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Grossi Florentino Upstairs

31/1/2014

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Another birthday dinner? Well we cancelled plans to dine at Grossi Florentino the weekend prior which was birthday weekend, as we had too much on. We rescheduled for a week later and I guess as it was originally for my birthday, this shouldn't change just because we pushed it out by a week!

I headed there straight from work and arrived before Steve did. It was 7:30pm and the outside seating for the Grill and Cellar Bar was busy reminiscent of the trattorias at the Campo Di Fiori or Piazza Navona in Rome.

Guy Grossi was at the door, greeting his guests and showing the way upstairs. I was shown to a table in the main dining room with the beautiful paintings and was given a stool for my handbag and made to feel at home with something to read and something to drink whilst I waited for my date. The sommelier actually said, "Let me get you something to browse through as it's nice to have something to look at whilst waiting..." I guess looking at Facebook on my mobile phone wasn't the right thing to in this establishment.

This is a destination dining place. One for an occasion when you want pomp and circumstance and to be made a fuss of. The white tablecloths and the utterly devoted service of the team here make it an occasion.
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We chose and created our own menu as opposed to going with the degustation. The dishes we chose to share were served to us already divided so we could be civilised and not fork fight over it!

YELLOWFIN TUNA, Jamon Iberico, Charred Leek, Fennel and Red Onion Carpione, Toasted Brioche was or our opener and it did the job beautifully. A big square slab of pink tuna accompanied by a jewel like sliver of salty jamon Iberico. Who would have thought that few minute brioche crumbs could add so much texture and a touch of toastiness! This was a generous portion given that we only had half each and felt that a half portion was a full one!

We decided to share two pasta dishes given our fondness for carbs.

DUCK AND PORCINI TORTELLINI, Candied Pear
POTATO AND LEEK stuffed pasta parcel, Spanish truffle, sweet shallot, shaved Spanish black truffle

The duck and porcini tortellini - so classic, sterling standard classic. Beautiful thin pasta encasing
a delicious meat filling and then the sweetness of pear to partner the rich duck. Duck always need a fruit accompaniment to cut through it and why not pear?

I had high hopes for the second pasta dish as it was a special and we paid the supplement for the heady, frag
rant black truffle. The pasta tasted good but it wasn't mindblowingly amazing and so I felt a bit undersold.
ROASTED PARTRIDGE, Beetroot, Buckwheat, Broccoli
SUCKLING PIG, Apricot, Native Tasmanian Pepper, Apple Cider, Pumpkin

Our main courses were delicious. The suckling pig came the thinnest piece of delicate crackling that snapped like brandy snap and the rich, fatty meat complimented by a sharper, fruity note of apricot and apple cider. It was also a large plate of food and very rich.

Steve's roasted partridge was amazing! Not as rich as the suckling pig, it was fresh and tasty.
Pre dessert was a deconstructed lemon meringue pie which was delicious and zesty enough to fight off the food coma that could have been after the hefty suckling pig dish. We ummed and aahed over dessert - an intriguing choice and Steve considered the cheese option. So hard to make a choice...
VALRHONA CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ, Malt Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, Hazelnut Praline
LEMON, LIME AND BITTERS, Lemon Pannacotta, Lime Foam, Dulce De Leche, Pine Nut Streusel, Marshmallow, Peppermint Ice Cream

We did make dessert choices though. The chocolate souffle was as light as a fairy; cloud like and kissed by cocoa. The sauce was delicious as was the ice cream. For a non chocolate lover to like this, well a chocolate lover would be in chocolate heaven.

Steve had the unusual lemon, lime and bitters play on the Aussie drink and served in a glass. Interesting and lighter than the chocolate it went down well.

The maitre d' there actually recognised Steve and I as diners from the Press Club so it was lovely to see a familiar face and he was kind enough to show us around and to welcome us. We were so incredibly well looked after but we were not the exception. Looking around, every table was well looked after from the family with two well behaved children to the group that wanted to order the degustation but make numerous changes.
The food is so classic and so elegant. Traditional flavour combinations executed well. In a city where trends ebb and flow and ingredients come from all over the World and we're subject to weird and wonderful things, it's good to go back to the things that work and we are familiar with.

