Mrs Parma's (Melbourne CBD). The Parma yardstick?

(degusted 15^th July 2011)  

 If you want a decent, well cooked parma, with a range of toppings choices (and even if you’re a vegetarian), you'd be mad not to go to Mrs Parma's at least once if you’re out and about in the Melbourne CBD. We have a lot of faith in Melbourne's food scene, so we would not rule out the possibility that there are better parmas to be had elsewhere, but those on offer at Mrs Parma's were pretty damn good.

The Parmageddon - Chicken Parma with chilli sauce.

The humble “Parma”. It's a relatively simple concept: take a slab of chicken or other meat or equivalent substitute, flatten it, cover it with crumbs, cook and smother in sauce and cheese. Bake until cheese melts and goes a little brownish. Serve with chips on the side (do NOT place the chips under said slab of crumbed meat or equivalent). Salad is optional and probably won't be eaten by a true “parma-phile”.

The concept is straightforward – and mastered comprehensively by Mrs Parma's – a little gem at the top end of Little Bourke street. With it's neighbours being some fine-dining heavyweights, like the Flower Drum, Grossi Florentino's, Longrain, & Gingerboy to name a few at this end of town, Mrs Parma's holds its own by doing one thing extremely well – consistently good parmas. Just as well, given the name (which for some reason whenever I hear it I can only think of “Mrs palmer and her 5 daughters”)…

Dining area at the back - looking forward to the bar.

On our visit on a Friday night, we were welcomed into what is essentially a typical pub-style scene: post-work beers flowing around the bar, and a cluster of tables beyond for the super-early or those with bookings.

The bar stocks a selection of craft/ micro-brews and has a good range of both permanent and special items. I tried a ‘limited time only’ dry hopped topaz from Hargreaves Hill  – of which they only had a single keg.  It was really nice, had a slightly fruity nose and a refreshing flavour with a good hit with a sharp hopsy finish that lingers, in a good way. A very pleasant drop to start off the evening.

Build your Parma

There are lots of options  - chicken, weiner schnitzel, or eggplant as the base – then 10 different topping suggestions – including vego options. You can of course also modify the toppings to suit. Next time, we will give some chorizo and jalopenos a try.
A re-visit to try out some new combinations are already scheduled to happen - updates soon!!

Our companions  on the night (regulars at Mrs Parmas) modified
their parma with a good scattering of Jalopenos. Thumbs up from them..

Menu has non-parma options, too

Toppings options for your parma.. You can mix and match if you like ;-)

Vegetarian

Yes indeed, there are vegetarian options here. The eggplant parmagiana with the pumpkin, feta and basil was a really good, solid alternative if you’re “that way” inclined. Even the obligate carnivours were impressed and would happily substitute this for a meat version. The eggplant was not ‘gooey’ as such, so some might say this was undercooked – however this slight resistance to the tooth was actually what made it so good as a parma.

Eggplant Parma with pumpkin, feta and basil.
Even meat-eaters would be happy with this one!

Parmageddon

As soon as The Degusters see anything advertised as “the hottest '<insert dish>' in Melbourne”, we consider it a challenge. Such was the case with the Parmageddon – apparently the hottest parma in Melbourne. This may indeed be true, but perhaps is just a reflection on the general low level of chili tolerance in this city. For us, the chilli sauce (with FOUR different types of chillies, no less) did not pose much of a challenge... It did not even elicit as much as a mild brow sweat - more of a Bunsen burner than the raging inferno we were expecting.. We should have asked for the kitchen to load up the Parmageddon with a few handfuls of jalapeños to warm it up some more (which they do supply either as a side dish to allow you to add your own as you go, or they will add it to your parma when they make it).

The chicken was real chicken – clearly a good quality fillet (not a processed mash of offcuts a-la Maccas nuggets), and the size of the feed was sensible – and realistic. We've seen monstrous schnitzels elsewhere in the past, which are more comical than anything else – where do chickens grow so big as to be able to supply a breast fillet 50cm in diameter!? The meat was moist inside, the crumb was crispy (both keys to a well-cooked parma), and there was the right amount of sauce and cheese topping off the schnitzel. The quality of the servings across all plates at our table of 8 settings was consistent; everyone at the table was impressed with their food.

