-3pm

web
http://www.lalunabistro.com.au/