Lunch @ The Press Club

My appointment wound up just after 12 and as I was in the city I decided to treat myself to a post-birthday lunch. As I was in the "paris-end" of Collins street I took advantage of this position and popped over to the Press Club.


bread, Kolympari Olive Oil and volcanic black salt

At lunch they offer an X-press lunch special which consists of either 2 or 3 courses of your choice from the a la carte menu as well as any specials that might be on offer. There is also a four course Lunch Kerasma.



I started with one of the specials - scallops on the half-shell



they are topped with skordalia and placed under the grill with a light dusting of breadcrumbs. Underneath is an braised onion and nut mixture.

I know it's sacrilege but usually I'm not a fan of scallop roe, however in this dish even the roe was delicious.


Braised Beef Stifado, kalamata olive crumble and a watercress and orange salad



They serve this with a knife but it's totally unnecessary - the beef just fell apart with the touch of a fork. A hearty dish perfect for autumn and winter.

Now I really didn't need dessert but I couldn't go pass this



the intriguingly titled, Hellenic Trifle 2008.

It was studded with candied cumquats, orange custard, orange granita and soaked sponge finger biscuits. Even though I couldn't finish it I was very glad to have tasted it.

Served with coffee was this

candied slices of quince.

Service as always was extremely professional and more than matched the quality of the food.

The details:
The Press Club Restaurant and Bar
72 Flinders Street
Melbourne
Phone: 03 9677 9677

Open:
Lunch: Monday - Friday and Sunday
Dinner: Monday - Sunday

web
www.thepressclub.com.au

Dinner @ Vue de Monde

It's my birthday so we've gone to Vue de Monde to celebrate the occasion. Tonight we'll be having a "best of" comprised of some of the more popular dishes from the past.

Once again, due to the lack the light, the photos are not the best - if you want to see what the food looks head over to the Vue de Monde website and check out the photo gallery there.

The amuse was pea and jamon soup with jamon tartare served with a confit quail yolk on a lettuce raft.


Salade de Jicama et Ormeaux
Jicama, braised abalone and spanner crab with yuzu noodles and Sterling caviar
To drink: 2006 Cantele Fiano Salento, Puglia, Italy



Risotto aux Champignons
Classically inspired cep and king brown mushroom risotto
To drink: 1956 Château Corella Rivesaltes, Eastern Pyrenees, France

The risotto was as good as always but the wine was a knockout.


Bouillabaisse "en cinq minutes" et tartare d'ecrevisse


5 minute bouillabaisse, tartare of crayfish, buffalo milk skin, finished wih aromatic herbs and a touch of theatre
To drink: 2006 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Loibner, Wachau, Austria

This is the bouillabaisse that is made at the table using a Cona Vacuum Coffee Percolator.


Foie Gras Poêlé
Foie gras, pan seared, served with roast peach and Sauternes emulsion
To drink: 2002 Klien Constantia Vin de Constance Constancia, South Africa

Because we enjoyed the Chateau Corella so much we ended up having another glass to see how it would hold up with this foie gras dish. While it matched well with the foie gras it wasn't as complete a match the wine intended for the dish but was provided us with quite an interesting lesson in wine & food matching.





Kingfish Poêlé
Kingfish fingers crusted with potato scales and served with broccoli couscous and a broccoli cannelloni, currant purée and a curried brown chicken jus
To drink: 2005 Matassa Curvée Nougé Vin de Pays, Côtes Catalanes, France



Boudin D'Écrevisse Grillé
Grilled boudin of crayfish, glazed with beurre Café du Paris, sauce Amériaine and blood orange
To drink: 2003 Au Bon Climat Chardonnay Nuits-Blaches Au Bouge, Santa Maria Valley, California USA



Consommé froid à la Tomate
Delicate tomato consommé with gazpacho jelly






Lapin Rôti et Sauce au Vin Rouge


Roast rabbit with bone marrow, crispy shallots and red wine jus smoked at the table
To drink: 2005 Château Pierre Bise Anjou Villages Sure Spilite, Loire Valley, France

A piece of vegetable coal sits under the dome and infuses its smoke into the dish - once the dome is removed you can crumble the coal and use it to season the dish.





Agneau "satay"
White Rocks Lamb (WA) served four ways, spiced with a staty peanut butter with a honey and bay leaf jelly
To drink: 2003 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella DOC, Veneto, Italy


Fromage
Whipped Ironstone Gouda Sandwich with Pistachio Cracker and crispy bacon
To drink: Gonzalez Byass 30 year old Amontillado VORS, Del Duque, Spain

We didn't take a photo but Lollypops came next to refresh our palate.


