Centonove, Kew

So after being really slack in the last couple of months with my posts, I am back in the saddle and ready add a few more reviews. The first for the year is Centonove, on Cotham Road Kew.

It's very Melbourne with a cool, muted colour palette, and a laid back elegance. Centonove (pronounced chento-no-vey) is Italian for 109, the street number of the restaurant.

On our last visit, my husband ordered the wood fired Hervey Bay scallops with roasted garlic and lemon breadcrumbs ($22.50) and I opted for the tasting plate ($22.00). We were not disappointed. The scallops were perfectly cooked and the sweet flesh was perfectly paired with the crisp, flavoursome pangratatto. The tasting plate on this day consisted of five elements - a disc of perfectly poached veal sitting on a bed of puy lentils, a petite confit of ocean trout bruschetta, a beautiful quail pie, melanzane parmagiano and a wood fired scallop with pangratatto. Each element was as delicious as the next and looked as good as it tasted.

Mains for our table were the parmesan and pistachio crumbed veal scallopine and the snapper with a parsley and riesling sauce (both $34.00 each). OH MY GOD! My husband was utterly besotted with his veal, proclaiming it the best he had ever eaten - tender escalopes of milk fed veal, lightly crumbed and accompanied with a caprese salad and a beautiful veal jus.

My snapper was perfectly cooked, crisp skin and sat over steam potatoes and greens beans with a light riesling and parsley "broth". It was comforting, restorative and exactly the sort of main I was after.

Our meal was rounded off by a millefoglie poached blood plum & vanilla bean custard and an olive oil and vin santo cake served with poached fig, mascarpone and orange salad ($14.00). Feather light sheets of pastry contrasted against the rich vanilla custard and sharpness of the poached plums sent me into dessert heaven whilst the olive oil cake was lighter in texture than one would believe.

Sharp service, great coffee make Centonove a wonderful place for an intimate dinner or business lunch. http://www.centonove.com.au/

Le Gaulois, Syndal

Having grown up in the Glen Waverley area, I can't tell you how many times I have driven past Le Gaulois on Blackburn Road. Yet, it has taken me 32 years to make a reservation and have dinner at this quaint little restaurant.

The slightly kitsch interior evokes a real 80s vibe and I suspect the dining room, with it's dim lighting, and pink walls decorated with Limoges china plates has remained unchanged since the day it first opened many years ago. I also suspect that the decor is just how the locals like it - familiar and comforting.

The menu unsurprisingly, completely reflects the restaurant's ambience. Is it cutting edge fine dining French food? No. But the aim Le Gaulois is not to re-invent the wheel - but rather to provide their customers with tasty French comfort food. Escargots des Bourgogne? Tick. Prawn Cocktail? Tick. House Pate? Tick. There really are no surprises with the menu, but let me tell you, the escargots were some of the best I have ever eaten - a dozen plump, uber garlicky snails served in their shell with plenty of crusty baguette to mop up all that wonderful buttery goodness!

The Main courses include the obligatory entrecote au poivre (that's sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce), their version of canard aux noix ( Duck a l'orange), poisson de jour served meuniere style and a couple of veal dishes among others. Mains are served with scalloped potatoes and seasonal vegetables served "en famille"in small serving dishes. I ordered the Veau aux Champignons and it was quite tasty.

Desserts here are VERY sweet. I myself do not have a sweet tooth, so for me I found my apple tart far too sweet. My sweet tooth husband found his Crepes Suzette awfully sweet as well.

The service was polite and attentive, but quite slow due to the kitchen being under pressure from the private function upstairs. I am undecided as to whether I would come back - The word "nice" keeps creeping into my head. Fortunately Le Gaulois have a strong local following which will hold them in good stead for many years to come.

http://www.legauloisrestaurant.blogspot.com

Ink Bar & Restaurant, Fitzroy North

Rising from the ashes of what was formerly Rubira's and then Ginters, Ink Bar & Restaurant continues the tradition of serving fine seafood to its customers.

The elegant dining room is dimly lit, with the three French inspired chandeliers adding a sense of warmth and occasion. A mural on the back wall features a squid with the definition of "Ink"below it. One of the things I really like about the dining room is the generous amount space between tables, which provides a more relaxed, private dining experience.

As seafood is their game, seafood platters are the main focus of their menu. At Ink, they offer three options - the Traditional at $50.00 per head, The Bomb at $70.00 and the Ink Lovers including half a cooked lobster for $120.00 per head, all of which are served with chips and salad.

Their a la carte options change according to seasonal availability and their specials are scribbled on the mirrored wall which quite frankly is hard to read from certain tables.

I ordered a dozen natural oysters, from Coffin Bay. (Note to the restaurant, Coffin Bay is in SA not NSW) They were great- enough said. For main course I ordered the pan seared salmon served on a salad of potato, crab, capers, caramelised shallots and green olives. The salmon was perfectly cooked, as one would expect from a seafood restaurant, however the there was just too much potato salad and in all honesty, you needed a magnifying glass to see the crab, much less taste it. Also I found the caramelised shallots one flavour too many - don't get me wrong I love the whole agrodolce thing, just not with my potato salad. For dessert, I opted for the mixed berry creme brulee, which was served with vanilla bean ice cream and biscotti. The creme brulee was soupy and clearly hadn't set and there was no biscotti. The house churned ice cream was lovely. On personal note, I hate fanned strawberries on desserts

In summary, the menu reads well and the food is good, but I feel the kitchen just needs to watch the execution and attention to detail, I mean messing up a classic dessert like a brulee is a big no-no. The service is efficient and when all things are said and done, Ink is definitely worth a visit.http://www.inkrestaurant.com.au

Rae's Restaurant, Balgownie Estate, Yarra Glen

One of the things that I love to do (and do too much) is to visit the Yarra Valley and enjoy a long, lazy lunch at one of the many, wonderful restaurants. There is a sense of romance about the area, and I guess a lot has to do with the pristine rows of grape vines that stretch as far as the eye can see, and the easy drive out to this beautiful part of the world.