Chips. Don’t forget the chips.

For the table, we were served only two bowls of community chips. When they were placed on our table we were all channelling Oliver Twist – “please sir…” … you know the rest. These two bowls, however, held some really good chips – not the best I've ever had, but still pretty good chips (the best chips we had ever degusted were served at Raze Gourmet Burgers in Mooloolabah QLD - unfortunately we believe they are no longer open – big sadface). After all the fuss, we didn’t actually finish the chips, so I reckon they’ve titrated the optimal quantity per person.

Drinks:

Cheeky Rascal Cider. We tried the Cheeky Rascal strawberry and apple cider. It was a nice, sweet cider that had a delightful stawberry flavour. Very refreshing and we have already recommended this drink to others who like a sweet drop. A top-notch effort from this Mornington Peninsula winemaker, Robello Wines.

Beer: As mentioned above, we had the dry hopped topaz from Hargreaves Hill. Much enjoyed, and it impressed us greatly.

Special thanks to K & J (Tza Tza!) for organising this visit. You guys rock.

A final thought:

Chicken Parmas... on paper they are a simple dish. Why then all the fuss about finding a good one? The question should be why do some restaurants get the parma so wrong? Perhaps because their cooks have never eaten a truly excellent parma and so, don't know how bad their own offerings are (I'm thinking of Just Degusting's experience at the pub on crown (blecgh) and a recent re-visit to Hoo Hah kitchen). We reckon Mrs Parma's could be the yard-stick against which others should reference their own efforts.

Rating:  Nom(x3)

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Mrs Parmas

-Chicken Parmageddon (Melbourne's hottest parma - according to Mrs Parmas)
-Eggplantwith roasted pumpkin, feta and basil.

Afghan Pamir - Great service, some good dishes.

At Afghan Pamir we got fantastic service, and there were some really good dishes that you should try. Unfortunately there were also some dishes that were a bit boring. That doesn't mean it's not good - in fact we like it - it's just not a stand-out. 


(degusted 10th July, 2011)

We heard about Afghan Pamir because of their involvement with the Melbourne food & wine festival, from which they received good reviews in the media, most notably for The Degusters, through the food reviewer Ela Carte on radio station 3aw. 

3AW? scoffs one Deguster to the other..
Yeah, yeah.. OK, before you all think one of us uses a walking stick, wears a hat and drives a volvo, we should point out that we’re proudly well out of 3AW's target demographic, but one of us just happens to enjoy a bit of talk-back in the mornings...

Afghan Pamir has therefore been on our “must try” list for most of this year, so when we found ourselves at a loose end on a Sunday for lunch, it was a good chance to finally go and see what all the fuss was about.

First up, please don't judge by the fact that this restaurant is in Dandenong. 

Dandenong – apart from the drag racing - is currently undergoing something of a revitalisation- roadside rejuvenation, new housing developments. It’s a melting pot of cultures – mainly middle-eastern and African – and this always seems to bring out the best in a town.  Granted, it will probably never find itself the Toorak of the south-east, but in the meantime a visit to Dandenong is not all that bad.  On a street back from the Princes Hwy, Afghan Pamir is currently located in a quiet(ish) street, so it felt a bit remote... or peaceful, depending how you look at things.

Afghan Pamir - Dining room. All the menus are clean
and laminated, unfortunately, so are the tables..

Walking through the modest looking shopfront you enter the quite large dining room, the tables had thick plastic covers, which gives the dining room a bit of a “cheap” feel. You can get away with this if you’re a Pho restaurant selling $7 bowls of soup, not when you are a restaurant with mains that cost $25 and over..

After this first impression, everything improved.

The waiter was the perfect example of what you should expect in a restaurant – courteous, helpful, and friendly – on this occasion we could not have been treated better. It's as simple as that. 

