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

 

Mercer's - Eltham

Birthday celebration at Mercers last year. This is their Spring menu which is most likely not valid anymore since I am posting this literally at the end of Summer so I'm sure their Autumn menu will be amazing! I got the matching wines menu which I highly recommend, really good pairings to the food.

Bread & Butter: Enough Said

Cute pumpkin soup shots

Beetroot and goat's cheese carpaccio: FRESSH

Malaysian Dancing Prawns: Delish and full of flavour

Japanese beef tartare with wasabi sorbet

Tandoori quail with fried potato boreks: these boreks thooooo, little crispy nuggets of goodness

Spiced glazed duck 

Porterhouse with textures of onion

Le Grand Dessert for two

What an enjoyable meal. What made it even more amazing was the personable touch this restaurant had with their great service. It was fine dining but really intimate and cosy and we had the absolute pleasure of chatting to the owner and head chef, Steve Mercer.

White Oaks Saloon - Prahran

On a Tuesday night a few months ago (okay October), we ventured out to Prahran to try Tex-Mex inspired Southern American food at White Oaks Saloon. A perusal of the extensive menu gave us a very bad attack of choice paralysis, so we decided to stick with the classics.

To start, we ordered the Sweet Southern BBQ Baby Back Ribs ($16). Described as beef ribs with classic dry rub, served with our choice of spicy Carolina BBQ sauce, picking this was a no brainer. The thiccc (triple C) hunk of meat fell seamlessly off the bone. I would've loved more of the sauce. Is it too much to ask for a pot of that sauce so I can dip the tender meat in it?

We also ordered the Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork Chimichangas (2pcs/$14). Twice cooked pulled pork, Carolina style BBQ mopping, green bell peppers, fresh jalepenos and creole spices wrapped and baked in a tortilla. I picked this because of its Mexican flavour profile, he just like saying the word, chimichangas. This was the least impressive dish of the night. It was a bit on the bland side with no promised creole spices shining through. The salsa was fresh enough to balance the heaviness of the meat and tortilla. 

He is an absolute sucker for shoe string fries so the Cajun fries and Cajun tabasco mayo ($16) was a much anticipated dish. To his delight, and okay mine too, the fries were hot and crispy and generously loaded up. The Cajun seasoning was great but were not as generously coated on the fries at the bottom of the bowl. The mayo while deliciously creamy, was missing that spicy kick I was craving. 

How could we not order the Buffalo Chicken and Jalepeno Ranch ($19). They came in cute bite-sized nuggets of boneless chicken. It was a very generous serving. I did miss the fun in devouring buffalo chicken wings but this did the trick with absolutely zero mess. The tangy sauce is just so complementary with the cool ranch. 

Overall, I had a fantastic time at White Oaks Saloon. It was a haunt we stumbled upon and I would definitely come back to try the other dishes on their menu. They have quite a few restaurants from the same owners as well. It doesn't hurt that it is partnered with Zomato Gold which meant our Beef Ribs were not charged. The service was warm and friendly. The interior has saloon touches which we enjoyed and the bar is a sight to look at. The food was great and definitely left us feeling full and satisfied. I just would've loved an extra notch on the spice levels. 

Taste: 8/10

Presentation: 7/10 

Service: 8/10

Value for Money: 7/10

 

Grossi Florentino (Upstairs) - CBD

For my 25th birthday in September, Quynh took me Grossi Florentino. Hailed as a fine dining institution in Melbourne, we were more than excited to dine here. We got the 6pm reservation and was ushered in upstairs We got the Gran Tour ($180) which was their 6 dish degustation.  

Our menu for the night

Bellini and a strong ass cocktail

Oyster, horseradish, kolralbi

Close-up shot

Our first dish was the oyster, horseradish and kolralbi. It tasted very fresh and briny but perhaps I would've loved a little more acidity in the form of pickled kolralbi. Nonetheless a good start to the meal. It came with some unexpected sides as well.

Russian potato salad

Beautifully presented was the Russian potato salad served in a Cornetto. Such lovely contrasting textures but needed a touch of salt.

Capsicum Crisp & Chicken Sandwiches

There was also a Capsicum crisp which housed artichoke, cucumber and almonds paired with a dainty chicken sandwich. The creamy chicken was scrumptious against the dainty thin wafer holding it together. 

There was also a blob of a dish which was poached veal in a tuna emulsion. This was incredibly flavoursome.

Quite a spread!

We love our bread, we love our butter

Ahh bread and butter. Our favourite course. Always. The sourdough bread was delightfully warm and the smooth silky cured butter was dusted with sage rosemary dust. Did we we have 2 servings of this? Yeah obviously.

White Asparagus & Prosciuto

With our next course, we were given the option to substitute a dish for one of the specials. Such a good option because that means more variety, yay. I got the White Asparagus, Prosciutto and Greens in white sauce. The asparagus were soooo soft and all the flavours worked. I felt that it was a really understated dish that allowed each ingredient to shine. 

Kingfish

Quynh got the Kingfish, Apple, Sorrel, Row, Goat Curd. This was very pretty but quite a small serving compared to mine. The generous sorrel gave the entire dish very herbaceous undertones.

King Prawn

Next was the King Prawn, Banana Shallot, Pantelleria Capers, Pancetta. The prawns were plump and joocy. I really like that crusting. Also no semi-allergic reaction, scorrrrrre.

Straight-up Parmesan

The servers were just casually wheeling around a chunk of parmesan which we could snack on if we preferred. Hell yes! The chunky slices were drizzled with a balsamic reduction. So simple but oh so great. 

Spanner Crab Taglierini

Oh My Goodness. This was the Taglierini di Riso Venere, Spanner Crab, Bottarga. Simply amazing and easily my favourite dish of the night.  The crab was so sweet and plentiful and the flavours were just spot on. Honestly, so good. 

Duck and porcini ravioli

Surprise course that wasn't on the menu! Duck and porcini ravioli with pear. Little bite sized pockets of flavour. i loved how earthy it was. 

Wagyu Rump Cap

Our last main course was the Wagyu Rump Cap, Bitto, Kalette, Mustard Fruit, Bone Marrow. Today I learned that Bitto is an Italian DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) cheese produced in the Valtelline valley in Lombardy. On the day, it was just a cheesy sauce The meat itself was tender and had a nice bite to it. Bone marrow is decadent as always. 

Chocolate Souffle

For dessert we had Chocolate Souffle, Hazelnut, Grains of Paradise. The ice cream had flecks of Szechuan pepper throughout it from what I remember and it gave it such an interesting spicy kick. The souffle itself was super fluffy.

Yay for lil birthday treats. Chocolate bites that well tasted exactly like chocolate. 

Overall, we had a pleasant time at Grossi. The food was quite nice with some really standout dishes. They gave us a nice goodie bag of coffee beans. I really wanted to touch on the service that we encountered. I had scoured the reviews on Grossi before we went and the one common theme I read about was their exceptional service. I don't expect fancy schmancy stuff but if this is what they are known for then I had high hopes Don't get me wrong, we definitely had friendly and very professional servers but there were some things that were odd. It was just small details like not offering to take my jacket, not wheeling the cheese over to us until we got curious and enquired about it or some servers not even cracking a smile when talking to us. Didn't seem the case with other nearby tables. I have noticed this trend with some fine dining restaurants, where because we aren't interested in their wine list or perhaps younger than their usual clientele, that we are not given the same attentiveness as everybody else. It is just a bit disappointing. But whatever, I am glad I have ticked Grossi off my fine dining list. On to the next! 

Taste: 7.5/10

Presentation: 7/10 

Service: 5/10

Value for Money: 7/10