Pettavel Winery & Restaurant

Location: 65 Pettavel Road (corner of Princes Highway), Waurn Ponds 3216
Phone: 03 52661120
Link: http://www.pettavel.com/p_rest/rest.html
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Overall Impression: 9/10

Pettavel recently lost a chef's hat in the 2011 Good Food Guide but please don't let this deter you from visiting this lovely restaurant. It is a gem! This Geelong winery is more than worth the 74.6kms drive from Melbourne. But be warned, the staff don't seem very big on their wines. (Maybe because the awesome restaurant overshadows the winery?) In fact, there wasn't even a push to order more wine etc. We had a beautiful glass of their sauvignon blanc each. It had beautiful passionfruit notes. Again, like I have repeated on many of my blog posts, - I don't know anything about wine… I can only tell whether I liked it or not so you probably shouldn't take my word for it… but if you want my uninformed opinion, I really liked it. =)

We opted for the full degustation. Each course was beautifully balanced and elegant. The only thing that I could possibly fault them on was that there was too much fat on the Lamb Rump dish, which should really have been trimmed off. And even that is a tiny tiny flaw. The service was excellent. The waitstaff were so welcoming and explained each dish in an informed manner, without being intrusive. Ohhh and I actually took my boyfriend there for his birthday and they PERSONALIZED the menu! The menu was dated and wished him happy birthday on the top! What a lovely touch. We got to take home a copy too =) That's great service for you! I will definitely be back.

First Course: Calamari Laksa

Second Course: Parsnip with Pear, Blue Cheese and Horseradish

Third Course: Prawns with Celery and Quinoa

Fourth Course: Local Bay Snapper with Scallop, Ham Hock and Celeriac

Fifth Course: Lamb Rump with Eggplant and Capsicum

Sixth Course: Pheasant with Quince, Artichoke and Bone Marrow

Seventh Course: Ox Cheek with Tomatoes and Serrano Ham

Eighth Course: Deconstructed Chocolate Ricotta cheesecake with Rhubarb Sorbet

Ninth Course: Pandanus Jelly with Peanut and Toasted Coconut Sorbet

Jacques Reymond

renchLocation: 78 Williams Road, Prahran VIC 3181
Phone: (03) 9525 2178
Link: http://www.jacquesreymond.com.au/
Cuisine: French
Overall Impression: 10/10

Perfect. Just perfect. I was spoiled to death by my wonderful boyfriend who took me here for the 8 course degustation with matching wines. This option will set you back $265 a head. Such an amazing experience. Service, execution, and presentation of the dishes - faultless. Every dish was perfectly balanced and delicious. And the wines perfectly matched the food (not that I know very much about wine.. but everything just flowed so perfectly). Even the order that the dishes came in was perfect. By the end of the degustation I felt like I had been taken on an exciting journey.

The following is a list of the courses we were priviledged to devour and the matching wines we had, with pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Choux pastry on arrival


Lemongrass, spinach and rock lobster soup, fragrant Tiger prawn, sweet potato and turmeric ice cream
Matched with: 2004 Tyrrell’s HVD Semillon, Single Vineyard, Hunter Valley, NSW

Sandwich of spanner crab, mirin and fresh wasabi jelly, lacquered Petuna ocean trout, black bean and sweetcorn dressing

Wild barramundi, almond and bush mountain pepper caramel, yoghurt and black garlic, kaffir lime and lemongrass espuma

Matched with: 2009 Toolangi Estate ‘Jacques Reymond Selection’ Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Vic

Peking duck and Hervey bay scallops, peking juices, spiced marshmallow like a crêpe, ginger sesame and pandan oil

Matched with: 2007 Bass Phillip ‘Jacques Reymond Selection’ Pinot Noir, SE Gippsland, Vic

Highland venison like a warm carpaccio, horseradish mustard dressing, butternut pumpkin with honey and bitter chocolate beignet

Matched with: 2006 Dalwhinnie ‘Jacques Reymond Selection’ Shiraz, Pyrenees, Vic

Western plains suckling pig and tamarind, celeriac and bitter almond, dashi apple veil, dancing bonito flakes and rosella chutney salad, cavalo nero

Matched with: 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Clos du Mont Olivet, Les Fils de Joseph Sabon, Rhône Valley, France

Pacific Rim martini of pineapple, passionfruit and banana, liquorice ice cream and honeycomb

Millefeuilles of chocolate: white chocolate mousse, pure Caribbean chilli ice cream, dark chocolate mousse and praline ice cream

Matched with: NV SeppeltsField Grand Tokay (Topaque), Barossa Valley, SA

Coffee and petits fours

And I'm still in awe.

