An afternoon on the peninsula: La Pétanque

On the Saturday before mother's day I took my mum for a pampering afternoon on the Mornington Peninsula.

We started out with a decadent lunch at La Pétanque in the gourmet hamlet of Main Ridge (also home to Ten Minutes by Tractor). This was risky because nice restaurants have an innate ability to fail miserably when I happen to take my mum to them. Luckily that didn't happen this time. 

La Pétanque is a set in beautiful location is a posh meets rustic 'barn'. It also has a little spot to actually play pétanque while overlooking the grounds. 

The setting

We started with a delightful amuse bouche of saffron poached potato creme fraiche and salmon roe.

Our entree was an exquisite dish of dill cured salmon with blue swimmer crab with gin and tonic jelly. 

My mum had the crown roasted pheasant special that was resting on a cassoulet and topped with latticed potato. It was fantastic but slightly overshadowed by my main (which I of course shared). 

The Aylesbury duck breast is the best overall duck dish that I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a lot of duck). The breast was perfectly cooked: juicy, a bit pink and with crispy skin (but not so crispy that it was hard). The duck liver parfait was a richly spiced accompaniment to the duck that added that level of decadence that could make you feel guilty as you eat - if you were that way inclined. The rhubarb and sous vide beetroot added an earthy balance. There is a wistful tear in my eye just thinking about it as a write this. 

Our dessert was a wintry rhubarb ice cream with rice pudding crumbed apple.

Highlights: everything, the duck, the location, the service



We followed lunch up with a visit to Peninsula Hot Springs for more relaxation. I would recommend a visit if you haven't been. The hill top pool has a spectacular view and the facilities (which include a hammam steam room) are lovely.

CBD lunches: Hairy Canary

*disclaimer* this post is about a complimentary meal, which was a tasting of a variety of specials in testing at Hairy Canary

Last week PHo took me to lunch to try a ‘wicked wild boar sandwich’  at Hairy Canary. Hairy Canary is generally thought of as a bar that serves food.  However, with Justin Beilin (a friend of PHo’s) recently taking over as executive chef for it and its younger sibling, Hairy Little Sister, it is shifting its focus to the food. Justin has also recently poached Manuel Villegas from Garcia and Sons in Windsor to lend more Spanish sensibility to their menu. 

Upon arrival, Justin sat us down and explained that he wanted us to test out some of the specials they were trying as part of their revamping of the menu. We began with slow braised calamari and crushed baby potatoes. The calamari was tender and braised in a rich caramelised onion sauce, while the rosemary flavoured potatoes complimented the braise. 

Our next dish was roast suckling pig and cacciatore sausage croquettes with a chipotle romesco. The croquettes were nicely crispy on the outside with a luxurious pork and delice cheese filling. 

The croquettes were followed with the wild boar toasted sandwich with onion marmalade, Dijon and baby cos. The boar was slow roasted, which resulted in a meltingly good sandwich filling that combined well with the crisp lettuce and condiments. Wild boar is an unusual menu item in Melbourne, so I asked Chef Justin about it. He explained that on a recent trip to visit their goat supplier in Gippsland, their supplier mentioned that they had had a problem with wild boars tormenting their herd. They have a license to cull them, however hadn’t had any demand for the meat. Justin happily took one off his hands to feature in a series of winter weekend roasts at Hairy Canary (and of course our tasty sandwich).

The next course was a confit Spanish short rib served with roasted bone marrow and a basque style caper and paprika butter sauce. The beef combined well with the sauce and rich marrow. In the context of our tasting it provided a lull amongst punchier dishes. 

Our final savoury course was a cracking dish of fresh linguini with hand foraged rare mushrooms and rich but delicately flavoured marron bisque (mushrooms pictured below). 

We finished our meal with a good chocolate mousse with fresh honeycomb and chocolate Persian fairy floss – an interesting mix of textures. 

I'd like to see Hairy Canary offering tasting menus like this one. 

*All photos courtesy of PHo

CBD lunches: Roule Galette

I was recently joined by PHo and YP for a Friday lunch at one of my favourite Friday lunch venues, Roule Galette. Roule Galette serves galettes (savoury buckwheat crepes) and crêpes in tiny café on Scott Alley off Flinders Lane.

Some of the perks of food blogging include creative direction in venue choices and tasting rights. On this Friday we agreed to order three galettes and divide them so we all got to taste all three. We began our meal with a Perry from Henry of Harcourt ($11 for 500ml), a traditional accompaniment to galettes, and a nicely dressed side salad.

 

Our first galette was the Monsieur K ($14) that was filled with creamy melted raclette and topped with salty prosciutto.

Next came the Forestière ($9.50) filled with a decadent mixture of béchamel, bacon, mushrooms and cheese.

Our final galette was the Saint Jacques ($18) filled with flavourful sautéed leek and topped with seared scallops (a tiny bit more done than PHo and I would prefer).

Time constraints meant we skipped the crêpes. However PHo and a dropped into Breadwell to pick up some Macarons by Josephine ($2.50).

 Earl Grey and Rosewater

CBD lunches: Yu-u

137 Flinders Lane (entry in Oliver Lane opposite Coda)

This week I caught up for lunch at Yu-u on Flinders Lane with a friend who had recently returned from a stint in Sydney. Yu-u is one of those quintessentially Melbourne venues with its unsigned entrance in a graffittied laneway that one can only enter after ringing a doorbell. Clearly it was the logical choice for cleansing my friend of the shiny Sydney filth. 

