The Living Room (Malvern) 02/2012

This was a case where the Living Room is the dining room. It's a split level amalgamation of what was originally three shops. Furniture is an odd collection of lamps, chairs and tables of various sizes. There is also some footpath seating which is pleasant especially for a pre meal drink on a pleasant afternoon or evening. The place is decorated with a few bright sort of pastiche paintings of Melbourne scenes evoking a sense of belonging here. It's open, friendly and noisy. Of course we added our contribution. It has been open for about three years, owned by the proprietors of the Claremont Cafe, across the road. The food has left cafe style far behind and they advertise their status with one framed certificate, and why not. If you've got it flaunt it!This review is an amalgam of several meals. For starters, if your metabolism can take it, the chicken livers were excellent. There was no fibrous stuff left in them, they were cooked but not over cooked, gently seasoned, just the way they should be. A carpaccio of pork neck, I've forgotten the fancy name for it, served with goats cheese and figs was a gentle inoffensive entree with well defined flavours that were agreeable regardless of whether they were eaten separately or together. If scallops are on the menu I'd have them any time too.Croquettes were not on the menu today but we enjoyed them a few weeks ago here.There are a lot of small dishes which it is fun to share.Sirloin steak was served with a pile of crisp chips. Requested medium rare it was quite well done. The menu changes frequently but steaks are always there, although the presentation varies.
Salad was a simple affair.Fish, a crumbed fillet of barramundi, on a bed of spinach was excellent. A cheese plate was very minimal whether with a sliver of truffled bree or a blue goats cheese.On a previous occasion they were more generous.Desserts are pretty and pretty good.
If not for the wine it would have worked out at about $65/diner. We drank a Shelmerdene Heathcote shiraz and an 07 Merricks Thomson Lane shiraz as well as a sauvignon blanc the name of which escapes me just now.
Everything was good but not yet in the one hat class for me.
Score:14/20

Attica (Elsternwick) 02/2012

It is six months since we visited Attica which has continued to grow in stature as a world rated restaurant, at last being recognized by the AGFG with a third hat. There have been some staff changes but the general style of service has been maintained and continues, in most respects to meet the highest standards. The decor is restful and quiet with black walls. The tables are simply set with a small bowl of quondong seeds.Bread comes with both butter and smoked olive oil.
There is both a vegetarian and non vegetarian degustation menu on offer both for $160 with matched wines for an extra $110. We opted for the normal menu, which was far from 'normal' in comparison to most restaurants. The meal began with three chef's offerings. I have added the Internet prices for the matched wines which seemed to be particularly suited to the food.

The Walnut, cutely presented in a bowl of wood chips, when opened they revealed some tiny, very sweet, baby peas in a walnut puree.

Sea bounty mussel a few minutes later was a total contrast. The local mussel had been crumbed and flash fried, presented with a small sea side succulent it was juicy with a distinct taste of the sea.

Shiitake broth with Society garlic, a superb broth, the little flowers have a taste of garlic but do not leave behind a garlic breath, hence the name. Originating in South Africa they are often grown in suburban gardens because of their pretty flowers. Their grass like leaves are also garlic like and can be eaten as can their bulbs.

Francis Boulard ‘Les Murgiers’ Blanc de Noir, NV, –Cauroy-les-Hermonville, France (Approx $30 or less)

Snow crab, who would think that delicate crab could be served with horse radish, salmon roe and puffed rice but it produces a great combination. The presentation is gorgeous and it comes with a story reminding chef Shewry of snow covered mountains recalled from his childhood. A wonderful dishPeter Lauer ‘Fas 25’ Reisling 2010, Saar, Germany (Less than $29)

Marron, leek native pepper was distinguished by it's utmost delicacy. Tiny leaves, the steamed leek and garlic oil all went towards a beautiful texturally and tastefully joyful dish.

Mac Forbes ‘Gruyere’ Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Victoria ($76 for a magnum)

Tomato, smoked sesame, eleven basils, is a colourful vegetarian dish. It's main feature is the treatment of the small black Russian tomatoes laid out on a strip of bright red pepper. Pretty as it was I missed the photo!

Navazos/Nieport Blanco 2009, Jerez,Spain ($19)

Meat from the pearl oyster pintada maxima, served with fried chicken, sea lettuce, chard and dried onion leaf. Not normally eaten this is the oyster from which South Sea pearls are harvested. It is a very large oyster with a beautiful iridescent mother of pearl shell. The oyster meat is very firm but tender with a delicate flavour reminiscent of calamari.

Chateau d’Esclans ‘Whispering Angels Rose’ 2010 – Provence, France ($20)

Kumara, Purslane, Pyengana, served with buckwheat, broccolini and a barely cooked egg yolk on a Tasmanian cheddar cream from Pyengana, a village with a population of 123 at the last census (2006). Purslane, also known as pigweed, is an edible, gourmet, succulent weed which happens to be rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamin A and C, which is becoming popular in cooking recently. Kumara is very like a mild sweet potato and, if you like that this dish is a great way to have it served.

Occipinti’SP68 Nero d’Avelo/Frappato, 2009 – Sicily, Italy ($22)

Pork tail, red melon, dune spinach. Water melon batons, tomato jam and shredded pork tail, who would imagine dining on pigs tails, beautifully decorated, provided stimulation to the appropriate senses.

