St. Hotel

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest

The last time I was at the St. Hotel in St Kilda, the gorgeous old building (which has been in the neighbourhood since 1915) was packed rafter to rafter with people, lining up for Asian bites from St Hotel and a range of other restaurants as an event. 

Although it was fun, it was hectic, so when I had an opportunity to revisit the St. Hotel to try their new European bar and dining menu, I was certainly keen to check out what head chef Ben Isaacs had to offer. 

The St. Hotel is so Melbourne when you walk in, retaining a lot of the old world charm - rough brick walls, and accented with new timber floor finishes, polished concrete and black steel. Rather than one big open space, the restaurant/bar is an array of dining spaces so if you want to grab a quick drink you can, or if you want to sit in a cosy corner with a date…you can do that too.

Or if you want to have dinner with 20 other bloggers, that’s totally doable too!

The ‘bite me’ neon has to be one of my favourite pieces of neon in Melbourne - talk about getting straight to the point!

We started with an array of nibbles, with the crumbed pacific oysters with tartare sauce and lemon the first to come out. Although usually I do favour my oysters natural, these were done exceptionally well. Golden, and crispy batter beautifully protected the juicy and sweet meat inside which exploded into a delicious textural delight. 

Smoked ocean trout rilles and Yarra Valley caviar on rye crisp were also vibrant and bright in flavour - I adore trout - and the rye crisps were crispy as advertised and the parmesan gougeres with truffled gruyere sauce were to die for. Light choux style pastry on the outside, stuffed full with cheese goodness on the inside - I was definitely eyeing the plate to see if there were an extras left behind…

Our wines this evening were selected and matched by Red + White - one of my favourite wines for the night had to be this La la Land Pinot Gris - so fruity and bright. 

Our next dish, would could have been our main for it’s heft in flavour and weight, was the wood roasted jamon wrapped buffalo mozzarella with mild mushrooms and bitter leaves. Woah. Big plate. One of these each. Totally okay with this! The mozzarella was creamy, and deliciously oozy from being roasted - on a cold night, was there anything better really? 

For our mains, we shared (fortunately) a couple of plates. The wood roasted chateaubriand served a la bourguigononne style was a winner with the group. It can definitely be tough to get red meat right for a big group, but St. Hotel delivered the most tender and perfectly cooked piece of meat we could ever ask for. It just melted in the mouth. 

I was a little less excited by the wood BBQ wild barramundi with wild mushrooms, burnt butter and sage - I’m personally just not a huge fan of barramundi - but I did not stop picking at the pine mushrooms that came with the dish. Meaty and just a match made in heaven with the burnt butter. 

Cauliflower and gruyere mac and cheese is everything you want it to be. Need I say more? 

To finish our evening, we all enjoy an elderflower panna cotta with blueberries and lemon - which I just adore. After a big meal, the dessert was light and refreshing. A lovely mix of textures from the crumbly meringue to the soft and creamy panna cotta. Well balanced - one that even Brad finished! 

I’m definitely selective when it comes to dinner, more so because I want to make sure Brad will enjoy the food as well. St Hotel ticked all the boxes for me and my man for hearty, filling and just really well executed dishes. Although I’m not ever really in St Kilda, St. Hotel will definitely be on my list to recommend that side of town! 

St. Hotel

54 Fitzroy Street

St Kilda

 

Union Dining - Breakfast

I’ve recently decided that I’m 100% an autumn/fall girl, when it comes to seasons. I’ve always been partial to the shoulder seasons, but fall especially so (army green and warm oranges are so my colours). So although we’re heads deep into summer, I absolutely adore it when Melbourne does the very Melbourne thing and unexpectedly (or maybe it’s so unexpected we expect it) dips into blustery overcast weather. 

Brad and I could not have picked a better morning to get acquainted with breakfast at Union Dining, who only recently (when I say recently I in the last month or two) started the morning offering. It was cold, windy and rainy, but just enough so. A little splash on the shoes, a squeeze on the arm as we stay close under an umbrella as we dash from the car, followed by a sigh of relief as we step in to the restaurant. 

