Comme Kitchen

David positively surprised me last week when I inquired about getting lunch together. I proposed Friday. I let him choose where. So the city, on a Friday, we normally just go to a cute little cafe or get something simple and Asian. Can you imagine my delight then when "Comme kitchen?" popped up on my facebook wall?

I was just tickled!





I feel like it's been a while since I've been to one of the more finer dining establishments in Melbourne, not that I am complaining, but a girl likes a treat once in a while!





We wandered in early, at about 12:15pm, to a gorgeous slice of luxury in the middle of the business district. It was almost like walking into someone's house, with a staircase alluding to an upstairs and a mini foyer area where you would normally drop off your wet umbrella's and possibly kick off your shoes...were you at someone's residence. Whilst through one door we spied a bar and some lovely window seats, we were instead guided into a cosy little room with a fireplace and what looked like a very cute little wine cellar.

It was initially empty when we first entered, but by 1pm, the place was filled, one table in the centre of the room taking a booking of about 8.







Since it was lunchtime, we both decided against wine (or I may have had one too many the night before as well...), and decided to get an entree to share and a dish each. There were some great options on the menu, it was quite difficult narrowing it down!

Comme Kitchen also does a daily lunch special, which comes with a glass of wine and side for $33. Wasn't quite in the mood for lamb on Friday though.



Oh bread. Delicious bread. I couldn't resist a bite and it was warm, soft and fluffy, but with a nice firm crust around the outside. I couldn't help but stare in envy as David completely cleaned out the bowl over the course of our meal!





Although I wanted to convince David to have crumbed lamb brains with me (I think I'd have a tough time getting anyone to...), we decided since we were in a French restaurant we would have a classic. Burgundy snails, braised in Chardonnay & stuffed with parsley, garlic & Pernod butter. After instructing David how to eat them, I found them the tiniest bit underwhelming, whilst overall quite good, I found the garlic and butter flavours a little bit too subtle. I suppose I would expect and prefer, garlic and butter snails to be rich and sinful.





David decided (with some help from me...) to get the partridge - roast breast & ballontine of leg, radishes, crostillant of pear & ginger, celeriac & jus. Quite a bit more on the plate than I expected to see! There were so many interesting flavours and textures put onto one plate, the sauce was rich, partridge was tender and the pastry was just the most curious thing. I bit into it expecting something savoury, but got a sweetness instead, which complimented and gave a lightness to the dish, which was otherwise very meaty! David really enjoyed the dish and I quite liked what I tasted.





I was feeling something a bit lighter (if that's ever possible at a French restaurant really...) and after tossing up between the two fish dishes I settled on the salmon. A crisp skin fillet of salmon, Jerusalem artichokes, confit shallots, spinach, crisp caper berries and sauce Cintronelle. I couldn't go past the artichokes!

The dish was just beautiful and so well balanced, I could put all the elements together in one delicious bite. The salmon was cooked perfectly, the flesh was soft and just melted away in my mouth, whilst the skin was just perfectly lightly crispy. Whilst most of the elements were quite soft, and smooth in texture, there was still enough variance between everything to create interest. The ingredients were rich with flavour, and whilst I thought it was quite small initially, I found myself almost struggling to finish it!

We were thinking of continuing on to dessert, but David had to unfortunately run off to a meeting. Always have to leave something for next time right?

There have been a few mixed reviews for Comme Kitchen, but I certainly enjoyed my experience, it is definitely on the pricier side, but as I had the entertainment card, I found it far more reasonable! To be fair though, the service we received was impeccable, warm and friendly, the only downside maybe being the slight delay in getting our bill, although this is when the restaurant started to fill up, so we no longer had the full attention of our waitress and we were in a wee bit more of a rush than usual.

I'd love to come back next time to sit by the bar and find some time to indulge in dessert...

Comme Kitchen
7 Alfred Pl
Melbourne, 3000

Tre Bicchieri

Every now and again you have your days when you're a little bit down. You wake up on the wrong side of bed. Or you don't even want to get out of bed. That was me on Thursday morning, until my mum proposed we go out for lunch. It had been ages since our last mother/daughter outings so I perked up, put on my pretty high heels and headed out to Rathdowne St with mum.

We wandered into Tre Bicchieri, which we had been to once for coffee after a shopping expedition at Ooshka (they used to do amazing sales there, but are now unfortunately are closing down...), I had always thought the place to be quite cute and was curious what the lunch offer might be like.







Tre Bicchieri is incredibly adorable, sending my imagination off into an adorable family owned corner store in the 1960s or something. They do sell a range of teas, jams and other condiments you might want to bring home with you for some afternoon tea.

Although dark, it is very cosy and if you pop yourself on the tables or counter in the front area with the window, especially on an overcast day, the soft light gives off a very gentle ambiance. The back area has some larger communal tables, good for bigger groups. Mum and I of course, settled ourselves in the front.







