A week in Melbourne: La Luna & Waffle On, 11 July 2009

Armed with a list of places I wanted to try in Melbourne, plus a few recommendations from friends that flowed in, meant that I was never going to make it to all of them. But as Monsieur Poisson’s training course was finally completed we were at least not restricted to only having dinner together. We decided to enjoy a late and relaxing brunch at a place of Wifey’s choosing: La Luna.

I had never heard of La Luna prior to Masterchef but the name Adrian Richardson sounded familiar to me possibly through my reading of food magazines. However he must be a man with a sense of humour as La Luna’s business cards feature a cheeky pig's bottom on the back! Or it could have something to do with his passion for meat – from where it is sourced, how it is butchered, how it is treated and how it is cooked and presented. His bistro displays copies of his book, but also a chalkboard butcher’s drawing of a pig with dotted lines demarcating the different cuts right above the table where we are sitting.

We are here on an overcast and windy day, having had to backtrack after missing the tram stop. The bistro interior is simple and light-filled with interesting light fixtures. We order a caffe latte and a flat white which is served with irregularly cubed sugar – a favourite of Wifey’s, and I wish she was with me to share this dining experience.

We order a ‘La Luna Breakfast’ which consists of many components neatly piled on a dish. There is a thick pork and fennel sausage (really juicy with whole fennel seeds), bacon, poached eggs topped with a blanket of Hollandaise, organic sourdough, half a roasted Roma tomato, onion which has been cooked soft, Kipfler potatoes and herby mushrooms. I love how the sausage and rasher of bacon both have bar marks.

Our other order is the ‘BLT’ which has neat fingers of rasher bacon arranged on goats cheese, tomato and lettuce sitting on toasted brioche. Almost half an avocado is expertly sliced and fanned out on top of the bacon before being decorated by zig-zags of mayonnaise. Another slice of brioche rests to one side and both have been toasted evenly with vertical bar marks. The goats cheese and avocado are great squished on the only slightly sweet, soft brioche. The salty bacon is balanced by the side of sweet, tomato jam and I am amazed at how neat and measured the overall appearance is of this brunch dish.

We pay our bill and stop by the drinks bar to collect our coats before leaving. From there we can see straight into the kitchen where Monsieur Poisson spots chef Adrian Richardson busy at work, and encourages me to take a picture for Wifey. A lady staff member spies me doing so and asks what the photos are for. I explain that I like a memento of my food travels and she says, ‘Oh if it’s for a blog then that’s ok. We just worry about what people use our photos for sometimes.’ Cool!

This is in stark contrast to when I was at Koko Black at the Royal Arcade earlier in the week. I was waiting in line to purchase some chocolates when I decided to take a photo of their different sized and different coloured giftboxes. A staff member en route from the kitchen stuck his hand in front of my camera lens, making me jump and said, ‘No photos’ without offering any further explanation. As this was the first time this had happened to me, I quickly apologised and obediently tucked my camera away. On further thought, I remembered I had been to Koko Black in Canberra about a year beforehand and had photoed the whole chocolate display cabinet without attracting any protest.

Sorry, but I digress.

Monsieur Poisson and I tram it back to the city and wander around for a while before I take him to a place that I passed by during the week. His friend who had previously lived in Melbourne told us there was a great waffle place but couldn’t remember the name or where it was. I was hoping Waffle On was the one, after having spotted several people crossing Flinders Street with takeaway waffles in their hands.

We purchase a waffle with chocolate sauce which comes dusted with icing sugar in a wedge-shaped cardboard holder. The waffle is freshly made, so it is warm, doughy and crusty. We walk back to the hotel eating this waffle whilst fighting puffs of icing sugar hitting our faces being carried by the wind.

La Luna

320 Rathdowne St (cnr Lee St), Carlton North VIC

Tel: (03) 9349 4888

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

Tue-Sat  12pm-3pm (lunch)

 6pm-10pm (dinner)

                        Sun  11am-3pm (brunch)

                                6pm-10pm (dinner)

Waffle On

Shop 9, Degraves St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: 0401 408 168

Opening Hours:  Sorry, various sources state this place is open Mon-Fri only but I got my takeaway waffle on a Saturday… so, I guess, try your luck?

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Bistro Guillaume, 10 July 2009

I make no secret of my love of French food. When planning for this Melbourne trip there were only two must-dine places on my list: one being Bistro Vue and the other being Bistro Guillaume. Just as I was thrilled to dine at Bistro Vue, the more casual cousin of three-hatted Vue de Monde, I was excited about dining at Guillaume Brahimi’s two-hatted Melbourne bistro, sister to Guillaume at Bennelong situated within Sydney Opera House with views overlooking the harbour.

