Lunch @ Centonove

To celebrate the start of Autumn, we've returned to Centonove for a leisurely Saturday lunch. As it's a lovely sunny day we order a bottle of Prosecco to see us through the meal.

Dinner @ Maris

It's hard for me not to think of Frasier when dining at Maris but once you eliminate that connection, you'll find yourself in a rather compact restaurant located in the less salubrious end of Glenferrie road.

Paalo wasn't too impressed with the bread chicken but the bread itself was excellent as was the olive dip served alongside. The wine we selected was a 2004 Monte Antico, a sangiovese blend from Tuscany.

For starters



Paalo had the grilled tongue served with a slow cooked egg, salted caramel, cauliflower puree. This was a dish that certainly had us reminiscing about Fenix.



I had the quail dumplings with almond cream and flaked almonds - it may not be very photogenic but it certainly was tasty. At the base of the dish is a surprise of spherisized stock.

For mains:



I had the beef fillet - cooked rare served with sauteed mushrooms, egg and cabbage. One of the more perfectly pieces of beef I've had - wonderfully tender with excellent flavour.

Paalo had the suckling pig with smoked beetroot and apple cubes -the pork was tender, the crackling appropriately crunchy. The smoked beetroot were particularly good.

Just because we can - we try the cheese platter



4 cheeses served with an excellent assortment of breads and crackers.

We probably didn't need dessert and on second thoughts, one would have been more than enough for the two of us



Left: Mango Meringue with Sheep Milk Ice cream
Right: Panna Cotta with stewed fruits, crostoli and almond biscotti

The details:
Maris
15 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
Phone: 9500 0665

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday

Dinner @ The Grand

The Grand is another one of those places we've somehow managed never to visit regardless of the fact that it's a place we've wanted to try. It may have taken a few years but we finally got there.

Finding a parking spot around here isn't that easy so come early in case you have to drive around hunting for one.



It's the revenge of those uncomfortable bentwood chairs again.



Between the menu and the daily specials it took a while to settle on something to eat - way too many things sounded delcious.

Picking a wine was a little easier - we settled for this 2001 Strozzi Sodole from San Gimigiano



For starters:


I have the Pizzoccheri - the traditional Valtellina style buckwheat pasta with savoy cabbage, potato and taleggio served with brown butter, garlic and sage ($18)

I loved this dish - The taleggio has melted to just glaze the pasta, there's a light studding of just boiled cubes of potato and barely braised cabbage. Crisp sage and brown butter round the dish off wonderfully.


Paalo has the Vitello Tonnato - poached baby veal with tuna and anchovy sauce

It's hard to make this dish look "pretty" but it certainly was very tasty.


For Mains:


I have one of the specials - half boned pigeon with a pork and veal stuffing served with parmesan risotto and blackberries.

The risotto was excellent - beautifully creamy and the rice was actually cooked correctly. None of those crunchy grains or chalky texture that you get in so many faux risottos.
The pigeon meat was excellent - strongly flavoured yet tender, some almost pate like. The stuffing was moist with a surprisingly light texture.


Paalo had the Rabbit of the Day - rabbit wrapped in pancetta and grilled served with a panzanella salad.

The only complaint was that the bread in the panzanella was just way too hard - they hadn't been allowed to soak enough in the dressing so were more like jawbreakers.

Dessert was easy - we both ordered this



Italian Doughnuts filled with pistachio ice cream served with baked oranges ($12) - an extremely satisfying end to the meal.

We've both been suitably impressed and look forward to returning.

The details:
The Grand
335 Burnley Street, Richmond
Phone: 9429 2530


Open: 7 days, noon-3pm and 6pm-10pm

web: www.grandrichmond.com.au

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/

Dinner @ Rathdowne Tavern

Valentine's Day is probably not the best day for going out to dinner with most places offering limited fixed price deals. So to do things a little differently we are heading out to the Rathdowne Tavern with Elle and Al.

We begin with Pol Roger Rosé



Pink Champagne is oh so Valentine's Day!

