The Grain Store

Location: 517 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Phone: 03 9972 6993
Link: www.grainstore.com.au
Cuisine: Breakfast, Coffee, Modern Australian

I rarely go to the same place twice, let alone three times in one fortnight. But then I discovered a breakfast / coffee place that's got a menu that is different enough that I still want to go back and try more.

The Grain Store sounds like it might be just another cafe. When you walk past, it certainly doesn't look any different. Inside is kind of mod-Aus. It has that casual ambiance but reminds a little of Cumulus Inc.

But it's the menu that catches my attention.

On my first visit, I order the orange cured salmon with fried poached egg and truffle creme fraiche. It's a mouthful to say but it certainly hits the spot.

Slices of citrusy salmon is curled up and nestled in amongst a bed of green leaves. A cracker thin slice of toast is propped up between a gorgeous golden fried poached egg and a quinelle of that truffle creme fraiche.

Yes, you read right. Fried poached egg. Soft runny poached egg with a crunchy coating. I poke a hole in into it and the yolk is still gooey and runny as eggs should be.

The dish is a wonderful balance of flavours and textures. I would only suggest cutting back on the salad. It's a breakfast dish and the greens seem to clutter it a bit.

On my second visit, I go for the portobello mushrooms with potato rosti and poached egg.

No fried poached egg this time. But the egg is again gooey and runny. The mushrooms has an intense earthy aroma with an,almost sweet undertone. The rosti is potato-cake-y and not too heavy.

Third time around its just coffee but the mocha is good each time. I need to remember to stir it first, because I keep getting to the bottom and finding lots of excess melted chocolate - a sign of a good mocha.

The service is a little slow at times, and the food and coffee tends to come out at different times for the same table. The waiters are generally pleasant and friendly although in the middle of the peak morning buzz, there seems to be a crowd of people at the counter waiting for takeaway which causes confusion when trying to get the bill.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Giraffe Cafe

Location: 302 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000
Phone: (03) 9640 0889
Cuisine: Coffee, Desserts

It's a Saturday night and we've just finished dinner early so we fire up Urbanspoon to see whether there are any dessert places in the vicinity. Giraffe Cafe comes up and after looking at the reviews and the photos, we decide to give it a shot.

The place can be hard to find - from the front entrance, it just looks like a little takeaway bakery or pastry shop. Weave your way past the counter into the dining area and you're in a whole new world.

The dining area is slightly eclectic and set up to mimic something of a indoor courtyard. Wooden slats run across one wall of the room with some smaller pieces of shelving to display a collection of random objects. There are wooden bookcases, mismatched chairs, a couch and even a tree right in the centre of the room.

The menu sports about 8-9 different desserts. Taking the advice of fellow critics, we order the creme brulee and the chocolate pudding.

creme brulee

The creme brulee comes out presented beautifully. The brulee itself is a nice caramelised brown, two soldiers of sweet brioche sit on the plate with a raspberry compote and a drizzle of chocolate. We dive for the brulee and are glad to hear the familiar crack as we break through the sugar.

That's where the excitement ends. The custard inside is eggy and overcooked. And that's not all. We hit the bottom and find liquid custard. The dessert is a bit of a disaster, and the only thing I can think of is that the custard has split when it was first made, and therefore has not set properly in the oven.

overcooked eggy custard with liquid custard at the base

Given the creme brulee is supposed to be the best dessert this place have, it is a total disappointment.

chocolate pudding

Still a little scarred by the creme brulee, we move onto the chocolate pudding. The pudding itself is rich, smooth and heavenly. But the deliciousness of the gooey chocolate pudding is let down by what seems to be a large scoop of cheap ice-cream that's already melting into the pudding as it hits our table. My first thought is that the ice-cream should have been served on the side, and we'd have paid more for decent ice-cream.

mocha

Despite all that, surely they can get a mocha right? I judge a good mocha by how much chocolate I can taste in it. And I wasn't overly impressed with this. The coffee was strong, but there was little to no chocolate flavour. If I had wanted something that tasted more like coffee, I would've ordered a cappuccino.

Not the best experience, and I'm certainly not expecting to return any time in the near future.

Overall Impression: 3.5/10

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