I have made a table reservation through Bistro Guillaume’s online form but discover I have half slipped through the system. When I phone to check my reservation, my name is indeed on their list however no one has called to confirm as promised on the website. This is of minor significance though, as the important point is that we do have a tabled booked to try the food!

Bistro Guillaume is located along the riverside of Southbank and is part of the Crown Entertainment Complex. We are seated at a round, granite-topped table in the corner of two window-lined walls after having our coats stored away for us. The tables by the windows are interestingly devoid of tablecloths and are segregated from the other tables by a high bench with bar stools. The centre tables are covered with tablecloths and this arrangement gives rise to a sort of outdoors-inside look.

I order a glass of sauvignon blanc while Monsieur Poisson designates himself the non-drinker despite the lack of a need to drive. Complimentary chewy sourdough that is full of holes is brought to the table with a round of butter anointed with salt flakes. Before long an amuse bouche of gruyère choux puffs is placed in front of us, which are essentially cheesy profiteroles filled with cheese sauce – yum! The pastry is light and the filling delicately smooth.

Then it’s more cheese for me with an entrée of ‘Twice-baked cheese soufflé with salad of pears, walnut and baby rocket’. The soufflé is shorter and firmer than that at L’étoile and the sauce is richer as well. I love the little paella-style pan that the soufflé comes in especially when I discover a crusty layer of cheese sauce at the bottom, like at the end of a cheese fondue. My arteries, I think, constrict in anticipated terror.

Monsieur Poisson has the ‘Terrine du jour’ which is quite sizeable and is shaped like a slice of sandwich bread. There’s ample grilled bread to accompany the terrine because there so often isn’t when it comes to terrines, pâté and dips. The salad of shoots and neatly arranged tower of cornichons help to cut through any meaty fattiness.

For mains I order a classic ‘Steak frites avec sauce Béarnaise’ which is a very generous serve by fine dining standards. The steak is lightly charred on the outside and moist on the inside. There is a peppery watercress salad on the side and, oh, a mound of French fries covering half the plate! There are too many fries to finish, even when there is a wonderfully creamy, herby Béarnaise for dipping.

Monsieur Poisson opts for a lighter dish of ‘Pan-seared snapper fillet with salsa verde, pimentos and butter beans’. A golden seared fillet of snapper sits atop crunchy, young butter beans with a salty caper salsa punctuated by sweet pimento bits. The flavours are not French but are light, refreshing and work well together.

I have to pass on dessert but Monsieur Poisson ploughs on by ordering a ‘Crumble du Jour’ which happens to be apple and pear. Crumbles are a particular favourite of his and he is happily rewarded with his choice when he is met with what he has since described as the best crumble he has ever had. The top is both crunchy and crumbly without being powdery and the filling still has a little bite. On the side is a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream sitting in its own little dish so that it doesn’t melt and run everywhere.

I sit back with a pot of Marco Polo Rouge tea and share some Valrhona chocolate truffles with Monsieur Poisson while he sips on a caffe latté. I consciously remind myself not to inhale when taking the first bite into a cocoa-dusted truffle but somehow manage to do so anyway. The centre is dense, smooth and fudgy and I very inelegantly suck it between my teeth. We are happy, satisfied and very full of food, and are in need of a detour for a short walk before returning to the hotel!

Bistro Guillaume

Shop 7, Crown Entertainment Complex, Southbank VIC

Tel: (03) 9693 3888

Opening Hours:  7 days  12pm-3pm (lunch)

                                    6pm til late (dinner)

happy eating!

LATEST UPDATE: Bistro Guillaume was recently demoted to being a one-hat restaurant in The Age Good Food Guide 2010.

A week in Melbourne: Glick’s Cakes & Bagels, 10 July 2009

I credit Wifey with introducing me to bagels, albeit the purple-tinged blueberry variety commonly found at mass coffee chains. At first it was the toasted sugary goodness contrasted with cool cream cheese that roped me in, but then I discovered plain bagels, seeded bagels, savoury toppings and flavoured cream cheeses. So when I was in Melbourne I had to pay the well-known Glick’s a visit. Some purists argue that Glick’s is not as good as it used to be but, not being a local, I had no biases.