Rippon gamay 2011 – Wanaka, New Zealand ($19.5)

Honey dew honey arrived in a mystery box. Soon all was revealed, a honey flavoured meringue dessert.

Crawford river serendipitous selection Reisling 2010 – Henty, Victoria (RRP $45)

Native fruit of Australia of which the only one recognizable was the quondong or native peach, the red fruit at the top of the picture. They are all 'bush tucker'. Oakridge ‘Late Harvest’ Voigner 2009 – Yarra Valley, Victoria (2008 sells $35/ 375 ml)

The meal ended with an acknowledgment to the importance of the history of cuisine and a sign of respect and empathy for plants and animals. This was done via a birds nest with chocolate imitation eggs of the Pukeko, a cheeky red billed New Zealand bird that has adapted it's lifestyle to survive in a challenging human environment.An absolutely outstanding meal, the equal of any that we have enjoyed anywhere. It's going to be hard to improve on!

Score:19 /20

The Potsticker (Caulfield North) 01/2012

*Click on pictures to enlarge.
The corner of Hawthorn and Inkerman Rd. has been the kiss of death for restaurant after restaurant. Lone Star, Millers, Scherazade and several others have failed to thrive here but The Potsticker, still showing signs of Chinese New Year, was close to full on Tuesday night when we dropped in. It offers Cantonese style food and has a reasonable wine list or accepts BYO. Some one with a bit of flair has redesigned the interior by making bar style seating around a large rectangular elevated shallow pool surrounded by 20 seats in the middle of the room. This very decorative area, partly curtained off from the rest of the room, turns what used to be a barn like space into an attractive and practical dining area. Here decked out for New Year.This bit was left intact for the last two proprietors.Led by Eric Wong, former owner of Cina, we were shown to a seat by floor staff wearing loosely knotted narrow ties glistening with shiny metallic sequins. The menu offers several banquets as well as the regular a la carte dishes and we chose the $65 deluxe banquette.
It started with a very good sea food san chao bao, followed by a second entree of dumplings, like Shanghai dumplings these potstickers had retained a little soup within the pastry packets. Very nice. We swapped the spicy prawns for battered prawns with a sweet sour sauce served in a separate bowl to keep the batter crisp. The sauce had a good balance between sweet and tart, a very good dish though could have done with a little more. Two pieces of duck breast, presented as Peking duck followed. The pancakes were not quite as fine as they might have been, but better than most and the duck was not thinly sliced. I suspect it was just roast duck rather than the traditional Peking duck. We enjoyed it regardless. Continuing to avoid the hot dishes we swapped the chicken on the menu for chicken with cashews. This was a simple, standard, Cantonese dish, served with fried rice. Mongolian beef with bok choy was the last main course before the dessert. Comparisons, the saying goes, are odious but I have to say the generally much more expensive restaurant that we ate at a couple of days ago served a much less aesthetically pleasing rendition of this dish though they both tasted good. Dessert was a slightly over gelatinized mango pudding. We returned a few days later and had some more very good dishes. Substantial crabs claws ($8) were good starters. A plate of mixed mushrooms ($20) was excellent although the tofu was over baked and a bit tough. Silken tofu would have been better. A whole barramundi ($30) was quite small but a very fine fish with gentle white flesh which we all enjoyed. Sweet and sour prawns were exactly like those we had at the banquet. If they continue to serve good food at reasonable prices The Potsticker has lasting properties at this normally unpopular site.

Score 14.5/20

Davids (Prahran) 01/2012

*Click on any photograph to enlarge it.
David's has long been an AGF one hat restaurant, featuring an emphasis on the curative properties of their various teas. It's Chinese New Year. The year of the Dragon is upon us so we're going to have a seven course banquet ($65 pp only $6 more than their usual major banquet. The place is packed and noisy. Since we were last here they have added more tables to the front of the place and removed the stands of teas. They've also added some new decoration along the wall.
Service is a little slow with the large crowd but after a one hour lag from when we arrived until the second course dishes appeared at a reasonable rate.
Shredded duck meat soup infused with mushroom and bamboo shoots perfectly described this dark and satisfying soup. Shanghai garlic pork ribs which were actually dried pork chops coated in bread crumbs and garlic, there were however no bones, seemed a very un Chinese dish. It was quite pleasant and could have been served in a Mediterranean restaurant anywhere. Peking duck, supposedly thinly sliced roast duck meat in a home made pancake with cucumber, spring onion and special plum sauce was a poor effort. The duck was a thick slice of breast and the pancake quite thick. It was presented wrapped and ready to eat. My duck had a little plum sauce, far to little, at the bottom of the pancake and the cucumber and spring onion were lost with the thick piece of duck breast. Lobster with XO chili sauce was overcooked and the lobster meat was quite tough. I'm unimpressed with strong sauces and delicate sea food but on this occasion it hardly mattered as the over cooked lobster had lost any delicacy.
Sauteed rockling with Chinese rice wine and woodear fungus served with steamed rice was a complete contrast to the lobster. A beautiful dish worthy of David's reputation. Mandarin steak, diced eye fillet with Mandarin sauce and seasonal Chinese vegetables came with David's fried rice. A good dish but the presentation with large Bok Choy on the plate adjacent to the small diced beef jarred aesthetically with me. Fried rice was excellent, which it almost always is at any Chinese restaurant. Red bean pancake with ice cream was a pleasant end to a very patchy meal.One hat restaurants don't always live up to their reputation.
Score 13.75/20