La Luna

What: La Luna
Where: 320 Rathdowne Street Carlton North VIC 3054

Another Express Lunch, as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches
Yet again, best to go in pairs so you can share. This time we got one entrée, two mains, and one dessert.

Entrée:

• Lamb tongue croquette with labna

Mains:

• Beef ribs
• Lamb, fetta, spinach filo

 Dessert:

• Chocolate pudding with fig ice cream

Review:

• The croquettes were light and fluffy; perfect.
• The filo pastry was well balanced, crispy, and filling.
• The beef ribs were interesting, but a bit heavy (so make sure you are hungry).
• Overall it was unbelievably good value, and who doesn’t love La Luna (the chalk picture of the cow detailing all the meat cuts is a favourite of mine – after all you should know what you are eating).

Lush

Comme

What: Comme

Where: 7 Alfred Place Melbourne VIC 3000

Another Express Lunch, as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches
It is fantastic to be able to attend some of the best restaurants in Melbourne for only $35.00 per person, (which includes 2 courses & 1 glass of wine)

I definitely recommend going with a friend to all of them, so you can share. This time we did something a bit different, we only got one main, two entrees and one dessert. More than enough – especially considering they gave us great bread and coffee at the end.

Entree

• Soup du jour - potato & leek (very green due to the chefs using the whole leek I assume, and wonderfully thick and buttery, created a great mouth feel)
• Rillettes of Otway pork, spiced cherries, sage & sourdough (the sourdough was in the form of bread crumbs, so the dish was mainly meat - delicious and rich, just enough to entice the palate - a great entree)

Main

• Roasted breast of Hazeldene chicken with a tomato, shallot & soft herb dressing (actual quite disappointing - even though the meat was cooked perfectly, the 'dressing' was more like a bruscetta salsa, and very sweet - not a savour dish, to my palate it did not work)

Dessert

• St-Emillon of Valrhona Chocolate, macaroon crumbs, Armagnac and crème fraiche (thick and rich, a chocolate lovers dream - think chocolate mousse - perfect with the tang of the crème fraiche which acted to balance the rich chocolate)

Wine

• 2008 Mandala Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley, VIC (standard decent table wine, quaffable but not remarkable)

Money Order Office

What: Money Order Office (aka M.O.O.)

Where: 2 Driver Lane (near the Crn of Little Bourke St & Elizabeth St) Melbourne VIC 3000

As part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches I went to M.O.O. Unlike other lunches I had attended that only offer 2 courses & 1 glass of wine for $35.00, at M.O.O. they gave us 3 courses plus a glass of wine.

Definitely recommend going with a friend, and getting all 6 options they have on the Restaurant Express Lunch menu – then you can share them and enjoy a wider variety of dishes.

Entree:

• Poached Pear Salad: Composed of poached pear, wild rocket & Valderon cheese with a lemon vinaigrette (glorious, refreshing, great textures, perfect blend of acid from the vinaigrette and Valderon blue cheese) 
• Roast Pumpkin & Pomegranate Salad: Roast pumpkin with pomegranate, toasted slivered almonds, goats cheese & pumpkin puree (a very dense salad, but wonderfully colorful, full flavored, and who doesn't love pomegranates - especially when someone else has done all the effort of removing them from the pith)

Main

• Pork Belly: Twice cooked pork belly with Jamon, savoy cabbage & cider foam (the foam is like a sorbet, which acts with its acid to balance the fat of pork, however the Jamon proscuitto was a bit salty - which I think slightly dominated the other flavors)
• Tempura Monkfish: Tempura monkfish with saffron aioli & watercress salad (I mean how can you go wrong with tempura and aioli - very tasty and light, especially when paired with the pork belly)

Dessert

• Crema Catalana: Catalan's version of creme brulee (amazing, perfectly creamy, with nicely caramelized sugar on top - favorite dish of the day)
• Vanilla & Goat Curd Mousse: Served with spiced orange & figs (refreshing and interesting, glad I tried it, but not a repeat order when I go back)

Wine

• 2009 Sally's Hill Pinot Noir (mature, full and round, fantastic)

Review:

Best value of the festival for me

The ambience is perfect for a date, good lighting, friendly staff, and nicely decorated. And AMAZING WINES.