83 replies to this topic

[Amarantha]

Has anybody been to Three.One.Two.?

Looking at their website, a $110 degustation looks like it's very tidy value.

Hehe, I posted about Three, One, Two in the "Taxi-like" thread before I saw this post. We went there shortly after it opened, and again about a year later, and both times we were blown away. Top-quality cooking with excellent ingredients, but in a comfortable environment at reasonable prices. We both think it's probably the best restaurant in Melbourne.

Come to think of it, it's been about a year since we were there last; perhaps it's time we went again

Re: not eating out on Friday/Saturday nights, we do exactly the same. Usually we'll go on a Monday or Tuesday. This Monday - Bar Lourinha, to celebrate the end of this semester's exams

[Shinboners]

Hehe, I posted about Three, One, Two in the "Taxi-like" thread before I saw this post.  We went there shortly after it opened, and again about a year later, and both times we were blown away.  Top-quality cooking with excellent ingredients, but in a comfortable environment at reasonable prices.  We both think it's probably the best restaurant in Melbourne.

Come to think of it, it's been about a year since we were there last; perhaps it's time we went again 

That's a good enough recommendation for me.

Now, the only thing is whether I go there in September as a birthday present to myself or in December to celebrate an anniversary. It's not the worst decision in the world to have to make.

Anyway, this Friday we're off to Agrodolce for my missus's birthday.

[JSL@Palate]

Oh look, you're all just making me homesick over here. I want to try Bistro Guillaume for all the great reviews it's getting. I want to try Nobu because, well, it has the name 'Nobu' in it. I want to try Flower Drum because it sounds as though it's rejuvenated itself. And now I want to try Three, One, Two. I miss Melbourne.

Although I did go to Jackson's on Friday night and it was sweeet..

[Shinboners]

Anyway, this Friday we're off to Agrodolce for my missus's birthday.

Agrodolce was very good. The service was excellent, the courses came out at a nice pace, and the food was very well executed.

The mains were the highlights for us. For me, I had a stuffed pigs trotter with citrus juices, and served with braised puy lentils. It had that lovely rich stickiness that you get with a trotter, but there was just enough citrus to cut the richness.

The missus raved about her braised hare....and it was braised with a little bit of dark chocolate.

The waiters also recommended a wine which was a Dunns Creek Estate, 2004 Barbera from the Mornington Peninsula. It's an Italian style wine, and the grapes are grown under some very stressful conditions. The wine itself has a very earthy bouquet, and the flavour was very rich and complex. For me, it had a lot of earthy and chocolate flavours, and the flavour lingered and changed in the mouth. I don't think the wine has a wide distribution, but get in touch with the winery.

[Amarantha]

The mains were the highlights for us.  For me, I had a stuffed pigs trotter with citrus juices, and served with braised puy lentils.  It had that lovely rich stickiness that you get with a trotter, but there was just enough citrus to cut the richness. 

The missus raved about her braised hare....and it was braised with a little bit of dark chocolate.

Damn! That sounds incredibly good. Shall add it to my restaurant wishlist

[Shinboners]

Hehe, I posted about Three, One, Two in the "Taxi-like" thread before I saw this post.  We went there shortly after it opened, and again about a year later, and both times we were blown away.  Top-quality cooking with excellent ingredients, but in a comfortable environment at reasonable prices.  We both think it's probably the best restaurant in Melbourne.

Come to think of it, it's been about a year since we were there last; perhaps it's time we went again 

I'm pretty much booked in for dinner at Three.One.Two next month. Excellent....I can't wait.

I'll also be at the Furnitex trade show at Jeff's Shed next week, so I'm hoping to have lunch with a friend at Giuseppe, Arnaldo, and Sons.

[jkim]

have lunch with a friend at Giuseppe, Arnaldo, and Sons.

Any idea when this place opens?
Everytime I walk by, it's closed.
As I understand, it's a no bookings first come first served establishment?

