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Caffe Panette

15/12/2012

We've been to Caffe Panette twice in two weekends. It's easy and in a good location for us and roomier than the other South Melbourne brunch places. The second time we met up with Karly and Cam and baby Indy so we needed more room for the pram and Panette provided this.

This is a picture of the Melting Muffins which is bacon, avocado, tomato and melted cheese on muffins and I augmented the dish with mushrooms and spinach. Pretty stodgy fare but ribstickingly enough that it chased off a hangover!

The previous visit had us trying the Eggs a la Mer - poached eggs, Hollandaise, smokes salmon, sliced mushrooms and I added bacon and spinach. Steve had the corn fritters with ham and tomato relish and added some mushrooms. Pretty decent brunch dishes.

Our recent visit with Karly and Cam resulted in a hiccup with Karly's calabrese pizza which arrived after we had all finished our dishes and rather than being a wood fired pizza as declared on the menu, looked like and I was informed tasted like someone had gone to Woolworths for a frozen pizza and served that instead. That's a real shame. If the wood fire oven wasn't on or working they should have just told us that rather than serve something sub standard.

So my conclusion on Panette is that it's great for eggs and brunch and a pleasant place to sit and air out the hangover from the night before but I'd avoid the pizzas.

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The French Brasserie

14/12/2012

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Christmas time - season of goodwill and all that! Also means a time for business lunches and thank you for your business, here's to the New Year and working together again.

I enjoy catching up with suppliers and this was a good lunch with my boss, a colleague and three from the host company.

We were seated in a nice corner and it was airy and bright. It was quiet when we first arrived but soon filled up. Busy enough to create ambience but quiet enough that we could chat easily and freely.

My boss Carrie and I struggled to choose between entrees so we decided to share each others. We had the cured kingfish (pictured above) which came with little balls of potato, salad, orange slivers and a chive creme fraiche. It was deliciously light with the orange cutting through the full fat (could taste it was full fat!) and decadent creamy creme fraiche. The fish was thickly sliced, which I liked and slightly dry so the flavour could come out. Although the fish was cured with beetroot, the flavour wasn't quite there but undeniably the colour made it a very beautiful looking dish.

So Carrie and I polished off half the kingfish each and then we shared escargots in garlic butter. The escargot were tender and the garlic butter just garlicky and buttery. I felt they needed a touch of seasoning to make them perfect but in spite of that still enjoyably good.

Others went for steak tartare and the ubiquitous French onion soup...when in France...

I enjoyed the minute steak which was topped off with a little onion and lardon. Unauthentically presented and not quite the steak frites of a Parisien bistro it tasted great and the steak was very tender. The fries were authentically shoe string and salty so that was enough for me.

The other dish pictured is the cassoulet. It looks like a small pot but I was assured by the two gents on the table that ordered it that it was not as gentle as it looked and packed a powerful punch. I guess duck, duck fat, lardons and beans can be heavy on the tummy!

I was surprised by how good this was. I think it's pricey for sure and is probably more suited the corporate clientele especially at lunchtimes but the premium price point is not unwarranted. I'd heard misgivings about service but we didn't experience that and whilst it took a while to flag down a waiter for the bill we felt looked after enough. Definitely a good choice for our purposes.

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Bohemian Bar and Restaurant

8/12/2012

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Spanish Saturday and Steve suggested trying the Bohemian at South Wharf prior to some holiday shopping.

I liked the decor of the place with its retro European posters, velvet curtains, bistro feel and we chose from the lunch menu and concentrated on trying different tapas.

I was a little baffled by the order our food came out but that didn't stop it from tasting good. The chorizo came out first with a blob of creamy mayo. Dense and savoury with a paprika piquancy it was sliced thickly so wasn't overly dry which sometimes it can be. Definitely enjoyable.

Char grilled asparagus with truffle hollandaise and crispy jamon came next. The asparagus was slighly over cooked so slightly softer than al dente but the truffle hollandaise and salty jamon were great flavour enhancers and magicked this humble asparagus dish into a decadent luxury.

Patatas bravas were a little bit of a surprise. Four bite sized cylinders of potato, slightly bevelled inside to house a spicy tomato salsa and a dollop of sour cream. Crispy, spicy, then cool and refreshing these were delicious. So much so we had to order another portion! Expensive really considering there were only four bites per serve but just really tasty.

And the last two dishes that came out were the cured meats - a selection of Spanish cured meats, served with toasted bread and tomato marmalade. I thought this would have come out first but it didn't! There was thickly sliced salamis, bresaola, prosciutto...the tomato marmalade wasn't the greatest - kind of like a sweet and sour sauce from a jar but the meats were good. As a meat plate it was certainly generous. My preference would be for some other different things maybe a terrine and / or some pickles like the charcuterie plate at Cumulus.

Grilled rabbit with globe artichokes and romesco sauce was our final dish and it was a great little rabbit course. Stuffed with boudin noir and on some mash it was elegant and delicious.

The Bohemian is a really pleasant place to dine. It's not easy to eat outdoors as it's in a bit of a wind tunnel but inside it's cosy but not too close together and has a charming vibe to it.

