Fine Dining Restaurants: Eureka 89

Hello!

Welcome to another fine dining restaurant review.

Today, we are heading to Eureka 89, in Melbourne's CBD.

I headed down to Melbourne for a weekend of food, wine, weddings and staying up late talking shit with Tara - much needed & so fun!

We had a 6pm reservation, which we ended up being early for, so we headed up to the Sky Deck first to check out the view whilst we waited.  If you are in Melbourne & you want to check it out, it's maybe a little touristy, but it's kinda cool.

Once we headed upstairs, we started on our 7 course degustation with matching wines.  As always, we started with a cocktail & then got going.

So what did we think?

With The Fat Duck excluded (because that sits in a league all on its own, so far), Eureka 89 took the top spot on my fine dining restaurant list.  Everything about it was exquisite!  The food was incredible, the wines were a perfect match, the service was friendly & knowledgeable, the view was spectacular.  My only complaint was that the restaurant was perhaps a little dark (we had to use the lamp on the table to take pictures haha), but it didn't affect our experience at all.  Loved. It.

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Fine Dining Restaurant Mini Review:

Was it worth the money ($85pp for the degustation, plus matching wines): the most affordable degustation to date

Did I love every dish: Actually no... beetroot is not my jam, but I gave it a red hot go.  Everything else was incredible.

Favourite dish: Probably the crab or the duck

Matching wines: Yes - & SO worth it.

Anything I didn't like: Just the beetroot dish - but if you love beetroot, then it would be amazing too.

Would I go again: Absolutely yes.

If you are ever in Melbourne, put this restaurant at the top of your list.

Hx

Fine Dining Restaurants: Nel.

Hello!

Hope you're all going well.

This week, we're getting back to fine dining restaurant reviews!  Tara & I skipped one last year, so we did 2 really close together to catch up.

In today's blog, we visit Nel. Restaurant, in Sydney's CBD.

Tara popped up to Sydney one weekend in March & we took the opportunity to get my (belated) birthday dinner in.

I think the thing that I love the most about Nel. is that they have a menu that changes regularly throughout the year.  It not only keeps the environment relaxed & lovely, but also makes you want to keep going back for more!

You can check out their current menu here - at the time of writing, they are on their 'Once Upon a Time' Disney inspired menu!

We were treated to their Australian inspired menu, which we matched with wines (we did a weird thing where we shared one matching wines... because my body is doing something weird with some wines & I didn't want to risk a migraine... anyway).

Here is the delightful menu that we enjoyed.

We started out with a cocktail...

Then got stuck into the selection of appetisers...

Beetroot nest, whiting schnitzel 

Fine dining Bunnings sausage 

Tin can bread

We then got stuck into the main event...

Avocado on toast 

Skippy kangaroo 

Fire spiced kingfish 

Mary had a little lamb

Dessert then rounded out the evening beautifully...

 Fairy bread

Lamington 

Tim Tams (with birthday sparkler)

So what did we think?

I really loved it!  Incredible food & wine aside, the atmosphere & the service was just perfect.  Even though it is a fine dining restaurant, it just felt so relaxed & lovely.  Our server was really chill about the fact we wanted to share the matching wines (lol) & was really knowledgeable & passionate about the menu.  It really was just a delightful experience.

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Fine Dining Restaurant Mini Review:

Was it worth the money ($118pp for the degustation, plus matching wines): yes!

Did I love every dish: I did!

Favourite dish: Way too hard to choose... Maybe the kingfish actually, but all of them were incredible

Matching wines: Would recommend.

Anything I didn't like: Nope - loved it all

Would I go again: Yes!  This is actually one of those I see myself visiting multiple times, spurred on by the themed menus.
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See you next week for Eureka 89!
Hx

Fine Dining Restaurants: O Bar

At the beginning of October, Mack planned a date night to O Bar, in Sydney's CBD.

He doesn't venture to the city ever, for anything, so this was a pretty big deal haha.

O Bar is situated on level 47, and it revolves! So you get a full 360 of Sydney, which is pretty special. The day we went was in the middle of Sydney's exceptionally rainy week, but it was still spectacular.

We opted for a cocktail on arrival, and then selected the degustation menu for dinner (8 courses).

Lemon meringue cocktail!

If you are planning on heading to O Bar, note that if you want to go for the degustation on a Friday or Saturday, you have to pre-order it. We were there on a Wednesday and we ordered it on the spot.

We didn't go for the matching wines this time around; instead we opted for around 3 drinks each (mostly cocktails, with a wine with mains).

Here we go - the degustation menu from O Bar.

 Oysters, served with sweet & sour apple dressing

 Fermented vegetables

 Spiced Ruby tuna tartare, black lentils, cultured buttermilk

 Cured Cervena venison loin, charred brassicas, crisp deer milk skin

 WA marron, warrigal greens, chickpea miso butter

 Wagyu rib blade, pickled baby carrots, fermented daikon, puffed tendon

 Rhubarb & custard, smoked hay ice cream

 O Lamington

After the 8 courses, Mack decided he wanted another dessert... so we also got the hot raspberry souffle.  Definitely would recommend haha.  SO good.

So what did we think?

So delicious!

The food was amazing, the cocktails were delicious, and the staff were friendly and professional.  Even when they got a little busy and service got a little slower, everything was still running smoothly.  The view was pretty special - in the 3 hours or so we were there, we did 2 full rotations.  I imagine if it wasn't so rainy, the sunsets would be pretty special up there.  Pro tip - wait until your table spins around to near the bar to go to the toilet so you don't have to walk all the way round :)

Overall, a really fabulous evening!
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Fine Dining Restaurant Mini Review:

Was it worth the money ($145pp for the degustation, plus drinks and a bonus dessert): absolutely

Did I love every dish: Yes!

