Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: Delicious and Dynamic

RATING: /5 SPOONS

My foray into Melbourne cuisine continued with a rare visit to Dinner By Heston in the Crown Towers.

We were lucky enough to be able to reserve a table here 2 days prior to our dinner (but be warned to try and book early)! Also, don’t forget to ask for a window seat as you get gorgeous Melbourne city views and get to experience the fire show that happens on Southbank river every hour.

Upon entering, you are greeted with the below dinner sign, a nice touch, setting the mood for dinner.

1. Food

I absolutely loved that you are able to select a variety of dishes and aren’t made to sit through a certain amount of courses. We were able to order 3 entrees, 1 main and 2 desserts!

Of course we started with the iconic meat fruit. The dish includes: mandarin, chicken liver parfait and grilled bread (leaves not edible). Absolutely amazing. As someone who doesn’t eat pate often, I was slightly hesitant to see if it lived up to the rave reviews it had received but I absolutely loveeeed this, and highly recommend it. Since we were sharing the dish, the waiters noticed we had quickly gone through the bread and hurriedly brought us some more (love the attention to detail at Heston’s).

50740850_2214133285471664_2603831263299108864_n(1).jpg — Frumenty

Next, we had the Frumenty entree. This dish is made up of Grilled octopus, spelt, pickled red moss, lovage emulsion & smoked sea broth. The broth and emulsion add such a great level of depth to this entree. So many different layers of flavour and this dish and absolutely gorgeous.

Our last entree was the Sherried Maron, which is made up of: Maron, prawn tartare, grilled shiitake & Sherry mushroom broth. My friend and I were stuck on which dish we loved more (Mine the octopus, hers the Maron). Again, the Maron entree had so much flavour and the complexity of the dish is obvious once you taste it. A delicious dish!

Overall, three great entrees!

We were more keen on the entrees than the mains and so we only ordered the one to share.

Powdered Duck main and Triple Cooked Chips

The Powdered Duck with duck hearts was a special and so doesn’t appear on the menu. It was beautiful and tender (but we still preferred the entrees more). The portion in the image is the normal size of a main split in two. The restaurant kindly split the main for us on two dishes before bringing it to the table (Again, not something we had asked them to do, but a lovely touch to show their brilliant service).

The Triple Cooked Chips were very unique. Heston invented the dish in 1995 and so is a signature of his. The chips were extremely crunchy and delicious, slightly oily though.

2. Dessert

We were incredibly excited for the desserts as we had heard a lot!

Starting off with that famous blue egg dessert, the Verjus in Egg. The egg itself contains verbena and coconut pannacotta, coffee parfait and verjuice. The egg is encased in a shell of white chocolate that sits on katafi. Wow! What an experience! Absolutely enjoyed this. We did not expect the centre to resemble a soft boiled egg but it just goes to show the attention of detail Heston puts in his recipes. We later found out that the version made in Australia is a simpler version than that made in Heston’s UK restaurants!! This was delicious.

The second dessert we tried was the famous Tipsy Cake.

Another absolutely gorgeous dessert. The tipsy cake involves a spit roast pineapple that is visible upon entering the restaurant, it adds a lot to the atmosphere of the kitchen as it is such a unique sight. The pineapple itself is delicious but the cake is a winner.

Overall

Greatly enjoyed our experience at Heston’s in Melbourne. Not only was the food delicious, this was one of the best fine dining experiences i’ve ever had because of how warm all the staff were to us and their level to attention to detail of anything we needed. It created for an amazing experience.

Hawker Chan: Michelin Star Dining

RATING: /5 SPOONS

50313532_885214201869981_5244189106031820800_n-e1548139833552.jpg

As I was stuck in Australia over my break, I took a trip down to Melbourne and of course the elusive Hawker Chan was on my go to list.

Although, not a Michelin star restaurant itself (As Australia does not publish the Michelin guide there are unfortunately no Michelin starred restaurants in this great nation) Hawker Chan in Melbourne is a spin off from the cheapest Michelin meal in the world first created in Singapore.

My friend and I arrived here for dinner at around 8pm on a weekday and we faced no line. The restaurant has many seats and is of canteen style where patrons line up, order at the counter and wait for their food.

. Hawker Chan seating and restaurant design

1. Food

The first pictured meal is the Char Siew with rice. The barbecued pork was absolutely delicious, loved the fatty parts of the pork and the skin was just delicious. The real winner of this dish though was the sauce covering the rice. It really did elevate the dish and helped balance out the char siew. I later learned that this top secret sauce is produced in Singapore by the creator Chan Hong Meng. He then transports the sauce to Melbourne where it is used.

The second meal pictured is the iconic soya sauce chicken, which we opted to have with noodles. This dish was our favourite and the chicken was tender and basted in that gorgeous marinade that we fell in love with (and honestly couldn’t get enough of). The humble noodles here were also amazing and we ate every last bit from the dishes.

2. Drinks

We purchased a cold fresh soybean milk which was lovely in itself.

3. Final review

We were slightly underwhelmed from our experience, we expected the restaurant to be buzzing and busy but it was quiet when we went in. The dishes were lovely and at a good price (albeit some would consider the portions small), however, if not told it was a michelin star spin off, one would not be able to tell as the quality of food in Melbourne is so great. It is definitely worth a try though!

Restaurant Hubert: Restrained and Romantic

RATING: /5 SPOONS

After being on my go to list for a while, I finally had the opportunity to visit Restaurant Hubert on a Monday night.