Union Dining is just class, a touch of old world with a classic fit out and the most warm and lovely waitstaff you could ever ask for. 

It’s the perfect place to wriggle your toes and cup your hands around a steaming hot cup of tea. I absolutely loved their crockery, made in Italy if I’m not mistaken, which just felt heavy, round and comfortable in the hands. I know, a bit of a weird thing to take notice of, but I’ve found that tactile experiences are pretty important to me nowadays!

I have a massively tender spot in my heart for all things German. So when I saw pan roasted frankfurts and weisswurst, dijon mustard and sauerkraut on the menu…my decision was made for me instantly. After all, it’s perfect blustery weather comfort food, warm, piping hot, hearty, delicious and so satiating. Perfect for a protein hit (sure with a bit of fat involved), or if you just need a nice warm belly.

Brad went a little more traditional and got the  chickpea, kale, tomato sugo and egg bake with fennel, chilli salt and ricotta salata. Oh my. This was just yum. Eggs cooked to perfection so that they looked done from above, but still had oozy yolks that just bled into all the sweet tomatoey goodness. Another beautifully hearty feed. 

Honestly, I was almost reluctant to leave Union Dining after our meal. I was just so comfortable, so cosy. I could have been at home. Just give me another cup of tea and a book! Although I imagine they wouldn’t want me to get too comfortable!

It seems like Union Dining will be giving the breakfast menu a little break this weekend, but hopefully it’ll be back in full swing in 2016. I love that the dishes on the menu aren’t too traditional (like an eggs benedict), but are still very comforting and wholesome meals. The kind of food that’s just filled with love. It’s the kind of breakfast I like to (or would like to!) eat on a regular basis.  

Union Dining

270-272 Swan Street

Richmond 3121

 

The Roving Marrow

Disclosure: I visited The Roving Marrow twice. One visit was as a guest of the restaurant and second time on my own dollar.

Roving Marrow met me in a time in my life where I was absolutely craving bone marrow. 

Go figure. 

No, I promise I’m not pregnant. 

I was initially excited, as I thought perhaps the concept might have something to do with offal and all the funny little bits of animals I like. Somewhat unfortunately, this is not the case.However fortunately, The Roving Marrow, residing in Lygon Street’s iconic Astor, does deliver delicious modern Australian goodness, with a fun serving twist. 

I had the great opportunity of visiting twice, once with my dad, and once with Brad and a couple of friends, so pretty much have gotten to eat the whole menu…although I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already changed since I’ve been last!

Walking into the Astor, you can definitely see the results of the facelift immediately. Dark, and sophisticatedly moody, you immediately feel like you’re being enveloped into comfort, and a log fire wouldn’t seem too out of place in the classic, yet contemporary fit out. 

The kitchen is headed by Hayden McMillan, originally from New Zealand, but fresh back from a jaunt in San Francisco (honestly with the weather at the moment, why did he ever leave?). The menu is a produce-driven contemporary European, but with yum-cha style service thrown in. Go figure. More on this in a bit.

Both visits, we start with their cold brewed kombucha iced tea, brewed upstairs by their tea sommelier (who was also a flavour consultant for T2 previously). It is a gorgeously refreshing way to start a meal, sweet, cool and just a touch tangy. 

At Roving Marrow, when you arrive, you are given a menu with a couple of hot entrees, mains and desserts to choose from. However, eyes should really be up to see the white ‘yum cha’ trolley pushed to you, with a variety of cold entrees and nibbles to get you going, meaning you never know what’s going to be available! Happy surprises indeed. 

And if what’s on the trolley isn’t enough, the staff do make regular intervals around with trays of different goodies, or second rounds, should you be in the mood. 

