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Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons

30/4/2011

A sunny Saturday and Steve made reservations at Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons for us to enjoy a long leisurely lunch. Unlike many of the restaurants in the Crown complex this one has no terrace or any outside seating so it almost seems a waste of a sunny day to go but we decided that the lure of good food inside is way better than bad food outside! Plus we wanted to try somewhere new.

We arrived at 2pm for a late lunch and it was pretty quiet. The restaurant is spacious but can be dark. They offer a few house wines served by the carafe. Tucked in a corner is a wall with 4 or 5 taps and the wine comes from there. All very Italian and quasi rustic.

We started with some prosciutto produced by Robert Marchetti handmade with 100% Black Berkshire pigs with traditional spices and curing techniques. It was slippy and fatty and gently salted; a far cry from the vacuum packed stuff in the supermarket. We also had yellow fin tuna crostini with marjoram, chilli and lemon. The tuna was squeaky fresh and the crostini crisp and slightly charred. The delicate seasoning was a delight. Yum!

I was recommended the arancini balls by a colleague with great food taste so we had to try those. Described on the menu as“Arancini”, Crumbed Silver Beet, Spinach Risotto Ball. They looked quite well done when they arrived but they cracked open easily and inside they were oozy and gooey and cheesy. Perfect!

Main courses were a Spaghetti“Arrabbiata” with crab, tomato, chilli baked in a paper bag and Ravioli alla Marchigiana" described as "ravioli filled with a five hour ragu of pork & veal in a burnt butter, sage sauce, finished with black truffle pecorino. I had the spaghetti and it was delicious. The pasta was al dente just like in Italy and the tomato sauce rich with a tongue tingling chilli heat. The crab added a little bit of sweetness. An extra grind of sea salt perfected it.

Steve's ravioli looked like a small portion but it was incredibly rich with a very meaty filling. The meat was chunky and a proper ragu and not the usual blended mush that appears in ravioli or tortellini.

The litre carafe of red wine we ordered helped wash all this down and soon we were down to our final glass. Rather than go for dessert, Steve wanted some cheese so we ordered a serve of “Rocca Reggiano”, known as the king of Reggiano aged for 3 years. It came with celery and some "paper bread"; basically very thin crispy wafer bread like super thin filo pastry. The cheese was rich and flavoursome and great end to the meal accompanied by the red wine.

We really enjoyed Giuseppe Arnaldo. It's a great Winter restaurant where sitting outside is no longer an option. It's produce speaks for itself and when the dishes require cooking they come out tasty.

Service was unobtrusive, not exactly friendly but then not aloof either so it's the food that is the star of the show.

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Ito Japanese Noodle Café

26/4/2011

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Public holiday Tuesday and no food in the house. Having eaten out for every meal since Good Friday, why not keep up tradition? We met up with our friends Ling and Noah for some lunch before going to the cinema.

We decided to try Ito Japanese Noodle Café. We'd passed by this place often but usually distracted by dumplings at Hu Tong or a set lunch at Shoya but this time we decided to try the highly rated ramen.

It's a deceptively large restaurant with booth seating which I like. Staff were courteous and we actually sat around and chatted for a while after our meal and didn't feel rushed which is quite rare for Asian joints that serve food quickly.

Steve had a Chicken Katsu Don which is breaded chicken on rice and it was covered in an egg sauce. He ploughed his way through the generous portion and left nothing so I can only assume it was pretty good!

I had the Ito ramen and had two toppings; chashu and kare age which is basically BBQ pork and deep fried chicken. The soup makes the crispy chicken soggy which I suppose is to be expected and the same happened to Ling's tonkatsu ramen (breaded pork cutlet). The broth was tasty though and the ramen nicely cooked with a firm bite to it.

We also tried some sushi which was acceptable given the price and some gyoza which were also ok.

Ling and I agreed that we weren't averse to returning and trying other things. It's well priced, comfortable and there's lots of choice so it's a good easy lunch option.

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Taxi Dining Room

25/4/2011

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We continued our Easter eating extravaganza when we returned home to Melbourne and decided to try Taxi. The menu online looked and sounded delicious and we were interested to see how this place would compare with Nobu and Ezard. Taxi has one hat, Nobu doesn't have a hat and Ezard has two so we expected it to be pretty good and fall in between the standards of Nobu and Ezard.

