Lune Lab experience

If you live in Melbourne and you haven't heard of Lune... then you must be living under a rock. Being crowned the best croissants in Melbourne (or dare I say Australia ... or potentially even the world), it is place that foodies from all across the world go running to when in Melbourne.

For some die hard fans (such as myself) to be able to get my hands on Lune Lab tickets was a very sacred achievement.

With Lune Lab, it is a 3 course degustation. The first course is always the same, it is a classic croissant fresh out of the oven but the second and third course vary by the season.

The ticket price are steep and I wont deny it is a lot to pay for 3 croissants. However if you love (eating) croissants as much as I do, then you might want to hang in there and keep reading.

The first course 

First croissant is one that is 10 minutes out of the oven. Your host will give you a choice from a huge tray, if you like your croissants softer then you go for something in the middle of the tray or if you prefer it more crispy then the edge of the tray. I went with my trusty food buddy (my lifelong eating partner) and tried one of each. When you taste one after another then the differentiation is  there, however if you just taste one, then it is much harder to call out that difference. Either way you pick, you will still taste fresh out of the oven croissant is still warm and the layers of the pastry is defined and fluffy. This is what I would term buttery goodness.

The second course
Second course is the savory croissant. Fortunately for me, I visited during truffle season and had a lovely surprise awaiting me. The dish was Beef Bourguignon. This was a classic croissant served as a classic French dish. It came with a red wine jus, mash potato and generous shavings of truffle shaved in front of you. The croissant was baked perfectly and you cut through layers of pastry and paired with a perfectly cooked beef. The kale crisp adds that extra texture to balance off the dish. I am a tad sad that this was seasonal. As I finished my dish I was thinking to myself that I  am not sure when I will get another chance to taste this again (if only they offered seconds).

The final course
Final course was a Yuzu tart. This is the Lune version of a tart that is made from croissant pastry.

During the whole experience you will have bottomless coffees and hot chocolate. You can drink yourself silly, like my partner did and be very energetic for the rest of the day. The staff won't judge you and be very attentive to ensure all your coffees/hot chocolates arrive promptly.

Final words
I would highly recommend this experience and would go again. If you are questioning why would you pay $60+ for 3 croissants... well this is why

• creativity and thought that has gone behind the process to deliver something exceptional on the plate
• dedication and art of finessing the details of a perfectly crafted croissant
• taste of something that you cannot easily get anywhere else
• being able to taste croissants done in a very different way
• being able to buy as many of the croissants as you like without having to line up
• truely experience and taste the dedication that Kate Reid and her team has gone to, in order to perfect and elevate the humble croissant.

Oh also, I would recommend the first session over the second session. By the end of our session, some of the croissant varieties have sold out. If you don't want to miss out, best to wake up a bit earlier.

Lune Lab tickets need to be bought in advance and sell out very fast. So if you want to go, head to the Lune website and find the next lot of ticket release, set a reminder on your phone and just have super fast internet when the ticket release day comes. Good Luck!!

Additional rambling notes: I have been a loyal Lune fan (since the Elwood days). I honestly think it is the best croissant I have ever tasted in my travels. I set out on a food adventure on most my holidays and yet to find something that comes close to Lune. Would love to hear other people's Lune or general croissant experiences. 

Good Egg

In Melbourne we have a lot of specialty cafes and restaurants, from BBQ to waffles to Thai breakfast. There is one more to add to the mix now, Good Egg. Located in South Melbourne, they celebrate their hero ingredient the egg in every dish. The yellow and white interior is a good example of how much they worship the egg. Since I was at the egg shop, I had to sample some of their offering.

Scotched egg. The outside was perfectly cook, the pork and fennel with panko crumb was just the perfect naughty treat. The egg inside still had a runny yolk, paired with the roasted tomato relish. Yes I went back for seconds! It was a steal too, at $5.50.

Gorgeous fresh backdrop of the shop, makes it a nice vibrant atmosphere to catch up with friends. Maybe catch up over The “Avo” with it's Mexican flavours, (sliced avo, egg, roast corn salsa, corn chips, jalapenos and lime aioli). The fresh, crisp, creamy, sweet and zesty flavours all come together in every mouthful. If you get greedy, you might ask for some extra corn chips too.

If you want to be more of an 'good egg' they also do an awesome miso soft boiled egg salad. It comes as a  watercrest, broccolini, tamari roasted nuts, red rice and spiced yoghurt salad. A nice non traditional approach to the egg salad.

If you are more on the hungry the B&;E and the Wagyu burger gets my vote. B&E is your classic bacon and eggs with swiss cheese,  house of parliament sauce and mayo. The wagyu burger is a wagyu patty bacon, egg, sharp cheddar, dill pickle lettuce, BBQ sauce and mayo. The patty is juicy perfection and definitely hits the hungry spot without the oily feeling.

Overall, I love the vibe and food Good Egg has to offer. I have since been back to visit a few times, I also learnt that they use local produce. Their eggs are from Real Eggs and their bread is from Woodfrog bakery.... Now it all makes sense on why I love their eggs and burgers so much!

