Also notice how when you walk along the river in Southbank area, there is a fire bursting out of the exhaust poles every hour (the poles are installed along the Crown complex, not the entire stretch of the river). I remember how I always make a joke with my friends about the fire poles. We said how countless birds and other flying beings (what else apart from birds?? or insects) must have died from being accidentally burnt whilst flying over the top of the poles. Note that this is just a joke, I imagine those poor vertebrates have some sort of sixth sense where they can immediately sense danger and avoid them. That's why birds emmigrate and that's why birds fly low when it's about to rain. Let's not get further into science. In fact, I dislike science.
So my point was, when the fire explodes in the sky, from afar it looks almost like it dances because there is a rhythm to it. From the top floor of Lui Bar, the fire show looks fantabuluous. At the time of my visit, I didn't know Vue de Monde exists. The restaurant is located on the other side of the bar on the same floor. Apparently this is the reaction when you tell people about this five star restaurant... "What????" "Really?" "Wow" or "............. (Just staring at you without blinking, pause whatever they are doing and say nothing" OR! They might not know what you're talking about at all.
Well, for most time, I received the abovementioned reactions. Curious about it, I started googling the reviews online and man, people bring their wives, girlfriends, boyfriends etc to this place for special occasions, such as wedding anniversaries, birthdays, proposals and whatever else I can't think of. As comparison to us, we're just a bunch of girls looking to sample one of the best restaurants Melbourne has to offer. According to the reviews, the bill could easily add up to $500!!! What can I buy with $500?? So many things (clothes, jewellery, give out to charity, pay for more food, pay bills and the list goes on). May not actually be enough to pay for everything I mentioned.
Well, when I had a look at the menu online (after visiting the website of Vue de Monde), the set/degustation menu could cost about $250 per person. Yes, you saw that right, I'll write it again, $250 PER PERSON i.e. PP. No kidding. I'm not sure whether it was a blessing in disguise or not, but on the day we decided to book for a table, I found out that they are not available for dinner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we wanted to go on a Friday because my friend already had plans from Monday to Thursday, besides who would enjoy fine dining on weekdays?? Maybe some people would but I would like to enjoy spending a great deal of money on food on weekends because I don't have to think about working the next day except if I'm a millionaire overnight.
So we came up with plan B, there is this restaurant which is part of Vue de Monde called Bistro Vue and if you click on the link above or if you just search for Bistro Vue online, it will show that the main website access is via Vue de Monde website. Once the website loads, just navigate your way and click on Bistro Vue. The restaurant is located at the completely different site from Vue De Monde. Bistro Vue is located on 430 Little Collins St, Melbourne. The restaurant interior was very French style with lots of paintings and open wine cellar. I must say the design of the restaurant wasn't too fancy and it was quite cosy. Patrons are generally couples and a group of friends. I didn't take any photos of the interior design because I was acting like a lady instead of patronising paparazzi with flash camera. The light was etremely dim as well so the photos won't do any justice. Even the photos of my food look "meh" compare to what they look like in real life but those will have to do because I was only equipped with my retiring iPhone5.
We were greeted and served professionally by the wait staff whom one of them I recalled was French and he was very good looking. Too bad I have a boyfriend now and I even tried to speak introductory French and he was polite to reply me in French too. He must have thought how stupid I was, Oh well..
Failed attempt.
DISCLAIMER: I cannot remember the name of the food we ate there at all, not even one just because they are all in French and they are not in the menu because it was a set menu decided by the chef on a daily basis. I would look stupid if I asked the wait staff to repeat the name and me pulling out my iphone notepad and write it down one by one. I took all of the food photos we ate but I do not recall the name. Judge me all you want.
Below is how the menu looks like (note that I didn't take a full photo of the menu due to the dim light and that means I have to point the camera further up which will make the photo rather pointless because you won't be able to read it. Not that it makes any difference to what I'm about to show you below).
So after what feels like ages, we finally decided on set meal for $110 per person (L'Humeur Du Chef) which includes 6-course meal. I was thinking of steak before but $110 pp for 6-course meal is more valuable for the money you spend plus you get to sample a variety of food instead of being restricted to one type and one serve of steak already costs about $60. I suppose if you want to go out for a fine dining experience, might as well go all out.
We also ordered something extra to share with everyone. So the first entreé to open our feast was ox tail. When you look at the photo, you won't have the slightest idea that it is ox tail. It looks like a block of..... meat???
The ox tail meat is served with a slice of bread, pickled onion & vegetable along with a sauce to go with the meat. Unlike what it looks like, it tastes sensational. Now, I've eaten ox tail meat before because it is a staple food in Indonesia but man, this one tastes superb! So different from the conventional ox tail meat yet the taste is so familiar that you know you're eating ox tail meat (well, you kinda have to ever eat one to know how it tastes like). The meat was just so tender and I guess the shape comes from lightly smashing the meat to form the block.
Next we had oyster coming up, again served in style on what looks like an expensive "chopping board". I'm kidding, it's not a chopping board. You gotta appreciate their art of presentation. It is just so classy!