Staying in Melbourne CBD it was easiest for me to visit their store on Flinders Lane. Glick’s is reputed as a kosher retailer so it was reassuring to see plenty of young Jewish families dining in-store. The staff were also very helpful in packaging cutlery and utensils for a young lady purchasing a kosher lunch for a friend. I, on the other hand, being Asian must have looked interestingly out of place sitting down to a table for one with my bagel.

I ordered a toasted poppyseed bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers and baby spinach. This is my favourite bagel combination but usually without the spinach as most places don’t have it. I’m normally happy for red onion or cucumber slices to offer substituted crunch instead. And although slightly flattened from toasting, I can honestly say this is the best bagel I have ever had – it is chewy but not overly so, has a thin crust, and is doughy and dense but not dry on the inside. The salmon is oily and smoky, the cream cheese smooth and dreamy and the capers offer just the right amount of popping saltiness.

I pick up a few sweet things before leaving Glick’s to visit Anna, and it isn’t until I later check their website that I discover they have a store at Bondi in Sydney. I feel the inkling of a local visit coming on…

Glick’s Cakes & Bagels

325 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9614 0533

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7:30am-4pm

                        Sat & Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Queen Victoria Market, 9 July 2009

I love markets in general, be it ones that sell cooked food, clothing or fresh food. I fell in love with Queen Victoria Market over ten years ago when I first visited, and a middle-aged Italian man sold me my first pair of mules – “These are-a made-a from the best-a Italian-a leather. Very good-a value!” I remember feeling dwarfed by the sheer size of the place and being impressed by the cleanliness. I went back again about seven years later with a much greater appreciation for food, and loved how there was a designated Meat Hall and Deli Hall which had been divided into different little outlets.

Suffice to say, there was no way I would be missing these markets on this trip. As they are closed a couple of days of the week, I made sure I allocated time for an extensive wander. I start off with the non-food stalls and am disappointed that they have become much more generic since my last visit. The merchandise seems to repeat itself every few stalls at every aisle, but I perk up when I hit the fruit, vegetable and nuts aisles. There are strawberries from Queensland that are plump, red and fragrant in the middle of winter that don’t cost an arm and a leg! I buy myself a punnet and continue on.

Along the Victoria Street perimeter of the markets is a row of stores where I discover Xocolatl, yet another Melbourne chocolatier, and I am torn as whether to buy some so as to sample their products. By this stage, I have already purchased chocolates from Cacao and Koko Black and there is always the issue of transport back to Sydney to consider. It is surprising that I even need to contemplate the issue – the answer should always be, “Yes, of course, buy more chocolate!”

Next I walk through the Meat Hall, although I have no need to buy meat and no cooking to do whilst away, and am amazed at how cheap lamb cutlets can be. The Deli Hall is in the adjacent block and is where I plan to have lunch but, oh, the choices! I do a lap of the place to check out what’s on offer and to see which outlets are the most popular. The display windows of Deli Hall outlets are high up often with more items placed on top of the windows. For a small person like me, this means that I am easily hidden by mounds of bread or that I have to repeat what I want as my voice fails to project over sticks of salami. I am met with several amused looks from retailers as I purchase tiny amounts of food. The warm, friendly Greek lady at the deli cannot help herself but comment, “Only two slices of-a the prosciutto? Oooh, they are very thin, u know!” Nevertheless, she ungrudgingly wraps up all the little components of my request and I move on the get some bread.

My picnic lunch ends up consisting of dolmades, marinated Kalamata olives, a sourdough ciabatta roll, a borek (filled with spinach, cheese and parsley), Spanish serrano prosciutto and hot Sopressa salami. I can only finish half of what I have purchased, partly because I discovered the borek outlet after I had bought the ciabatta roll. I sadly have to give the bratwurst stall a miss as well. Monsieur Poisson and I make our way through some of the remainders whilst watching television and I dump the remaining olives on Anna when I visit her.

My last stop before leaving the markets is the American Doughnut Kitchen in its instantly recognisable van. There is a long but quickly-moving queue extending from the window and I line up under Weirdo’s recommendation for some fluffy, doughy goodness. I buy two – one is better-formed than the other so I eat the uglier one whilst walking across the Queen Victoria Market carpark and save the prettier one for Monsieur Poisson. My coat receives a light dusting of sugar runoff with each bite of doughnut and I have to be careful not to scald my tongue with the runny, raspberry jam filling.

And the Queensland strawberries that I bought earlier? Well I saved some of them for Monsieur Poisson to savour after a long day at his training course along with the doughnut.

