Cumulus Up

Location: 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Phone: (03) 9650 1445
Link: cumulusinc.com.au/up/
Cuisine: Wine Bar, European

Cumulus Up is a wine bar upstairs at Cumulus Inc. Like its downstairs counterpart, the place is cosy and classy, and packed. But unlike Cumulus Inc, it's much easier to get a table at Cumulus Up.

The menu is smaller, but the food is just as good. We were served by a very polite and friendly waiter who was more than happy to run us though the menu and outline the specials for the evening. 

First up, complimentary sourdough and butter.

black ham, gherkin, pickled watermelon rind

Charcuterie has always been a big favourite of mine, so I was a little disappointed to find an obvious lack of it on the Cumulus Up menu (particularly given the downstair's menu has a good selection of it). The one that caught my eye was the shaved black ham. Whilst the ham was pretty ordinary - nicely cured but lacking the complexity of flavour found in, say, prosciutto - the ham with the gherkin and pickled watermelon rind made for a delightful combination.

braised lamb ribs

One of the specials for the night. The lamb ribs were fall-off-the-bone-tender, smothered in a creamy, slightly tangy sauce. The ribs were well seasoned with spices and had a warm smokey aroma.  

confit duck waffle with foie gras and prune paste

Hands down our dish of the night. A fluffy waffle with a slightly crispy base with pieces of confit duck suspended in the batter, creamy rich fois gras and a sweet prune paste. A perfect combination of flavours and textures.

quail with walnut cream

Tender juicy quail with crispy skin sitting on a bed of walnut cream and a slightly bitter leaves. The quail was nicely cooked, and the walnut cream was smooth, creamy, and as expected, had a nice nutty flavour.

profiteroles, ice cream, dark chocolate sauce

For dessert, we opted for the profiteroles. The choux pastry was a little crispier than expected, but it worked really well with the giant scoop of ice-cream sandwiched inside. Topped off with the dark chocolate sauce that was poured over them at the table, and in which we coated every last piece of profiterole and ice-cream, the dessert was a nice sweet finish to the meal.

Overall Impression: 8.5/10