• Barley Background
  • Farewell UK
  • Melbourne Magic
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Guestbook

Terminus at the Flinders Hotel

28/9/2013

0 Comments

 
Anniversary celebrations took place at the Flinders Hotel. We enjoyed spending the day in one of the hotel rooms on site before heading to the dining room. The whole complex is a little like a conference centre and the casual bar has the feel of an upmarket RSL. Having said that it's still all very enjoyable to spend time in.

The dining room is  a regular rectangular shaped room and reminiscent of a hotel dining room at one of the big chain 4 star hotels. Again not unpleasant but somewhat sterile. So will the food provide us with the unique experience we seek?
Our waiter was a young gent who was very eager to please and offer assistance with the wine. I thought perhaps he showed his lack of experience by recommending one of the most expensive local pinots immediately without checking budget etc or perhaps that was just youthful enthusiasm. Nevertheless Steve and he found mutual ground that was  cheaper. 

The amuse bouche arrived and it was a Dry Broadbean Soup with Cayenne Pepper with a
Mushroom Filled Borek. The mushroom pastry was delicious - flaky pastry with a creamy mushroom filling was chunky enough to add some texture. The soup left a dry feeling in the mouth so its name was certainly fitting. I'm not sure of the techniques involved in getting a soup to have a dry texture but whatever was done must have worked and it was certainly unusual and memorable. However the flavour of it was quite bland and it lacked the depth and savouriness that I've tasted in other soup amuse bouche.

I think that to have something as simple as soup as a course, it really needs a strong and concentrated stock that has been home made and lovingly brewed up with layers of flavour and this soup lacked that body and depth.
I opted for the Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Steamed Vermicelli, Crab Bisque. It came with a deep fried quail's egg which was a great touch and the oozy egg worked really well. I was expecting a kind of laksa inspired dish and the colours certainly contributed to this.  The tuna was perfectly cooked and was rare in the middle. Again similar to my comments about the soup though, I felt the bisque lacked gumption and rather than being bold in flavours it failed to live up to its colour and was more a moisture provider than a flavour enhancer. And if I'm going to be pernickety the noodles weren't really vermicelli but more like egg noodles. All in all, it was fairly enjoyable but just lacked guts. Pleasant enough but not a lasting impression.

Steve went with Roasted Pigeon, Crab Bastilla, White Cabbage, Date Sauce. Now that I'm asking him about it almost 3 weeks later, he is struggling to recall it which probably says a lot. Oh and now I've jogged his memory, he says he remembers it being tasty so that's good. We did agree on the night that his choice was better in terms of bigger and bolder flavours.
Next up, Steve followed on the pigeon with Wagyu Brisket, Jerusalem Artichokes, with Prunes, Pea Puree. This was a generous serving of meat that was cooked very well so that it was tender. The prunes were actually a good accompaniment adding a welcome sweetness that was not at all overwhelming.

I had the Roasted Lamb 3 Ways, with Cinnamon and Chermoula. The waiter told me there was leg of lamb, braised lamb shoulder and lamb fillet but that wasn't quite the case. I actually received a lamb cutlet which he didn't mention, some leg of lamb and maybe some shoulder but it wasn't actually braised. Well not my interpretation of braised, roasted maybe but not braised.
 
Anyway semantics aside. As well as the lamb was a lovely triangle "samosa" of spinach and cheese like the Greek spanakopita and that was delicious. Given my previous thoughts of lacking flavour and seasoning, this very simple pastry was beautifully seasoned so that the natural flavours of spinach and creamy mozzarella type cheese were enhanced. The lamb itself was also delicious and the spices gave it a beautiful perfume that was Middle Eastern inspired.
Picture
We went with one side dish of Spiced Brussels Sprouts, Chestnut, Shanklish. The veggies were al dente which I enjoyed. Who likes a mushy sprout anyway? I liked the use of chestnut to sweeten and Shanklish for some saltiness. I think the sprouts had been par boiled before being roasted or pan fried. However I think the par boiling resulted in a bit too much moisture still in them so the caramelisation didn't come out enough.

For dessert, we decided to share the Morrocan Donuts, Apricot and Prune Compote but before they arrived we had some petit fours which consisted of a lollipop each. One was strawberry ice cream covered in white chcolate and the other was a salted caramel. Both were delicious.

The donuts also were plump and fluffy and warm and sugary and pillowy and non greasy and just delightful! I didn't need the accompaniments and in fact.not being a prune fan anyway was happy with just the donuts. I don't really know what made them Morrocan but whatever it is, I like it!

We enjoyed our little visit at the Flinders Hotel. Dinner started off average but blossomed and the time away from the city was exactly what we needed. Welcome respite in a busy life.
Terminus at Flinders Hotel on Urbanspoon
0 Comments

    Fine Print

    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.

    Any sponsored posts are easily identified as such.

    Thanks for reading barleyblog.

    Follow @mindabarley
    View my food journey on Zomato!

    Archives

    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All
    Albert Park
    American
    Argentinian
    Armadale
    Armenian
    Beaconsfield
    Beechworth
    Birragurra
    Box Hill
    Breakfast
    Bright
    Brighton
    British
    Brunswick
    Buffet
    Burgers And Pub Grub
    Burmese
    Busselton
    Camberwell
    Canberra
    Carlton
    Cbd
    Chinese
    Collingwood
    Daylesford
    Dessert
    Docklands
    Doncaster
    Elsternwick
    Eltham
    Elwood
    Ethiopian
    European
    Filipino
    Fitzroy
    Flemington
    Flinders
    Footscray
    Fremantle
    French
    Fusion
    Geelong
    German
    Glen Waverley
    Greek
    Hawthorn
    Hobart
    Indian
    Indonesian
    Italian
    Japanese
    Kew
    Korean
    Kyneton
    Launceston
    Malaysian
    Margaret River
    Mexican
    Middle Eastern
    Mildura
    Modern Australian
    Mornington Peninsula
    Northcote
    North Melbourne
    Port Fairy
    Port Melbourne
    Prahran
    Richmond
    Ripponlea
    Rutherglen
    Southbank
    South Melbourne
    South Yarra
    Spanish
    Steakhouse
    St Kilda
    Sydney
    Thai
    Thornbury
    Toorak
    Torquay
    Vietnamese
    Werribee
    Williamstown
    Windsor
    Yarra Valley
    Yum Cha

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.