The Durham: 2-4-1 Mondays

Location: Green Square, Kingston ACT 2604
Phone: (02) 6295 1769
Link: www.outincanberra.com.au/thedurham
Cuisine: Steak

Monday nights at the Durham in Kingston is 2-4-1 steak night. That's right, two steaks for the price of one!

300g Sirloin steak with mushroom sauce, chips and vegies, all for $10.50!!

Having had past bad experiences with cheap steak, I was rather impressed this time around.  The steak was overcooked (I made the mistake of ordering medium-well, but this steak was more like 2 x well done), but mine seemed to be the exception - all other steaks were brilliantly cooked.

The sauce was amazing. There was a real depth of flavour and actual slices of mushroom swimming in the sauce. The chips were also amazingly well done - crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside, and the beautiful 'crunch' sound as I bit into it. The vegies were also nicely done - the only thing missing was a drizzle of melted butter over them.

On top of half price steak, the Durham also give out raffle tickets when drinks or meals are purchased, and you go into the draw to win meat trays. We won a massive platter...

Yes, that's a leg of roast in the top left corner of the photo.

Service: varies - it's a pub, so don't expect 5-star service. But the waitresses there are generally quite attentive.

Price: on a Monday, this place exhumes value-for-money.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Mamasita

Location: Level 1, 11 Collins Street, Melbourne

Link: www.mamasita.com.au

Cuisine: Mexican/ Tapas

The dinner started with a Taco de Pescado (Grilled fish with lime, achiote paste & red onion salsa). This dish was a great start to the meal as it was light and fresh, but also had a tangy/spicy flavor which was probably the achiote paste. The taco was soft shell, and not crunchy which differed from expectations.

(Grilled fish with lime, achiote paste & red onion salsa taco)

Next was the taco with duck. This dish was pleasant, but didn’t meet the excellence of the grilled fish taco. After adding the salsa to the taco that was on the table, the taco tasted better as it probably needed a sauce.

(taco with duck)

The quesadilla with mexican truffle, mushrooms, roasted corn, epazote & queso fresco was next up. This was a unique dish as the table had not eaten anything like it. The mushroom and truffle were the most distinctive flavours and was quite nice after a few bites.

(quesadilla with mexican truffle, mushrooms, roasted corn, epazote & queso fresco)

Tostaditas were crunchy “traditional” tacos and came in three varieties.

The slow braised pork shoulder with encurtidos & jalapenos taco was quite dry and had a bit too much meat on it (which isn’t a bad thing normally).

The next tostadita was the mud crab. This was the highlight. It was fresh and a great balance of flavours. Lovely and exceptional.

The market fish with lime, guacamole, nasturtiums & serrano chili tostadita was ordered after the first few dishes. This dish was also a highlight as it was also fresh and the hint of lime made the dish impeccable.

(Right: slow braised pork shoulder with encurtidos & jalapenos taco

Left: tostadita was the mud crab)

(market fish with lime, guacamole, nasturtiums & serrano chili tostadita)

To finish off the meal, we had the fresh mint flan with caramel. This was also a memorable dish as the caramel was superb. It was not overpowering with sweetness and the hint of bitterness created a good complement to the flan. Quote from a member of the dinner party was that the caramel was the “I’ve ever tasted”.

(Mint Flan with caramel)

Now, this is where the experience became interesting. The flan had a slight crack in it on the side, and the manager came up to the table and commented ‘I would have provided you with one without the crack…if I knew you were taking photos’. He also asked us which blog we were from and mentioned other blogs such as jeroxie and im hungry. Then we revealed our identity as gluttonygluttony.

~Atmosphere~

Busy. The restaurant is very busy, so be warned get there early (5pm) or book (if 8 or more people). Not too loud and not too quiet which was good. The lighting was dark and “typical” tapas environment.

~Service~

Very good. We were seated straight away, and menus were provided immediately. The waiter described all the categories of food which was good. Furthermore, the water was filled efficiently and finished dishes were promptly removed.

~Price~

$90 for 3 people

Value for money IMO.

~Overall Impression~

Very good Mexican food. Will return soon!

8.5/10

Zeffirelli's

Location: 5/55 Woolley Street, Dickson ACT 2602
Phone: (02) 6262 5500
Link: www.zeffirelli.com.au
Cuisine: Italian

Zeffirelli's really justifies the saying that you get what you pay for. Being a cheap family restaurant, a large proportion of the menu was around the $10-$15 mark. Which probably explains why the service was so appalling.

