Ondine

[Roger McShane]

We spent some eating time in Melbourne last week. We had heard about the closure of est est est (a restaurant we always found to be variable at best). The team has resurfaced in the Republic building in Queen Street but they have renamed the restaurant Ondine.

Our meal was about the same as it has always been at est est est. A couple of interesting ideas, a couple of flawed dishes and absolutely nothing that leaps of the plate at you and says 'this is great food'.

A tomato consomme had too many extra bits including some very tough clams. A duck, scallop and curly endive salad was good. Overcooked blue-eye was just boring. A rabbit dish was very similar to one we tried at Clichy in 1984 - gimmicky but with muted flavours.  A grilled peach that accompanied a bavarois was 'grainy'.

The head waiter was excellent.

The day before we had been to Sud and had a first class meal. The next night we went to the wonderful Chez Phat where each dish was superior in flavour to those we had tried at Ondine and the prices were much, much lower.

Tous, it seems that the Ondine chefs try to 'work' the food too hard and seem to be scared of allowing the flavours to speak for themselves.

Does anyone have any Ondine experiences to relate?

[Heather]

We haven't dined at Ondine, and don't feel inclined to. Neither were we inclined to dine at the team's former restaurant "est est est". Maybe it's wrong to judge a restaurant by its menu, although I tend to do exactly that because it works for me. Reading a menu, I can tell whether I'll like the food, and est est est's menu never left me inspired. It seemed as if they were doing too much to their food, and without the necessary genius to make it work. Or, a la Roger's fish dish at Ondine, it just seemed boring - the kind of food that makes dining out feel like a huge waste of time.

A chef friend from Western Australia insisted on going to est est est while he was in Melbourne, and was very disappointed. Not only did the food "not speak to" him, but apparently the kitchen couldn't get the basics right - dishes came out way overcooked, way undercooked, grit in salad leaves.

Anyway, with the same team at Ondine as at est est est, I can't imagine things being any different, food-wise. Perhaps this is harsh, but I doubt that est est est/ondine would last more than a couple of months in Sydney, where diners are accustomed to eating superb "modern Australian" food and there's a wealth of restaurants creating it.

I'm convinced that, in Melbourne, ethnic food is the way to go, for best possible dining experiences. Like Roger, I'm a big fan of the food at Sud (southern Italian), although we gave up going there on account of the restaurant always being packed with smokers. Of course, anti-smoking laws are now in effect, but memories of post-dinner wheezing, and passive-smoking induced insomnia, must linger subconsciously as we haven't been back, despite our very high opinion of the food.

Or maybe it's just that we're creatures of habit. As often as we go to cool basement Japanese restaurant, yu.u, it seems to be a case of too many times never being enough. That's probably our favourite restaurant at the moment, and we like Red Emperor for yum cha, especially when they know we're coming. They knock themselves out making special vegetarian and seafood things, since they know I'm not a fan of meat.

Ah Mu is our other restaurant of the moment. Favourite dishes: Dad's fish curry and skinny laksa. I can't believe Mr Woo does it with Skinny Milk. His black rice and taro dessert is great, too. I love the way it comes wrapped like a little present. It somehow makes it more exciting.

I can't recall venturing onto unfamiliar turf at all lately. A girlfriend coerced me into joining her at Zukini, a certified organic restaurant on Flinders Lane. It's changed a lot - not at all the place that earned the damning review in Epicure. Much more casual - I think it's been rebranded as a "canteen". The simple, healthy, produce-driven vegetarian dishes we tried were good. Substantial portions, reasonable prices - my eggplant and pumpkin curry on tumeric rice was a meal in itself and cost $14.50. I don't know that I'll be dining there of my own accord, but Zukini exceeded expectations.

[bourdain]

I like Donovan and Philippa Cooke. I like their style. like that they're mad, bad and dangerous to know. I like the classic French sensibility that runs through their cooking . And I am awed by the maniacal attention to the art of sauce-making going on here. Donovan can talk about sauce for hours. And he delives the goods. Here's what I had at Ondine this time around.

My initial disappointment that they were not running the Tuna a la Ficelle with smoked hock ravioli, hock broth and horseradish cream I'd flipped over on a previous visit was quickly put aside:

Assiette Champenoise:

Oyster and Lettuce Veloute with Truffle Oil accmp by a 97 Pirie Pipers Brook Tasmania

Roasted Yabbie Tail with a Confit of Tomato and Apple alsa accmp by NV Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin

Poached Quail Egg with Foie Gras and ouble Chicken Consomme en gelee accmp by NV Krug Grande Cuvee

Tomato Consomme Scented with Basil, a Courgette Flower Stuffed Prawn and Horseradish--accmp by Emilio Lustau Jarana Fino (chilled sherry) ( Noone I've met has ever coaxed so much out of a tomato)

Lightly Smoked Barramundi with a Red Wine Poached Egg, Baby Shallots, Bacon Lardons and Essence of Parsley accmp by 2000 Rene Rostaing La Bonnette ( The WINNER--lush, over-the-top rich, delicate, lavish--and comfortably classic. I knew I'd love it just looking at it)

Pigeon en Vessie with Braised Celery Heart, Truffle Sauce and Mushroom Foam accmp by 1999 Gilles Barae Cote Brune (non-carmelized pigeon, a damn-near fistful of truffle--and killer)

Warm Peach Shortcake with Sauternes Jelly and Gingerbread Ice Cream accmp by 1999 Robert Weil Grafenberg Auslese

Pyramid of Strawberry Sorbet and Almond Parfait Glace with a Salad of Summer Melons accmp by NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Demi Sec ( Philippa's ice creams, sorbets granitas etc. are unparallelled in this life)

On whole--the meal mopped up the floor with Flower Drum (also a very fine meal there--but nothing like this) The Cooke's Rule.

[Roger McShane]

Hate to be a party pooper but I have been to est est est and Ondine many times and have always found the food to be seriously flawed. I have had some really, really great first courses and then it has always been downhill from there. The main courses have always been disappointing and I have never had a dessert that I have enjoyed.

Oh well!

[Scott]

Just to re-hash an old argument.

Ondine has the potential to be as good as virtually any restaurant in Australia, i do think it over eggs the pudding in it's mains.

That said, one of it's signatures starters: asparagus in blond orange hollandaise is a national treasure.

Mind you, as good as it is, the greatest restaurant in australia (by some distance) is the Grange with Cheong Liew in Adelaide. I think it's probably one of the world's top ten. Many Michelin 3 stars have things to learn about classical french technique applied and reinvented at will and a whim.