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Red Spice Road - QV

7/12/2012

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We had a couples pre Christmas get together here 2 weeks ago on a Friday evening. Seated at a long table to the right of the central bar we felt right in the thick of things and the thick of it was super busy. There were 8 of us in total and it was hard to relax in spite of beers and wine because it was so noisy and fraught.

We opted for the $65 per head banquet to make things easy and overall the food was good and satisfied everyone. Nothing was glaringly wrong or not palatable. The lamb ribs were as we remember them - meltingly soft with a crispy crust and a tasty chilli jam. The scallop was nicely cooked with a zingy salsa.

They serve the main courses in two rounds so we had a minced chicken salad and the pork belly in round one. I found the pork a little tough but have discovered in the times I've frequented that standards aren't always consistent. The minced chicken was well balanced with the salty, sweet, sour and chilli coming through.

Round two was a barramundi curry and beef cheeks in an Asian masterstock type broth. Surprisingly good. The creamy curry and the cleaner beef cheek were a good blend of different flavours. I'm not convinced by the serving of main courses in two rounds though. For some the delay means that by the time round 2 comes, too full to eat any more which is a waste and in an environment so noisy and busy, hanging around and prolonging dinner seems absurd as it's not relaxing.

Dessert was Asian in style and not my thing - sweet, creamy, hint of coconut, a bit bland really.

In conclusion, when I say I'm not convinced by two rounds of main course, I'm also not convinced entirely by RSR - QV. It was all a bit impersonal, in out, beers, wines, banquet, turn the table over and before we know we're outside with full stomachs and feeling like we never quite got to talk and catch up with everyone because it was too hard to inside. The whole experience just never quite came together in spite of decent food.

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Portello Rosso

1/12/2012

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Saturday was date day and we'd decided to have tapas before heading to the Rooftop Cinema. I've been wanting to try Portello Rosso for ages. Steve had never heard of it but I had heard good things and had walked past a couple of times having been to the bar next door. I think I've tried to get in twice just on a Friday night and it was fully booked both times.

Anyway we secured an early table and were told we'd have to vacate by 20:15 which suited our timeframes. We were seated upstairs and we found the waiters to be quite introverted but still pleasant and friendly and most importantly offered a personal touch in their engagement. They also came u[ with some good food and wine recommendations.

Our tapas feast began with:

Tortilla – Spanish style frittata with onion jam
Charcuterie Plate – Selection of imported & house made salamis, jamon & charcuteria items with cornichons, Spanish caperberries and bread
Boquerones – Marinated white anchovies over honeyed goats cheese with smoked paprika

We found even the small dishes which we were told to order two of if we both wanted to try were actually quite generous and large enough to share if a taster is all you want. The tortilla up there is for one and you can see quite easily divided into two.

The tortilla was light and fluffy with good flavour and different textures from the veggies. I used some of the onion jam to accompany the rabbit terrine on the charcuterie board. We enjoyed the jamon the most on the board although the terrine was yummy. The Serrano ham was so different to the two Iberico hams. And the two different ages of the Iberico is quite startling with the pricier and older version being understandably better. Slightly drier in texture and with a flavour that lasts longer in the mouth it was delicious.

I loved the anchovies as I like a meatier anchovy and enjoyed the creamy sweetness of the cheese against it. I would choose this over Movida's anchoa although Steve's fave is still the saltier Movida version.

Mejillons - Black shell mussels cooked in a smoky tomato sauce served with grilled garlic bread
Bandarilla - Spice rubbed lamb over smoky eggplant with a green tomato & chipotle Salsa
Crispy pork belly over almond & garlic puree

The mussels were plump and tasty and the smoky sauce perfect for bread dipping. The pork belly was flavoursome with crispy crackling and without the gelatinous fatty layer that sometimes comes with pork belly when it's not rendered down enough. This was like the Chinese version but meatier. The puree was a bit salty for me but it was all about the meat.

The only slight let down was probably the lamb skewers. The meat was a bit tough and sinewy and the flavour nothing all that memorable. I'm not sure the Morroccan spices rub (not necessarily Morroccan but tasted that way to me) went with the tangy smoky creamy eggplant mix.

We loved the flavours of the Asparagus barbequed with herb & garlic butter finished with shaved smoked cheddar but felt it was overdone slightly as it was a bit too soft in texture. We prefer our asparagus with a little crunch.

Our final dish was a chorizo, tomato and honey dish which was exactly what it was and by this time we were too full to appreciate it fully.

After a little break and as we finished the wine we decided to share the icecream terrine with almond praline.

Flavours in the terrine were salted caramel, a centre of raspberry and almond. Great flavours and we especially loved the tart fruitiness of the raspberry.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Portello Rosso. We loved the old nod to its former use as a warehouse. We loved the friendly and homely charm whilst still being elegant. We loved the honesty of the place and the lack of pretention. And we also found it good value for money.

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Caffe Panette

The French Brasserie

Bohemian Bar and Restaurant

Red Spice Road - QV

Portello Rosso

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