Queen Victoria Market

Cnr Queen St & Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9320 5822

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

Tues  6am-2pm

Wed  CLOSED

Thurs 6am-2pm

Fri  6am-5pm

Sat  6am-3pm

Sun  9am-4pm

Xocolatl

115-121 Victoria St, Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9329 4411

American Doughnut Kitchen

The parking lot of Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne VIC

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Café Vue (again!) & Sushi Burger, 8 July 2009

You know a place is good when you want to go back for more – more of what you had, or more samplings from the menu. It’s even a greater vote of confidence when you want to go back within a short timeframe and, in this case, we only had a week in Melbourne anyway. After dining solo at Café Vue, I raved about it to Monsieur Poisson so much so that he decided to forego his training course-sponsored lunch vouchers one day to try it out for himself. And being the considerate person that I am, I wasn’t going to let him dine alone!

Monsieur Poisson is already seated when I arrive and we order drinks. He has a caffe latte as per usual and I decide to try the juice of the day – orange and grapefruit. The coffee arrives with a little love-heart on the foam and my juice arrives vibrant and freshly squeezed in a short glass bottle. We notice that people ordering take-away receive their juices in the same type of bottle but with a metal lid on top for convenience.

We order a couple of things to share and first to be placed in front of us is the ‘Vue burger with fries’. It is a narrow diametered burger piled high with a thick beef pattie, bacon and melted cheese. The pattie is juicy with lots of flavour and evenly cooked to the centre. The thin-cut French fries are crispy, not greasy, not overly salted and are a light shade of golden. The burger and bowl of fries are served on a rustic wooden chopping board like the ‘Café Vue Lunchbox’, alongside a dollop of tomato ketchup.

Next up is the ‘Yorkshire pudding with roast Wagyu, mash and gravy’. It is interesting when you read the order of billing in the dish’s description as the Yorkshire pudding is the headlining act. And when the dish is presented to us, the pudding is indeed the largest component with thin strips of fatty Wagyu draped over its cavity. There is a quenelle of perfectly smooth and buttery potato mash also on the wooden serving board but no sign of the aforementioned gravy.

Café Vue has little cakes and macarons for sale which, yet again, I need to refrain from purchasing due to travel practicalities. I do purchase a pistachio cupcake for consumption later in the day however. The cake itself is dense, chewy and very green on the inside but I am letdown by the hard marzipan icing on top.

For dinner we feel we are in desperate need of an Asian food fix so we decide to take Mistress’ recommendation from her trip to Melbourne earlier in the year and visit Japanese Café Restaurant J, which sells an ingenious item known as a sushi burger. It is an interesting little place with a very long name where ‘SUSHI BURGER’ on the shop’s awning is actually larger than the name of the establishment itself.

Just inside the doorway is their takeaway counter with a display window of plastic models of the different sushi burgers on offer. A sushi burger is much like a sushi handroll, but in the form of two rice ‘burger buns’ sandwiching filling contents and held together by a sheet of nori.

Monsieur Poisson and I are seated at the back of the café and, upon browsing the menu, discover many set deals. My attention is captured by an udon and sushi burger set as there is tarako udon available. It is something which I had never had but with mentaiko becoming a recent obsession of mine, I am eager to try.

My udon arrives steaming with aromas of saltiness and fishiness. There is a star-shaped piece of carrot and plenty of wakame seaweed floating about. The udon noodles are standard but the soup which has been flavoured with mentaiko is particularly welcome on a cold Melbourne winter’s night. Soon after, our two sushi burgers arrive – one ordered as part of a set with the udon and another separately.

The sushi burgers come wrapped in paper and are presented on individual platters with pickled ginger alongside. We have ordered one which is yakiniku with barbequed beef and one with spicy salmon. They are easy enough to hold and do not fall apart much, but the surrounding nori does get a little chewy from moisture after a while so some bite-and-pull action is required.

Last to arrive is our sushi platter which features a tuna and cucumber maki roll down the centre surrounded by various nigiri. The maki roll is tasty with mayonnaise and the rice is packed to a nice firmness. The portions of fish for the nigiri are fresh, thickly cut and very generous in size. Following this our craving for Asian food is well and truly satisfied!