From the beginning to the last mouthful of a petit fours and also our take home delights of a Grossi pasta sauce and pasta, we had an enjoyable and memorable dinner. Grossi Florentino Upstairs, is a Melbourne occasion dining destination and it deserves that sort of respect in its clientele.

The food, the ambience, the service; it's all about the traditions of dining out and I feel strongly that there is a place for this in Melbourne's dining scene. Sometimes I want to don a frock and get dressed up for dinner and not be surrounded by the shorts and t shirts of the casual diner. Sometimes I want to be treated like a discerning client and my presence valued as opposed to another person coming through the door along with many others. And at Grossi Florentino, that's what it's all about.

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Loquat

26/1/2014

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We went to Loquat during a two night camping trip in Sorrento. Lucky for us Loquat was across the road from our campsite so after a hard day at the beach, lying in the sun, we were ready for dinner.

The exterior of Loquat is a little ramshackle road side, but inside it has a modern bistro fell and the private dining room which is out in the courtyard, lit up with fairy lights is delightful. Our table was in the middle of the dining room and we had a good view of the other diners.
  • Beetroot Carpaccio, Toasted Peacans, Cauliflower & Goats Cheese Pannacotta, Rocket Oil
  • Terrine – Pork, Chicken, Green Peppercorns, Cornicons, Caperberries, Brioche, Loquat & Apricot Chutney
I had the terrine and Steve went with the beetroot. The terrine was meaty and densely packed. The brioche was golden and crumbly and the cornichons provided a welcome tang to cut through the heaviness and richness of the meat. Definitely tasty but also definitely a stomach filler.

The beetroot was much lighter than the terrine as would be expected and the panna cotta flavoursome and creamy. The flavour combination is classic really sweetened by the pecans.


  • Eye Fillet Beef Potato & Spinach Fondant, Bacon & Sage Terrine, Garlic & Parsley Butter
  • Linguine with Prawns, Calamari, Scallops, Salmon, Tomato, White Wine, Hint of Chilli
I thoroughly enjoyed the linguine. I would have liked bit more chilli I think but the pasta and seafood were well cooked and the whole dish was delicious.

Steve enjoyed the eye fillet which was cooked well and the bacon and sage terrine was delicious and so very different to the terrine I had at the beginning of the meal. Both worked but this terrine was much lighter.


  • Date & Macadamia Pudding, Vanilla Icecream, Butterscotch sauce, Caramel Glass
  • Crème Catalan - Citrus & Cinnamon, Creamed Rice Icecream, Honey Snap Wafer
Desserts were good too. The creme Catalan was like a creme brulee really. The honey snap wafer was delicious and toffee like with hint of burnt sugar. The unusual creamed rice ice cream was like vanilla ice cream with chewy bits from the rice. Not offensive but not so great that I'm clamouring after it.

Loquat is a great local restaurant - family friendly and good for a date. We enjoyed our dinner there and would definitely recommend.


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Three Palms

25/1/2014

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The weekend after my birthday was a public holiday weekend with the Monday off from work so Steve and I headed to Sorrento, a small beach town on the Mornington Peninsula to camp for two nights. We headed there on the Saturday, pitched the tent and lazed around until dinner time at Three Palms.

Three Palms is a fun place to dine in a group with many small shared dishes to choose from; Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern...and it's all fresh and pretty yummy. With it being a long weekend, it was very busy and whilst we had to wait between courses a bit, it was still an enjoyable evening.
YELLOW FIN TUNA CEVICHE Peruvian style with Catalan tomato bread
SNAPPER FILLETS Yellow curry, Asian salad and sticky rice
CHIPOTLE CHILI CHICKEN QUESADILLA with sweet corn salsa
CONFIT DUCK SALAD with Persian feta and crushed kipfler
MILLIONAIRE MEXICAN SHREDDED BEEF with tequila & beer mop sauce
ROASTED BEETROOTS with goats cheese dried rocket and tomato oil
CHURROS and chocolate sauce
STRAWBERRY AND APPLE crumble and vanilla ice cream

We enjoyed a feast from all over the World starting off in Peru and finishing with the homeliness of fruit crumble and ice cream.  I particularly enjoyed the confit duck salad with the waxy bite sized Kipfler potatoes and the whole dish was reminiscent of a French bistro.

