Vue de Monde (2) - Melbourne

Our previous visit to Vue de Monde had been mind-blowingly awesome. As such, when we were organising a last minute trip to Melbourne, we decided to see whether or not they had a dinner reservation available and to our luck, we were offered a 8.30pm seating on a Monday night.

Our expectations for this dinner were high (due to our great experience last time). And despite being 8.30pm, hubby still opted to do the 10 course degustation. We were greeted warmly by our waiter who asked about our food preferences (of which there are various things I do not eat), and they tailored our amuse bouche and our degustation accordingly.

sticks and stones

Again, being playful with rocks and logs, our amuse bouches comprised of several things. We got chips again, which was much to our delight. It came with an awesome creamy and tasty macadamia dip. As I don't eat wallaby, a lone slice of wallaby meat was rolled on a salt block before carefully placed on the rock. Hubby said that it was tasty but in the chewy, textured kind of way. I got a herb gel in place of the wallaby which was tasty enough. The carrot with mussels and brown butter cream was deceivingly simple looking but amazing! Loads of flavours came in all at once with the humble carrot stick. Likewise, the marshmallow sprinkled with truffle and nuts was delicious! Sweet and savoury and chewy and soft and crunchy all at the same time. The smoked eel was a bit of dubious one... toffee-like substance coated the eel (most probably the white chocolate), then topped with caviar. It was really sweet, and the toffee got stuck to our teeth. 

chips with macadamia nut cream

salt cured wallaby

carrot with brown butter

truffled marshmellow

herbed gel

white chocolate eel

Amuse bouches over, our first course was the trout - or at least their play on a trout sandwich. Dehydrated powdered trout with breadcrumbs, egg cream and, fish roe and snowy wasabi - all plated nicely and all  played their different roles in offering the range of taste, flavours and textures. The powdery trout carried intense flavours and when eaten with the icy wasabi - it was YUM.

trout sandwich

You could smell our next course from a mile away. The Melbourne onion soup was boiled and scientifically dealt with a the table. Supposedly, the soup enters the top bulb, soaks in some more smoky and oniony flavours, before the flame goes off and the soup goes back down. Really though, the waiter admitted that it was just for the theatrical WOW value :P. It was sooooo intensely sweet and oniony.  with the intense broth was onions done a few different ways. Hubby loved it. I loved it too, initially anyway, until it just got a little too much.

melbourne onion soup

The next course was one of my favourites. It was simple looking but amazing! The marron was cooked perfectly - juicy and sweet, and when combined with the brown butter and pork floss?!?! Flavour explosion and then some. I could just lick up that brown butter and pork floss creamy combination.

marron with brown butter and pork floss

The bread basket again came with warming stones. The bread was crunchy on the outside and fluffy whiteness on the inside and was quite delectable when eaten with the creamy french butter.

bread with warming stones

delicious creamy butter

There was then a great big runny duck yolk with green beans, powdered peas, crunchy Parmesan crisps, apple discs and mint. The yolk broke into a nice gooey runniness.

duck yolk with pea, mint and apple

runny yolk :)

The palate cleanser was the same as last time - simple refreshing flavours of cucumber and pineapple sage with the theatrics of liquid nitrogen and the fun-ness of us crushing it all up. A good show, good fun and good taste all wrapped up in a simple package :)

palate cleanser

The barramundi and banana prawn was also mindblowingly awesome. Both seafoods were cooked perfectly. bits of foam here and there and a perfectly rolled slice of potato. There was a subtle hint of garlic flavour and I LOVED the purple cauliflower. who would have guessed that such powerful tastes can come in such small packages. this came with a super crunchy deep fried prawn legs with an intensely delicious and smooth brown butter blob. The dish was amazingness!

barramundi and prawn

deep fried prawn legs with brown butter

I don't eat lamb either and so, whilst hubby got a lamb dish, I received a fish course. Hubby's lamb was from Flinder's Island. There were two different bits of the lamb - one was supposedly yum and the other, also yum but crazily 'lamby' (ie. full of lamb/game meat flavour). My Striped Trumpeter was also good. It came with leek, oyster, kale and tarragon.

Flinders Island Lamb

Striped Trumpeter

The next course was also cooked at the table. With the portable barbeque brought over, I know that it was meant to be a piece of kangaroo meat, but due to the fact I also don't eat kangaroo, this became wagyu beef for us. The wagyu was accompanied with beetroot, saltbush, their house-made BBQ sauce (that thick yellowy paste that looks nothing like BBQ sauce) and truffle.