Café Vue

Normanby Chambers, 430 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9691 3899

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7am-4pm

                        Fri from 6:30pm for Cocktail Nights

                        Sat & Sun  CLOSED

Japanese Café Restaurant J

167 Exhibition St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9650 9877

Opening Hours:  Tues-Sat  12pm-3pm (lunch)

                                       5:30pm-9:30pm (dinner)

                        Sun & Mon  CLOSED

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: St Kilda & Cacao, 7 July 2009

On my second day of walkies around Melbourne I decided to venture down to St Kilda. I had never visited this beachside suburb on previous trips that is home to Luna Park. It is also home to a multitude of retro-style cake stores, replete with beaded curtains in the doorways and old favourites like vanilla slice and multicoloured meringues sitting in the windows, along Acland Street.

But, of course, I had an ulterior motive for visiting St Kilda and that was to purchase chocolates from Cacao. Wifey had been to Cacao when we were last in Melbourne and I had had the fortune of stumbling across Cacao chocolates being sold at The Chocolate Shop when I was at Berry a couple of months prior.

Cacao’s St Kilda store is its head office and sells not only chocolates but cakes, macarons, breads, pastires and café food as well. The macarons are all shades of pastel and individually packaged but as much as I’d like to bring some back to Sydney, I fear they risk being smithereened during travel. The inside of the store is light-filled with plenty of seating. Since my last trip to Melbourne Cacao has also opened a couple of other stores in the city centre but both are chocolate outlets only.

As I have been wandering around already for about two hours, I decide to rest my legs and grab some brunch. The store is largely empty when I sit down and order a flat white and ‘Croque Monsieur’. Unfortunately the coffee is too milky for my liking and I get a little confused when the croque monsieur is placed in front of me. There is only one slice of bread, albeit a thick one, which is topped with a slice of cheese, a slice of ham and Bechamel. The sauce is quite thick and I find it a bit rich.

As it is quite a sunny winter’s day, I decide to leave the purchasing of chocolates for later in the trip from one of Cacao’s outlets in the city (I end up visiting both). I order a chocolate croissant to take-away for nibbling on later in the afternoon and head off in search of clothing along Chapel Street.

Cacao

52 Fitzroy St, St Kilda VIC

Tel: (03) 8598 9555

Opening Hours:  7 days  7am-7pm

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Café Vue & Bistro Vue, 6 July 2009

Faced with the prospect of having the days free to yourself for a week whilst in Melbourne, what would you do with all that time? Go shopping? Well I did have some of that planned, for Melbourne has some uniquely beautiful boutiques down its narrow laneways and maze of interconnecting arcades, but I was also going to visit sites and monuments which I had been too young to appreciate on previous trips. However these were mere filler activities for those periods in between meals. So while Monsieur Poisson was exercising brain cells at his training course, I took to the streets of Melbourne with a very healthy appetite.

I took a guided tour of Melbourne Town Hall that morning but had a bit of time up my sleeve before it started. I wander up Collins Street for a bit of a look when I stumble across Fifteen’s entrance down George Parade. I stand for a while looking at their menu, glancing down their staircase with a twinge of sadness. Although it is only Monday, we pretty much have our dinner plans laid out for the week and, knowing Fifteen would not be a part of those plans, I take a photo of their doorway instead.

After my town hall tour finishes, I walk down Little Collins Street in search of Café Vue. I had read about Shannon Bennett’s Vue de Monde and its consistent three-hat success, so I was excited to discover there was an affiliated café and bistro at the same premises with more affordable prices. Having secured a reservation for dinner at Bistro Vue that evening was no barrier to trying their café for lunch – I absolutely adore café food.

Café Vue is situated right on the corner of Little Collins Street and New Chancery Lane next to the opulence which is Vue de Monde. Through Café Vue then along a short pathway lined with little potted plants is the entrance of Bistro Vue. The three places form two adjacent sides to the building and I wonder if there is a massive kitchen which services them all from the centre.

I walk into Café Vue at around 2pm and request a table for one. A staff member wearing a full-length light brown apron shows me to a couch seat and takes my coat to hang in the corner – a practice which I discover is common to many establishments in Melbourne. I order a skim flat white but am told they only serve full-cream milk which is not of major consequence to me. Water is placed on the table as I sit back and admire the sleek yet cosy interior peppered with red implements.

I order the ‘Café Vue Lunchbox’ which is priced at $15 and can be pre-ordered for pick-up or delivery to corporate meetings. The contents of the lunchbox are seasonal and, at the time of my visit, contained borsch with poached quail egg, salad of Tunisian couscous (with cumin, broccoli and red onion), an oxtail and vegetable pastie and a sweet yuzu yo-yo.