The snapper fillets were very flavoursome as was the quesadilla. The churros were warm and light. I found the chocolate sauce a bit strange - I think it was laced with some liqueur that I didn't enjoy but I ate th
e churros without the sauce and they were fluffy enough to not need the sauce.

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The Town Mouse

21/1/2014

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I had my birthday dinner at The Town Mouse. Steve manage to book us a place at  the bar. I arrived first and was given a choice at a reserved place or out in the courtyard. It felt warm enough to sit outside so I chose to do that.

The service and welcome was friendly and there was a real passion for the food that exuded from the people who served us.

We started off with a few small things:
  • Goat’s cheese profiterole, caraway, thyme & our honey
  • Smoked duck liver parfait, pickled cucumber & crisp potato
  • Selection of cured meats
  • Oysters served with chardonnay vinegar sorbet & lemon

The oysters tasted great with the sharp, icy coldness of the vinegar sorbet that made our cheeks ache. The profiteroles were that perfect goat's cheese and honey flavour combo with a light flaky crunch from the pastry. I found the smoked duck liver parfait very rich and creamy so the mouthful sized canape was more than enough. Full of savoury flavour and the acidic tang of the sliced pickle to cut through the richness.
  • Venison tartare, pickled radish, nashi pear, ginger & wasabi
  • Poached chicken, king oyster mushroom, ricotta, avruga & salad burnet
We then moved onto a couple of slightly larger dishes. The venison tartare was fragrant with sesame and the wasabi gave it a good kick. A twist on the classic beef and horseradish combo this was similar yet slightly different and highly enjoyable.

The poached chicken was more classic and the thick slices of succulent chicken breast were delicious to eat. Clean pure flavours came through - so yummy.


  • Roast half wagyu rump cap (600g), walnut butter
  • Heirloom kales, slow cooked egg, rye, comté & mustard
We share one of the main dishes with a side and it was the right amount for us. The beef was such high quality and grilled and sliced displaying the ruby pink meat attractively. The walnut butter was tasty too but my slight criticisim is because the meat was rare, and we were sat outside, it cooled quickly which didn't affect the beef but it did mean the butter never really melted into the meat and was more like a paste when smeared on it that wasn't that attractive and I think didn't really help with the flavours in the mouth. Better for it to melt in.

The kale dish was really "bigged up" to us as THE best  veggie dish in the World. It was delicious but I'm not sure it's as good as the hype.

In all our visit here was very enjoyable. It's interesting, creative food and full of Melbourne hipsters in skinny jeans, chunky silver jewellery and checked shirts, beards and tattoos. The food is reminiscent of The Commoner but perhaps where The Commoner retains an element of homeliness and comfort, it's a little more eccentric and unusual here.
This is a place for foodies for sure!

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Baby Cafe and Pizzeria

18/1/2014

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Having never been to Baby before, I've actually managed to have two meals here in the last two weeks! The menu here is such a crowd pleaser that I'm not surprised it's popular and I can say that the two time I've been the consistency has been there too!
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Visit number 1 was with JCray (John and Craig from Sydney) after a long day at the tennis and a mini pub crawl we needed sustenance and fast!
Our arrival just after 9pm on a Saturday night meant that the quickest way to be seated and order would be to take an outside table so we did. The only downfall to this was that it was so dark it was hard to read the menu. Although that could have been the fact we'd had a bit too much to drink! W
hatever it was, we managed in the end.

Soon we were able to dig into a
some mixed charcuterie with a blob of mozzarella to tear into along with some salty flatbread. This platter was inhaled by the 4 of us along with the mixed croquettes and arancini.

Pizzas wise, between us we went for the San Daniele and the Broccolini. Our second visit, this time with the Mortons and Chantal and Ben on a sunny Sunday lunchtime saw us expand our pizza repertoire and include the Salumi pizza.