My pre dinner cocktail funnily named Man Sherbert was delicious. Out waitress was friendly enough if a little nervous and had a mental block when it came to describing the degustation menu as she forgot what the main courses were and struggled to list all nine of them.

The vibe of the restaurant is nice with comfortable seating and lighting dim enough to create atmosphere but not so dark as it becomes hard to see things. I felt comfortable sat there and certainly began to think that if the hat was down to ambience I could see why this place had one and Nobu didn't.

Sadly the difference between one hat and no hat began to disappear as the food was served. The food was more than acceptable but lacked a certain panache or flair and we'd much prefer to go to Nobu. Certainly we think if we're just comparing food between the two then Nobu deserves the hat!

We started with a tuna sashimi amuse bouche. The tuna was fresh and the dressing was soy and sesame giving it a Chinesey slant. It was tasty but not something so memorable like the yellowtail sashimi at Nobu.

Next came a piece of rare beef sushi. The beef was soft and tender and the garlic chip was a nice touch but the chilli was indistinguishable and the whole piece lacking a depth of flavour. I suggested a touch of soy whereas Steve thought a wasabi or horseradish mayo would have lifted it and I'm inclined to agree. So whilst the first two courses were good, they weren't impressing too much.

Next came a barramundi brandade with a cucumber and mint salad and a wasabi mayo. The dish was well presented. The barramundi brandade is effectively a fishcake. Sadly it was very salty and I think barramundi is too delicate a fish to make into a fishcake as the mashed potato overwhelms the flavours. The overseasoning was helped when the fish was eaten with some of the salad and the mayo but the memory of the dish is one of salt.

The next dish was a little more successful; coconut broth with seared kingfish and enoki mushrooms. My first impression was it could do to be little more sour but subsequent tastings changed that and it improved. I enjoyed the strong flavours counterbalanced with creamy coconut. The seared kingfish was a mere morsel so more would have been nice and I found perhaps one mushroom.

Crispy snapper followed and the snapper was very crispy. I think it bordered on being a touch overdone but Steve enjoyed it. The lemongrass broth was light and the accompanying seafood; mussel, scallop and king prawn were very nice.

Our main course was roast duck with a Vietnamese salad. I found the salad a bit meh and left most of it. The duck was nice enough but I've had better for less moolah.

Our pre dessert was a very sweet pineapple and coconut sorbet which was quite runny. Refreshing but very thankful it was a mere taster as too much would have been far too sweet.

Dessert was a light chocolate soufflé and vanilla ice cream. Fairly mainstream but the soufflé was done well and the ice cream rich and creamy.

Petit fours were served but I'd had eaten enough by then.

In summary, I'm glad we went to Taxi. It's a nice place to dine but the food failed to impress. It was nice enough but in a city like Melbourne where good food is everywhere, being average isn't enough and the fact it was half empty on a public holiday probably speaks for itself.

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Mercato@Daylesford

24/4/2011

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Mercato is probably our favourite restaurant in Daylesford and the one we would return to should we re visit this town.

Funnily enough the B&B owners say it is better than the Lake House too. It's not better because it outranks in food; it's more about the overall experience but I'll get onto that as we progress.

Once again we were slightly early for our table and expected to wait in the bar but we were shown to our window table instead.

Our waitress was lovely; very personable and friendly. She recognised as being from teh North of England and it turns out she is from Manchester but has been in Australia for ten years now and has no trace of UK accent any more.

The one blip in the service is we asked to speak to a sommelier for some wine guidance to go with the degustation menu and no one appeared or wanted to speak to us so we made our own choice and told our waitress who apologised profusely but it as hardly her fault. Anyway our choice of wine was out of stock so she returned with a different bottle that was more expensive but sold to us at the lower price so all was good with the world. It was a bit strange to replace what we ordered, a riesling with a chardonnay but admittedly the chardonnay did go very well with the first few courses.

The amuse bouche, we felt was a bold choice as it was a raw oyster with salmon caviar and a red onion salsa. Rich, salty and reminiscent of the sea with a chewable consistency unlike the cheap watery oysters that sometimes appear on menus.