I was hoping my lunchbox would arrive in a coloured slide-out cardboard box as seen on the website but, I guess, as I was dining-in the lunchbox was served on a more rustic wooden chopping board. The servings are not large but pack in heaps of flavour and was definitely enough to satisfy me. The borsch is served in a small paper cup and is a brilliant shade of beetroot purple with a delicate ball of a poached quail egg suspended on top. The soup is sweetly beetroot and thick in contrast to the wobbly silken poached egg. The fragrant and chewy salad was my first experience with this larger sized couscous, but I am uncertain as to whether the ‘Tunisian’ description refers to the style of preparation or the actual type of couscous (Is this the same as pearl couscous?). The pastie has a lovely buttery pastry with tender shredded oxtail meat in a rich sauce within and the meal is rounded off nicely with a tartly sweet yuzu shortbread sandwich. I was most impressed that $15 bought this sort of quality and value. And the coffee? It’s a cup of perfectly made Illy decorated with a love-heart so I can’t complain.

The official entrance to Bistro Vue is located around the corner from both Vue de Monde and Café Vue, along New Chancery Lane. It is decorated in French provincial fashion and the lighting is very dim. We are shown a table with couch seating by a rather good looking waiter before ordering drinks. I decide to treat myself to some Veuve Clicquot bubbly while Monsieur Poisson tries a Kronenbourg and soon after a man begins to play an accordion in the corner - très français!

Ficelles are served on floral plates with rounds of butter, salt and pepper presented on unglazed ceramic tiles. The bread is incredibly fresh and crusty, and it is nice to see salt and pepper for those who do not just want unsalted butter.

I order an entrée of ‘Half-dozen garlic snails with parsley crust’. As opposed to the usual escargots that come sitting in a garlic butter sauce, these are presented on individual piles of rock salt like oysters and are stuffed with parsley crust at their shell openings. I have fun playing with the escargots tongs and am reminded of that scene from Pretty Woman.

Monsieur Poisson orders the ’Quail and foie gras ballotine served with brioche’. The dish is like a terrine but with a more consistent and firmer texture. There is a stripe of marmalade-type fruit purée alongside the ballotine which adds sweetness. The brioche is served in one thick slice on a side plate and is light and crumbly.

For mains I have the ‘Canard confit avec petites pommes sautées’ which is a departure from the norm as I don’t normally order duck. However, after being so impressed by the duck fat potatoes at L’étoile I decide to give it a try at Café Vue. The dishes are not identical in preparation so they are not comparable. I find it a little too fatty towards the end of the dish but the duck has tender, fall-apart meat. The potatoes and spinach help make this a very sizeable meal.

Monsieur Poisson has the ‘Braise of the week’ which happens to be a fatty cut of beef (apologies, the name escapes me) served with creamy potato mash and baby Brussels sprouts. The sprouts are sweet and tight and help balance the fat of the meat and in the mash. The sauce is rich and deep.

As I cannot pass up the opportunity to try another soufflé, I decide to squeeze in dessert and go with the ‘Soufflé au chocolat’. It is placed in front of me in its miniature saucepan and the waiter makes an indent in the top before pouring in a chocolate sauce through this orifice at the table. It is impressive to watch him as he raises and lowers the sauce jug without managing to splatter any of it on me. The top is sugary and flat and the sides are well-risen. The centre is gooey and fortunately the chocolate sauce has not made the soufflé too sweet.

Monsieur Poisson tries the ‘Tarte tatin aux poires’ which is served with crème anglaise. The tart is brought out by the waiter still in the pan, before he inverts it onto a plate in front of us at the table. He claims to have never done so in front of diners but looks pretty comfortable and manages to avoid any tart-splatting-on-floor embarrassment.

The tart is generous in size with four pear halves and is decorated by a split vanilla pod for good measure. Monsieur Poisson finds the tart a little too crusty with toffee around about a third of the edge and finds the tart hard to finish due to its sheer size. The crème anglaise is wonderfully runny and is punctuated with vanilla seeds.

We get the bill and our waiter helps us to our coats. We head into the wintry Melbourne air to amble back to the hotel and I am grateful I will be wandering the streets of Melbourne CBD the next day to help work off this rich meal.

Café Vue

Normanby Chambers, 430 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9691 3899

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7am-4pm

                        Fri from 6:30pm for Cocktail Nights

                        Sat & Sun  CLOSED

Bistro Vue

Normanby Chambers, 430 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9691 3838

Opening Hours:  Mon-Sat  11am until late

                        Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

LATEST UPDATE: A second café has opened as part of the Vue de Monde group at 401 St Kilda Rd, near the corner of Toorak Rd, as of October 2009.