In terms of ambience, Rae's restaurant at Balgownie Estate is an ideal place spend an afternoon. The floor to ceiling windows complement the contemporary dining room and the glass fire place also creates a cosiness which is often lacking in contemporary style spaces. Sitting comfortably atop a hill, Rae's provides diners with a wonderful views from every table.

The cuisine is seasonal and produce driven with salad leaves and other vegetables sourced from their very own kitchen garden. And in a nod to our indigenous culture, they employ the use of native herbs and spices.

The service is pleasant and friendly, although there is definite room for improvement - on our last visit a fellow diner (on another table) wearing a crisp white shirt left the restaurant also wearing a fluorescent green stain after a waiter dropped his plate of oysters on him. I also noticed a lack of menu knowledge with a couple of the wait staff, which does irk me, especially when I have to pay a 15% surcharge (applicable on Sundays and Public Holidays), which in dollar terms was an additional $45.25 on my last bill.

We do enjoy visiting Rae's and will continue to do so, although we may skip Sunday and Public Holiday lunches! http://www.balgownieestate.com.au

Matteo's, Fitzroy North

Before you ask, I am not reviewing restaurants in suburb order. The restaurants I choose to discuss are simply random as they come to mind. After discussing the inconsistency of service at Aux Battifolles, just around the corner on Brunswick Street is Matteos, a study in flawless consistent service. "T"s are crossed and the "I"s are dotted. I am not interested in comparing the two restaurants, the mention of service is merely a segue....

The food is elegant and dramatic but this is no case of style over substance - the food simply delicious. As you follow my blog you will notice I that will probably keep talking about raw fish - I just ADORE it! So much so, that I have ordered the same entree on my last two visits to Matteos and I will probably order it again if it still features when next I visit. Okay, the Japanese Seafood Plate consists of three tastes - carpaccio of hiramasa kingfish on a prawn remoulade, petuna ocean trout tataki with salmon roe and a stuffed baby squid resting on a perfect square of rice crusted tofu. I must admit that I have come close to shedding tears each time I finished the last mouthfuls!
On my last visit, I ordered the slow braised beef cheek, which came deftly perched on a cloud of horseradish mash, and crowned with baby carrots sauteed in Yuzu butter and draped in black bean sauce. The beef was tender, gelatinous, gooey and gorgeous with the accentuating flavours cutting through the richness of the meat.

For dessert I chose the delicate creme caramel with honey roasted quince which was as decadent as expected but unexpectedly light. Unfortunately for me I am allergic to wine, so I tend to sniff my husband's wine glass for my Clayton's fix. Maybe that explains my penchant for Ribena.

Any way, I digress (it's late and I have been to the Royal Melbourne Show today). For cuisine that features Asian ingredients treated with classic French cooking techniques Matteos' cuisine successfully combines flavours, textures and techniques and pared with their razor sharp service it makes for a delightful dining experience. http://www.matteos.com.au

Aux Battifolles, Fitzroy North

Welcome to Where to Eat Out! For me, dining out is one of my great passions in life. Depending on the company you choose to dine with, it can be convivial and indulgent, or sensual and intimate. It can be the platform on which deals are brokered or simply an opportunity where one can nourish the body and/or soul.

To kick things off, I would like share with you my thoughts on a little French Bistro in Fitzroy North called

Aux Battifolles - 400 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy North 9481 5015


This little restaurant holds a sentimental place in my heart as it is the venue where I celebrated my engagement with my nearest and dearest albeit under its former identity of Francos (but under the management of the current Chef Patron Stephane Pettier) Aux Battifolles is all about comfort food and classic Bistro dishes; think moules frites, escargots de bourgogne a l'ail, steak tartare and tarte tartin, you with me so far?

To complement its no nonsense approach to French Bistro Food, the dining room is a cosy space of exposed brick walls, timber floors, soft lighting and crisp white linen and butcher's paper. The menu is reasonably priced with entrees ranging around $12.00-20.00, main courses $22.00-$32.00 and desserts $9.00-$12.00

The only downside to this place is the service, which is inconsistent. At times the service is wonderful and at other times less so. We dined there last week and it was the little niggling things which irked me - why our table of three received less bread than the table of two next to us, why we weren't given the appropriate sized fork with which to eat our escargot - have you ever tried pulling out an snail from it's cosy little dish with a dinner fork? Does it really take 15 minutes to clear to the entree plates when there are only two other tables of diners? The waiter suggested a Kir Royale as an apertif but when the drink arrived there was no cassis. Surely that's just called champagne??? Our waitress for the evening was extremely friendly but her lack of knowledge in regards to the menu was frustrating - she described one of the specials as pan fried veal on a bed of pumpkin mash, when it actual fact the special was a Blanquette de Veau - a veal casserole with mushrooms and carrots with a side of truffled rice pilaf. It was a completely different dish and one that I would have ordered had I been given the correct description in the first place.

Yes, the service was not great last Saturday but Aux Battifolles is a lovely restaurant and one worth trying - I really just needed to vent my frustration! A little attention to detail is all that is needed...