Soufflé à la Pistache
Triple Sec custard served with a pistachio soufflé on top
To drink: 2007 Santa Rita Moscatel Late Harvest, Valle del Limari, Chile


Petits-Fours








The details:

Vue de Monde
Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins Street
Melbourne
Phone: 03 9691 3888

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday Bookings:12.00pm-2.00pm
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday Bookings:6.30pm-9.30pm

Lunch @ Enoteca Sileno

After a busy week and with another one coming, it's good to take some time out to enjoy a leisurely Sunday lunch at Enoteca Sileno.

We begin with a selection of Assaggini to share


Special of the day: Tuna three ways - sashimi, tuna bresaola and poached

The tuna bresaola had one of the more amazing textures we've experienced, it was almost pate like in the way the meat just seemed to dissolve in your mouth.



at the back are some meat filled Ascolana style olives that have been crumbed and fried.



cured duck breast with balsamic


calamari and vegetable fritters


Onto mains:


I have Saffron Gnocchi with a prawn and tomato based sauce - the gnocchi are excellent, tender but not mushy and full of potato flavour.



Paalo has the Lamb special - a generous portion of braised lamb on the bone and it is served with a mushroom risotto.



for a side we order the seared broccolini with chilli and garlic.

To drink with our meal - we've ordered a bottle of 1998 Moris Morellino di Scansano Riserva




We follow with a piece of Taleggio to see us through the end of our wine




For dessert:


Paalo has the white chocolate zabaglione


and I decide to repeat myself and have the panettone semifreddo - I enjoyed it so much last time I just had to have it again.

The details:

Enoteca Sileno

920 Lygon Street, Carlton
corner of Lygon and Richardson Streets
Phone: 03 9389 7070

Open:
Monday: 8am - 4pm
Tuesday - Saturday: 8am - Late
Sunday: 9am - 5pm

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

Dinner @ Centonove

It's a last minute decision but we're off to Centonove for dinner - should be interesting to see how it functions at night.

The restaurant is buzzing - it's full with a couple of larger groups dining though I must say that temperature wise, the room is a little on the warm side.

For starters we have the antipasto plate for two

Lunch @ The Argo

You'd think finding some place nice to go for lunch on a Saturday would be easy. Wanting to try something new we initially tried calling Restaurant 312 but surprisingly found that at 11am they weren't answering their phone even though they are supposed to be open at 12. As we were on the road so to speak, I decided to use the mobile to check out their website to clarify their opening times - how annoying was it to discover that I couldn't access the site without installing flash!

As a side, now that I'm home and able to check the site, I would make sure I would never hire commedia to design anything remotely functional.

We eventually did find someplace to go and that was The Argo.



We quite like these quite dining rooms but it's as bad as that for the restaurant - two private rooms are booked with functions leaving us with the luxury of the room to ourselves.

For starters:


Paalo's choice: poached egg, mushroom fricassee, parsley and pickled black truffle ($18.50)

These were some of the best mushrooms we've ever tasted - you definately needed bread to soak up the wonderful pan juices.



My Choice: cured beef fillet, celeriac remoulade, watercress puree ($21.50)

A sugar influenced cure is used to "cook" a rather narrow eye fillet, the meat changing colour from a deep dark brown around the outer edge to a bright red core. It's very tender and slightly sweet and works well with the faintly acidic mustard seed dressing.

For mains:


My Choice: rolled roast rabbit, date and almond couscous, smoked paprika ($29.50)

To the left are three discs of the stuffed rabbit - it has been stuffed with a chicken based filling that is almost mousse like in consistency. On the date and almond couscous are 4 roasted ribs of rabbit.

A thoroughly enjoyable dish.


Paalo's Choice: roast duck breast, duck neck sausage, foie gras ($32.50)



Sliced duck breast - nicely pink inside




Duck neck sausage on a bed of braised puy lentils



Frisee salad with potato and duck kidney and to the right, seared Foie gras with paprika


Side: green beans and sheep milk fetta ($8.50)



Cheese ($18.50)

Finally desserts -


My choice: Orange and Almond Sponge, Moscato Syrup, Candied zest ($13.50)

The moscato syrup is served separately and it's up to you to decide how much to use - the sponge is as light as could be with distinct flavours of orange and almond.



Paalo's choice: pear strudel, gingerbread, almond sabayon ($14.50)

Paalo ordered this because he just loved the sound of the almond sabayon and it was as good as he had imagined - that the strudel and the gingerbread were also delicious was a bonus.


We have in the past heard good things about The Argo and for our first visit we can certainly see why. The service is friendly and efficient and the food is honest - good produce, good flavours and consistently good over the meal. It certainly deserves a revisit.

The details

The Argo
64 Argo Street, South Yarra

Phone: 9867 3344

Open:
Lunch: Wednesday - Sunday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday

web:
www.theargo.com.au

Dinner @ Attica

There's been a lot written about Ben Shrewy's food and in the past year the restaurant was awarded two hats from the Good Food Guide and "best new talent" from Gourmet Traveller, so it's about time we got to taste it for ourselves - for us that means the tasting menu!