Being our first time here, we were guided through the menu, given lots of information and suggestions. Apparently, their most popular orders are the set menus – 5 to choose - including one vegetarian, and one meat lovers. We opted for banquet #2 as it included dessert and enough of the items from the menu that we were interested in trying anyway. They are firm on the ‘no changes to set menu’ rules, so don’t bother asking, unless you have specific dietary requirements – but then everyone at the table will probably have to all have the same.

Off to a flying start

Once the order was placed, we had bread and dips out and on our table really quickly. The bread was nice and fresh,. The salad was a bit so-so, but that didn't worry the salad-dodger...

The naan (bread) and dip.

Salad, & yummy Chatney (chilli dip).

The Chatney (a chilli & pepper sauce made with vinegar, cilantro and chillis, we believe) was awesome. When we told our waiter how much we enjoyed it, he went and got a container of it for us to take home. How good is that!?

 

Chicken and Lamb mince skewers. The Chicken was PERFECTION.

We devoured the chicken skewers which were the highlight of the meal– they had that smokey, char-grilled taste – with just enough bits of black - and were perfectly tender and soft inside – absolute perfection. The other highlight was the Afghani rice – which just has to be tasted to be understood: it was unlike any rice I've had before, and I loved it.  The meatball kofta were a surprise – really moist and tasty – two elements where meatballs often come unstuck. The bread was put to good use mopping up the sauce that these kofta came in.

Afghani Rice. So soft - you really just have to try it.

Meatball Kofta - surprisingly moist and tasty.

Mantuu - Afghan steamed dumplings.

One of the unusual dishes was the Mantuu – Afghan steamed dumplings, made from pastry, and served like a big ravioli. Interesting texture and flavour, we can only explain it as being a fusion of Asian dumplings and Italian pasta. It was genuinely a unique experience for us – and while we're not completely sold on this dish, and probably wouldn't make a special effort to go back just so we could have it again, it is really quite unique and we'd be happy to eat it again. I guess you have to try it once, right?

Sizzling plate of Doner kebab..
Nothing special, but good enough to eat.

Our vegetarian dish - thinly sliced potatoes.
Neither crispy, nor soft and fluffy. Could have done without.

The sizzling plate of doner kebab was mediocre, and the lamb mince skewers were ok – not enough flavours for our liking. There was a vegetarian dish included in this tasting, and according to the menu we were supposed to be able to choose which dish we wanted for this or leave it for the chef to choose (the waiter did not ask for our choice, nor did he tell us what the “chef's choice” was going to be – this was perhaps the only little let-down of the whole experience).. If you order the tasting plates, choose your vego dish and make sure the waiter gets it.. We were served this potato gratin style plate, which was uninspiring and a bit bland. There was nothing wrong with it, but with so many flavours and yummy things on the menu, it was a shame to have wasted our “choice” on this.

The desserts were tasty – the interesting Gulab Jaman which is like a little sweet, round dumpling ball, and the Baklava was just what you’d expect (although it was cold on the plate, which effectively subdued the sweet syrupy flavours). We found it best to let it warm up to room temperature for 5 minutes or so before eating it. Accompanied by a generous 3 scoops of ice-cream, our lactose-intolerance would have been better served with more of the Gulab Jaman or Baklava, and a bit less ice cream.

Dessert - Gulab Jaman, Baklava and ice cream.

In all, we really did enjoy the whole 'degustation' – there were a few items that we'd rather swap out if given the chance (but set menu’s are indeed set). For friendly service, this place gets an 11 out of 10. For food quality and taste, it’s harder to score, because some items are 10's, others are a bit bland.. Once you've done a tasting plate, it would be good to go back and order a la carte all the best things you know you’ll like. 

Degusters woz 'ere - 2011.

Will we go back? We would, especially for those chicken skewers, the friendly service, and the possibility of finding more things on the menu that we simply adore. In the meantime (and although it’s not Afghani) if we were after a big feed of bread, dips, similar quality meats, yummy rice and generally good value, we might stay a bit closer to home and pop into our trusty Turkish haunt – Guzel Istanbul Restaurant in Mentone.

Points of note:

Child Friendly?– the restaurant claims to be child-friendly, but the only evidence we saw of this was the supply of high-chairs. There was no obvious play area.

