Melba's Breakfast Review @ Langham Hotel, Southbank

Boss lady (she hates that term) was going away on maternity leave... and we requested to go to Melba's for the breakfast buffet! Yayy! I was being regaled with tales of yonder (last year where they ate so much they had to be wheeled back to work)...

So I wake up in the morning (not feeling at all like P Diddy)... and arrived at Langham Hotel at around 7.00am... this was so that we could eat for a full 2 hours before going into work (indeed, we did not have lunch that day... nor dinner)...

Spice Temple Review @ Crown Casino, Melbourne

The entrance to Spice Temple is right next to Rockpool Bar & Grill 

"SPICE TEMPLE IS OPENING!!" The Boy excitedly kept me up to date with the going-ons with the set-up of the restaurant. He'd check the Rockpool blog nearly daily to tell me how close they were to the opening day.

Kouzina Modern Greek & Meze Bar @ Southgate, Southbank (Melbourne)

We finally managed to book some time to have a team lunch and it was by chance that we found Kouzina (as the original plan was to go to Hako)...

From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by a super enthusiastic floor manager (there were only 3 staff on the floor at the time we were there and probably 3 other tables?)...

The restaurant was fairly quiet but the chirpy manager more than made up for it... (however, since dining here 2 weeks ago, I'm not sure if this place is still up and running as they've taken it out of their website!)

Kouzina happens to be a chain of Greek restaurants and are located in various shopping centres (Westfield Doncaster, Knox Ozone, Watergardens Town Centre [Taylors Lakes] and Robina Town Center [QLD]).

Luckily for us, Kouzina caters for the busy lunchtime people around the city and thus, part of their appeal is their 12 for $12 (12 items, each for $12)

We gleefully made our selections and also Mrs. Awesome Pawsome (hehehe) ordered a few starters for us as well...

Mixed Dips 16.50
Tzatziki, Melitzanosalata, Taramosalata & Feta kopanisti, pita bread

The dips were beautiful, rich and generous in flavour and the pita bread was quite good. Although I'd much prefer Turkish bread (but when in Rome...)

Pita bread with the above dips

DO YOU SEE THE FIRE?????

Flaming Saganaki 15.50
Grilled kefalograviera cheese with green olive kebab, flambéed with ‘Metaxa’

One of the best things to eat whilst dining in a Greek restaurant is Saganaki, and this did not disappoint... The cheese was beautifully salty and a yummy cheesy texture/ There weren't enough olives to go around though...

Lamb Sovlaki
Skewers of Lamb loin, pita bread, lettuce, tomato, onion, tzatziki and chips

A few in the team ordered the Lamb Sovlaki (pictured above) and Chicken Sovlaki which looked really good and healthy (kinda)... and it made me feel a tad jealous... look at those chips!

Lemon-Pepper Calamari Salad
Lightly fried calamari strips, mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, kalamata olives and ouzo aioli dressing

Spamma had the Calamari Salad which she declared a "WIN"...

Vegetarian Meze Plate
Domades, baked lima beans, grilled red peppers, gava balls, eggplant dip and pita bread

The vegetarians opted for this and boy were they glad... their food looked amazing that even a carnivore like me was spotted eyeing this dish dangerously!

Lamb Salad
Grilled lamb loin, mixed lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, capsicum, olives, feta-yoghurt dressing

This was my dish and I was a tad dissapointed, given that everyone else's' dish looked better than mine. The lamb was cooked nicely, but the losing point for me were the amount of tomatoes in this salad. It should have been named the lamb and tomato salad... unfortunately for the tomatoes, majority of them were left on the plate. There was not enough dressing as well (in my humble opinion) and it was quite dry.... (Wished I had ordered the Sovlaki instead *sigh*)

Would I return to try their other dishes? Possibly... it was much better Greek food than Saganaki (in Docklands) and much more affordable as well.

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Greek
Dining Style: Restaurant
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 7/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10
Service/ Attitude: 6/10 (Although he was very chirpy, the service was still a bit slower than I liked)
Value for money: 7.5/10 (for the cuisine and area, it was quite good)

Address:
3 Southgate Avenue
Southbank VIC 3006

Tel:(03) 9682 2999

Website: http://www.kouzina.com.au/

Kouzina is open 7 days a week from
11am until late


NOTE: Again I note, the Southbank restaurant has dissapeared from their website listing, so may no longer be there, but the other locations are still available. I'd advise on calling first.