Wagyu Beef

We were a bit greedy and wanted the cheese course too (even though we were full). The cheese cart was rolled over and I opted for all cows milk cheeses whereas hubby went adventurous and got all goats/sheeps/ewe milk cheeses. I preferred mine. It came with yummy breads, condiments and delicious fresh honeycomb.

Cheese Cart

bread and condiments

assortment of cheeses

We received a spiced tea with a frozen milk blob before our official desserts arrived. I'm not a fan of cinnamon and this was very cinnamony (or some sort of spice that I disliked).

spiced tea

Dessert time came and it was close to midnight. I think that the staff were possibly feeling tired and fatigued by now. The first dessert was the while chocolate ganache swirl with rhubarb, ground chocolate and coffee iceream. The white chocolate swirl was really rich and creamy. The coffee icecream was also quite yum. There were little chocolate crunchy balls to add the texture :)

white chocolate ganache with rhubarb and coffee icecream

The last course of the night was the chocolate souffle with chocolate mouse and creme anglaise truffle. I think that as far as souffles go, it was not a bad one. Just that I'm not a super fan of souffles... Hubby liked it though! :)

chocolate souffle

Lastly, petit-fours and coffee. There was this ice cherry thing which was intensely frozen - like a frozen pop that doesn't really melt, lamington-looking cubes with really really smooth chocolate mousse innards and a drop of concentrated raspberry sauce, these 'one penny' copper looking coins which was actually really soft and gelatinous, and my favourite of the lot - the chocolate clam shells with olive oil. Amazingly sweet and savoury - much like a lightly salted chocolate.

By the end of the meal, it was past 12.30am. We received a doggy bag filled with next day's breakfast (a loaf of brioche, muesli, tea, cookies, honey) and were personally walked downstairs. 

Was it a great meal? Yes!

Would we return? Yes! But probably not any time too soon. It is quite costly afterall :)

Ratings:

Food - 9.5/10

Service - 9.5/10

Ambiance - 9.5/10

Value for money - 8.5/10

Overall - 36.5/40

Vue de Monde
Level 55, Rialto Building
525 Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9691 3888

Ramen Zundo - Sydney

After a relatively stressful afternoon, hubby and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice hot bowl of ramen. We decided on Ramen Zundo in World Square as we had not been there before and were surprised to find quite a few patrons on the cold Monday night.

We ordered an egg each - this was absolutely gorgeous with a slightly runny yolk. Hubby got the Zundo Red whereas I opted for the Zundo Black. The Zundo Red was their famous tonkatsu based soup with spicy chilli oil. Hubby said it wasn't very spicy - I beg to disagree. Zundo Black was the tonkatsu based soup with garlic oil. It was absolutely deliciously garlicy, porky, collageny goodness. The noodles were cooked well. Loads of veges (if you like bean sprouts and cabbage) and the necessary seaweed accompaniments. Hubby also liked the pork pieces in it. I really really loved it!

soft boiled egg - $2

Zundo Red - $11.80

Zundo Black - $11.80

On the side, we also ordered gyoza. These were just average though - nothing to write home about.

gyoza - $7.90

Hubby and I were both quite impressed by the ramen here. Would definitely return when we're in the area.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Ramen Zundo
Shop 10.30 World Square
644 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9264 6113

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - Singapore

Singapore is pretty famous for Hainanese Chicken Rice but hubby didn't want just any old hainanese chicken rice, he wanted the absolute bestest in town. And so, we decided to go to the shop that Anthony Bourdain recommended - Tian Tian in the Maxwell Centre. There's normally a long line here (supposedly up to 30 mins), but I think we got pretty lucky, coming here at a random time, as we only had to wait around 15-20 mins.

Most people here order their hainanese chicken with rice sets ($4, or $4.20 for drumstick). However, hubby (having come here especially for this chicken) decided that he needed a half chicken ($12). We were initially thinking that half chicken would be like the breast and the thigh bits... but what came out was a MASSIVELY HUGE plate of chicken - the envy of all those in line behind us. Though I initially wanted to sample some more food at the Maxwell Centre, after looking at hubby's selection, all these thoughts instantly vanished.

I have to say, the chicken here is amazingly awesome! It's super super slippery tender with just the right amount of protein to fat to skin ratio. The sauce is also deliciousness. What I was a tiny bit disappointed with was the rice - I wanted it to have a bit more flavour, but hubby thought it was good enough.

Eyeing the other hainanese chicken rices offered at Maxwell Centre, the wait for this particular chicken is so so so worth it!