Next up was seared fillet of ‘Tuki’ trout on a fennel and leek risotto with sautéed spinach and a beurre noisette. I don't like fennel but this was good. Really good piece of fish with a light and tasty risotto. Very similar to the food at our favourite restaurant back home, Artisan. In fact as the courses came in, that familiarity resonated so perhaps this association explains why Mercato is our favourite in Daylesford.

Steve's favourite dish of the weekend came next; roasted fillet of pork on a cauliflower puree with seared Bass Strait scallops, caramelised apple cider glaze & baby herbs. The pork was tender and juicy and the sweetness of the apple running through was really refreshing.

One of my favourite dishes followed the pork; seared quail on a warm salad of ‘Istra’ bacon lardons, shallots, chestnuts, endive and finished with a raspberry vinegar jus. We were given little finger bowls so a sure sign to get stuck in with our hands. The quail was just so tasty and gnawing all the meat off those little bones was a delight. The sharpness of the raspberry vinegar made the whole dish taste a lot less rich and filling.

As the photos appear side by side, it strikes me how alike the dishes look in colours and textures. However flavours of each dish were individual and memorable in their own right.
Seared fillet of kangaroo with sautéed cavolo nero, roasted parsnip, cocotte potatoes and a red wine ju reminded us of the gamey taste of meats in South Africa. We've had kangaroo whilst in Australia but this dish was far superior. The meat was tender and soft and as a non parsnip eater I managed two bits as the sweetness of the root vegetable was a nice complementary flavour.

The final meat course was roasted loin of central highlands venison of truffle infused polenta and wilted rocket. Again meat of an excellent quality with some good flavoursome accompaniments - a classic combination that never goes out of fashion.

Pre dessert palate cleanser was refreshing green apple sorbet then Steve had baked apple crumble with almonds, local honey, currants and a spiced rhubarb sorbet and I opted for the kaffir lime infused crème brulee and crisp almond bread. My creme brulee had the perfect consistency with not egginess or scrambled egg effect beneath the sugar top. The sugar had that great snap effect as the surface was cracked with the teaspoon.

Dessert was probably the course that wasn't as great as the others. Passable but not wonderful.

We loved the vibe of Mercato; cosy and like someone's living room much like Artisan back home but on a much bigger scale. We loved the service there; friendly and efficient with smiles a plenty and the food was the type of food we enjoy. Good quality ingredients cooked well with respect and love.

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Koukla at Frangos & Frangos

24/4/2011

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A table was reserved for us for lunch as part of our pre booked spa day and this was great as it was very busy and we say many people not succeed in securing a table. In spite of having a table though the food took a long time to get to us but this was probably due to the sheer volume of people.

The antipasto plate came with our spa package but if we had ordered I think we'd have felt it was over priced. It was tasty with warm flatbread, some meats, cheese, olives and piece of tortilla but there wasn't all that much of it. So we ordered a pizza to share and some shoestring fries and had to wait a good half an hour before it arrived.

The pizza had a great crispy base and the toppings good. Very enjoyable for lunch bit also quite pricey at over $20. Shoestring fries were a little anaemic looking ie white not golden and not very crispy but the accompanying lemon mayo was tasty. Service was busy but not stressed out like Perfect Drop the night before. The waitstaff team, although under pressure, still seemed to be having a good time.

If I could swap this wait staff with the guys at Perfect Drop, we'd have had an excellent time at Perfect Drop as food would have been great and service warmer than it was.

I wouldn't be desperate to go back to Frangos & Frangos and fight to get a dinner reservation but as a lunch option it wasn't bad. I'd probably prefer Breakfast and Beer though in all honesty.

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Breakfast and Beer

23/4/2011

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After a hefty breakfast at Balconies B&B, lunch was a lighter affair. We walked into Breakfast and Beer, found a corner spot at the large sharing table and strapped ourselves in for the afternoon.

They have a wide range of beers and ciders and very helpful staff. Steve made his way through several different types and we accompanied the drinking with some food. Steve had some saganaki with pickled carrots and salad. It was a thick slab that was chewy and salty but not excessively so. I went for the corn fritters with rocket and bacon and an avocado salsa. The fritters were fluffy and the accompaniments added the salty and fresh flavour hit required to lift the fritters.

We witnessed people come and go from the table and some ate, others just had coffee and all were treated with the same friendliness. I'd love it if this place was closer. I think that although we are spoilt for choice for places to eat and drink in Melbourne, there isn't a place that feels like a "local" where the staff stay longer than 6 months and get to know you and Breakfast and Beer feels like such a place even if it is in a tourist location.

