The Catch Up - Fall menu at Nieuw Amsterdam, Le Petite Prince & House of Crabs

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest at the following venues 

You may notice these days, that there’s quite a bit of a gap from when I have a dining experience on Instagram, versus when it’s up on the blog. 

It’s definitely hard to stay on top of everything, between flat out days at work which leave me not wanting to be in front of a computer, nights out and then making sure I’m in bed by 10:30 so I can go to the gym (prioritising fitness, whoo!) and well…blogging is a bit of work!

So here’s a little round up of a couple of places that I’ve been wanting to write about, just to help expedite the process a little!

NIEUW AMSTERDAM

106-112 Hardware Lane

Melbourne 3000 

 

A couple months back, I popped into Nieuw Amsterdam to check out their new (and now obviously running) autumn menu, matched with cocktails. 

I’m always amazed at how creative with cocktails the guys at Nieuw Amsterdam get. One of my favourites from the evening? Peas-go-sour. A play on a ‘pisco sour’ (see what they did there?) with pisco, applejack, lime, snow pea syrup and habanero shrub. What. It’s fresh, it’s springy, it’s almost healthy…right? 

Highlights included the deep fried pickles we munched on prior to our meal; which are basically the perfect bar snack. How come these aren’t everywhere? Golden, crunchy, piping hot and just yum. 

Southern fried quail with romesco sauce and pickled grapes are also pure fried perfection. I absolutely love that these meaty mouthfuls are only dedicated battered, and the kick in the seasoning. There’s a lovely heat, and each mouthful is still so juicy. Happy sighs. 

Curry spiced lamb ribs with cauliflower, eggplant, coriander and lime are also a favourite of mine, again amazingly meaty and no-hands-barred with all the flavour. Love the charred outsides and still pink insides.

It’s hearty, hearty food, it’s been a little bit of a warm autumn sure, but once we swing full on into the colder weather…? Oh goodness. Perfection.

LE PETIT PRINCE

1A Mercer Road

Armadale

 

Armadale and Toorak can sometimes be a bit pretentious, and hoity-toity sometimes. But I love being surprised and instead of finding overly healthy dishes, or a little bit too intricate plating, just great big hearty dishes, that still look great.

Le Petit Prince did just that for me. Beautiful coffees, in sky blue cups, and a pumpkin dish with roast pumpkin two ways which I just want to eat all my life. I don’t think you guys fully understand just how much I love pumpkin. Also helps this dish is loaded with haloumi as well, sprinkled with a bit of dukkah. It’s wholesome but not heavy comfort food that I love eating while sitting outside in the breezy weather. 

Brad’s mixed mushrooms, Spanish morcilla, poached eggs, smashed avocado and feta is also a surprisingly generous feed, and incorporates all my favourite things…what’s not to love?

HOUSE OF CRABS

34 Inkerman Street

St Kilda

 

When I hear there’s a new restaurant open beneath the slick and very cool Newmarket hotel…well…House of Crabs isn’t exactly what I expected when I walk in.

You’re instantly transported to the quirky corner of the south, with funky lamp shades, fringe and red…lots of red. It feels a little burlesque bar, but with a band playing Cotton Eye Joe instead. It’s kind of hilarious and the atmosphere is instantly jovial and bright. 

The cocktails are hard, but delicious; yes there’s a mini bottle of tequila that’s pouring out into my glass. 

But it’s really all about sitting down at the butcher paper lined tables, donning some blue plastic gloves…and getting intimate with some crustaceans. 

Mussels, prawns, and a selection of crabs are available to have as a boil, with your choice of sauce. The Singapore sauce is one of my favourites, totally reminds of chilli crabs back in Singapore, and I can’t remember which, either the Cajun or the Creole has some beautiful curry-ish flavours going on. 

It’s a bit of work, but it’s a whole lot of fun and always a great icebreaker. Good way to vet out a potential date too (if they ain’t peeling prawns or getting into crabs, they’re a party popper and a no goer I’d say).

The stuff on the side is also really good too, lobster fries with bacon, cheese and lobster gravy are terribly moreish and I love the crunchy buttermilk chicken bits with cajun sauce. 

Also highly recommend the soft shell crab tacos with jalapeño mayo and apples, beautifully crisp and a nice kick of heat. 

Mammoth

When I hear the word ‘Mammoth’, I don’t usually think pastel pinks and pops of saturated blue.

But I love that’s how the team at the cafe in Armadale have. It’s also the kind of place I would not have touched with a ten foot pole for at least a couple of months, just due to all the hype and excitement it was getting, but when Brad and I are up at an ungodly hour on a weekend to go to an event, only to get a flat tire on the way…where else is there to go at 7:30am in the morning but to a cafe that you know will be absolutely bonkers at 9?

Located in the lofty and leafy neighbourhood of Armadale, Mammoth is gorgeously light and bright when you walk in. Designed by Techne, the space is simple, but with some absolutely gorgeous details (that I’m probably appreciating more now that I work with interior designers). It’s kind of like Scandinavian design, meets a touch of prep, meets spring time colours. 

The menu is simply fascinating. Not sure there’s many other ways to describe it! Don’t expect anything traditional at Mammoth; instead, it’s all pushing boundaries and trying out new things. With Melbourne’s continually raising expectations of breakfast, Mammoth certainly pushes out right to the edge of those expectations. 

Except for the drinks maybe. Fortunately my chai is as I like it, they get theirs from Chai Boy (one of my favourites) and the coffee looks smooth, beautiful and creamy. 

But then we get onto the matter of food and things take a bit of a different turn.

Brad gets the North Shore, smokey ham hock hash with flame grilled pineapple, tabasco, jalapeño popper and poached egg. It comes out looking beautiful, if not a little edgy for breakfast, with each element separate, almost deconstructed. Now I didn’t really try everything on Brad’s plate, and although I enjoyed my mouthful of ham hock, this tested Brad a bit, I mean where do you start? What goes with what? He found the pineapple not quite seared enough for him, and therefore a little bit too juicy; which he didn’t really enjoy with the ham and the egg. 

I got the Benedict, a duck sausage with an orange and corn blini, pickled onion, fried egg and smoked maple hollandaise. Although this again looked amazing, I didn’t find all the flavours were there for me either personally. The orange and corn blini was lovely and fluffy, but the orange flavour was quite strong, overruling all the savoury elements for me. The duck sausage was quite lean for me as well, perhaps if this was a little fattier, it might have balanced out the sweetness a bit better. 

I do however adore the egg and bacon popcorn, not so much egg flavour, but plenty of bacon, which I pretty much devour in few handfuls (why share bacon with your boyfriend?)

After seeing a few other tables order it, I also cannot resist giving dessert a go and order a serve of the Golden Gaytime panna cotta, with honeycomb, sable biscuit, chocolate and popping candy. Whilst this is an absolute visual treat, and turns the heads of the girls sitting next to the pass as it comes out, I just didn’t love this as much as I absolutely wanted to. The panna cotta was quite firm and dense, without the wobble that I’ve come to love. Perhaps too much gelatin? I did very much enjoy all the toppings though. Honeycomb and chocolate yum. 

So where does that leave me? I still enjoyed my time at Mammoth, and felt that for all we ordered, it was surprisingly reasonably priced. I personally enjoy seeing places push boundaries, and giving new things a try. Although I didn’t feel our dishes all the nail on the head, it was certainly still an experience. If though, you’re just after some hearty scrambled eggs or Benedict, look elsewhere! 

Mammoth

736 Malvern Road

Armadale 3143