IDES - Collingwood

As part of our sister birthday celebrations, I took Quynh to IDES this year to celebrate her 25th birthday (back in March). Upon arriving we already encountered our first mishap, we had forgotten to make a reservation. As a 36-seater fine dining restaurant who require reservations months in advance, it was by some miracle they managed to fit us in. Thank-you IDES!!! 

We were seated outside which honestly did not detract from the experience and bonus points for amazing natural lighting! The birthday girl had the matching wine menu to pair with the tasting menu for an additional $80.

March 2021 Menu

We were given some bubbly for Quynh's birthday and had absolutely zero idea that the centrepiece was actually our first course. Upon the lifting the lid due to curiosity we realised that it was our first course of the night. The Maple Tart with cashew nuts and blue cheese was beautifully dainty and a delicious bite of food. 

So pretty!

Avocado Nori Wrap. The pops of fingerlime worked so well with these flavours.  

Soft 

Quail Egg with pork broth. The yuzu on the egg gave it a citrusy flavour and the broth was so clean and refreshing. 

Black Mussel with parsley & nigella seeds.

Cross section of the mussell!

Sweetbreads with fennell mustard. Veal sweetbread that was surprisingly yummy! Always mind over matter...

Sesame Sourdough with peanut butter. This replaced the traditional bread and butter you get an fine dining places. I am not the biggest peanut butter fan but it was very smilky smooth.

Rock Oyster with salami vinagrette. So beautifully savoury. This was an extra course for an additional $8 pp.

So pretty when served all together

Salt Baked Abalone with miso. Lovely chunks of abalone in a creamy sauce. This was an extra course for an additional $15 pp.

Smoked Scallop with tomato & endive. Such a dainty dish and the sweet scallops paired perfectly with the slightly bitter endive.

Steamed Marron with shitake & nori. Always fun to eat marron and it was paired with creamed corn on shiitake which was delish. 

Barbequed Pork Loin with braised pepitas. Nice crunch.

We got moved inside for dessert which was great timing as it was getting dark outside. The ambience was great inside with pretty decent lighting. We started our dessert courses with Australia with dark chocolate & pineapple. Always a fan of the snow ice.

Vanilla Toffee with quandong. 

Of course we had to get The Black Box with blueberries & elderflower. This was an extra course for an additional $25 pp. Made famous by Peter Gunn on Masterchef, it was honestly so surreal seeing it in front of us. The tiny steel hammer was honestly so cute. It was super fun and interactive getting to smash the Black Box and it was like a box of goodies inside. The components literally melted in my mouth and the tempered chocolate had such a great snap to it.

Absolutely gorgeous

Birthday treat! What a sweet way to end the night.

Just wanted to thank IDES again for being so accommodating and making this birthday dinner one to remember. The food was amazing and our waitstaff were patient and knowledgable. The paired drinks were great. It was so lovely to see how bustling the restaurant was. The total bill came up to $425 (for 2 peole) which is on the pricier side of degustation courses in Melbourne.

<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/ides-collingwood" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about IDES, Collingwood and other Restaurants in Melbourne" target="_blank" ><img alt="IDES Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/18231948/biglink" style="border:none;width:200px;height:146px;padding:0;" /></a> 

Copper Pot - Seddon

A couple months ago when restrictions lifted (mid-June), we pounced on the opportunity to dine out somewhere fancy-ish, I guess, for Julie's birthday. To be honest, we wanted an excuse to glam it up a bit and eat delicious food that was meticulously prepared for us, not that there is anything wrong with good old-fashioned home cooking. After a couple stressful days of scrambling to get a Friday dinner reservation, we were successfully booked in with Copper Pot Seddon. I was actually pretty happy for the hospo industry that people were flocking to dine out again and filling up their tables.

A Road Trip to France 

It seems like they may have a different menu every couple months. When we went in mid-June, we got to experience A Road Trip to France. 5 French style set courses for $70.

First course!

We started with the Jerusalem Artichoke soup, black truffle, Parmesan doughnuts. We were given an option for extra truffle shavings for an additional $5 per person but since the other 2 girls had never had truffle before, we decided to go against it. Regrettably I should have opted for this but the truffle sprinkled over still provided that lovely earthy tone you can only get from truffles. We all agreed the consistency of the soup was fantastic and paired well with the crunchy artichoke. The Parmesan doughnuts were similar to chinese doughnuts that you eat with congee. This dish was surprisingly very generous in serving for an appetiser course.

2nd Course!

Garlic Foccacia

Next was the Charcuterie, Chicken parfait, pork & duck rillette, salami and pickles. This came with a garlic foccacia which was hands down the stand alone winner of this course. The bread was the perfect level of garlicky and warm. Look at how glorious it is! I really could have done with another piece, let's be real. The charcuterie board itself was a bit of a mixed bag. My favorite component was the chicken parfait whereas was not a big fan of the pork and duck rillette. You best believe I loaded up the parfait on the bread for every bite.

3rd Course!