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Perfect Drop

23/4/2011

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Perfect Drop came recommended by the B&B owners and I'd also read about it in The Age Good Food Guide. It looked pretty when we walked past it in the daytime. The menu on a clipboard hung on the door knob was mouthwateringly appealing so we were very pleased we managed to get a booking on the Saturday night we were in Daylesford.

We arrived early for our table with the intention of having a drink beforehand. It was busy and the wait staff seemed a bit frazzled. Anyway a short wait later, someone came to talk to us and she couldn't seem to find our booking on the two pieces of paper covered in handwriting they use to log bookings. I explained we'd booked on the Friday afternoon so she gestured to one of the pieces of paper and indicated if indeed we had booked then it should be there so I looked down and found my name and number but it had been scribbled out. She disappears and says she'll let us know what's going on.

Well we order some drinks at the bar ourselves and wait. The waitress that saw us returns but not to speak to us and we see her wandering around lots looking somewhat stressed which doesn't really help us relax. Anyway 15 minutes after our reservation time we're shown to a table close to the kitchen in a little nook along with a large table of people.

Our waitress comes to take our drinks order and she is a little brisk. We ask for some smoked almonds as we decide and our brisk but efficient waitress gets these to us quickly.

We enquire about the tasting menu and she pretty much barks at us and says we're too late as it takes 2 hours but it's not really our fault we're late. Anyway she says she'll ask the kitchen and looks up into the kitchen and must have had a mouthed conversation with someone as she then says to us that we can have it if we want. We decide against it and opt for some startters and mains instead.

We started with a roasted beetroot salad with hazelnut dukkah and fetta which was very enjoyable. We also shared some eel and leek fritters with a sweet and sour sauce which was actyually some watered down Thai sweet chilli sauce with some chopped up spring onion in it. The fritters were a little mushy but Thai sweet chilli sauce makes all things taste good so we polished them off.

Main courses were a honey glaxed lamb neck with a tomato risotto made of orzo pasta a venison plate with venison schnitzel, sausage, green beans, potatoes and caramelised shallots and jus. Both dishes were lipsmackingly flavoursome. I love the orzo risotto with the tomatoe broth. The lamb was sweet and tender too. The venison was tasty. I'm not a huge fan of venison sausages as I find them too lean and dry and these were similar but they were only small so I ate it anyway. Steve liked the sausage. The accompaniments to the venison were yummy especially the caramelised shallots.

We cannot fault the food. It's wholesome and tasty and rustic and great for sharing. The brisk service meant that we didn't really want to linger though and we actually didn't bother with dessert and headed home. If service had been friendlier and warmer I think we'd have had a second bottle of wine and dessert but we just didn't feel welcome enough to stay any longer.

The final staff encounter was when our bill came and there were some starred items. The waitress informed us that there had been a few mistakes but they'd been rectified so it was correct now - it was not really an explanation or an apology - more of a don't ask any further questions, just pay it as it's right kind of instruction and if we are quibbling they probably overcharged by $2 but for the sake of £2 I wasn't going to argue and have to stay there longer!

Loved the food but we were happy to leave and walk home which is a shame really but I guess so long as they're as busy as they are and people return for the food then they don't really have to make people feel too welcome!

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Lake House

22/4/2011

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The Lake House in Daylesford has a great reputation and has two hats so was been on our bucket list. Originally I though about staying there and having a spa session there but then felt that I didn't want so spend all our hand earned moolah in one establishment so I found some alternate accommodation, which we were really happy with, and a different spa which was also a good choice.

We were early for our table and would have been happy to sit at the bar for a drink but a warm and friendly hostess was happy to show us to our table. The good service started from the moment we set foot in the place to the moment we left.

We started with a scallop with black bean and spiced carrot as our amuse bouche. The salty tang of the black beans was good with the sweet scallop and then a cinammony puree was the final soft note.

The next dish was a crab and pickled green tomato crostin with a smoked tomato broth. The crostini was fine but not memorable but the tomato broth was very unusual. The smokiness is trapped in the little shot glass and as soon as the lid is removed this tobacco like fragrance comes out immediately and hits the nose. The broth is sweet and like pure tomato water but no pulp. It's light and refreshing with an intense deep tomato flavour. The broth itself is very memorable and one of the highlights of the degustation.