Aqua S

Ice cream is one of my favourite foods. No matter the weather, I will always have appetite for some ice cream action. This was no different for Aqua S, and on a cold winter's night, I decided to venture out to QV to visit the recently opened store.

I have been to Aqua S in Sydney so the concept was nothing to me. However, I do love soft serves and have a soft spot for all the novelties it comes with.

D loves their sea salt so I got the sea salt and pandan flavour with fairy floss, popcorn, popping candy and toasted marshmallow. I will admit I probably dig go over-board with the topping but it was worth it. The pandan flavor was fragrant but I would have liked it to be strong as I love all things pandan flavoured. The sea salt was not as salty compared to what I had in Sydney, however, it was still quite a good balance with the sweetness but just a touch more salt would have been perfect. 

Overall it is a fun concept. It is more on the pricey side; my order cost me $8.50 (I could have got a large soft serve for an extra 50 cents but I chose not to) but I accept it's the price for creativity and getting to taste a flavour I can't readily get elsewhere.

The Brass Coq

The Brass Coq is located on 470 Little Lonsdale, and I will be frank and admit that I had never heard of it until my friend told me about this place. As I don't work near that area, I will never walk past it either. However I am very glad that I did find out about it. It's a quirky, modern setting and they set out to do 'good home styled' Vietnamese food. I love Vietnamese food, so when O and A told me about it I said yes straight away.


We started off with Spring Rolls. They were crispy on the outside and had a mixed pork and prawn filling. Along with the fish sauce it was a good start to the meal.

VFC (Vietnamese Fried Chicken) were finger licking good. The crispy batter over the chicken ribs then paired with chilli, fried shallots, spring onions and nouc mam glaze. It was a great fusion interpretation of the classic fried chicken. I loved it and I will be definitely getting this again on my next visit.

Green Papaya Salad was fresh and a good way to balance out the other fried starters. The citrus from the grapefruit and the nouc mam cut through the heaviness of the other dishes and the herbs, carrot and papaya gave that fresh bite.

Grilled Pork Neck Skewers - succulent and marinated pork neck with crushed peanuts and served wrapped in lettuce and noodles. Reminds me of the amazing street food in Asia.

Pig ears chips. Thinly sliced pig ears deep fried. Personally I wasn't a fan, but I can understand the appeal as alternative to fried potato chips.

For mains we started with Hanoi Lamb Curry which was interesting. I won't say it was my favorite, as I found it too salty for my liking. If it wasn't so salty it would have been a great main, the lamb was soft, and the coconut curry was smooth and gave the curry great depth of flavour.

Steak with pho jus and triple cooked chips was the next main we shared. I can't say I have ever had pho jus before so I wasn't sure what to expect. The steak was cooked medium with a just pink centre. The pho jus was rich but it didn't remind me of pho, it tasted more like an aromatic gravy. I quite enjoyed it, especially when I dipped the triple cooked chips into it.

Beanshoots was done just the way my mum would stir fry it; with a bit of garlic and ginger. Basic, warming and I can tell mum I ate my vegetables!

Durian & Passionfruit parfait. I know not everyone is a fan of durian so this may not appeal to everyone. For those who do, you are in for a treat! The smooth durian with a pop of passionfruit. Who knew you could make durian taste so sexy?

Banana pudding was steamed with palm caramel and served with coconut custard and praline. At this point I was so full but it was so spongy and soft... I think I almost killed myself trying to eat it..... but it was worth it.

Overall I was really surprised with the calibre of food plated up. I spoke to one of the owners there and his vision was just to show Melbourne what good home cooked Vietnamese is like. I think he smack on delivered. I enjoyed my meal and I can't wait to go back.

They also have some mean cocktail making skills too.... we had quite a few drinks there. You wouldn't pick it but I would definitely recommend you try their cocktails.

Entrocote

On our most recent trip to Europe, D and I paid a visit to Relais Entrecote in Paris. From my understanding it is considered an institution over there, with the lines out the door each night testament to that (and this is at several of their restaurants). Because we absolutely loved the Relais Entrecote restaurants in Paris, of course we had to give this Melbourne restaurant a go. Needless to say, we had high expectations of being able to find a good Steak Frites in Melbourne.

Upon entering, the service was friendly, with the place half to three quarters full. Being a French restaurant, the atmosphere was cosy inside. After being given menus, they also brought some bread with butter. The bread wasn't warm which was disappointing, but it was fresh and was very nice.

For entree D ordered the escargots and I ordered the Onion Soup Gratinee. The Onion Soup had a beautiful consistency to it, with just enough Onion flavour broken up by the Gruyere cheese croutons. It looks on the small side, but it is a heavy dish, so I was glad we were sharing. 

The escargots were full of flavour, namely butter and herbs, which kind of took away from the actual escargot. However, this has always been my reservation with ordering escargot; all you get is butter and herbs from the few times I have it. It tasted every bit like how escargots are served in France, so it is still a tick from me.