Following that we had the Marseille style fish stew, fennel, rouille. This wasn't exactly a stew I was expecting and more-so a concentrated broth chock full of seafood. The briny and sweet flavours of the mussels paired well with the anise-like fennel. Cat and Julie aren't big mussel fans and gave me theirs so I was not complaining at all. A bit of crusty bread would have been the perfect vessel to round it off.

4th Course!

Our final savoury course was the Duck, beetroot, rhubarb, star anise, Somerset vegetables. The cook on the duck was beautiful, where it was not too fatty as well. The combination of the duck and beetroot was a winner. The Somerset salad was the perfect accompaniment to this dish with the creamy pops of goat's cheese and walnuts.

Dessert time!

To finish the meal we had a Chocolate fondant, vanilla cream, raspberry dish. Cat enjoyed it immensely and despite me not being a chocolate fan, it was a good way to end the meal. I felt that for the amount of rich cake that was provided a little bit more cream and raspberries would have balanced it all out perfectly.

Aperol Spritz Time

               

Overall, we had a great time at Copper Pot Seddon. Their cocktails definitely hit the spot. The layout was open plan and bathroom was beautifully designed. When we dined it was COVID safe and the booking process was easygoing. The food itself was delicious and it is exciting to know their menu is ever changing. They are currently still open for takeaway and their menu looks stellar.

Taste: 7.5
Service: 8/10
Value for Money: 8/10
Presentation:7.5

Happy Birthday Gurlllll

                 

<div id="res_widget" class="widget_wrap" style="width:315px;height:320px;"><div style="z-index:2;display:block;margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center; position:relative; font-size: 12px;"><a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/copper-pot-seddon?utm_source=referral-widget-18206452&utm_medium=restaurant_information_badge&utm_campaign=widget-business" target="_newtab" style="text-decoration: none;color : #252525; font-size:12px; font-family: 'Avenir Next', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Segoe UI, Arial, sans-serif; background: url(https://b.zmtcdn.com/images/widgets/zlogo_20.png) #fff left center no-repeat; display:block; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; text-align:left; line-height: 20px; padding:0 8px 0 28px; position:absolute; top:20px; left:10px;" id="zomatoRestaurantWidget_btn">Bookmark us on Zomato</a></div><iframe id="res_widget_frame" src="https://www.zomato.com/widgets/restaurant_widget_reviews_frame.php?show_menu=1&show_reviews=0&res_id=18206452&height=615&language_id=1" style="display:block;width:100%;height:100%;" border="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>

Ten One Ate - Essendon

About a year ago, I visited Ten One Ate in Essendon for some much needed brunch. It was a busy Sunday morning but we managed to nab a table within minutes. We ordered to share.

We had the avo smash ($18) with extra chorizo ($6). It came with a potato and cheese rosti, avocado (obviously), danish feta, poached eggs, almonds and cucumber ribbons. At first glance, it was pretty small. Usually 2 slices of sourdough toast fill up the plate but the single rosti was the size of a tomato slice. The single poached egg also lent disappointment to the dish as it was overcooked and didn't provide a brunch essential: yolk porn. Flavour-wise, it was alright. A plus was how liberal they were with the feta. More cheese is always a plus.

We also ordered the braised pork benedict ($19) and added some hashbrowns ($2) because why the heck not. There was also poached eggs, hollandaise, crispy pancetta and turkish bread. This definitely looked more appetising as you could see how much pork was loaded up on the roll. The eggs were definitely a lot more satisfying on this dish. Just your standard pork benny really, nothing to write home about. The hashbrowns did really hit the spot and were little nuggets of perfection.

Overall, I had an alright time at Ten One Ate. Service was good. The ambience was your your usual brunchy fare. Nice and bright inside with plenty of indoor plants. Food was pretty decent. I've tried a lot of cafes this side of town but perhaps I should venture to the East Side and see what I am missing out on.


Taste: 7/10
Presentation: 7/10
Value for Money: 7/10
Service: 7/10

The Stable of Como - South Yarra

We went to The Stables of Como to celebrate my friend's 25th birthday. Thought it would be nice to dress up a bit in matching floral themes and be classy and have high tea.

House-cured Salmon, Horseradish on Rye 

Truffled Croque Monsieur on mini English Muffin

Dill Cucumber, Creme Cheese on Tin Loaf

Aggies lemonade scone, house made Jam and whipped Chantilly cream

Aggies lemonade scone, house made Jam and whipped Chantilly cream

Red Velvet Tea Cake

Choux pastry filled with Vanilla Creme, Berries

Ginger Brulee Tartlet

Happy Birthday Gurl!

Overall, we had a good time. The savoury bites definitely outshone the desserts. The truffled croque monsieur on mini English Muffin was delicious! The best dessert was the scones and cream, honestly you cannot go wrong with this classic. It is really a cute spot and you can explore the gardens after eating. Service was prompt and good. I probably would not return since it was a bit too expensive for the amount of food we received. Not going to lie, we went to eat more food after this. However, free-flowing mimosas for an additional $5 is an absolute steal but unfortunately we did not opt in for that, regretsssss. They do have a Guy Tea menu which has heartier bites (rather than cakes and sandwiches) and TBH that looks more appealing for my palate but oh well. 

Taste: 6/10

Value for Money: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Presentation: 7/10