Vegetarian – Yes, there is a whole section of the menu devoted to Veggo meals, also a Vegetarian Banquet.

Drinks – not licensed. They will supply soft drinks!

Location – the waiter advised that they would be changing their location in the next 3 to 6 months – so perhaps check their website before you go!

Bookings – they say you should book for dinner. We had no issues walking in with no booking for lunch on Sunday, though.

Recipes - they have recipes on their website, so you can try and make their dishes at home.. COOL! 

Rating:  Nom (x2) - perhaps if we chose our favourites, this would be a Nomx3.

Meh                      It’ll Do                 Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Afghan Pamir

Set menu of Banquet # 2, including:
-Mantuu (steamed "dumplings")
-Afghani Traditional rice
-hot plate of shredded doner kebab
-chicken skewers
-lamb mince skewers
-Meatball Kofta
-"choice" of vegetarian dish
-naan (bread)
-dips
-salad and chilli/pepper dipping sauce
-"mixed dessert plate" including Gulab Jaman, Baklava and Ice cream
-can of soft drink (living it up!).

Napoleone & co Pear Cider. Quaffable. Very quaffable.

"If you generally like other ciders, you’ll probably really like this one."

 (Quaffed 7th and 15th July, 2011)

I remember some time ago, peering into a mate’s bachelor-pad (bar)fridge you'd have slim pickings of a VB, Fosters (heaven forbid!) or perhaps a Melbourne Bitter. If you wanted something else there was a bottle of spirits (that you'd have to mix with softdrink yourself), or - if you could stand up to the ridicule - a strongbow. 

I wish I could forget.

Thank goodness things have changed since then. Blokes will now actually contemplate wine as something they can drink openly with their meal, and microbreweries are doing a splendid job keeping us refreshed and our palates interested.  While we’re all getting a little bit sophisticated, there’s been a renaissance of sorts when it comes to ciders, and I reckon it’s great when a wine maker puts their brewing nouse to good use and comes up with a cider that is more than just a soft alternative to beer.

Punt Road wines (under the Napoleone & Co label) have put together this great Yarra Valley creation that I reckon is worthy of inclusion on your "give it a try" list, and would not look out of place in your grown up, twin-door, whiz-bang family fridge.

Napoleone & Co pear cider has the typical sweet, fruity nose that you’d expect of a cider, with quite a pale straw colouring - but surprisingly there is more to it than that.  I picked up more complex flavours than most of the “also-ran” ciders, with some yeasty notes that almost made me think I was drinking a nice fruity wine. In that regard, I was delighted that – to my palette, and as the label hints - it was more towards the wine end of the drink scale, rather than the sugary fruity alco pop end that I fear to admit I might be too old to enjoy.

It looks and feels like a grown up cider that makes me thankful for the sophistication and evolution of Australia's wine and beer makers, and something that I’d be proud to serve up to my friends and family. It’s also nice to boast about something that comes from around my old stomping ground.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not re-inventing cider – it’s evolving to something a little more special than “just a cider”. I’d love to have managed to get my hands on a bottle of Napoleone’s Methode Traditionelle Pear Cider to see how good this cider can really get... (But alas, they are all sold out)... Note to self: Get onto the next year's vintage when it's available.. I must also try their apple cider too, to see how it compares..

It is a sweet and fruity drink (compared to a strong full-flavoured lager), but not overly sweet. If you generally like other ciders, you’ll probably really like this one.

 

Where to get it? Check out Punt Road Wines' website (link above), or Y&J's in Melbourne CBD has a new cider bar...

Footnote: 

If you do happen to like your drinks uber-sweet, and want a cider rather than a moscato, then this probably won’t cut it (as was the case with a friend of ours last week – (sorry, K.)) – in such a case maybe try a strawberry and apple cider under the Cheeky Rascal label (from Robello Wines), another yummy, but much sweeter drop, which The Degusters thought was also a top-notch effort from this Mornington Peninsula winemaker.

