We drove round and round and round Carlton last Sunday...because the Boy wanted to surprise me... I had no idea where we were going.. I was just hungry... and I wanted to eat!
Turns out... I was being "surprised" for a traditional French lunch at Nicolas Poelaert's Embrasse...
The Boy as usual did not make a booking and relied on his "luck" to get us a table.. Camm the front of house manager greeted us and introduced us to the traditional Sunday lunch...
Luckily for me... the main dish was to be Roast Chicken (otherwise, I would not have been able to eat)...
For starters we were given some traditional French bread with home made butter (love the rustic-ness of the presentation) served on tree bark
We were encouraged to tear the bread with our hands and enjoy!
The first course was to be Nic's, Father's Traditional French Onion Soup, served with Gruyere cheese and croutons...
The difference with this soup was that it was blitz (to remove any lumps)... I think
The Boy had fun ladling out our soup and decorating it to our own liking!
Next, we were served a beautiful salad of cous cous, quails egg, polenta, lettuce leaves, purple potatoes and pork belly (deep fried!)
This was the creamiest and melt in your mouth pork belly that I've had in a while...
There was definitely enough of this to serve two very hungry guests (especially moi!)
For the main, we had Roast Chicken, silver beet, heirloom carrot (these seem to be very popular in all the fine dining places lately), and potato croquettes
Served with Dijon mustard, tomato chutney and gravy (sauce au jus de viande)
In between the main and desserts, you can order a cheese platter (optional)... but we passed as we were getting quite full and only had enough space for the dessert
And what a dessert it was!
Rhubarb and apple tart served with chantilly cream and poached rhubarb
It was a beautifully light and sweet dessert to finish off a magnificent lunch!
To really cap it all off, we finished up with a pot each of English Breakfast tea...
Service was really good... the overall setting of the restaurant was laid back and casual (not unlike Attica).. but I don't want to compare...
We are definitely going to make a return... (twice at least... one for the ala carte experience and another for the degustation experience).
I wonder if they will think I'm mad to request a table that I sat in (it was directly under the light and the pictures turned out fantastically!)
Don't you think?
At the end of our meal as well, Chef Nic came out and smiled at us!! Wheeeeee... I love it when chefs come out at the end of the meal...!!!
*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality
Food/ Cuisine: French
Dining Style: Fine dining restaurant
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 8.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 8/10 (the Boy thinks it's better than Attica!)
Service/ Attitude: 8.5/10 (We were looked after by Camm after all, who's had experience from Circa the Prince and Attica)
Value for money: 8/10 ($62 per person for the 4 courses)
Address:
312 Drummond Street
Carlton VIC 3053
Tel:(03) 9347 3312
Email: info@embrasserestaurant.com.au
Website:http://www.embrasserestaurant.com.au
Embrasse is open
everyday except Monday and Tuesday
Brunch: Sunday 9.30am-2.00pm
Lunch: Thursday - Saturday from noon
Dinner: Wednesday - Sunday from 6.30pm
How to get there:
View Larger Map
I went when it first opened and the atmosphere and food were both a little lacking, but I have heard good things lately so perhaps another visit is in order...
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed it! The Sunday lunch thing is new tho... only started on the 23rd of May
ReplyDeleteYou always dine so extravagantly... It looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe photos do look great :). I'd enjoy that surprise :).
I look forward to the day where I won't need to save up for a month to dine out :).
Wow those colours and textures are amazing! I love the see purple on a dish and I rarely do (except in desserts)! :)
ReplyDelete