We decided to get two dishes to swap and share, I think I rarely ever eat just one dish when I'm out these days...the first was a cauliflower soup with Italian parsley and chilli. It wasn't quite the creamy type of soup, which is generally what I expect when I get a soup, but it had quite an interesting chunky texture, which I quite liked. Wholesome, hearty and with a really nice sharp bite from the chilli. Just what you need to perk you up on a glum day!





We also got the zucchini and eggplant frittata, that came with sprinkled with cheese, tomato relish (YUM!) and a side salad of rocket and cherry tomatoes. Nothing to complain about here really, I loved the abundance of veggies, and the fritatta itself was hearty but not heavy. The relish was also a great touch, just to add a bit of sweetness to it all.







And to finish off, a cup of tea for mum, a chai for me and a little sour cherry and pistachio cupcake. Or mini-cake? I think that's a better way to describe it, as it was fairly dense and nutty, from the pistachio and what I assume would be almond meal. The sour cherry was the perfect topper, adding just the right amount of tartness to the whole thing.

All in all, an absolutely charming afternoon, gossiping about people who pass in and out of your life, and quizzing each other why it's happened or what's happening to them now. Rathdowne St really has some great little places and goes a little bit unnoticed since Lygon St is just a little way away. Hey, always means it's easy to get parking at least!

Tre Bicchieri
623 Rathdowne St
Carlton North, 3054

Federal Coffee Palace

Mini and I did lunch on Monday as I haven't seen him in ages and when I asked if there was anywhere in particular he wanted to go he responded with "The most exciting places I go to eat are the ones you show me. So you pick."

Easy enough.

I wanted to go to Le Triskel in Hardware Lane, but as we approached and saw there was a immediate lack of chairs outside, I despaired slightly but quickly averted our attention down to GPO.









I had seen the Federal Coffee Palace several times on my 'Cheap Eats' application and had always wandered exactly where it is, and thought it was positively charming when the seats were actually nestled under the arches of the GPO, instead of inside an actual shop or down a laneway.

I was a little concerned initially they would just be another typical baguette place, but fortunately they did have a couple more options for gluten free little ol' me and we were very swiftly seated under a heater to get out of the cold.



The second best chai I've had in the city. The milk was just velvety, and the chai flavour was good too. This was almost finished before our meals got to us!



I got one of the specials on the blackboard, a 3 egg frittata with pumpkin and gorgonzola. I have to admit, it was not quite the fritatta I'm used to, whilst I expected a cake-like wedge of vegetable and egg goodness to be put in front of me, what I got was a bit...flatter. All the same, I was hungry, had just finished at the gym and protein was in order. It was really quite rich from the gorgonzola, which went really well with the pumpkin. Certainly a bit heavier than most frittata's I have, but with gorgonzola and pumpkin, what am I really expecting? It was a bit saltier than I'd have liked too, but yeah, I love blue cheese, so that was plenty enough to encourage me to finish!



Mini ordered one of the baguette's with tomatoes (which he proceeded to take out and give to me since he doesn't like them....silly boy), rocket, relish and some protein, although I can't remember entirely what it was. He did give me a bite though and it was a fairly delicately constructed baguette, the relish was absolutely delicious and went very well with the pepper of the rocket. I was quite a bit more impressed than I expected to be.

The biggest gripe I did have, was the inattentiveness of one of the waitstaff and general lack of observation. Whilst we were seated very promptly by a smiling waiter, and received my chai and got our food, we had not been served any water by this time. When our food did arrive, I asked the waitress for some water, which she completely neglected to give me. Halfway through our meal, a waiter went to the table next to us with a jug to top up their water but failed to notice we didn't have any water until I called him over to ask once again.

At least he was exceedingly efficient in getting us the water, but it was a little disheartening as I otherwise very much enjoyed my meal. However, I don't think it is enough to completely put me off as I find the location very convenient and adorable, and the chai latte's are wonderful. So I suppose I'll be back when it's slightly less chilly!

Federal Coffee Palace
350 Bourke St
Melbourne, 3000

Coco Lounge

I'm usually quite an early riser. 7am, 8am, usually latest 8:30am I'm out of bed. But in this foreign dimension of Glen Waverley, Saturday morning found us being awfully lazy in bed until 11:30am when we decided it was probably time to eat...something.

It's an odd time of day though, definitely too late for breakfast, a tiny bit too late for brunch and you just woke up, so it can't be lunch...can it? I was frankly half tempted to get pizza.



But thankfully Brad had better sense than I and we headed off to Kingsway and found ourselves in the adorable Coco Lounge. One of the very rare non-Asian eating spots there.







They certainly do a good job standing out from all the rice and noodles that surround them, the place just humming away with a happy charm, adorned with colourful 1940'esque posters and attended to by attentive waitresses who filled up your water glasses constantly and did lunges in between serving customers. Seriously!





I immediately got my chai. It was really quite excellent. Even though it was twice the size of Brad's latte, I'm pretty sure the bottom of my glass was visible first.

So the grand question. Breakfast or lunch?

Since we had both just gotten out of bed, we decided to stick to the breakfast menu, which they serve til 3! Hoorah! We both, as we usually do, decided we wanted eggs as well, but kept tossing up between our options. (As usual).