Thai Viet Bibigo - quick bite for lunch... with "Guest"ronomer, the Cinnamon Stig

(degusted 8th July 2011)

We all like to fine-dine every now and then.. (more now, less then).. but what about the little lunchtime bargains, the little guys - the hole-in-the-wall type of places?.... We reckon these are often the best to find, and in a way they are the true gems of the city of Melbourne, and it’s these that make us want to search for more!
 

One such place is Thai Viet Bibigo in the Capitol Arcade, Swanston Street Melbourne (although some – including a number of people checking in on Foursquare) call it “Thai Viet Bibig” – apparently the circular shaped letter at the end of the sign (the “O”) has long been ignored.  There is not much of a digital footprint for this place - no website, no menu (that I could find) - nothing, except a really basic facebook page offering "$6 Japanese curry with free miso"...

We did not plan to find this place, nor know of its existence. It was found almost by accident – a curious little sign on Swanston St (that you’ll only see if you walk past). The sign points to enter the arcade, and confuses with the name “Thai Viet Bibig(o)” and images of sushi. Confused yet?  We were...  With the sign piquing our interest, we just had to check out this (what might just be the first) “Vietnamese, Thai, Korean Japanese sushi fusion restaurant”!

We quickly learned that this place was quite popular – at lunch time, there were limited seats rapidly disappearing.

To mix things up a little and get some fresh input into the blog – The Degusters have called in a lunchtime bargain “ninja” – who we hope will be a regular "Guest-ronomer" for Just Degusting. 

.

…..Some call him the “son of a gun”, but he is a gun in his own right – known to demolish the opposition from Melbourne all the way to Mansfield… Some say he can eat a kebab with both hands tied behind his back, or that he can achive a perfect score singing Bon Jovi's “Living on a prayer” on singstar... All we know is, he’s called our Cinnamon Stig.

Here’s the Cinnamon Stig’s  take on the Thai Viet Bibigo:

If you’re looking for a quick but tasty lunch in the CBD then I highly recommend Thai Viet Bibigo, which  is situated in the Capitol Arcade, just off Swanston Street, in a cosy little enclave with the thoroughfare doubling as table space. 

After finding a table, oddly with three legged stools, I lined up and surveyed the menu.

I ordered the Bulgogi Beef hoping that a warm dish would help with my winter blues. I was not disappointed.

After getting over the initial shock of being served my lunch in a huge stainless steel vessel (that gave the impression that the cast of 101 Dalmations might be joining us), I was nicely surprised with the dish. The beef was tender and full of flavour; there was also a hint of chilli which is always a winner. Accompanying the beef was a beautiful smokey sauce that also went well with the rice and vegetables. On the subject, the vegetables were cooked perfectly with a slight crunchiness, for those of you who can tell if your meal has been cooked in a wok – I can confirm. It also came with a complimentary bowl of miso soup.

Overall the whole package of food, atmosphere and service was really enjoyable - and truly worth the lunchtime bill of less than $10.

Would the Cinnamon Stig go back…?? Yes!!

Unfortunately, the bowl of beef bulgogi was finished
before our camera's shutter could open and close..

One of The Degusters who are with the Cinnamon Stig ordered the fresh Salmon bibimbap – which also came with the complementary miso soup. There was a nice hot sauce that added a good hit of heat – a Korean-style chilli paste. 

Salmon bibimbap. Clean, fresh, tasty, and good value.

Free miso, and yummy chilli sauce

The Cinnamon Stig ordered these strange croquettes – he cannot remember what they were, nor were they memorable in any way. Cinnamon Stig felt that they were not worth mentioning, but we think that in itself is worth mentioning. Just Degustings view - Just stick to the bibimbaps and bulgogi’s and enjoy this little hard-to-find place that pumps out good food with good value!

Worth mentioning is that the metallic chopsticks might be hard for some who are no so adept at the art of chop-stikkery (they didn’t have much grip). Also, all the cutlery and condiments (such as soy, sambal style chilli, etc) are available from a communal area to the right of the servery. This puts some people off, apparently.

All bibbimbaps came with complimentary miso soup, there is relatively quick service, and the quantity and quality of the food is worth paying for. 