Favourite dish: savoury favourite was the marron, dessert fave was actually the bonus souffle we ordered additionally.

Matching wines: this is available, but we didn't do it - I don't necessarily think it needs it.

Anything I didn't like: nope - everything was amazing!

Would I go again: would love to.
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Until next time.
Hx

Fine Dining Restaurants: Cucina Locale

This week we head to a totally unexpected, but amazing discovery we found back in June when Tara came up here the weekend when I bought my wedding dress.

We were looking for a fine dining restaurant close by so Tara could finally take me out for my birthday (which is in February... haha).  We try and do two fancy restaurants a year, and we hadn't been to one yet!

We were on Google, and it said there was a fine dining restaurant in Blacktown.  Of all places, Blacktown.  And a revolving restaurant at that.  So SO random!  We were so intrigued that we couldn't not go and check it out.

So to Cucina Locale we went.

And it was amazing!

We ordered a different dish each for each course, and then ate half of each, so we could try more of the dishes.  Such a good plan!

So here we go - the a la carte menu we sampled when we went there back in June.

 Old fashioned - yes it's on fire!

 Pan roasted scallops with artichoke puree, truffle oil, pork crumb

 Beetroot carpaccio, balsamic, goats cheese, walnuts

 Duck breast, pumpkin, honey, fennel, orange, jus

 Wild caught snapper en papliotte

 Lemon meringue tart

 Chocolate brownie, Greek halva, pistachios vanilla gelato

Affogatos to finish it off!

What did we think?

Loved. It.

Seriously.  Sometimes I think going somewhere with absolutely no expectations can be a good thing.  Every dish was delicious, the cocktails were delightful, and yes we had two desserts!  The ambiance was also lovely, with a guy playing the piano.  The service staff looked a little lost at times, but they were friendly and professional.  I would definitely recommend ordering a la carte - they did have some tasting menus, but they were meat, or seafood or vegetarian, and they didn't have a combination tasting menu.  Which was a little weird.  But anyway.  We made our own tasting menu and it was great.

Would also recommend checking the sunset time on the day you are going.  The revolving restaurant has quite a view, which we would have been able to enjoy a lot more if it had been light upon arrival and we could have watched the sun set :).

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Fine Dining Restaurant Mini Review:

Was it worth the money (around $300 for 2 people): yes!
Did I love every dish: Loved everything

Matching wines: They don't have this option available

Anything I didn't like: the service could maybe have been a little better, but it wasn't detrimental to the experience - also should have gone before sunset!

Would I go again: Yes!  We actually are going again in November :)

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This series takes a hiatus - it will be back after our next fine dining adventure (which I think will be O Bar in Sydney, but watch this space).

Hx

Fine Dining Restaurants: Dinner By Heston

How many times can I say I absolutely love Heston Blumenthal?!  Or that his food just totally blows my mind.  Haha.

This week we travel to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, in both London and Melbourne.

I ventured here for the first time in 2014, when I was trying to get to The Fat Duck in the UK but couldn't get a reservation.  I went with my friend Chris, and we had the most amazing time.  It is located in the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park.

The second time was just last year in Melbourne, when Tara and Tim got married (extravagant wedding meal for 4!).  This one is located at the Melbourne Fat Duck site, in the Crown Towers.

This restaurant is a la carte, rather than degustation, and you can select entree, main & dessert from the menu, and then add some liquid nitrogen ice cream to finish.  Wines you then select from a menu - when I went there in 2014, I asked them to match my wines to each of the courses I had selected, and that worked really well!

I really love the concept of this restaurant.  They take the historical origin of the recipe, and turn the concept into a new modern dish.  When you read the menu in the restaurant, you can see the year of origin and the back story to the dish, which is just magical.

Their website description:

Dinner takes its creative inspiration from our historic and nostalgic culinary past...Following years of research, the culinary exploration of chefs Heston Blumenthal and Ashley Palmer-Watts has resulted in a modern menu of dishes that have been inspired by historic recipes and history books. Some elements date as far back as the 13th Century. Working with food historians in Australia and the UK, as well as endless hours of library research, the two chefs have created a unique and original dining experience.

I don't know how often they change their menu, but you can find the current menu here.

Below are the photos I took at each experience - London first, then Melbourne.

I will label the dishes if I can remember which one it is :)


London

 Frumenty: grilled octopus, spelt, leek & chervil emulsion & sea broth

Chicken & Cauliflower

Black Angus Rib Eye with mushroom ketchup & triple cooked chips

Goats cheese cheese cake with poached pear

Melbourne 

Note: I didn't take a photo of every course here... by this stage, we were just enjoying the elopement and not as focused on food photography as I would normally be!

 Meat fruit

 Rice & Flesh: saffron, kangaroo tail, red wine

 Tipsy cake

Liquid nitrogen ice cream

So what did we think?

Both locations are just fabulous.  The service is sensational, the drinks delicious, and the food, although didn't tell a continuous story the same way a degustation would, still managed to take you on a journey, in a way only Heston's food can.  So spectacular.  My experience in both restaurants was relaxed and exciting, which such an importance placed on guest experience.  Loved it.

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Fine Dining Restaurant Mini Review:

Was it worth the money ($30 - 90 per person per course - London cost 450 pounds for 2 people): yes, definitely

Did I love every dish: yes!

Favourite dish: If you go to Dinner, at least one of you needs to have the meat fruit for entree. Just do it.  Trust me.

Matching wines: ask your waiter to match wines to your course - it worked well!  You would be fine getting a bottle for the table though.  Equally amazing.

Would I go again: absolutely yes

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Join me next week when we take a trip to Cucina Locale.
Hx