How to get there:

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Persimmon @ NGV, Melbourne (Southbank)

The Boy has been wanting to try Persimmon for a while, and he swayed me by making me look at previous posts by Absolutely Famished


Besides, I LOVE the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV for you others)... getting to the NGV via driving is a whole different matter...


For the first time, I drove to the NGV, made a u-turn and parked right in front the Art Centre!! WUHOoOoooooooooooooooooooo.... ME... City... parralel park.. St Kilda Road...full stop.


Located at the back end of the NGV ground floor (past the Egyptian/ancient history section)... there are enough signs to direct you to Persimmon...

Once there, you get hit by a specatacular view of the courtyard of NGV’s Grollo Equiset Garden!

You'll be greeted by waitpersons with impeccable manners (Plus points! I had a handsome waiter!!!)

We were started off with complimentary brioche, caramelised shallot bread with delicious salted butter and pink sea salt and cracked pepper...


Close up shot of the caramelised shallot... this had me reminiscing my lovely olive bread from Les Boucheries Parissiene


The Boy and I decided to share an entree of Panko & Wakami coated deep fried scallops served with lemon zest aioli $17

Panko is a flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine and Wakami (or Wakame) is a sea vegetable, otherwise an edible seaweed...


The scallop was beautifully cooked, and the lemon zest aioli was incredibly light and refreshing


For mains, the Boy ordered the Barramundi with white beans, chorizo, salsa verde and espellette foam $28

Espellette (methinks, is a type of chilli pepper.. but when the waiter served us the dish, he mentioned yabby... we both heard this... so maybe we are hearing things?)

It looked really beautiful, but I think the positivity of this dish ended there... he was very dissapointed with this dish as there wasn't anything very special with it...


I on the other hand, ordered a beautifully cooked Braised lamb's neck, celeriac, candied hazelnuts with artichokes barigoule $28

The lamb was super tender and the crunchiness of the candied hazelnuts were a bliss to my tastebuds...

FINALLY!! At last, I have found a worthy adversary to the lamb at Phillipe Mouchel's The Brasserie @ Crown


For desserts, the Boy's day was saved with his order of Vanilla cream, burnt citrus, mandarin, olive oil powder and lime vinaigrette $15

It came with a strawberry meringue and a lime meringue.. (WHICH, I ate happily!)


But my day was fulfilled and utterly completed with this order of mine...

Bitter chocolate fondant, mint ice cream and chocolate pop rocks $15


The moment it arrived, I was bouncing in my seat ready to crack it open for the wonder to ooze out!!

The mint ice-cream was really minty and fresh, balancing the bitterness and sweetness of the chocolate fondant and the pop rocks just made me giggle hysterically (like the time I sampled Pierre Roelof's chocolate Lamington)



I truly enjoyed the lunch I had at Persimmon, and I can just see it getting better and better at my next visit!

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Contemporary/ Modern
Overall Food Rating: 8/10 (Only because the Boy's fish wasn't too spectacular!)
Restaurant ambiance: 8/10
Service/ Attitude: 9/10 (How many places have you ever been to in your life where the waiter says, "Thank you very kindly!, You're very welcome!"
Value for money: 8/10 (Price was standard for the area and cuisine... we paid $120 including drinks; I was extremely full after the meal and wasn't hungry... which to me... is good value)

Address:
180 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3004

Tel:(03) 8620 2434

Website:http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvinternational/persimmon.html

Persimmon is open
112am-4pm daily
EXCEPT Tuesdays

How to get there:

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The Pub @ Crown Casino

"WHERE SHALL WE TAKE THEM??", demanded Ms Tinymouse to me upon Pub locations for the tourists when they arrived...

I said, "Why not The Pub at Crown?"

My reasoning was so that they could experience food in a pub whilst enjoying the Casino and see the fires (if you're Melburnian, you'll know what I mean) at Crown...

A pub favourite and a crowd pleaser, Chicken Parmigiana – topped with ham, mozzarella and Napoli sauce, served with chips $19.50


Ms Tinymouse had the Lamb shank – with mashed potatoes, sautéed vegetables and red wine gravy $19.90


Z had a very delicious (his words) and tender Fillet mignon – beef tenderloin topped with grilled bacon, chat potatoes, baby spinach and red wine gravy $26.50


Dapeng had a really good Pork Chop (another special item of the day)... for $20.50 I think...