This is the sort of place that makes Melbourne tick. It also makes you wonder what other little gems you might be able to dig up around town….

Rating:  Will go back!

Done and Degusted @ Thai Viet Bibigo

Beef Bulgogi
Salmon Bibimbap
 (both with miso soup)
Croquette things that we would not bother trying again.


Thanks Cinnamon Stig! Hope to degust with you again soon!

Panama Dining Room and Bar

(degusted 7th July, 2011)
 

Overall I was impressed with the food quality, also from the service from the waitress. There are lots of good cheeses available here, both in the cooked dishes and also available as menu items in their own right.

A nice mix of old, character-filled
furnishings added to the atmosphere.

Panama sounded good from the few reviews (and menu) that I had read before going – in particular the atmosphere - there was talk of an upstairs warehouse style space with huge windows and lovely views. With heightened expectations, we managed to find this restaurant and bar after entering through a small doorway off Smith Street and up two flights of eerily dodgy and deserted looking stairs. Pushing through the doors at the top of the stairs and turning left to see the bar area, this place really is impressive. The huge arched windows give views out to the city on one side, and down to Smith street and the Dandenongs in the far distance.

We were seated in the restaurant and told that the kitchen did not open until 6pm – fair enough – we were there at 5:45, so enough time to read the menu and enjoy an aperitif or two.

Perfect for waiting for the kitchen to open..

Skipping the mains tonight.

This whole night out was based around getting into Cafe Rosamond's Thursday night dessert degustation (see our other post for this one), which meant that we were here at Panama as a token effort to at least have some savory for the evening. So instead of filling up too much on mains, we wanted to degust a number of dishes and looked to the list of starters and entrees as the source of these.

I had a short-list of things I wanted to try before I had even walked in, but the waitress advised of the specials and one was too good to pass up – the marinated goat in pastry.

The gruyere cheese puffs were pretty average to look at- but at 5 bucks for a serve of 2, you don’t expect anything too flash, nor should you judge a book by its cover. The humble looking, but crispy shell of these fritters yielded easily to the challenge with fork, revealing a gooey, custard-like interior of molten gruyere; around 3 mouthfuls of golden delight. Wow, this was a really mild cheese flavour, more emphasis I should place on the silky, even fluffy, texture of this fritter's filling. My cholesterol-conscious doctor would hate to hear me say it, but I would happily order these again (and recommend others to give them a try).  The salty cod and mashed potato croquettes were nice, with quite a mild flavour (certainly no fishy smell); these would make excellent canapes or an ideal beer drinking accompaniment.   

Cod croquettes, and only half captured to the left are the Gruyere fritters.

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers - very cheesy flavour,
broken up well by the candied walnuts.

The zucchini flowers were stuffed with a 3-cheese mixture of ricotta, parmesan and gorganzola. Accompanied by a walnut salad (where the walnuts were incorporated into a nice salty caramel), the strong cheese flavour - which for me was a little intense for my liking- was balanced out by that sweet and salty caramel. The walnut crunch gave a good textural element. A well thought out dish, and cheese lovers would probably enjoy it much more than I did.

The “special” entrée de jour was the braised.goat in pastry, with a smoked tomato puree. The goat was very tender, easily pulled apart and melting in the mouth. That smoky puree was amazing- really intense smoke flavour but not so strong as to taste burnt- so good it elicited dual "oh wow!"s from the degusters. Awesome, I could eat these all day long... Yummm.

(They could even be the best re-interpretation of the humble pie and sauce, if panama were to market it and keep it on the menu.. although if it were a pie I think it could do with a little more gravy or moisture in the filling.).

 Although not on the permanent menu it does give some idea of the quality of the kitchen output, and for me, it was the winner.

The Braised goat in pastry. An amazing smoked tomato puree.. What a dish!!

Beetroot Tart - was overwhelmingly more a Sheeps cheese tart.