In the end, we decided that a bit of plotting and thievery was needed. Brad got their version of the big breakfast called the 'Starvin Marvin' and I deviously, just got two poached eggs (and some extra relish) and planned to steal things from Brad's 'Starvin Marvin'.





Phew! Just as well I did, look at that giant plate! The 'Starvin Marvin' came with two fried eggs, sausages, bacon, spinach, mushrooms, roasted tomato and tomato relish. Which was essentially everything I wanted to have with my eggs, but was too scared it would be too much!



So just getting the poached eggs worked out perfectly for me, which were beautifully cooked, I love a bleeding egg yolk! Brad's fried eggs looked great as well, with the whites cooked through but the yolk still with a bit of movement in it. I loved all the sides, the produce was fresh, wasn't too oily, but my favourite thing had to be the tomato relish. Oh the tomato relish. It was just as well I ordered an extra just for myself as it was sweet, full of flavour and chunky and went so well with the eggs. I demolished my little serving and continued stealing from Brad's portion!

After our very substantial breakfast, we ended up sitting and talking about politics and other such romantic things that couples are supposed to talk about (aha.) and ended up being in Coco Lounge for a good two hours or so. I do apologize to anyone who may have had to put up with my ranting and not so charming language that I may have used in the heat of our discussion. In this duration, the waitresses would regularly come by, top up the water with the water bottle on our table, ask if we needed anything and then leave us be for a bit longer. I have to say I felt very well looked after and I was slightly surprised that we weren't trying to be pushed out, since the place was quite full and that despite being busy, I was very comfortable just chilling out there.

I would easily come back here any day for breakfast. Or brunch/lunch/tea?

Coco Lounge
93 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150

Urban Burger - Glen Waverly - Can it compare to Grill'd...?

For years I hadn't had burgers, since I discovered I was gluten-intolerant and this was fabulous for me. Another horrible fatty thing to keep off my hips, but alas, with Australia being more gluten-aware, joints such as Grill'd (which if you don't know about, I suggest you climb out from under your rock!) started offering gluten free buns.

So now, especially since Brad likes them too, I will on occasion find myself having burger cravings and off to a Grill'd somewhere we would go.

Whilst Grill'd is the better known name, there's another burger chain, although there's much less of them, called Urban burger.

Throughout University, I went to the Swinburne at the Prahran campus, I had friends who would swear by Urban Burger and trek the extra 5 minutes up High street to satisfy their cravings.

Well I recently discovered that they do now, offer gluten free buns as well so I was dying to do a comparison between them and Grill'd!

Brad and I went to the one in Windsor on High st, and to our surprise, it was closed! This wasn't looking to be a good sign...all the same, we still ended up at the one in Glen Waverly about a week later.



Spacious, clean and unoffensive. Oh and free help yourself water!

The menu gives you a variety of options, more chicken burgers than Grill'd and some different variations to what Grill'd has for their beef burgers as well. Interestingly though, when I asked for a gluten free bun I was informed that there is a little bit of flour in the patties to bind them together, so not 100% beef hey? Hmmm...



Brad was hungry. He got 'The Lot'. With a beef pattie, bacon, cheese, egg, salad, beetroot relish and aioli.



I got the 'Mushroom Melt' with a beef pattie, grilled mushrooms, swiss cheese, salad, relish and aioli. I was fairly impressed with the aesthetic of the gluten free bun, the one at Grill'd looks like it's going to fall apart even before you touch it sometimes and is always crumbling off the edges. But this, looked like a real proper bun!

However, on the con side, both Brad and I felt the burgers looked...a bit underwhelming. There was no zing to the presentation that the Grill'd burgers seem to have, they were a bit shorter, a little fatter maybe, dare I say it mine is a little reminiscent of a McDonalds burger in appearance...? Maybe....the patties are definitely less thick though, which just doesn't look as impressive at the end of the day.

Flavour-wise my mushroom melt was pretty good, I enjoyed the taste of the cheese that was quite rich and really punched through, but again both Brad and I felt that the Grill'd burger patties are seasoned a bit better. Usually I find myself struggling bite by bite to demolish through a Grill'd burger as there's so much to stuff down the hatch and it is incredibly fulfilling. There's a richness that's not in the Urban Burger as I found myself ploughing through it, my mouth must have been a scary sight to that burger.



We also got a side of regular chips, the serving was quite a bit bigger than the bag looked, tacked on the wall next to the register. Whilst it was a cold night, so the potatoes were inviting, we on the whole, found the chips a bit bland, it's quite hard to compete with the delightful herb seasoning that comes with Grill'd chips.

I really don't mean to completely shoot Urban Burger down (which it probably sounds like I've been doing...). It was still tasty and filling, but Grill'd sets such high standards with it's food, it's very hard to compete with. On the plus side though, the staff were attentive and friendly when taking our order with bright cheery smile, people who can still do that when the place is quiet and it's cold outside are always nice to come by.

Urban Burger
79 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150