Also has anyone actually tried Jacques mentioned earlier in this thread? What was the experience like? I've heard some good passing by comments about it from a couple of friends, but no indepth comments and have not been able to try it myself yet.

[Shinboners]

Oh look, you're all just making me homesick over here.  I want to try Bistro Guillaume for all the great reviews it's getting.  I want to try Nobu because, well, it has the name 'Nobu' in it.  I want to try Flower Drum because it sounds as though it's rejuvenated itself.  And now I want to try  Three, One, Two.  I miss Melbourne.

And the homesickness might get even worse if the rumours are true about Thomas Keller and Gordon Ramsay opening restaurants at Crown.

[PCL]

News to my ears Dan... do elaborate!!

[Shinboners]

News to my ears Dan... do elaborate!!

The Thomas Keller rumours were doing the rounds last year. I actually thought they had put aside some space at Crown for a 30 seater (or something like that) restaurant. But I haven't heard anything since then. Here's an old thread on the Keller rumour..... http://forums.egulle...howtopic=100596 Anyway, I've got my order in for his new book on sous vide cooking. btw, one of my footy mates is living in New York and he and his wife had dinner at Per Se (amongst other many fine New York restaurants).

As for Gordon Ramsay, he was in Australia recently, and he spoke about opening a restaruant in either Melbourne or Sydney, but it seemed that he was favouring Melbourne. The rumour was that he was going to do a reality TV show about opening a new restaurant in Australia. Naturally, with him doing a lot of work with Channel 9 (which is home to his Kitchen Nightmares and Hells Kitchen TV shows), and that station's links with Crown Casino, it seems to be a natural fit.

[Shinboners]

another option is Jacques Reymond, which isn't CBD, but is less then 10 minutes in a cab.

I went to Jacques Reymond last night, and we had a superb time.

The service was excellent, and the food was brilliantly well executed. Reymond's food doesn't have the same "surprise" factor that places like Three.One.Two, Vue de Monde, and Interlude have.....to my mind, these places like to fiddle around with the textures and expectations of food so the diner gets a "wow! I didn't expect that" response......but it's all about the purity of the flavour of the ingredients.

We had the 7 course degustation, and everything came out at a nice and relaxed pace. The only thing that didn't make sense was the palate cleanser. It tasted fantastic, but it didn't really cleanse my palate.

But anyway, we had an outstanding night and we'll hopefully be back sooner rather than later.

[Adam Balic]

Glad yo liked it. Eh, so what was the food?

[Shinboners]

To the best of my memory, we had the following:

Rock lobster dumpling in dashi broth, with a paper thin slice of dehydrated apple and a tiny salad of herbs. The flavours shone brightly and the lobster had a great texture.

A salad with duck cooked rare, foie gras, raw tuna, some pickled vegetables and salad leaves. The foie gras was the highlight - not too strongly flavoured, but with such a smooth texture. There was a paper thin slice of cep on the bottom of the salad - very nice.

Kingfish with a miso glaze, and a pea puree. The kingfish was ever so slightly rare in the middle, but again, a lovely texture and clean, clear flavours.

Seared venison that was coated with...something. Not sure what it was. Nice and caramalised in the middle, but sweet and rare in the middle.

For the course where you had a choice, I had milk fed veal with a milk foam and vegetables. The veal had a milky flavour, and the texture was so smooth - firm, but it broke apart on the fork. The missus had a rack of lamb, and this was superb. Nicely charred on the outside, rare in the middle, and it was probably the best lamb that we've tasted.

Palate cleanser. A mint marshmallow, some coffee cream, and a couple of other things (a powder and a foam) - tasted great, but it didn't really cleanse my palate.

Dessert. Chocolate icecream, banana ice cream, caramalised passionfruit puree, and a chocolate biscuit. Sounds simple, but all the flavours were vibrant.

Petit fours were a choux pastry ball filled with creme, nougart, a pistachio meringue, raspberry Turkish delight, and a chocolate truffle.

Hmmmm.....I get the feeling that I've missed out on one course as I don't think the palate cleanser really counts as a course.