My next item that I had been really looking forward to tasting was the Baby beetroot tart with sheep's cheese, cumquat and pistachio crumble. In my mind's eye I had imagined a rustic, mainly beetroot-filled tart, however the actual dish was more fancy looking (and I think it photographed quite well).. When we cut into the tart it became apparent that the beetroot was playing second-fiddle to the cheese, which oozed – molten lava style - out of the cut tart. The tart was overwhelmingly dominated by the flavour of the sheep's cheese – which for me was too strong, but for others who love a good smelly cheese* this may be an absolute delight. The sweetness of the beetroot and the cumquat helped to cut through the cheese flavour, and made it tolerable. I thought the tart base was a bit too crumbly for my liking, too. Overall, if you love a strongly flavoured cheese, you could give this a go, but I would not have it again.

 

The two final dishes were a bit more substantial (considering they were in fact entrees). The quail 'cigars' had some beautifully cooked and tasty pieces of quail (watch out for remaining bones – we were warned by the waitress and found one small leg bone). I really loved the Mt Vikos feta cube that was wrapped in a vine leaf. When taking a little bit of everything on the plate into a single mouthful – the quail cigar, fig, and feta – all combined to give a really nice flavour balance and mouth feel. Very enjoyable.

Quail Cigars, with feta and macerated figs.

In terms of presentation on the plate, you've gotta love the look of this dish of King prawns.

The prawns were marinated in chermoula (a lovely marinade made up of a mixture of various herbs and spices, including cumin, tumeric, paprika and others - a neat recipe is here on Poh's Kitchen). The prawns came served with “caviar lentils” - I can only define them as being slightly seafood flavoured lentils that look like caviar from a distance (but their flavour and texture could never compare to the actual item). That said, I prefer the texture of the lentils as used in this dish. Again, when mixing all elements together - especially with the smoked yoghurt dressing – this whole dish gave some really good flavours and textures. 

Chermoula-marinated King Prawns with "caviar" lentils. The Smoked yoghurt was delicious.

Overall: I was impressed with the food quality, also from the service from the waitress (who was amused by our photography of, and lots of questions about, the food – she even bode farewell to us referring to us as the 'documentarians'). There are lots of good cheeses available here, both in the cooked dishes and also available as menu items in their own right – for me I can take it or leave it but for others this would be a major positive selling point.

Planning a party? This place might be a really cool venue – good potential from the kitchen, and a great space with great views to keep you connected to the real world passing by outside.

* jovially, how do some people enjoy cheese that tastes like dirty socks?... Oh well, each to their own.

Rating:  Nom(x3)  (especially if you like cheese)

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Panama Dining Room and Bar

Gruyere cheese fritters

Salt Cod and potato croquettes

Cheese-stuffed zucchini flowers

Goat in Pasty (special item)

Beetroot and sheep cheese tart

Quail cigars with feta and macerated fig.

King prawns with smoked yoghurt

..& great, friendly service.

DRINKS:

I had the Napoleone & Co Pear Cider - Very nice, and worth it's own review (Check it out!)

Pierre Roelofs @ Café Rosamond; Desserts on Thursdays

(degusted 7th July, 2011)

We got here with really high expectations – and we were not let down! What a single chef can do in a tiny kitchen (you have to see it to believe it) is astounding.  We took a while to get onto this bandwagon, but a dessert degustation on Thursday nights make this cosy little place a foodies' “must-try”.

Outside looking in: Cafe Rosamond

In ‘Wikipedia’ style, first a disambiguation: The Café Rosamond is a little café in its own right for most of the time. It’s a small but cosy place, with eclectic furnishings (aren’t all places like this in Fitzroy/Collingwood?).  This blog post however, is specifically about the Dessert Degustation on Thursday evenings held by Pierre Roelofs at the Café Rosamond.

The high expectations of this place came firstly our own excitement about the decadence of a dessert degustation, and secondly from reading other blog posts about this place, and scanning through the biography of the chef, Pierre Roelofs (which reads like a galactic map, scattered with michelin stars). Of note, is his internship at Heston Blumenthal’s “the fat duck” (Heston – a hero of one of The Degusters!).

 

Eclectic interior of Cafe Rosamond. Small, but functional.

