Melba

1 Southgate Avenue, Southbank

Melba has long been known to Melbournians as one of the best, as well as one of the most expensive buffets in Melbourne. Housed in the luxurious Langham Hotel, Melba Restaurant fits right in with the opulent beauty of the surrounding area, as it brings its quality food and service to Southbank, which is an area known for its many fine restaurants.

The buffet

Fresh seafood 

The seafood on the seafood display looked beautifully fresh and was one of the first displays I decided to visit. The mussels and prawns were both lovely and I consumed more than my fair share of them, however while some of the oysters were quite fresh, a couple of the oysters I picked out had an odd taste to them which was a bit nasty.

Sashimi cabinet

The sashimi cabinet was always attended to by a chef which sliced the fish to order. I tried a little bit of all the fish that was available, which had a fresh flavour and firm texture.

Antipasto and cheese

Five spice pork belly

Roast duck

The hot food on offer at Melba was best described as mediocre. While some of the items were excellent and flavourful, a lot of the items had become dry due to the heat lamps they use. While it was not bad, I would definitely expect a restaurant of Melba's caliber to be better, as it is definitely one of the most expensive buffets in Melbourne.

Dessert cabinet

As I was getting full on the hot food at Melba, I started eyeing the dessert cabinet. There were a range of colourful desserts on offer, my favourite of which were the chocolate mousse, bread and butter pudding and the different slices available. The desserts were not too sweet and the textures of the smooth chocolate mousse and soft bread and butter pudding made the desserts a lovely conclusion to the buffet.

Food Rating 7.5/10

Overall Rating 8/10

Nobu

Crown Towers Melbourne, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

As one of the most well known restaurants in the industry, as well as having big names such as chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro behind them, Nobu has long been a restaurant that I have had my sights set on for quite some time. I had the chance to visit Nobu during my birthday this year, which I took advantage of to try a wide range of their dishes on offer.

Nobu

The sushi bar

 Akayuki - Red Snow

Apchee mocktail

Beef tataki with ponzu & garlic chips $28.00

The beef tataki is a dish that I have ordered at almost all the Japanese restaurants that I visit. At Nobu, the beef tataki has a very generous amount of garlic chips and ponzu sauce, which gives it both the lovely flavour of the ponzu sauce, as well as texture from the garlic chips.

Seafood ceviche $18.50

The iconic Nobu seafood ceviche, which has earned praise in many of chef Nobu Matsuhisa's restaurants was the highlight dish of our night. The combination of textures from the different types of seafood made the dish very pleasant to eat, while the slightly acidic dressing gave the dish a good amount of depth.

Snow crab taco $7.00ea / Southern rock lobster taco $10.00ea

Japanese scallop tiradito $24.00

The Japanese scallop tiradito was one of my two favourite dishes of the night. The lovely and fresh ingredients were accentuated with the small amount of spice from the chilli. A great example of excellence in simplicity.

Crispy soft shell crab, spicy ponzu dip $29.00

The crispy soft shell crab was best described as "fun" to eat. The crispy fried coating of the soft shell crab was a nice textural change from most of the previous dishes, as they were noticeably lacking textural differences.

Gippsland beef tenderloin yakimono with wasabi pepper sauce $44.00

The Gippsland beef tenderloin was cooked perfectly and wonderfully tender. The lovely aroma of wasabi and black pepper permeated throughout the dish, which gave it multiple layers of flavour.

Seafood toban yaki $35.00

The seafood toban yaki was the only disappointing dish of the night. The seafood was slightly overcooked and the dish left an odd aftertaste, which was quite unpleasant.

Nobu tasting plate $30.00

We ordered the Nobu dessert tasting plate at the end of our meal, which came out with a nice birthday message for us. The tasting plate was a combination of four of their favourite desserts, including the Nobu Whiskey Cappuccino, Nobu Chocolate Fondant and others. My favourite dessert from the selection would have to be the Whiskey Cappuccino, which made good use of different layers of flavour, such as the coffee creme brulee, espresso bean crumble, milk ice-cream and the signature Suntory Whiskey Foam, which imparted a light, yet complex flavour to the dish.

With professional staff, creative flavours and incredibly fresh ingredients, there is not much more that you can ask for. Apart from one slightly disappointing dish, the entire night was a smooth and pleasant experience, I will definitely be coming back to try some of their other dishes!

Food Rating 9/10

Overall Rating 9/10

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Crown Melbourne, Level 3, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

After Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck departed from Melbourne after it's 6 month opening at Crown Melbourne, it left behind Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. A sister restaurant to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal - located at London's Mandarin Oriental and praised as one of the world's best restaurants.

Having missed out on having a chance to dine at the more experimental The Fat Duck, I jumped at having a chance to visit Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Next the the level 3 spa at Crown

Located where The Fat Duck once stood, Dinner is situated on level 3 of Crown Melbourne past Koko restaurant, right next to the spa.

Dinner

Hard to spot entrance at the end of the hallway

After entering from outside, there is a dark hallway in which the entrance to the restaurant was difficult to find. After investigating for a bit we found the door on the right side of the end of the hallway.

Simple yet elegant

View of the city skyline and river

Our table was close to the window, which provided a great view of both the river and the night city skyline as our booking was quite late.

Open kitchen so you can see the magic happen

As you enter the restaurant, the first thing you see is the open kitchen to your left. Inside the kitchen you can see the team of chefs working on creating the intricate dishes as well as items like the pineapples roasting on a spit for the Tipsy cake.

Complimentary bread & butter

The crispy bread and slightly salted butter prepared us for what was expected to be a great experience.