Edited by Shinboners, 25 September 2008 - 05:20 PM.

[PCL]

Palate cleanser definitely not a course.

I'd complain Dan.

[Shinboners]

I didn't count the palate cleanser as a course.

I know we had the right amount of courses, but for the life of me, I can't remember the one I've forgotten.

[Cedreena]

Don't you two cook at home or are you made of money?

[PCL]

Uh... my kitchen isn't ready yet... building a new home at the moment, the last one was destroyed Should be done by April though, but I plan to be back in Melbourne for a bit before then, if not just after.

[Shinboners]

Don't you two cook at home or are you made of money?

Who, me? I cook at home almost every night, and it's usually things I can do quickly. Having two kids, it's hard to do anything elaborate.

As for going out, the missus and I would probably dine out together about six times a year. And when we do, we'll go somewhere special.

PCL, on the other hand, is rich beyond comprehension, never wears the same pair of socks twice, and he simply refuse to eat anywhere that doesn't have a Michelin starred chef behind the stoves. In fact, I once had dinner with him and he threw his bowl of pesto across the dining room when he tasted that the olive oil used wasn't a first cold pressing using olives that had been hand picked by virgin girls. He'll have me killed for making this public, but the truth has to come out.

[PCL]

You got it wrong Dan... not only had they not bothered to provide oil from olives not picked by virgins, but the crushing of the nuts in the pesto had not been carried out by voluptuous beauties.

And talking about Michelin, the new HK guide kinda sucks... time to head over to THAT forum and raise some hell...

Now, please carry on with regular programming. Don't post about anymore restaurants unless one can pay top dollar!

[Shinboners]

Should be done by April though, but I plan to be back in Melbourne for a bit before then, if not just after.

If you've got time, you should come over one day on the weekend. I'll get a pigs head and we can have fun cooking it.

[Shinboners]

The other half the kids went away for about a week and a half, so I did a bit of dining. I can't be bothered doing detailed reviews, so here's a quick run down.

Libertine - went there for their cassoulet night. I'm a fan of Libertine, and I was happy with everything except the dessert (I simply picked the wrong one). We went on a Wednesday night, and the downstairs section was full, so it's nice to see them doing well in tough economic times.

Mario's - I haven't been to this Bruswick Street institution in many years. I simply had an eye fillet, and at $25, it was good value. As usual, the atmosphere was great.

The European - This is a place where I've always had great dinners, but this time, it was disappointing. The food just lacked that little bit of sparkle. I went for the roasted rib eye as my main, asked for it to be medium-rate, but it came out medium to well done. Not much flavour in it either. The tiramisu was good though.

Oyster Little Bourke - Outstanding. I enjoyed a truly great rib eye, cooked as to my preferences. A nice mixed leaf salad to go with the steak, and I was a very happy camper. The only thing I didn't like where the pont neuf potatoes, but that's just a personal prefence issue (I still ate them all though). An excellent tiramisu rounded things off nicely.

[PCL]

A very telling state of affairs, my dear friend.

You're alone for the weekend. So you go for a meat fest.

Cassoulet.

And then 3 steaks in succession.

I'm impressed. I'm going for steak tonight. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Shinboners]

I should also mention that I took La Luna. An excellent dinner in a very family friendly restaurant. Next week, it's Cutler And Co.

A very telling state of affairs, my dear friend.

You're alone for the weekend. So you go for a meat fest.

Cassoulet.

And then 3 steaks in succession.

I'm impressed. I'm going for steak tonight. Thanks for the inspiration.

I should have also mentioned the two t-bones I cooked, and the curry using beef ribs.

[Amarantha]

We've had a couple of breakfasts lately at La Luna, and it was all incredibly good. We went there because we'd bought Adrian Richardson's book and been highly impressed with it. Although somehow we managed to get overcharged the second time. We didn't realise until later in the day, but we'd each ordered a $18 dish and a pot of tea, and we were charged $60 something for it. I'm sure we'll forgive them and go back there, though - it would have been an innocent mistake, and the food is just so good