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

Chin Chin

Location: 125 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
Phone: (03) 8663 2000
Link: www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au

Cuisine: South East Asian

After a good 6 months or so of waiting, I finally made it to Chin Chin for lunch last Friday. And the best part was that there was no line - we were seated almost immediately!

I've heard mixed reviews about the place. Some like the food, some don't. Sometimes the service is good, sometimes not so good. We were lucky, this was one of their good days, and we had decent food and pleasant service.

kingfish sashimi with lime, chilli, coconut & Thai basil

I love kingfish sashimi. Not the biggest fan of cooked kingfish, but when it's served fresh or cured, it has a beautiful delicate texture. And this was probably the best kingfish I have ever had. Thinly slices of amazing fresh kingfish was dressed with tangy lime and a kick of chilli. Coconut cream was used creatively like a mayonnaise and drizzled over the sashimi, and the dish was finished off with fresh basil.

crispy barramundi & green apple salad with caramelised pork, chilli & lemongrass

One of the 'larger' dishes. The barramundi pieces were crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside and well seasoned. The caramelised pork was sweet and fall-apart-tender. The apple pieces provided a nice refreshing crunchy texture to the dish.

grilled roti madtarbak filled with Indian spiced beef & cucumber relish

This caught my eye on the menu following Mindy's winning dish in the MasterChef sandwich invention test a couple of weeks ago. When it arrived, I was a little disappointed - it looked nothing like Mindy's dish. But the roti was crispy, thin and buttery, the mince was nicely flavoured and the cucumber relish was deliciously refreshing. Not exactly a 'wow' dish, but it was quite tasty.

"son in law" eggs with chilli jam

If you're looking for Gingerboy's famous 'son in law' eggs, this is not it. Gingerboy's version is soft boiled and quickly deep fried so that when you put the whole thing into your mouth, the yolk bursts in your mouth. These ones were different. The egg was closer to being hard boiled than soft boiled, and the yolk was relatively solid. You can imagine the disappointment that the eggs have already been cut in half, and there is no yolk to break into. 

The chilli jam was nice, as were the condiments which added some extra flavours and textures to the dish. But my verdict goes in Gingerboy's favour.

For a first visit, I was happy. The food was tasty and interesting, and that kingfish sashimi was definitely the best dish of the day. Will happily return, there are still lots of things to try from the menu1

Overall Impression: 8.5/10

Cumulus Inc

Location: 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Phone: (03) 9650 1445
Link: www.cumulusinc.com.au
Cuisine: Bar, Coffee, Shared

As part of my July trip back to Melbourne, V suggested we head to Cumulus for lunch and I couldn't say no. Not only had I wanted to try out one of Andrew McConnell's restaurants for a while (Cutler & Co is still on my list), the place itself had some significant meaning for me. 

Cumulus Inc

Whilst this was my first dining experience at Cumulus, I had been taken there for coffee by my supervisor during a clerkship experience a few years back. Ironically, or perhaps suitably, the building in the background of the photo above, is where my career really began.

Enough reminiscing and onto the review.

Cumulus Inc is a hidden gem. Tucked away in a laneway off Flinders Lane, it's pretty hard to find unless you either know what you're looking for, or look up in time to see the sign and turn the corner.

Once inside, the atmosphere is relaxed and casual. By 12pm, the coffee drinking crowd have had their caffeine hit, and the place transforms from coffee shop to a foodie's heaven.

We were seated at the bar overlooking the kitchen, which gave us a clear view of the open kitchen and the chefs at work.

open kitchen

Our waitress was pleasant, polite and very helpful. She guided us through the menu choices and gave us an indication of the number and sizes of dishes that would suit us.

complimentary bread and butter

As with all good restaurants, we were served complimentary bread and butter as we waited for our dishes to arrive. The bread was pretty standard for me (but then again, I'm no bread expert) - V, on the other hand, really enjoyed the bread.

Slow cooked octopus with aioli, dehydrated olive

First up, the octopus. The octopus was tender and juicy, slow cooking had definitely allowed it to soak up the flavours and break down. The aioli was creamy and flavourful. Perhaps I misunderstood the dish, but I found the pool of olive oil a little overbearing.

Wagyu bresaola with pickled onions and horseradish cream

Hands down one of the best bresaola I have ever tasted. The meat was nicely cured, and the pickled onions provided a nice sweet, caramelised contrast to the salted meat. Whilst not the biggest fan of horseradish cream, the small dollops of cream worked brilliantly when combined with the bresaola and the onions.

Prosciutto di Parma

Another serve of nicely cured meat. Very thinly sliced and full of flavour, this was a hit, although it would have been nice to have had it served with something to cut the saltiness.

Mustard crumbled pig's tail, celeriac remoulade & caperberries

The menu description of this item caught our interest, and I love eating with V because she's willing to be adventurous too. I can think of many people who would turn their noses up at the sound of pig's tail.

The tail was well cooked, the fat inside had been rendered, and the crumble around the meat was delicate in texture but full of flavour. I wasn't completely certain about the combination of elements on the dish, but the tail definitely needed something to cut the richness, and the remoulade and caperberries did the job.

Roast new potatoes & celeriac, confit garlic and rosemary

As a side, we ordered the roast potatoes. An example of simple ingredients given a 'wow factor'. The confit garlic was delicious paired with the rosemary potatoes.

Finally, dessert time. V insisted that we could not leave Cumulus without trying their infamous madeleines.

Madeleine, filled with lemon curd

And was she correct? It was well worth the wait.  The madeleines were served warm, straight from the oven, and had a similar crumbly texture to shortbread, but softer. The filling inside was sweet and sticky, with the tart acidity of the lemon, that cut through the pastry and the icing sugar sprinkled on top.

The service was great, and they even asked what time we needed to leave so that they could time the dishes to suit our schedule (good for business lunches). A very enjoyable lunch, and I'll be back one day to try the rest of the dishes on the menu!

Overall Impression: 9.5/10