Firstly, it took them over 10 minutes to get us seated, despite the fact that we had made a booking. Then it took them 45 minutes to take our orders - and this involved one of us actually getting a waiter to come and take the orders. The menu looked pretty amazing and it was hard to choose between dishes, but 45 minutes? Seriously?

Having finally ordered, we waited to see how long the food took. One person's meal came out 15 minutes after ordering, and we started to get excited, and were almost prepared to forgive the 45 minute wait to order. We got excited too early - the rest of the food did not arrive until 35 minutes after we had first ordered.

Being pretty annoyed (and extremely hungry) by the time we finally got our food, I was expecting my food to taste amazing. 

Marinara pizza: tomato, cheese, seasoned seafood tossed in garlic and parsley

Unfortunately for me, my pizza was a little on the dry side (like they had left it in the oven just that little too long) and the sauce was not quite tomato-y enough. The seafood was a little overcooked and chewy, but other than that they nicely flavoured. The base would have been the only thing they managed to get perfect - being soft and fluffy on the inside, but crispy enough to hold its shape when eating.

Home made spinach and ricotta ravioli with calabrese sauce (hot salami, white wine, olives, onion, fresh tomato, shallots, chilli and oregano in napoletano sauce)

Erin's ravioli was quite nicely done, and the strongly flavoured sauce complemented the more subtle spinach and ricotta ravioli.

The general consensus seemed to be that we would not be returning there. At least not any time soon.


Overall Impression: 4/10

Gordon Ramsay's Maze @ Crown Metropol

Location: Level 1, Crown Metropol, cnr Whiteman and Clarendon Streets, Southbank, VIC 3006

Phone: (03) 9292 8300 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (03) 9292 8300      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Link: www.gordonramsay.com/mazemelbourne

Cuisine: French, Modern Australian

After months of waiting, we finally secured a booking at Maze Melbourne and got to try it out.

Maze is located in the new part of Crown, where late night shopping really is late night shopping. We arrived and were shown to our seats. The dining area was dimly light, but the atmosphere was elegant and classy.

Complimentary warm bread with seaweed cream butter

I have never tasted better butter than this. The seaweed cream butter was smooth and rich, with a nice hint of seaweed infused in the butter. The bread was warm and crispy on the edges, soft in the centre. We were particularly pleased when they topped up the bread between courses!

Queensland mud crab, pressed watermelon, pickled ginger, rock melon sorbet

Dish of the day. Actually, probably one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. The whole dish was well-balanced and so so fresh! Pressed watermelon base was sweet and crunchy, the crab was fresh and mixed in with the pickled ginger and some greens. The rock melon sorbet was surprisingly soft and smooth. Who would've thought there would be so much fruit in what was supposed to be a savoury dish!

Cauliflower veloutte, lobster

From what I was told, the cauliflower veloutte was smooth and creamy, but not too heavy. The lobster, whilst nice, was not the star of the dish though (the key part being the veloutte).

Marinated pink fir potatoes, smoked eel, sour cream, blackened leeks, shaved foie gras

From reports, this was also quite nice.

Coral trout, chicken skin, trompette royal, fennel, lemon thyme consommé

This was the second most popular dish at our table - credit probably goes to MasterChef when a Maze chef and Jonathan had to make this dish for the Celebrity Chef Challenge. The trout was beautifully cooked - tender and lightly flavoured. The chicken skin added a really good texture and flavour to the fish as well. The consumme was amazing - not too strong, but there was a depth of flavour from the vegetables.

Roasted quail, black olive caramel, young spring onions, rocket

Hot chocolate and violet fondant, salted almond ice cream

The dessert looked amazing. A few of us were slightly disappointed as we didn't quite like the violet taste (a little too strong and odd for the dessert). The salted almond ice-cream was also quite odd and something you really don't expect in ice-cream. The fondant, however, was rich with gooey melted chocolate inside, and firm on the outside casing. The ice-cream went surprisingly well with the ultra-sweet fondant. Without the violet, I think I would have enjoyed it much much more.

Coconut and white chocolate pannacotta, mango and black olive caramel

Complimentary white chocolate coated strawberry ice-cream balls

These arrived with the bill - small balls of strawberry ice-cream coated in white chocolate. A nice way to end the evening!

Service: as expected from a top restaurant such as Maze. The waitress we had made sure we knew how the ordering operated and gave us suggestions (although we didn't really follow them).

Price: not as expensive as some of the other top restaurants, but the serving sizes aren't huge so you would be looking at ordering multiple courses. The smaller 'entree' style dishes are between $12 and $18,, the larger 'main' style dishes were mostly $22-$26.

Overall Impression: 9.5/10