My special of the day (which I got charged $31.81 for initially instead of $13.50, until the Boy checked and I went to get my money back. Thankfully an easy explanation and a bubbly operator solved the issue), Lamb Pasta with olives and feta$13.50


A most dissapointing Chicken Kiev – crumbed chicken breast filled with garlic butter, served with chips $18.50



Food was pub-like... and did they get to see the fires? No!

WE forgot all about it as we went to try our luck in the Casino and I got a bit distracted with the footy.. Goooooo DOGGIES!

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Australian/Contemporary/Pub
Overall Food Rating: 6/10
Restaurant ambiance: 5/10 (The seating arrangements could have been better)
Service/ Attitude: 4/10 (I might be generous here, but service wasn't fantastic. Putting aside that I was overcharged and had to go back to get my money, we had to wait 40 mins, as they *apparently* do not accept phone bookings for Friday and Saturday. But when we got there, there was a waiting list and people that arrived after us were seated before us... the waiter kept assuring us that we were next in line, and that we were going to be seated in, "the next 5 minutes" had me glaring at him the whole time.. whilst he fluffed around rearranging ketchup bottles on seemingly empty tables for 4!)
Value for money: 6/10 (Very pricey on this night. I've been here on a Tues/Weds night and they have excellent specials for food and drinks... I think one of them was for a chicken parma and a pot of beer for $10!)

Address:
Level 1 (Next to Village Cinema Ticket Booths)
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank 3006 VIC

Tel:(03) 9292 4001

Website:http://www.thepubatcrown.com.au

The Pub Bistro is open for
Lunch midday - 3pm daily
Dinner 5pm - 11pm daily
and
The Pub Bar is
Open from midday - 3am Friday, Saturday and Monday
Open from midday - 1am Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday

How to get there:

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Tutto Bene @ Southgate, Southbank

Tutto Bene.. I came here a few years ago upon recommendation that THIS is where the Italian President dined once on his diplomatic visit to Melbourne and Loved it...


Famous for their Risottos'... they have a Risotto Chef who has won a silver acolade in the World Intercontinental Risotto competition, held in 1999 in Verona Italy.


As usual, we are one of the few early guests and is shown a nice table without any fuss or prior booking... (they are pretty use to this, given that they are within close proximity to the Victorian Arts Centre)


I quite like the use of a chalk board pillar to highlight the specials of the day.


We start off with beautiuful fresh bread and olive oil (presumably made by themselves)


We start of with some light entrees' (I warned the Boy that the Risotto's were filling)

Fico al forno con mozzarella e Prosciutto di Parma - Baked
fresh fig with bocconcini and Parma prosciutto $ 2.50 (each; picture shown is of 1 serving)

(I've never had fig so good in my life.. and I've been trying to replicate the recipe ever since... but for $2.50, the next time I'm going, I'm ordering a dozen!)

and

Capesanta gratinata in crosta di patate al parmigiano infusa
all’olio tartufato - Baked Tasmanian half shell scallops crusted
with truffled oil infused potato and parmesan pure $4.00 (each)


The Boy had a delicious, Granchio con pomodoro e peperoncino - Blue swimmer crab with tomato and chilli $26


And I had an interesting Risotto special of the day (having tried before the fantastic Anatra, funghi e salvia - Braised duck, porcini mushroom and
sage $23.50)...

I can't remember what the exact name of the dish was called... but it had Duck... it was a ragu... and it had chocolate and red wine... (I ordered based on my curiosity)... it wasn't the best tasting risotto... but it wasn't a bad risotto...


All in all, another great experience at Tutto Bene and I wonder why I don't go back as often...




*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Italian
Overall Food Rating: 8/10 (Seriously, the best risotto's ever! If you don't try to be adventurous like me!)
Restaurant ambiance: 7.5/10
Service/ Attitude: 7.5/10
Value for money: 7/10 (Seriously, for the quality and perfection of the Risottos... it's good value; I'm not saying that you shouldn't try anything else on their menu, I have and it was yum... but every other Italian place do those just as well.... but good Risottos are hard to come by)

Address:
M28, Mid Level Southgate
Melbourne Vic 3006

Tel:(03)9696 3334
Fax: (03)9696 3448

Website:http://www.tuttobene.com.au

Email: info@tuttobene.com.au

Tutto Bene is open for Lunch from
Mon to Sun Noon - 3pm
and
for Dinner from
Mon to Sun from 6pm onwards

How to get there:

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Be Amazed by Gordon Ramsay's Maze @ Crown Metropol Hotel - Southbank

Maze opened a couple of weeks ago, the 29th of March to be exact, and as such it's still relatively easy to make a booking as many are waiting for more reviews to show up before they try the offerings...