The oysters are served in either lemon sauce or vinegar sauce which they also mixed with something else. The result?? One of the yummiest & freshest oysters I've ever tasted! My friends and I were talking about eating fresh oysters and how my friend got tummy bug from eating fresh oysters in Thailand but no, definitely not in Australia and not in a top notch restaurant like this one. The two sauces just go so well with the oysters and they bring the fresh ocean flavour out from the oysters even more. I wanted like 10 more seriously. Well, this is another thing eating in a fine dining restaurant, you do have to compromise the quantity because they do provide you with the best quality ingredients they can find and hey, it all comes to a price. If you want more, be prepared for your wallet to bleed more :)
Next, we have salmon coming up and I swear, the food I show here all have their French name and it is definitely more than just one word.
The salmon was extremely awesome!!! More than any kind of sashimi I've ever had till this day. It was freshest out of the freshest if you can get my description. The flower petals are edible by the way. I didn't eat it but my friends did. Again, I wish there was more!! I didn't get enough of it. The food was so good that for like 30 seconds, nobody spoke a word. Everyone just enjoyed the moment they share with good food. It was like a classic song playing in my head when I had those oysters and this salmon.
Next on the line, we had mushroom risotto!!!! I absolutely looooooooove mushroom risotto.
Not quite French because Risotto is meant to be Italian then again, it doesn't have to be all French dishes right??
There is only one word I can describe this Risotto, nourriture délicieuse~~~~ it was so yum!!! Although the portion is pretty small, however as we all know, Risotto can be pretty rich because of the ingredients involved (i.e. butter & cheese) and the type of rice used just accentuates the richness of this food even more. So I was pretty full after consuming the risotto. The mushroom taste is very dominant which obviously enriches the flavour of the risotto and the cheese & butter are not too overpowering hence the end result is a very well balanced risotto.
After handling a rich meal, we had a chance to wash it down a with a lime sorbet mixed with a bit of muesli nuts combination and a thin slice of dark chocolate.
The sorbet, needless to say is very refreshing and the sorbet also acts as a cleanser for our pallette to get ready for the next meal because after experiencing different taste and texture, it is absolutely necessary for our pallette to be cleansed so that we can fully enjoy a new taste without being overpowered by the previous dishes that leave the aftertaste hanging in the back of our throat. To be honest, for me, a sorbet is just a sorbet, there is nothing too extraordinary about a sorbet and I don't like sorbet in general because they are generally very sour (especially the fruit flavour ones) but I don't actually mind this one. Although it hasn't really raised my standard on sorbets just yet.
Next one is my most raved dish of the night and until today, I'm still raving on how good this next dish is.
Yes, the beef steak is the best dish out of the bunch! I've had steak all over the place (not everywhere yet). I love steak and before I visited this place, I did have number #1 steak in Melbourne in my list but now, the position in my list has just been snatched by this little rocket pocket! The beef steak was out of this world to put it simply. I don't actually know what sauce they used because chef is being very secretive about it. No I'm just joking, I forgot to ask and this was not in the menu or maybe it was. The mash potato was creamy and buttery that I wanted to scream on top of my lungs how good this steak is!! The cut of meat is superb, thick and extremely tender inside out! It is the best cut and the best quality by far! I'm definitely going back again just to try the steak. I was never used to be a fan of steak before but over time, I discovered it is not the steak's fault, it is the cut of meat, the level of rareness and the sauce altogether that add the points. Over time, after trying all different restaurants specialise in steaks, I discover my liking and passion towards steak and I can't even cook but when I taste a good steak, I know the difference. Unlike popular belief, you don't have to be able to cook to know how good a dish is. Enough of the raving! I can go on and on and write a whole different post just on how good this steak is.
The closure to our feast is what I would describe in my own words as caramelised pear. Not the direct translation from the actual name of the dessert in French.
The pear is sweet and crispy on the outside and it almost melts from the inside. It is served with vanilla ice cream. Hot and cold combination. What a fantastic dessert! I'm also not a fan of pear but this dessert just entices me and not everyone can make a good dessert such as this. The pear is very fragranced and because the fruit itself is not very sweet, the way they coat it with what seems like caramel/sugar brings out the sweetness of the pear and it goes so well with the vanilla ice cream. I just love how crispy the skin is. The contrast of the texture is what makes this dessert works. crispy and soft, hot and cold. This dessert has elements of yin and yang in it.
After we were satisfied with our meal, we were offered complimentary dessert where the waiter would bring out a 3-decker trolley containing macaroons, mini cookies and cakes. The whole presentation is so .... FRENCH! If anything, my experience at this restaurant made me feel like I was in one of the restaurants in France! Ah, I want to visit France now!
There were more than what is shown in the photo but we couldn't fit anymore than what we had already fitted. The good looking waiter offered more but we had to politely decline the offer. Although we did fork out a bit of money at the end but we walked out with happy tummies :) Besides, like what my mom always says, you can always earn money but there are things in life that you just have to enjoy and let go. I hope everyone enjoys this post and find it informative. As always, I accept comments and suggestions down below. If there is a restaurant you'd like me to visit, please leave a comment!