For starters we decided to order a few dishes to share


Salami Plate


Spicy Mussels served with a delectable tomato based sauce - this sauce had us all finding bread in which to soak it up. Paalo and Al both thought they were some of the best mussels they've had. It was good to see that the spice was well judged to leave just enough of an impression to make it interesting.


Arancini - perfectly crisp exterior shielding the flavoursome rice.




Platter of breads and grissini - served with olives, roasted red peppers and olive tapenade.

For mains:



Elle had the chicken breast cooked with herbs and tomato and topped with cheese - it's not sulubrious but it was flavoursome and well cooked



Both Al and Paalo had the Sausage served with mashed potatoes and jus - the sausages are made in house and tonight were lamb and rosemary.

I ordered the Pappardelle with Pork and Veal Polpettine which for some odd reason I forgot to take a photo of.


For sides, we also ordered the sautéed mushrooms and potato gratin though they weren't really needed as the mains were quite filling.

Paalo and Al managed to squeeze in dessert - they both went for the panna cotta



From the outside it may look like a crack house as Elle joked (I think it's more shabby chic) but you couldn't really criticise the interior or the food/wine or service. The food is wonderfully fresh but the prices are just way too cheap! You almost feel guilty eating here.

The details:
Rathdowne Tavern
184 Rathdowne Street, Carlton

Phone: 9348 1133

Open: Seven Days - Lunch and Dinner

Dinner @ Zio's Restaurant

It's Elle's birthday and for the first time in a few years she's actually in the country to celebrate it. We'll be joining Elle and Al at a restaurant none of us have visited before.

If we were to judge a restaurant solely on its external appearance you'd be quite happy with Zio's - it's housed in one of the few remaining two storey Victorian terraces in East Melbourne, wedged as it was between high rise and medical suites.

The dining area has been formed by opening up the two original front rooms - their marble fireplaces remain as do many of the Victorian features. The room looks as if it was last renovated in the late 90's - the menu also seems to be of a similar vintage with only the prices and the presence of wagyu the only nod to present days.

One thing we all found odd was just how meat heavy the mains where - none of us could really see the point in offering three different beef dishes as well as lamb, duck and kangaroo.

To keep us company while waiting for our starters we nibbled on garlic bread:



It was good but I can't remember the last time I've seen it on a menu.

For starters:


Birthday girl Elle chose: Pan roasted Ricotta Gnocchi with wilted spinach, chestnut mushrooms and crisp bacon ($17.90)

These were surprisingly good - the gnocchi extremely light and fluffy.


Paalo's choice: Risotto of Toulouse Sausage with baby peas and fresh sage ($18.90)

Once again, it was surprisingly good.


Al's choice: Twice Baked Blue Cheese Soufflé served with white asparagus and prosciutto ($20.90)


My choice: Char-grilled balsamic Vinegar Quail with Sweet corn pancake and a muscat glaze ($20.90)

This was probably the least appealing of the starters - the pancake was flat and just seemed it had been cooked a while ago. The quail also didn't have the taste of something that had been freshly cooked and was overdone and a bit tough.


For mains:


Elle's choice: Oven roasted Lamb Rump (served medium) with roasted pumpkin, ragu of lentils and a lemon thyme reduction ($35.90)

This was quite a large dish and after Elle's fairly large starter most of this was left uneaten.


Paalo's choice: Char-grilled wagyu Scotch Fillet served with mushroom compote, parsnip crisps and café de paris butter ($51.90)

Another large portion of what was a fairly tender piece of scotch.


Al and I both had the same thing: Char-grilled aged grass feed rib eye, flavoured with garlic and rosemary and served with lyonnaise potatoes and pear chutney ($44.90)

Our dishes were similarly large although taste wise they were quite pleasant.

I can't help but think they would be better off shrinking the portion sizes and dropping the prices and adding a bit more variety to the mains.

We didn't have dessert at the restaurant but retreated to Elle's place to sample Al's specially made Brandy Alexander Pie. It was excellent and I should get Al to guest post the recipe on the Cook Blog!

The details:
Zio's Restaurant
14 Lansdowne Street, East Melbourne

Phone: 9419 0252