(Peephole to the lounge area, where you can sit and wait for your table)

I called to book on Sunday morning for the lunch session, and was pleasantly surprised at treatment and phone manner service... very good (first impressions have been made)

(The bar, where you can again sip and look sophisticated whilst they find your spot)

When we arrived (a tad early) we were greeted with smiles, and brought to our table by the usher and immediately greeted with bright smiles from our Maitre' D...


(The bird cage like light shades)

He informed us apolgetically, that at this stage the gas supply in this side of the CBD area had ceased, and as such the delivery of the food to our table might be a delayed...



The bird motif's on the wall

(A closer shot of the motif)

I was just trigger happy, as we were one of the first few diners seated, and I wasn't the only one happily snapping away!

(The view from our table)

As usual, we were given time to peruse the menu and the wine list...

(I love LOVE love the open plan and ceiling/floor windows)

It was well spaced between tables and we didn't have to nudge the next table as we did in Cutler and Co



The menu was a simple and AFFORDABLE (NOTE GORDON RAMSAY)... AFFORDABLE *ahem* spread with either a 3 course $38 or a 4 course $49.. that's right, you read right...



We wanted to try their Chef's menu (Degustation) which is available upon request, but decided that we would both do the 4 course meal (and then have 8 different dishes to sample, as oppose to the 7 in the Degustation)... clever huh?

I decided to go with 2 entrees, a main and a dessert.

The Boy went with 1 entree, 2 mains and a dessert.



I absolutely loved the cutlery stand/holder and wanted to sneak it into my bag.. too obvious? *sigh*



When we were served the bread, we were introduced to the Affagato butter.. and I thought I'd heard it wrong.. until I put a slice of buttered bread into my mouth...

I was in heaven!!!!! It was so smooth, with a hint of coffee and so delicious... first we tried it on it's own.. and then we sprinkled the sea salt on it.. the taste explosion in my mouth was so great that we quickly devoured the 4 slices of bread...

And just when I was saddened that I had no more bread to go with the butter... they came with MORE!.. they refill the bread as you go! ABSOLUTE genius!



First up, I the Boy had the Jerusalem artichoke veloute, southern rock lobster and green beans ($18)



Whilst I had the Marinated pink fir potatoes, smoked eel, sour cream, blackened leeks and shaved foie gras ($14)



My seared yellow fin tuna, white radish, yuzu, enoki mushrooms, black garlic ($16)



The Boy's pan roasted barramundi, butternut squash, compressed cucumber, and pumpkin seeds ($20)




The Boy's Ox "tongue and cheek", caper and raisin, carrots, horseradish pomme puree ($23), which he cheekily tried to point out how they got the cheek so tender.. (which was by slapping the cow until it's tongue rolled out)... disgusting yes I know, but extremely hilarious when you're trying to not giggle in a fine dining environment.. hee hee



My Lamb cannon and shoulder, califlower puree, anchovy and stinging nettles (Which I thought was spinach.. goes to show, how little I know) ($24)

(The Flash Natzi aka the Boy spend countless minutes photoshopping the above picture... and has hinted indirectly and directly - by way of putting it on my desktop, that it should be on this blog)

And then they cleared away our dishes, and dusted our table... I continued to munch my bread smothered with butter at this point.. and then the waittress took it away! *Sniff*



The Boy's carrot cake with carrot puree (This is only on the lunch menu)



My Chocolate cremeaus and banana bread, salted macadamia nuts, and pearl barley ice-cream ($16)



To finish off, the Boy had English Breakfast tea (served hilariously in a Japanese-esque tea pot)



And I topped off the wonderful meal with a very strong caffe latte...

I've put in brackets the prices of each food item as listed on their ala'carte menu, but considering I only paid $115 for the entire meal... it was super CHEAP for a fine dining environment!

If you do go, I hope you enjoy the same wonderful experience as I did, I know I will be returning!

Overall Food Rating: 8.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 9/10
Value for money: 9.5/10

Address:
Crown Metropol Hotel
8 Whiteman Street (Corner of Clarendon and Whiteman Streets)
Southbank 3006

Opening Hours: Daily noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm

Tel:(03)9292 8300

Website:http://www.gordonramsay.com/mazemelbourne

How to get there:

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