Vue de Monde - 30 May 2008

a copy of my review from www.yetanotherreview.blogspot.com

"a dining experience that cannot be created at home, encompassing this through food, service and ambience"

My expectation was high - I had been told this was one of the most known restaurants in Melbourne, and one that was highly creative. From the moment I walked through the door, the service was impeccable and polite. We were being expected, shown to our seats, our coats taken.

I was a little surprised that we had a number of waiters throughout our visit, and all got to know us in the few hours we were there. We were first introduced to the concept of a degustation menu. Essentially, one does not order from a menu; instead, we specify what we don't eat, and let the chef create a dining experience tailored to our tastes. So, there we waited anticipatedly while nervously commenting that we weren't "that adventurous".

We opened with something to amuse the tastebuds.
Now, I must apologise in advance for being unable to remember exactly everything we dined on tonight - there was much to remember.....! And please note, I am using the website of this restaurant to help me out here....

So, to begin....the Amuse Bouche, consisting of a delicately balanced (on a champagne glass, no less!) lettuce leaf with a quail yolk (and more stuff I cannot remember!); inside the glass was a warm soup that was so full of flavour. But don't ask me what it was.....

The first course was Saumon aux Epices, which displayed three different ways of presenting and tasting salmon: salmon jerky with toasted brioche, smoked salmon vale, and sterling caviar with a fish emulsion. This was surprisingly interesting, with the same flavour being presented in three very different textures.

Secondly was their special dish, a Mushroom Risotto with White truffle sauce. This was like no other mushroom risotto, so rich, and made with brown rice. The white truffle sauce (though green.... :P ) added the extra tang to take away a bit from the richness of this dish.

The third course saw our table deviating from each other, as some of us preferred no game meat (or red meat). So, there was powdered (frozen) duck liver with a sauce of some description and we had a dish that explored the textures and flavours of cannelloni using different ingredients...
So, there was a mascapone roll wrapped in tomato jelly, more tomato bits..(wow, my memory is failing me...). But this dish really did explore the different textures, which was most interesting.

The fourth course was a visual feast, a Bouillabaisse 'en cinq minutes' et tartare d'ecrivisse, a 5-minute bouillabaisse with tartare of crayfish, buffalo milk skin, with rich flavours of saffron. This was made at the table in a coffee maker, which boiled the soup to 80 degrees celcius at which time the soup rose to the upper chamber, which contained flavours for the soup - crayfish, mussel, celery, saffon, more stuff I don't remember.......there it boiled for a few minutes, then cooled and then returned to the lower chamber, the soup now full of flavour and ready to be served. In our plates was a buffalo milk skin and crayfish with saffron, over which the soup was poured. The soup was tenderly light, but so full of flavour.

The fifth course, for those adventurous enough, was Eclinaison de boeuf, displaying different cuts and textures of beef - a checkerboard of white polenta and beef shin, crispy chilli intercostal, tataki of sirloin, and confit flank with a pumpkin and yuzu stuffed baby squash. For those of us not really into red meat, we had red mullet that was stuffed with crab meat, and wrapped in carrot spaghetti, accomapnied with a red mullet soup sauce, and a roasted fennel with some other dressing I cannot remember, and orange dust.


So, five savoury courses, but what restaurant would stop there?

A palette cleanser of golden kiwifruit in peppermint jelly (so infused with alcohol.....) on top of a champagne something with raspberries with lychee ice. And that wasn't dessert....

Then there was pre-dessert, some Pullet Eggs, which came delivered in a half-dozen egg carton per person (okay, three of the eggs were 'fake'), but the other three contained delicious flavours of white chocolate and orange mousse, pistachio eggnog and prune & some alochol thing...(don't ask me, I don't know differences...). This was probably one of the most interesting presentation modes, and most intelligent too!

Then there was dessert, whereupon we were asked what we preferred, and whether we "all liked chocolate". Again, differential desserts for our table were brought out...
a traditional French souffle, straight out of the oven,
and a chocolate mousse served on a bed of lemon base, with a white chocolate disc (to match the shape of the bowl...), with Tasmanian berries, all with a berry oil/coulis. The topping was hot, and poured on top of the white chocolate disc in order to make the chocolate melt in a pattern, which decorated the mousse beautifully. Again, another amazing feat of dessert presentation, and a dynamic one at that. This was incredibly rich, though a beautiful mix of different flavours.


Tea and coffee followed, as in most restaurants, served with petit fours, including interesting choices such as a nougat topped with a carrot salad, a mini pavalova with mango dressing, a pineapple and lychee creation encased in peppermint jelly, and a chocolate covered (almost salty) liquid caramel decorated with gold leaf.


Yes, I ate so many things I wouldn't in my normal life: fennel, gold leaf, caviar, berries, kiwifruit, truffles, boullabaise. Wow.

The service throughout the night was amazing - so attentive, yet with no feeling of being watched. Our glasses of water were constantly kept topped up, our plates cleared efficiently, our napkins nicely folded and replaced on our laps if we left the table. The waiters who served us were knowledgable and polite, catering to all our needs. The restaurant is really quite beautiful, and featured a mirror above the main preparation space to allow patrons to watch the assembly of their meal. The staff were helpful, well-presented and professional, attending to every detail of all the diners, with a particular focus on presentation of all things.

This was an incredibly satisfying yet adventurous meal, something that was definitely very unique and memorable. I would suggest taking your time with either lunch or dinner; the degustation menu is most interesting, and if you're up for a challenge and intriguing meal, this is definitely a good choice.