Of course for mains we both got the Steak Frites. This is why you come here, and it did not disappoint. The fries were crispy and well seasoned, and were even nicer when they soaked up the excess sauce from the steak . The green sauce is simply translated to a butter and herb sauce, and it really is the perfect accompaniment to the whole dish. It is not too heavy, and tasty with the steak. It wasn't exactly the same as that found in Paris, but it is close enough.

The steak was still pink inside, it was cooked perfectly for medium rare and meat was tender. The steak itself was a little underseasoned, but the sauce more than made up for it (which I think is the aim). The actual dish doesn't look all that big when it arrives, but trust me, it is a heavy dish. Both of us still had leftover fries at the end..

Overall, the fitout was modern, and the staff were friendly. The entrees were well done, and the steak cooked perfectly. It is a little pricey though, so not the best value in town. All in all, definitely worth a visit to try the Steak Frites especially to get an idea of classic French cooking done well.

Milkcow

If you love ice cream like me, especially soft serve, then hearing Milkcow has landed in Australia will be music to your ears. Milkcow originated in Korea, home of PSY and Bibimbap. Located in the not so new Emporium as a temporary pop up (they move to Melbourne Central in May), it's a central location and easy to find for anyone heading to the CBD.

I was so excited about their opening I have visited twice already; the first time I went with my Vet. Vet ordered the Milky Cube which is the original soft serve with a a chunk of honeycomb. It's a very natural tasting (obviously) flavour and the honeycomb texture works well with the creamy soft serve.

On my first visit I got the Santorini. I was a sucker for the fairy floss (it comes as a big cloud of floss) and it comes served with oreo crumbs, pistachio, tropical syrup and a wafer stick. I like my ice cream action packed so this ticked the box for me as it met my expectations.

On my second visit I tried the Green Light. This was a simple and straight forward soft serve with almond flakes and mint syrup. I initially though not having chocolate was a bit weird (mint and chocolate combo is a winning one)but it actually worked out really well. It made it refreshing and the almond flakes added a nice bite to complement the mint flavour.

Overall  I loved the creaminess of the soft serve, the staff were nice and the pop up store is definitely worth visiting. I hope they bring out more flavours soon so I have reason to go back again.

 

Tim Ho Wan

So the wait is finally over and Tim Ho Wan is in Melbourne, after months of delay with their opening.  Yum Cha is a common meal in Hong Kong and to have a Michelin star one in Melbourne was really exciting. Located on Bourke St, it's a central location and easy to get to. However be prepared to wait. I went on a Friday night with O, A and D (yes I thought yum cha on a Friday night was a good way to avoid crowds... I was wrong) and after 1.5 hours of waiting we were finally seated.

It was straight into business and we got ordering. First was the chicken, sausage mushroom pot rice. It was a single serve with pieces of chicken, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushroom on soy sauce flavoured rice. It is quite heavy, so would recommend to share it as you normally do at yum cha anyway.

Second was the Pan Fried Turnip Cake. Turnip cake is one of my favourite dishes to have at yum cha, Tim Ho Wan's turnip cake was more on the soft side, not as firm as other places. Full of flavour but not enough diced Chinese sausage for my liking.

Third was Chicken Feet. This came braised in abalone sauce. You can tell it has been braised for hours, as the abalone sauce penetrates into the chicken feet. A and D both liked this dish (I'm not a fan of chicken feet myself).

Fourth was Har Gow. Balls of prawn filling in a crystal skin. Standard yum cha and they do it well here.

Fifth was Black Bean Sauce Pork Ribs. The meat was marinated and soft and the sauce not too oily. Similar to the Har Gow, it was done well but nothing too special.

Sixth was Spinach Prawn dumplings. This was my favourite out of all the dumplings; the f;avour of the spinach was delicate and balanced out the prawn well. As you can tell from the picture, it was a generous filling and full of flavour like the other dumplings.

Seventh was Century Egg Congee. I am a big congee (rice porriage) fan, so it's one of those things I just love to order at yum cha. THW's version of the yum cha classic was generous with century egg and the pork was well salted. Congee consistency was very smooth too.

Eighth was Fish Maw. This is definitely for the fish lover. I would consider it silky however my counterparts called it slimy. This dish divided the table's opinion - the conclusion being that if you like fish then you will like this dish.

Ninth was the famous Baked Pork Buns. Crispy external bun, filled with BBQ pork. I can easily eat 3 of these myself. Definitely a Michelin dish here and something you should order from THW.

Tenth was Lo Mai Gai. Steamed sticky rice with mushroom, Chinese sausage, pork, dried scrimp, salted egg wrapped in lotus leaf. I didn't mind this dish and it was quite a generous serving.

Eleventh was Beefball with Beancurd skin. Marinated beef was a big meaty bite (strong flavours) and on the heavy side.

Twelfth was Vermicelli Rolls with Sesame Sauce. This came lightly pan fried, with hoisin and sesame sauce drizzled on top. The sweet hoisin and sesame worked perfectly together.

Overall a very satisfying yum cha. Those pork buns were an absolute delight as was the vermicelli rolls. They don't have as much variety as other yum cha restaurants, but that didn't bother me too much. Service was average but I didn't really expect any different from a busy Chinese restaurant.