 Meat Fruit (c.1500) $38

As a fan of Heston, one of the dishes I was most excited to try was the iconic Meat Fruit. It lived up to my high expectations as one of Heston's most famous dishes. The chicken liver parfait which was coated in a mandarin jelly was incredibly light, while maintaining a light taste of chicken liver as well as a hint of the mandarin flavour from the jelly coating. Combined with the grilled bread, it delivered subtle flavours and texture from the crispy bread as well a stunning visual impact. This was a welcome surprise, as the chicken liver I have tried in other French restaurants carry quite a heavy liver taste. 

 Roast Marrowbone (c.1720) $34

The Roast Marrowbone was a combination of flavours that worked very together, the saltiness from the anchovy in the filling along with the texture and slight earthiness of the snails worked very well together. The pickled vegetables on the side provided a different texture in addition to a little bit of acidity to the dish. While the Roast Marrowbone was an excellent dish worthy of praise by itself, I could not help but compare it to the other starter which was hard to measure up to.

Powdered Duck Breast (c.1670) $54

The Powdered Duck Breast was a dish that originally confused me slightly. This was until our waiter kindly explained the process of "powdering", which was the process by which the duck was brined and salted. Although I didn't ask, I was fairly certain the duck was also cooked sous vide, which is a process of cooking that Heston is well known for. The result of these methods of preparation and the skills of the chef was nothing short of perfection. The combination of the perfectly cooked duck and skin along with the ale sauce and artichokes, was finished off with some small duck hearts which resulted in a marriage of the rich flavours and textures - one of my all time favourite dishes.

Lamb & Cucumber (c.1830) $56

My partner had the Lamb & Cucumber, which was a combination of lamb and sweetbreads, cucumber heart and broad beans with barilla and mint. After trying some of the lamb it seemed like it may actually have been overcooked just slightly, it was still nice and tender however slightly on the dryer side. The sauce for the lamb was also on the strong side.

 Tipsy Cake (c.1810) $30

As we were deciding on what to order, we were informed by a waitress that unlike the other desserts, the Tipsy Cake had to be ordered with our mains and entrees as it took slightly longer to prepare. The thought of the pineapples I saw roasting on the spit on our way in made it so I had to order this dessert. This proved to be an excellent decision as the soft pillows of baked brioche soaked in a brandy sauce had a very distinct sweetness almost like butterscotch, which paired brilliantly with the roasted pineapples acidity and sweetness.

 Sambocade (c.1390) $24

The Sambocade is a goat's milk cheesecake with elderflower, apple, perry poached pear and smoked candied walnuts. When you think of cheesecake, normally you think of something that has quite a strong flavour. However the Sambocade has a more subtle flavour in which the goat's milk cheese was able to shine through. This, paired with the subtle fruit notes both from the apple within the cheesecake, in addition to the perry poached pair made for a good dessert. Unfortunately the smoked candied walnuts had an extremely strong and overpowering flavour, which left a slightly unpleasant walnut aftertaste.

 After dinner ganache

As we were finishing off our meal we were served with a complimentary ganache which is sweet and had a smooth texture. 

The overall experience of the meal was nothing short of otherworldly, from the moment we entered the restaurant we were greeted with an excellent atmosphere, a great view and lovely staff members. From the lovely waiters and waitresses who took the time to explain everything with a smile on their faces, to the knowledgeable sommelier who helped pair a wine to multiple different dishes as we were deciding, and most of all, the meal experience which apart from one or two small issues was almost perfect.

Dining at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal can set you back quite a hefty amount. However what you pay for is not just the food. What you are paying for is for the entire experience, and while one or two of the dishes may not have been the best I have ever had, over my long journey in search for good food, this was by far the best overall dining experience.

Food Rating 9.5/10

Overall Rating 9.5/10

Bowery To Williamsburg

16 Oliver Lane, Melbourne

Recently I've been craving all sorts of American food, from barbecue to burgers and anything else I could find. So when we found ourselves in the city thinking about breakfast after spending the night out I knew exactly where we had to go.

With a new location opening up not too long ago Bowery to Williamsburg now has two locations within the CBD, however we decided that it would be a good idea to go to the original.

 Hidden in one of Melbourne's laneways off Flinders Street

Hidden in one of Melbourne's many laneways just off Flinders Street, Bowery to Williamsburg is well known for both its New York style sandwiches and coffee. Just to the side of the laneway there are a set of small stairs that lead down into a small, bustling space that looked like it could have been taken right out of an American movie.

 Strong Latte 

A good smooth coffee was just what I needed to snap me out of a long night out, however it could have been slightly hotter.

 Reuben Breakfast Bagel $12

Originally I had planned on creating my own Reuben sandwich, however devoid of energy I ended up ordering the Reuben Breakfast Bagel off the menu. The flavours were exactly what I was hoping for, with well seasoned and flavoured pastrami beef brisket, a good pile of sauerkraut topped with a runny fried egg, Russian dressing a slice of swiss cheese. However, as with most other bagels I've had, it was a hard as a brick which made eating the Reuben Breakfast Bagel incredibly messy.

 Good Morning Cubano $12

My friend had the Good Morning Cubano which was ham hock, pickles, mustard, swiss cheese and a fried egg served on challah, which is the type of bread it was on. The Cubano was seasoned well with good pickles and the crispy bread, however the mustard was quite strong and was a little overpowering, which was a bit disappointing considering how good the Cubano would have been if there was slightly less mustard.

Key Lime Pie

As we were seated right next to the display case of quite a few delicious looking pies and tarts, we were quite tempted to try some of these, however as the meals we had just finished were quite filling, our stomachs had to disagree with us.

Breakfast at Bowery to Williamsburg was quite a relaxing experience, from the great atmosphere to the lovely waitress that served us with a big smile and great humour even though it was an extremely busy morning, I look forward to returning and trying one of the well known New York style sandwiches!

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 8/10