Da Noi (South Yarra) 12/2018

Hard to believe that it is 12 years since we last ate here and it has remained fundamentally unchanged. At that time we had a five course Sardinian style meal with no menu. See https://1001dinners.blogspot.com/search?q=Da+Noi

That's what you get today. Indeed there is so much variation that dishes might even vary from table to table. The narrow two story terrace, home of Da Noi, remains the same 

with a bit of odd decor.

The food used to be excellent and it still is. It had two AGFG hats at that time and only has one now but it's as good as it ever was with most of the ingredients sourced from their own farm.  

The just baked olive bread is too good - we have to be careful not to fill up on it! Wines are a bit expensive 

and almost all Italian.

Every dish was extremely good and left me wishing for more from the oysters.

Well only one, the mini salad, 

the seafood salad,

to the remarkable pasta, 

a feature of every meal. 

My apologies for the horrible photo's. I did not notice the camera was on the wrong setting.

The main course was Saddleback pork cutlet 

which was quite spicy so Sandra could not eat it. The happily and quickly replaced it with a serve of suckling pig 

which was superb.
The meal ended with a pleasant not too sweet dessert. 

It's a happy, noisy place. The wait staff were helpful, friendly and efficient. The food was very good and I'd recommend it anytime. 

Score 16.5/20

Tulum (Balaclava) 06/2018

Tulum occupies a very plain space in a popular strip shopping street which also has restaurants offering Shinese, Vietnamese, Italian and Japanese ethnic restaurants as well as fish and chips and numerous coffee lounges and hamburger joints.
Decor is minimal, 

there is a small bar near the entrance, tables are almost bare 

and chairs are not very comfortable.
There was a very friendly atmosphere, perhaps a little too familiar for some people. We were seated promptly and at my request the volume of the pleasant Western 90's music was turned down.
What is extremely interesting is the food. We've eaten at Turkish restaurants in Australia as well as Turkey and other countries such as Israel. No other place has served a meal to compare to this one. It's a banquet style five course ($70) meal currently from the SE Anatolia region. The menu changes again in about three months.
So here's what we ate.
SOGAN

Chestnut Mushrooms & Spiced Rice Stuffed Onion, Mushroom Puree & Turkish Apple Tea. A great start, the slightly vinegary apple tea was excellent in this dish.
BALIK

Barramundi, Tahini Baba Ganoush Soup, Leek Cigar Borek. Very modern with a little ?fennel foam, lightly cooked barramundi a super dish I could have it every day.
ANALI KIZLI

Lamb & Bulgar Meatballs, Lamb Fat Onion Puree, Chickpeas & Lamb Bones Corba. This is also known as mother and daughters, the meatball representing mother and the chickpeas the daughters!
KUZU

Lamb Neck, Tulum Cheese Custard, Sucuk Crumble, Tahini & Jerusalem Artichoke Puree, Smoked Date Jam. Slow cooked at 85 degrees left this overcooked but still less stringy than usual and tender and tasty
BILDIRCIN

Half Quail Salt Baked with Sumac, Quince Puree & Pickled Quince.
a supplement ($16)
The quail was very very small and also overcooked but nevertheless this was a dish not to be missed.

A surprise canteloupe palate cleanser
SEKERPARE,

Sekerpare, Hazelnut Mousse, Turkish Black Tea Ice Cream & Black Tea Syrup.
Not too sweet, this was a nice finish to the meal.
They have a small wine list and do not accept BYO.
It was also nice that chef Coskun Uysal, who was born in the Anatolian region, 

served some dishes and visited our table to chat.
Score: 16/20

Lume (South Melbourne) 12/2017

The Road – 

Saturday, 2 December 2017
Since we have been here before we were well aware that one comes to Lume not so much for a meal but for an experience. Of course it is an experience mediated by food - a series of dishes designed to titivate the senses, especially visual and taste and textures. I'm more than happy to try that.
Show plates carry the circumflex and the acute over the restaurant name BUT the name is missing!

We had the 14 course degustation menu. 

Crab taco's
The taco looked like it had a baby corn in it was actually crab, picked, coloured and moulded to look exactly like corn - cute, although not a taste sensation 
Cuttlefish and cucumber tart smoked potato and salmon eggs 

This little tart is the work of a master chef. Not only does it display imagination and technique but it also a curious and appealing combination of ingredients. The salmon eggs added a lot to the dish.
They slipped this little duck egg tart in without mentioning it on the menu and now, two weeks later, I recall I enjoyed it but not much else.

Marron and salted elderberries, apple and mountain marigold apple, cardamon and mountain pepper.

Pearl on the ocean floor 

An exotic combination of seafoods.
This little smoked tart also slipped out of my memory.

Periwinkle and kohlrabi asparagus smoked over lemon myrtle with flathead and over-ripe lime.

A lot of dishes here have been smoked over various woods. The flavours from these varieties did not resonate with me at all.
Another little deception.Barbecued abalone with emu ham and kombu.

Perhaps a little too fussy a dish.

Finger lime verjus Spanish mackerel with fermented pine mushroom and sea urchin.

Artichoke bread with eel butter and corn honey 

Aged duck smoked over melaleuca
‘Hanami’

Simply delicious, deliciously simple - you may have guessed I love duck and this was very much to my taste. 
Cauliflower cheese with apple and Olida gum Willie Smith ‘Somerset Redstreak’

More trickery - these Camember rounds were cauliflower puree.
Fermented passion fruit, rhubarb and Geraldton wax olive oil and mandarin peel ice-cream, fennel and absinthe 

a simple piece of vanilla 

Of course it wasn't. It's rhubarb!
And these musk sticks (reminds me of school days) were not musk sticks either.

and the last dessert.

“the other side of what?” 
Score:
That's a problem.
Ambiance 15/20
Presentation 19/20
Variety and ingenuity 19/20
Taste 14/20
Service 17/20
Total: 16.75/20
But don't take my word for it - go and try it out for yourself!

Hobba (Prahran, Melbourne) 11/2017

To the best of my knowledge there are lots of hoggas but only one Hobba, named apparently after the owners father.
Names aside this is a hugely popular no nonsense cafe. 

Formerly a tile factory it is simply outfitted, practical, largely unadorned space  in a large high ceilinged area,

.with a bit of 'philosophy' on one wall.

Service was slow perhaps because they were so busy.
One of their specialties, sous vide eggs Benedic on a bed of pulled pork was almost cold by the time it got to the table. 

Sixty two degrees is a bit too low a temperature for many people and I much prefer one hour at 68 degrees. The whites of these were just too soft. Pulled pork gets stucki n ones teeth too and I didn't like that either.

Bircher muesli on a bed of yoghurt was a dull dish although it looked quite nice.
There is a buzz about the place, most of their customers seemed to be in their early 20's, but it has little to offer older patrons who may not wish to be surrounded by noise.

Score: 13.25/20