Saint Crispin - Collingwood

I had complained (just a little) about how we hadn't eaten at a nice restaurant for a while. And so - my awesome hubby decides to spoil me with two hatted restaurants in one day.

For a late lunch, we headed to Collingwood on the outskirts of Melbourne CBD to Saint Crispin. As we had landed relatively late for lunch, only the two or three course menu was available (as opposed to the two degustation options). It took all my bargaining power to convince hubby that a two course meal was more than enough for lunch!

Treated first to their amuse bouches - a crispy rice cracker with seaweed salt flakes and a 'pressed melon'. The rice cracker was a tiny bit moist - not as crispy as I've had at other places before. The 'pressed' melon was a super dense melon ... I'm not too sure if I'm a fan. The bread, on the other hand, was amazing ESPECIALLY when had with their french onion cream cheese dallop. Super rich in oniony flavour, smooth and light. The butter was also not bad but nothing in comparison with the onion concoction.

bread and amuse bouche

For our first course, hubby opted for the quail. The quail was perfectly cooked, juicy and tender, and served with shaved cuttlefish, shiitake mushroom and kombu. The kombu broth was soooo rich and soooo tasty. The whole dish was a bit of a flavour explosion.

Quail with cuttlefish

I had chosen the Atlantic salmon. Small slices of sashimi style salmon was served with a smoked oyster puree sauce, pops of salmon roe, finger lime and sea vegetables. This was quite light and refreshing. A good start to my very short time in Melbourne.

Salmon with smoked oyster

Hubby chose the Cone Bay barramundi for his main. Crispy skinned, perfectly cooked barra was served with plentiful dallops of eggplant, tomato and sea urchin. Bits of kale and quinoa also made it to the plate. We both liked this healthy option.

Barramundi with eggplant and sea urchin

Mine was a Bannockburn chicken - both breast and thigh, both perfectly succulent and juicy. YUM. It came with tasty sweetcorn, spaetzle and basil. LOVED it! Really really tasty and really really well done.

chicken with sweet corn

 A sweet ending of raspberry marshmellows was provided. Not a huge fan of marshmellows normally, but these were pretty good - fluffy and not too sweet.

raspberry marshmellow

 I'm not used to having two course lunches. Looking over at hubby, I could tell that he didn't either. But the food was pretty delicious here. Service was slightly lacking... but we had an enjoyable enough experience.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Saint Crispin
300 Smith Street
Collingwood
VIC, 3066
Tel: (03) 9419 2202