Next came an eel dish wrapped in bacon with heirloom beets and mustard creme fraiche. Eel and bacon is a good combo and although I wasn't taken with the mustard creme fraiche when I read the dish, in reality it lifted the flavours of the eel and bacon.

Quail was up next and I love quail; quail tempura beneath the ribbon salad and shiitake chawan mushi with a blob of wasabi mayo. Once again, when I read the description the wasabi mayo didn't appeal but it was a real flavour enhancer. The tempura was moist and tasty and so meaty. The batter was very thin and almost indistinguishable so not really very tempura like. At the time I loved it but I was spoilt by another quail dish later in the weekend that was on the bone and I think I prefer quail on the bone. The chawan mushi (savoury egg custard) with the chewy shiitake mushrooms was a delight though; all soft and savoury with a Chinese mushroom hit. Great flavour combo.

We moved onto more meat dishes and we were served free roaming chicken, foie gras and wild mushrooms. The chicken was breaded and there was also a rolled and stuffed ballotine. In retrospect, serving this after quail is a bit strange as it's small bird followed by slightly bigger bird. The ballotine was tasty enough but the accompanying mushrooms were a bit too mushy. I had high hopes for earthy mushrooms with a lingering foie gras flavour but really this was just sloppy slime and sadly reminiscent of the contents of a sneeze.

Soon cheered up by the next course though; pastured beef, roast fillet, poached tongue, silverside and oxtail agnolotti. The beef fillet was cooked really well and topped with some crispy breadcrumbs that didn't go soggy with moisture and juiciness of the meat which was great. The silverside was like a non salty bacon lardon and the shaved tongue was a little too much like tongue for my liking but Steve really enjoyed it. The little agnolotti (ravioli) went well with the little green (parsley I think) salsa verde which provided a little lift to the rich flavours of the dish. Along with the beef came a small cup of bouillon and a brioche bun with buttered marrow. The bouillon was delicious - all meaty and dark and the brioche bun very rich and decadent oozing with meaty grease but very tasty.

Pre dessert came next and all those rich meaty flavours were chased away and replaced by a refreshing plum and yoghurt posset. Steve had the lemon and licorice which consisted of lemon curd and licorice ice cream. I had the chocolate tastes; mousse, ice cream, white chocolate jelly and some early violet granita which tasted just like Parma Violets.

The sommelier at Lake House is worthy of a mention as he was professional, friendly and very good. He helped us decide on the two bottles of wine we had and poured me a hefty measure of a sherry to go with my dessert. It was a very dark sherry and resembled balsamic vinegar and after swilling it round the glass, it demonstrated some hefty "legs". I asked him how alcoholic it was and he just smiled a wry smile and said "strong" and boy was it! It didn't taste that strong - like Christmas cake in a glass - but one deep whiff of it makes the eyes water! I stand testament to that.

Petit fours consisted of some Turkish delight, spiced toffee popcorn, salted chocolate truffle, shortbread and a choc mint macaron and in spite of everything we'd eaten, we managed to polish these off too!

We had a lovely evening at the Lake House. There was no mind blowing dish but certainly some memorable flavour combos. The dishes were light enough that after so many courses we didn't feel uncomfortably bloated. In addition we felt that the service was excellent. All the wait staff were attentive and friendly which made for a very pleasant evening. The sommelier even came to us as we were enjoying tea and petit fours to say thahe was finishing up for the evening and wanted to wish us well and an enjoyable weekend.

Having spent the weekend in Daylesford, we learnt that many locals don't like the Lake House and that there are people who have dined there that find it arrogant and over priced. We think that the mark up on some of the wines is high and we don't deny the food is pricey but it's not a rip off and I think the good service accounts for that too.

We've been to one other two hat restaurant, Ezard and think that it is superior to the Lake House but the Lake House does deserve recognition for a good atmosphere, attentive service, strong food dishes with an element of innovation thrown in too and if that recognition comes in the form of two hats then I'm not going to argue against it.

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Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons

Ito Japanese Noodle Café

Taxi Dining Room

Mercato@Daylesford

Koukla at Frangos & Frangos

Breakfast and Beer

Perfect Drop

Lake House

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