I was the first to spot the restaurant which happened to be located down a side-stairs next to a hotel. Very hard to find if it weren't for the 2 metre tall lime green logo on the back wall.
The first thing I noticed was the table presentation, it was as if they spent at least 20 minutes polishing up the cutlery and placing all the ornaments. Very impressive.
The second thing I noticed were the fresh flowers, it's not everyday when restaurants actually pick up fresh ones. Again a nice touch.
It was a neat table location with great atmosphere and dim lighting to set the mood. As it was below ground and we were the closest table to the windows above, we could spy on workers as they walked to the train station on the way home. It gave a sense of voyeurism until every passerby started looking down at me. It turned into a sort of museum viewing panel situation... I felt famous.
This was when one of my colleagues told me a story of himself and his wife going for a romantic dinner in a similar place with a window where only the passersby bodies were visible. A few teenagers thought this to be the most convenient area to moon them whilst staying anonymous. I was hoping for the equivalent entertainment, but it never came to be.
The menu was given to us as we were seated. I had a glance but took a photo as the waiters were surely going to take them away. As predicted, the menus quickly disappeared and it was up to each waiter delivering the courses to remind us in great detail of what we were about to eat. Lucky I took a photo of the menu because it was sometimes difficult to understand all the fancy stuff.
As you can see below, the menu was printed just for the occasion!
Just after our wines and beers were delivered course one arrives. It consists of an oyster shooter, a palate cleaner and another creamy sushi-like creation. The oyster shooter was fresh and what I would normally expect from any restaurant, definitely shucked well with no grittiness. After cleaning my palate with the seaweed wrapped noodles, I go on to what I thought was the best part of the dish.
Served on an Asian soup spoon was a sushi roll with creamy centre along with chives and a wrap of fish (looks like salmon). I wasn't paying attention to the waiter on this one as I was expecting the oyster to be the hit of this dish and it wasn't on the menu. It has the texture of fish until you hit the mushy interior which fully accentuated the flavour of the meat. The bamboo shoots and soy sauce gave the saltiness it required for balance.
Course One:
Japanese Inspired Oyster Shooter
Course number two was the yellowfin tuna with a scoop pannacotta on top and a side of wasabi foam. As I hear pannacotta I'm expecting a mix of a dessert on tuna, lucky for me this was a savoury-sweet fusion that went very well. The wasabi foam was an interesting texture and together with the tuna was the winner for me.
Course Two:
Yellowfin Tuna Sashimi, bonito pannacotta, sticky soy, horseradish aioli and wasabi foam
The next course was a wonton dumpling in what was very much like a curry laksa sauce mixed with green curry; a Thai and Chinese fusion. I pointed out to the group that it was probably better texture of sauce that we could ever get around our workplace, add noodles and prawns to this dish and I'll be there in a heartbeat.
The sauce was the best of all the dishes comprising of infused coconut cream together with a juicy crab explosion from within the dumpling. A hint of lime seals the deal with this dish.
Course Three:
Steamed Crab and ginger wonton dumpling with tom kha and finger lime
I am a fan of steamed fish, especially the Chinese way of infused ginger and wrapped in foil to slow cook in an oven for a few hours. I was satisfied with the fresh taste and aroma that escaped the beautiful fleshy Mulloway however the broth was a bit saltier than I would have liked. The broth was much like a jungle curry with the acidity of the tamarind. The presentation was good until the waiters slightly rushed the placing causing the broth to sway around edge of the plate.
This dish brought back memories of Bangkok; visiting the small food stalls in a massive weekend market that had no English menus. I ordered by means of photos and chose a curry dish in a boat-like bowl. It ended up being the best jungle curry I have had to date. I have no idea why a boat, maybe they were thinking of the Amazon or something. Til this day, I can't for the life of me remember exactly where it was; that search is an adventure I'm looking forward to.
Course Four:
Steamed Mulloway, hand-rolled rice noodle, snake beans, green papaya spiced tomato and tamarind broth
To be honest, I had to look up what polenta was; turns out it was food for peasants, basically mashed up grains still with its grainy texture. In this case it had been deep fried in a crispy coating which was cooked to perfection complemented with a tiny quail egg.