The deal is simple: Thursday nights only. You cannot make reservations. It's first in, first seated... And the doors open at 7pm. We arrived at 7:15 (late due to the entree degusting at Panama Dining Room and Bar), and found this little cafe already full (sad face). Understandable though, as the place only seats 25 or so. The very helpful and cheery waitress offered to put us on the wait list (happy face)- for the third sitting (expressionless)- and told us that 9pm was a realistic time to be seated (sad face). No worries, we were so keen for the experience (and the wait really was worth it). In the meantime, we headed back out into the crisp evening to explore Smith St shops.

When the phone call came in that our table was ready we hurried back and found ourselves at a small but functional table, and were promptly offered drinks and an explanation of the evening's courses. Smiles all round.

The brief details of the desserts we degusted are described below, but please realise that the menu is subject to change weekly; so what we actually had may not be available next week.. I guess that's all the more reason to go back again (happy face).

The first course was an iconic dessert in a tube. In this case, black forest cake (BFC) inspired. In dessert degustation terms, this was the appetiser. The tube is a glass cylinder, filled with distinct layers of the BFC - I guess you could call it a deconstructed cake- this seems to be quite trendy, and something I like (I daydream back to the deconstructed cheesecake we degusted at Jacques Reymond a couple of months ago).  So, with all lewd thoughts aside, ones gives a strong suck on the tube, and you are rewarded with a big mouthful of all the elements of this classic cake coming together in your mouth. Joy.

If there's a better way to eat BFC, I haven't found it yet!

Black Forest Cake inspired dessert "tubes".

 

The next dessert course was a really light, fresh dish - inspired by strawberry, yuzu (the Japanese fruit, which also seems to be in fashion these days), creamy soda and vanilla. The smells and tastes made me feel like a child again (creamy soda my soft-drink of choice when my big brothers were drinking beers, because it looked similar).  The photo of this dish looks as sweet and cute as it tasted. There were so many different textures and flavours on the plate, it was hard to take it all in. Individually, each item was good, but they all worked so much better when mixed together, like a symphony of sweetness.

Strawberry, Yuzu, Creamy soda and Vanilla. So light, so crisp, so many flavours and textures.

The next sweet to try was a little bit savoury, incorporating pureed oats (isn’t that porridge?) into a glass, with rhubarb sorbet, passionfruit jelly, yoghurt foam, and raspberry. There was some puffed amaranth in there too. Truly delicious, and I’m not normally a rhubarb fan. Thankfully, chef Pierre has really thought the menu through, and this hint of savoury was a real treat – it accentuated the sweetness of the rhubarb so well. This second dish was a little heavier than the first, this was like the "main meal" of the degustation. One of The Degusters said that if breakfast oats tasted like this, NOBODY would EVER skip breakky!

Rhubarb, yoghurt foam, passionfruit, raspberry and pureed oats.
If breakfast oats tasted like this, nobody would ever miss breakfast!

The last up was the real sweet one. It may seem strange to think that out of 4 desserts, you would label one as a ‘sweet’, but this was the “chocolately course”, and in a very mild way, a little richer than the others.  There were Chocolate, honey, and churron flavours, and hiding underneath all this - Like a shy Chihuahua under the bed in a thunderstorm - was a sponge-like cake soaked in shandy (where shandy=beer + lemonade).  It was a great finale, the dessert of desserts.

The Final Course: Dessert inspired by chocolate, honey, churron and shandy.

 

Nearby, for dinner beforehand, you could check out Panama Dining room, as we did on this occasion (note that the kitchen there opens at 6pm – so you might have to rush to make it out for 7PM), or just around the corner is one of our old Korean favourites, Goshen.

Rating:  Must go back!

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Pierre Roelofs Dessert night @ Café Rosamond…

Black forest cake "Tube"

3-course Dessert Degustation (menu changes weekly)

Drinks: Two espressos were both of consistently good quality (as I’ve mentioned before, an average espresso in Melbourne is really quite good on a quality scale – these were just fine, nothing exceptional, but totally enjoyable), and soy hot chocolate was really good.