My friend and I arrived for dinner at 630pm and the restaurant was already full so we were seated at the bar. This wasn’t uncomfortable and we were provided with the same menu as other diners, so we were not displeased.

1. Food

The two highlights of the night from the main dining menu were the Duck Parfait Liver mousse, maple syrup jelly & Hubert baguette, with its soft, smooth texture that glided on the warm baguette so effortlessly and the Escargot XO Roasted snails with Hubert XO sauce & Hubert baguette, a delicious dish anyone will enjoy even if averse to snails.

I also greatly enjoyed the Prime Beef Tartare Wagyu topside, watercress & anchovy and the raw scallops, with peas and walnuts.

The Kimchi Gratin Spicy cabbage & sweet onion gratin was also an interesting additional dish, providing a slightly spicy end to the night.

In regards to desserts, we only had the chance to try the Macadamia nut cream, coffee ice cream, chocolate & sabayon. This was lovely and so different from any other dessert i’ve tasted, the coffee ice-cream was absolutely delicious. Every bite of this dish was absolutely unique, and the more you go in the more different elements and flavours you’ll uncover.

Prime Beef Tartare Wagyu topside, watercress

Duck Parfait Liver mousse & maple syrup jelly

Hubert baguette

Raw Scallops

Escargot XO Roasted snails with Hubert XO sauce

Sabayon Tarte

2. Drinks

Upon opening up the drinks menu, I was amazed at the sheer amount of drinks on offer here! There is something to satisfy everyone here from those who prefer something light to those who are connoisseurs.

Starting with the Hubert Pastis Fizz, this drink comes with a dash of nutmeg, which gives it an interesting taste, not being a drinks connoisseur myself, my friend and I didn’t personally enjoy this drink the most.

The Pimms Cup and Negroni were lovely and what you’d expect.

hubert 6 — Hubert Pasitz Fizz, Negroni and Pimm’s Cup

Goros: Urban, Unique and Fun

RATING: /5 SPOONS

Came here for something casual and different and after hearing so much about this Surry Hills bar/restaurant/karaoke venue I knew it was time to visit. My friends and I visited on a Friday night at 730 and it was completely packed! Although the food here isn’t mind blowing, Goros gets extra points for creating a unique atmosphere and concept in Sydney.

Had to wait for 5 minutes for a table/booth to clear but not an issue as you can access the bar and order some food while you wait for a table to clear.

1. Food:

The chicken karaage were definitely a winner for me. I also found the gyoza lovely (but my friend an avid Japanese food eater rated these at a 7/10). My friend really enjoyed his fried chicken burger and I had a taste of the fries which were also yum.

47382955_295808657735288_7650818633857236992_n — chicken karaage

47680400_359203531542087_2569462548449460224_n — chicken karaage and fried chicken burger with fries

47290774_520893601743602_3407031460941529088_n — fried chicken burger with fries and curry sauce

47394680_2152326448364201_7771822757532139520_n — gyoza

2. Drinks:

For those who rarely drink beer an Asahi was a safe choice and I found it went down well with the food. I didn’t manage to capture the Sake but we chose one of the ‘light and refreshing’ options and i personally found it strong but that’s the fun of sake!

47578779_267953540581404_4411715390552408064_n — Asahi

Bar Italia: A Classic in Leichhardt

RATING: /5 SPOONS

If you’re after a carb binge then Bar Italia is the perfect place to satisfy those cravings at such great value. It’s a lovely place for a family gathering, friend meet up or even date night. Be warned, we visited here on early Saturday night and this place was already brimming full, just goes to confirm the testament that it’s a classic.

Food:

Absolutely loved my fettuccine bosciaola, so cheesy and creamy in a great way. I managed to have a bite of my friend’s fettuccine puttanesca, this was absolutely delicious and flavourful. The olives in that dish were stunning and mouth watering. This was a dish that you would not get bored of eating.

fettuccine puttanesca

2. Gelato:

Unfortunately didn’t grab any gelato this time but have been here before and tried the gelato which was also of a high quality.

Maison Coffee: New Western Sydney brunch option

RATING:

/5 SPOONS

As a long time Western Sydney resident it can feel like I have the same limited, repetitive options for restaurants, so when new brunch restaurant Maison Coffee opened up, I knew I had to schedule a brunch date there!

Being labelled as the sister cafe to the successful ‘The Usual Cafe’ in Cabramatta, Maison Coffee already had high expectations to live up to and I can confirm it has delightfully delivered.

The restaurant definitely adds flare to the Greenfield Park area and really changes the vibe of the Greenfield Park Plaza which was once a desolate area but has recently undergone amazing construction.

Drinks:

Starting off with the coffee, I had an iced mocha which was absolutely delicious. My friend grabbed a warm mocha which she also enjoyed. They use single O coffee here and the flavour definitely delivers.

2. Food:

I was most excited to try the food here particularly after I saw so many shakshuka pictures! As a major fan of the dish, i’ve found my expectations haven’t been met in the Sydney shakshuka scene from other restaurants but goodness Maison delivers!! So much flavour and the chorizo is a beautiful touch.

My friend had the eggs Benedict with halloumi on the side and also liked her dish. I’m always sure to order shoe string fries wherever I go and the fries here were absolutely delicious.

The Food Journey Begins

Welcome and thank you for visiting my page! I’m Lidia and this blog follows my food journeys through casual brunch cafes to fine dining to quirky hidden bars. I’ve been an avid food eater for the past 23 years of my life and hopefully many more.