The pizzas are delicious. Generous topping, thing and crispy bases and I even ate the crusts! Both times Steve and I shared a pizza and a pasta and this is a good way to get the best of both worlds. Visit number 2 saw us move into the salad / veggie section too and we enjoyed the broccolini with chilli and anchovy.
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Pasta wise, it's very hard to go past the duck tagliatelle which is just so satisfying and delicious. The tagliatelle is al dente and just soaks ups the juices from the duck. This was so good we had it again when we returned.

Baby is a fun place to dine with a menu that appeals to everyone. I challenge even the mos pickiest of eaters to not find something to their liking...as long as such picky eaters are amenable to pizza and pasta of course.

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Bar Lourinha

16/1/2014

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Another place that has been on the "to try" list for a long time. Stef and I decided to catch up over tapas. We arrived on a hot evening just after 6pm and sat at the corner of a table towards the back. Plenty of room to hang jackets and bags and a good viewing point to watch everyone else.

The reception was warm and friendly. Drinks order was taken quickly, specials ran through and an order placed. All very efficient and done with a smile.

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We started off with some croquetes with jamon and cheese and these crispy golden balls were lipsmackingly good. We followed this up with a specials dish of eggplant relish on toasted bread. The waitress mentioned anchovy and we bothe love that salty little fish so opted for it. It was tasty and the eggplant relish sweet and jammy but a little light on the anchovy.


The Yelllowtail Kingfish pancetta with lemon oil was delightful. With the texture of air dried fish, the thick slices were fragrant with lemon  and had that cured salty after taste that pancetta leaves in the mouth.

We had the mussels from the specials menu but unfortunately we didn't enjoy them. tehy looked good in the sizzling pan but the mussels and the sauce were very pungent. The mussels were incredibly fishy. I don't doubt they were fresh but perhaps just a very intense species?  Either way, not our bag.

What was very much our bad were the grilled Northern king prawns with chilli salt that were sweet and fresh and oh so tasty with the chargrill BBQ thing going on.

The mushrooms with garlic cream were also good and there were a lot of them. Pork, morcilla, apple and lemon crumbs was a very rich dish reminiscent of cassoulet.

We ended things with the blood orange crema and burnt orange caramel that we shared. Citrussy, toffee, burnt sugary flavours softened by a silky cream. It's an intense dessert, far from light but a real power punch of a dessert.

Overall, I enjoyed the Bar Lourinha experience. Casa Ciuccio (sister restaurant) is my preferred but the feel at Bar Lourinha is less sit down meal and more convivial...casual even. I like it as a post work option....relaxed, buzzy, warm and welcoming.
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Jinda Thai Restaurant

10/1/2014

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I'd heard and read so much about Jinda Thai that I was really keen for a Thai feast. So on a hot evening, Steve and I headed ti Richmond. Gosh it was a warm day.

The large warehouse style dining room helped with the heat although it still remained on the warm side - not unbearable though. We were shown to a table right at the back of the large room in the far corner and it was a cosy little nook. I was apprehensive that we would struggle to catch the waitstaff being so tucked away but actually upon reflection, we were pretty well looked after.

It was super busy full of Friday night diners in high spirits so it was hardly a relaxing dinner but it was fun, frenzied and atmospheric.

Our menu choices included:

Som tum salad with soft shell crab - nicely balanced in terms of sweet, sour and spicy definitely a winner
Red duck curry with pineapple and sticky rice - creamy and mild with fresh, zingy pineapple. I think it could be a little more flavoursome with more duck meat but still tasty.
Boat noodles with stewed beef
- not right for a hot Summer evening. Incredibly intense with some deep spices that make it more a wintry dish/
Pad Thai with chicken - a good version that wasn't gloopy. Another winner
Sweet and sour fish - fresh and tasty. Yum.

And Steve drank beer to keep cool and I went with the Thai iced tea which was light and sweet and so refreshing. I could have drank a vat of it!

Price wise JIn
da is more exxy than a bowl of pho at one of the neighbouring restaurants so it's definitely one of the pricier places on Victoria Street, However we're not talking hipster Melbourne Chin Chin prices either so it's a good option.

Jinda Thai Restaurant on Urbanspoon
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    For those that know us, this section will probably come with no surprise! Steve and I love eating out so this is our record of our time in Australia.

    This is a blog that is 100% written and edited by Steve and I. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by any third party.

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