After wiki'ing it, I never thought that polenta could be so tasty, I guess everything fried tastes good, that's my theory anyways. The mushrooms made the dish for me if only it wasn't for the salty soy sauce that soaked into it. This was not a dish that matched my palate completely and I had to sip wine in-between bites but the consistency of the crispy shell and presentation was spot on.
Course Five:
Crispy white polenta with sauteed mushrooms, peas, poached egg and soft herbs
Ah the pork belly, it was my favourite at Maha Bar and Grill which was slow cooked, thick, juicy and full of fat. Unfortunately it was not exactly as soft as I expected and portions of belly a bit stingey. I like at least a chunk of meat; this time I didn't get the chance to taste the belly with two thin slices and double as much salad than meat.
The apple was a refreshing addition which acted as the apple sauce. A re-occurring theme, the salty sauce was unnecessary and the dish would have still been great without it and presentation probably would have been better too. The crackling was left until last and was the perfect combo of crisp and taste.
Course Six:
Five spiced bangalow sweet pork belly with yellow bean and peanut dressing, apple and coriander salad
The first thing I noticed was the coconut rice. It already looked over-boiled, furthermore it seemed to have been mixed with coconut cream after being boiled as I saw chunks of coconut cream throughout the rice. As a primarily Asian consumer, I am used to coconut rice cooked directly with coconut milk so it soaks in the coconut fully and leaves no sogginess to the texture of the rice.
But moving on to the main part of the dish, I a big duck fan so this was the big test for me to see what the chef's could whip up to convince me that the degustation was worth it. It was sublime; the meat was tender and perfectly cooked along with a desirable layer of duck fat that melded to your tongue as you chewed. The stir fried garlic was an awesome crunchy addition. I wish my local duck place served dishes like this, I'll take the plain rice version.
Course Seven:
Chinese style roast duck with green chilli and shallot sauce, stir fried garlic shoots, silk melon and coconut rice
As you know from my The Meat and Wine Co. post, I am also a massive beef and steak fan. The Wagyu was the final and most anticipated dish by everyone on the table. I was the last to dig in as I wanted to see the reactions of others first. It wasn't a sea of overjoy but my colleagues still polished it off happily. I dug into it and found out why, the texture of the said 7 score wasn't as soft as you would expect and lacked the fattiness due to the thin slices (I think a small chuck would have been more effective). It still had a great full beef flavour and the mash was supreme. Even regarding the above gripes, I would definitely order it again.
Course Eight:
Seven score Wagyu beef, creamed truffle potatoes, asparagus, foie gras, king brown mushrooms, sticky shallot sauce and mache salad
That's where the mains ended and the dessert began. Of course there had to be a cleanser before the real dessert plate, out came the green tea foam. Everyone reached for their spoons. I had a chuckle and downed it like a vodka shot. It was extremely refreshing and held its form well. In the end I had to grab the spoon too. Did I feel foolish? Nah, innovation is only done by stepping out of the box I say.
Dessert Appetiser:
Green-tea foam shooter
The dessert plate looked marvelous. My favourites were the honeycomb ice cream with sugar halo, the sliced apple piece with dried apple slice and the chocolate mousse with raspberry Gelati upon it. The sugar halo was so divine that I stole another two from other tasting plates around the table.
A couple of the dishes had sugar-like white strips which were not to my liking due to the very dry texture, I think it was meant to be garnish! The pistachio slice was quite plain and needed a flavoursome sauce to complement it, the pistachio mousse at Cafe Vue was more to my liking.
Dessert Plate:
Ezard lives up to its prestige in my books and is well known throughout Australia and possibly globally. Definitely book for weekends and especially if you are having the degustation. Remember that it can take up to 5 hours to complete all courses, you will be full.
Perfect for a special occasion especially if work decides to have a function there (many thanks to the bill payer, this was very generous).
Service is the best you will get. Atmosphere is impeccable.
Ezard Restaurant
187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
03 9639 6811
Hours:
Mon-Fri
1200-1430
Mon-Sat
1800-2230
You lucky Melbourne guys get it all! Drooooooool........good post!
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