El Bulli

Nah, don't get excited. It isn't that El Bulli. I wish. Just a night out our local tapas joint in Surry Hills. Bastards kicked us out before dessert though. I was so looking forward to churros. Not our fault they didn't give us time to eat a proper meal. What we did have was pretty good though.

Ah, happy times before we were asked to leave

The Little Press & Cellar

The Little Press & Cellar is part of George Calombaris' Press Club empire but leaning towards the wine bar end of the restaurant spectrum. Smaller, more intimate, and more casual than the Press Club. The restaurant serves smaller dishes, they're a bit like Greek tapas, and a couple of larger dishes to share.

Making use of Melbourne's fine rail transportation system to get into town.
I had got the address wrong and so we trekked half way around the city looking for the Press Club. Luckily I was only a block out so the poor ol' dears and the pregnant lady weren't too inconvenienced.





Prawns - Kataifi wrapped, avocado, attiki honey dressing. I can honestly say I've rarely had prawns as good as these.

I can't find this on the latest version of the menu but it was a rabbit terrine like thing with little toasts and cherries (can't remember exactly what dried fruit it was either). Whatever, it was outstanding.

Octopus with olive oil and lemon juice.

A big bottle of beer to myself. Bridge Road Brewers Saison. No-one else liked this one - a little sweet for beer was the consensus. Me, I like sweet beer.

Squid ink risotto with wagyu bresaola, pistachios and beetroot puree. Another outstanding dish. Pity we had to share.

Another beer no-one liked - Samichlaus Doppelbock. When it is 15% alcohol who cares what it tastes like. I like these dark beers but it was a little too sweet.

Another dish not on the on-line menu but this was a roast chicken dish for two to share. A whole succulent chook cut into pieces with a delicious sauce and coleslaw like salad.

Salad - beetroot, pistachio, celery and goats cheese (labne?). Delicious.

Goat slow cooked for many hours with 40 cloves of garlic for two. Michelle and I insisted that everyone try the goat. Goat can be hard to find so whenever we get a chance to try it we do. I think one or two of the others were a little reluctant to try it but it was pretty good. Maybe a touch dry in parts but excellent overall. Both the chicken dish and the goat were supposed to be for two to share but really you could feed an army with both dishes. Really generous serves so 75 bucks for the goat isn't as expensive as it sounds.


Sokolatopita - salt caramel, peanut praline, vanilla ice cream and the pudding itself. As soon as someone says salty caramel I am there. Fricking rich this was. We also had the cheesecake (Tsizcake - citrus, passionfruit) which was divine and an upside down fruit pastry (Kydonopita - hot quince pie) with vanilla ice cream which was also reported to be pretty bloody good.



Flinders Street railway station.


The baby's fed and we're on the way home. Of course you'd be smiling.

Or you could be getting some zees.

The Little Press & Cellar is at The Press Club, 72 Flinders Street
Melbourne. I don't think it has a Good Food Guide hat but after tonight's meal I think it probably deserves one. Definitely up there with the better meals we've had in Melbourne.

Bodega

Bodega is muy bueno. Very. It now has one Hat. Yay. It is great for Bodega to get the recognition it deserves but for those of us that have been eating here for years it makes it even harder to get a table. They've never taken reservations so you've either got to queue for 6pm when they open or turn up later and hope a table becomes available in a reasonable amount of time. We arrived well before 6pm and by 5.45 quite a crowd had gathered in front of the door. Most of the people we chatted to had never been before and had come because of the Hat awarded by the Good Food Guide. The bloody awards work. Bodega has always been busy so this just makes it that much harder to get in.

But get in we did. We have been coming here for ages but it has been quite a while, last year I think, since we've been here. I blame Michelle - morning sickness killed her appetite for months and one of our favourite dishes at Bodega, the Fish Fingers, contains raw fish which is another big pregnancy no-no.

Their new found status has not affected the food one iota. We couldn't have the Fish Fingers because, as I said, Michelle is up the duff and I just couldn't eat it in front of her... Tempted though I was. But every thing else was either new, exciting and tasty or traditional tasty tapas. We really couldn't go wrong.

We started with bread and olive oil to die for.
Mushrooms in garlic. Some really tasty goddamned mushys. Garlic, mushrooms and oil. How much simpler could you get but how tasty?
Bodega chorizo with sofrito paste was spicy and succulent.
Fried spiced calamari with aioli (above). Just what it says except I'd also call it delicious.

Seared Scallops with Morcilla, Braised Cabbage and Pickled Cauliflower (above). Morcilla is a Spanish black pudding or blood sausage. This dish is very fine - delicate even, but it packs a wallop of flavour.

Banana Split: Cream flan, dulce de leche ice cream, ginger biscuit and banana. This, like the Fish Fingers, is a house speciality and is always on the menu. It is nothing like any banana split you've ever had before.

The service here is always above and beyond. Great food and great service it is no wonder it one of our very favourite places. Thank god Michelle is over her morning sickness. We can go back. Yay.