Yu-u is a popular destination for its reasonably priced lunch set menu ($18.5). Choices include vegetarian, sashimi and different meat options. We started with a small jug of warm sake, the name of which I neglected to document. It was a perfect choice for an extremely chilly Melbourne day. 

I ordered the sashimi set, while my dining companion ordered the pork. Both sets included hot soup with cabbage and carrot, perfect for a freezing day. They also had a yummy seaweed salad that was suitably flavoured with sesame, and pickled cabbage and carrots that combined sweetness with crunchy piquancy. As an accompaniment to my sashimi, I chose the seasoned rich, which was subtly flavoured with mushroom and of a similar texture to Chinese sticky rice. The sashimi was super fresh and included salmon, salmon belly, tuna and kingfish. 

The pork dish was a delicious combination of thinly sliced pork with a savoury ginger sauce, served on some type of puree with daikon and a refreshing side salad.

Lunch finished with a refreshing slice of rockmelon.

I’ll definitely be adding Yu-u to my lunch rotation. 

CBD lunches: Mezzo

Venue: Mezzo Bar and Grill (formerly Oyster Little Burke)

Address: 35 Little Burke Street, Melbourne

Dining crew: SB, P-Ho, VH, P-Mutt 

Last week I went to lunch with a group of friends from work to ‘celebrate’ the rather sombre occasion of our favourite ski bunny, SB, escaping the corporate world to ski full time. On a miserably rainy day we all turned up to work more professionally dressed than usual (SB in a bow tie) and snuck out for an ‘express’ lunch at Mezzo ($28 for two courses or $38 for three).

Mezzo has a warm sophistication with white walls and linen offset by dark timber furnishings, black curtains,  boudoir style red fabric light fittings and lots of attention to detail. The décor compliments the more refined than rustic Sicilian menu (See I'm so hungreeeeeeeeee's post for pictures). 

After ducking into the toasty restaurant from the miserable day outside, our waiter immediately put us at ease, settled us into our table and served us bread rolls still warm from the oven with olive oil. We perused the menu while happily munching on bread.  The express menu offers a choice of three entrées, three mains and three desserts – we decided to go with the three course option because we couldn’t decide between entrées and dessert.

I ordered the salad of roasted baby beetroot, watercress, candied hazelnuts and burrata. The menu description caused a bit of a problem because it failed to mention that pinenuts were included with the candied hazelnuts. While this would be a bonus for most people, I have unfortunately developed an allergy to them, which has severely curtailed my habit of putting pesto on everything. After quickly explaining the problem to our waiter they had a new pinenut free salad to me in less than three minutes. The beetroot provided an earthy balance to the piquant cress and indulgently creamy burrata – very yum. 

I managed to steal a taste of P-Ho’s semolina dusted calamari with fennel and herb salad. The calamari was tender and was nicely complimented by the salad and the caper, lemon and sultana salsa. SB enjoyed the roast pumpkin soup with pinenuts and balsamic. 

 

For the main I went with the cavatelli with pork and veal ragu. The pasta was cooked al dente and the ragu was rich and hearty with the added freshness of finely chopped flat parsley stirred through before serving. 

My dining companions inhaled their salmon fillet and porterhouse steak, they both commented that the inclusion of walnuts in the caponata on the side lifted the dish out of the ordinary.

For dessert we shared the tiramisu della nonna and the cannoli filled with ricotta, candied fruit and bitter chocolate. The cannoli pastry was perfectly crispy, which provided a good contrast to the soft, creamy ricotta filling that was nicely spiced and not too sweet. The tiramisu was a decadently creamy dessert with an excellent coffee sponge served in gorgeous little copper pots (VH mentioned hers had a little too much cocoa powder on top). Again it was a well balanced dish (not too sweet); it definitely makes my top five tiramisus. 

Highlights: entrées and desserts

Lowlight: undisclosed pinenuts

All images by P-Ho

CBD lunches: Cumulus

Venue: Cumulus Inc. (takeaway)

Meal: Lunch

Earlier this week I was wandering down Flinders Lane in search of some quick sustenance to get me through the rest of the work day when I quickly decided on Cumulus Inc. While I must confess I haven’t eaten at Cumulus Inc, it has long been one of my favourites for a quick take-away sandwich and a place to indulge in my caffeine addiction. I had ordered my  usual favourite (the chicken and avocado sandwich) when I noticed a roll with what suspiciously looked like pork belly and coleslaw poking out from between the ciabatta. After an instantaneous change of mind I walked out with what was described as a ‘crispy skinned pork roll’ ($10).

As I unwrapped the brown paper bag the aromas of chili and Vietnamese mint informed me that I hadn’t ordered a traditional roast pork and slaw sandwich. The coleslaw was a mixture finely shaved cabbage, Vietnamese mint, scallions and a piquant vinegar based dressing. The pork was suitably crispy on the side with the remainder meltingly tender. The pork and slaw were accompanied by a smear of an asian chilli mayo, which completed a flavourful combination sandwiched in a good quality ciabatta roll. The flavour combination smacked of Andrew McConnell’s bromantic feelings for David Chang and has me looking forward to visiting  Momofuku Ssam in NYC later this year…