Oysters are always a stunner, served natural. I was also a fan of the clams, infused with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (I think) and vanilla, giving it a refreshing but surprisingly sweet flavour profile (however Brad wasn’t a big fan of this dish as it was too sweet for him). 

A goats cheese dip with taro, kale and seaweed (again I think…) chips is intensely creamy and absolutely velvety on the tongue. 

The oxtail master stock, with oxtail at the bottom is perfect in these wintery months; this is probably what vitality tastes like! Chicken liver parfait topped with salted and caramelised peanuts, served with celery sticks is also a surprisingly sweet twist on a favourite that I still quite enjoy. 

One of my favourite entrees though, might have to be these scone biscuits topped with triple ream cheese and crunchy caramelised onions on the top. Heaven. Pure comfort, with plenty of crunch, but with the creamy cheese in-between. Levels of yum are high on this one. 

I also loved the beetroot cured Ora King salmon with pomegranate and fraiche, with an absolutely extraordinary saturated colour and such a beautifully smooth texture as well.

One entree that didn’t hit the mark for me though, would have to be the kimchi pancake, that could have punched me a little harder in the face with flavour, and was overall a little bit soggy and uninspiring. 

It’s definitely hard to keep yourself in check as all the entrees come swarming around you, as my dad and I discovered on our visit, leaving little room for the mains!

The mains menu is short and sweet, intentionally obviously, as like me, you’re likely to get a bit carried away with the entrees!

The market fish (definitely didn’t take enough notes on my visits…) with cauliflower, spinach and beurre noisette is cooked well, the fish tender and lightly charred, and the cauliflower just melting in your mouth. 

The Flinders Island lamb rump with charcoal eggplant and ricotta is one of my favourite mains at The Roving Marrow, cooked to blushing medium perfection and with an overall intense smokiness, which seems to be transferred from the eggplant to the meat. 

When my dad and I visited, we sampled the Hen’s egg with smoked potato and mushroom, which although a little on the salty side, might actually be my favourite main from the lot. Just pumping with umami and flavour, this is pure comfort, as the soft poached egg just comfortably melds into the rich broth. 

From mains, to desserts!

The red wine quince, sorrel, mandarin and chocolate is definitely one for the adventurous, not so sweet dessert lover. The red wine in the quince is quite intense, and a bit savoury, the chocolate sneaking in later on the palate later to give you that cacao fix. It’s a hard one to describe, and not one I would recommend lightly, unless I knew the other person’s taste!

I absolutely though, adore the caramel roasted banana, milk caramel and coconut dessert. This is your typical dessert lovers dessert! It’s a little bit tropical, but still suitable for the cooler weather with the rich hits of caramel, and the vast array of textures, from the cold ice-cream, paper thin dried coconut, crunchy dehydrated lychees and warm and comforting caramelised bananas. It makes me feel like a kid. A very grown up kid. 

I personally enjoy what the Astor is doing, the food is interesting and the service a little bit different to match, but totally friendly as well. The staff are knowledgable and incredibly attentive. However when I visited on my own dollar with Brad, we spent $70 a head, including a bottle of wine to share on a table of four, and despite sharing a couple of entrees, getting a main each and the three desserts to share, Brad left feeling a bit hungry, and as he’s not really a sweet guy at all, didn’t enjoy the food as much because a lot of the savoury dishes even, had quite sweet flavour profiles. 

So would I recommend The Roving Marrow? I think I still would, but with context. Are you looking for easy and fun nibbles (and all of those scone biscuits), but maybe not a full meal to catch up with a girlfriend? Perfect. Are you willing to spend a bit of cash to get a filling meal but with an interesting dining experience (that you can actually book a table at and not wait an hour at the bar hoping something will open up)? Yup? Totally fine. Do you want to support a produce driven seasonal menu? Yup? Well there you go. 

It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, and perhaps not the best value for money in Melbourne, but worth visiting if you’re in for something a bit different. 

The Roving Marrow

The Astor

Cnr Lygon and Elgin Street

418 Lygon Street

Carlton 3053