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Stall No. 11&12
Maxwell Food Centre 
Singapore, 069184
Tel: 96914852

Mozza Osteria - Singapore

We were looking for a place for a late night dinner in Singapore and though hawker centers seem like the likely option, hubby wanted something more special. We were way too late to book anything awesome in but being 11pm, we decided to rock up to Mozza Osteria at Marina Bay Sands without a reservation anyway. And as predicted, we were seated promptly.

Mozza Osteria is a restaurants by the the famous Mario Batali and is ranked No. 35 on the S.Pellagrino Asia list. Like all the other awesome ambiance restaurants, it means that photos turn out dodgy (due to my somewhat poor photography skills and hungry stomach).

The waiter had recommended the degustation menu but at 11pm, I preferred a-la-carte. We were served housemade warm bread - sour dough and wheat. Both were absolutely delicious! Crunchy crust, soft innards, and actually really tasty. The waiter did forget our olive oil and balsamic though but was apologetic the moment we asked for it.

The amuse bouche was a fresh ricotta lump on crackers, straight from their mozzarella bar. The ricotta was fluffy and light and just subtle in taste. Really creamy and perfect match for the crispy cracker.

For starters, we ordered the pane pomodoro ($28). This was fresh burrata cheese with thinly sliced cured ham/prosciutto and pickled ramps all served on just the right amount of bread. Loved it!

pane pomodoro - $28

The other starter we opted for was the grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon ($25). The octopus was super tender and quite charred. The charred taste was very prominent but when combined with the other flavours, it was very yum.

grilled octopus with potatoes, celery and lemon - $25

Hubby and I both wanted pasta. He took the cappelletti di vitello ($62). This was chicken liver filled pasta blackened with black truffle sauce. ZOMG - it was heart-stoppingly good. The liver was really aromatic and smooth and creamy, and was encased with really really thin pasta. And the sauce? Unforgettable! Really really rich and strong in truffle flavour.

cappelletti di vitello - $62

My pasta was just as (if not more) deliciousness. The Celery Root cappellacci ($62) was small creamy tasty pockets of gooey goodness encased in the super thin pasta. YUM YUM YUM!!! And the creamy blue food mushroom sauce? ZOMG YUMness!!! Absolutely amazing. But like with all deliciously creamy and tasty things, both pasta were super filling and seemed to simply expand in our stomachs.

Celery Root cappellacci - $62

Though we were both really really full, we couldn't resist the dessert - the Piccolo Budino Caldo di Cioccolato ($22). The warm self-saucing pudding was really light and super chocolatey - gooey on the inside and crunchy crusty on the outside. It normally comes with a bourbon gelato but I don't like the taste of bourbon so we changed it to vanilla - with this really crazy salted caramel topping. I think that this is the best chocolate fondant we have ever had.

Piccolo Budino Caldo di Cioccolato - $22

We found the meal really delicious. Service somewhat lacking at times but it was late - the waiters were possibly all tired. It wasn't a cheap meal though, especially when you add in the ++ (service charge and tax). Definitely a good place for a splurge though.

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 31/40

Mozza Osteria
B1, 42-46 Galleria Level
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Tel: +65 6688 8522

Jackie M - Concord (closed)

We had heard about how amazing Jackie M's cuisine was and yet, living 5 mins away from it, we had procrastinated 2 years before actually giving it a visit. Our procrastination ended just in time - as Jackie M was scheduled to close just weeks after our visit (to focus on her catering business).

I first ordered their iced milk coffee. I really like asian iced milk coffee - but this was definitely made from powder as there was undissolved powder left at the bottom of the glass. Hence, I was a bit disappointed by this - wasn't anywhere as strong or as flavoursome enough.

In terms of dishes, one that we opted for was the beef rendang. This came on a slightly smaller scale than expected. However, it was chockablock full of stringy beef and deliciousness spices and flavours. This was perfect when eaten with the roti. The roti here has got to be one of the best I've ever had - super super flakey, super super light, super super crisp, and super super soft all in one bite. Deliciousness!

I had also read about how their chai tow kway (fried radish cake) was amazing and hence, I simply just HAD to order it. I wasn't disappointed. Yummy stir-fry of shredded radish cake with garlic, beansprouts, chives, egg and preserved radish. Yes - slightly greasy but so subtly tasty when it all clings to that sweet salty sauce.

Hubby also wanted some greens so the Kang Kong was ordered. Slightly spicier than the type I like, but tasty (and oily) all the same.

In sum, Jackie M is slightly more expensive than most other Malaysian restaurants but it is still tasty. No doubt that their catering business (and takehome meals) will be just as tasty (but possibly just as pricey).

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 27.5/40

Jackie M - http://www.jackiem.com.au/