The Town Mouse

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.

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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!