Beautiful lunch roast at The Melbourne Wine Room
Whenever I have a fantastic meal in a new restaurant, I feel a sense of duty to share it to all the food lovers out there ( For the moment in Melbourne but more cities soon!). So,it is my duty to inform you of a classic institution called The Melbourne Wine Room. You would probably heard it before. This artful facade of white building of the George Hotel is situated at the cool and hip St Kilda. The bar and restaurant have a rustic look and feel to it. With its high ceiling and writing of drinks on the tiles and barrels of wine decorating the restaurant, it exudes a certain laidback charm.
I was there as a part of a Sunday lunch organized by the ‘Dining Out’ meetup group. The suckling pig roast got my attention, I’ve got to admit (I cancelled my French meetup at a French restaurant for this!). There’s no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than a promising long lunch stretching hours with a group of food lovers. The event is part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. The head chef of the restaurant,Karen Martini, whom you may recognise from various medias such as Better Homes & Gardens or guest judge at ‘My Kitchen Rules’ came up with the menu with the title ” Karen Loves Winter’.I will post more information at the end ( Can you sense my impatience? I’m itching to talk about the awaiting delicious food ).
Cured ocean trout with pickled beets,crème fraiche & crispy shallots
This ensemble of art on the plate got me really excited ( For me,food is also a form of an art). I love the colour composition of the green watercress strewn in a sea of perfectly shaped deep purple beets on a white creme fraiche over the bright peach cured ocean trout. The crispy fried shallots add the extra flavour and texture to the beautiful dish.Let me inform you that the dish tasted as good look as it looked! This dish would serve as a perfect appetizer to impress your dinner guest,don’t you think?
Roast cauliflower,fregola & pine nut salad
To me, this is an outstanding dish. The combination of the individual ingredients come together to create a flavoursome dish with different textures. This is my first dining experience of fregola. Fregola is a Sardinian couscous which couscous’ tastier cousin.It is toasted,hence giving it a nutty,wheaty,roasted taste that couscous lacks.The roast cauliflower gives a sweet flavour and the pine nut added extra texture to the soft fregola. The dish is packed with so much flavours that it’ll break a smile even on the toughest critics.
Crispy chorizo with soft egg & croquettes
This simple and yet tasty dish is perfect for a starter. It may look easy but each components of the dish are cooked to perfection to create a fantastic overall dish. The soft egg was cooked to perfection with firm white but slightly moist egg yolk and the chorizo and croquettes were crispy adding extra crunch to the dish.
Fried white bait with cumin mayo
I personally think a plate of fried white bait with mayo is a great substitute to a bowl of chips and mayo. ( Don’t you think?). The batter was light and the mayo was very tasty. If I were to be too critical, I would prefer the fried white bait to be more golden brown and crisper.
Foccacia pugliese with spiced carrot dip & dukka
Last but not least on the entrée menu is the foccacia. How could you not go to an Italian restaurant without a serve of bread,right? What I’m more impressed is the dip! The dip was so tasty that you want to just eat it on its own! The foccacia was perfect with a crusty top sprinkled with sea salt and the texture was soft. Yumm…
Roast suckling pig with pickled zucchini & cabbage salad, tomato chutney
This dish is the main reason I went.And,I’m pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint me. I judge a roast by 2 criteria – crackling and the meat. So,crackling – pass. Meat – pass. The crackling was crunchy and the pork was moist.The suckling pig was served with an interesting combination of sweet tomato chutney and somehow like a sour sauerkraut salad version with pickled zucchini and cabbage.
It is safe to say I enjoyed all my meals tremendously. I was so happy that I can’t stop smiling throughout the lunch session.The food and companies alike are sensational.The waiter was also kind enough to write a list of the lunch menu when it was mentioned that I’m a food blogger .For this truly enjoyable Sunday lunch only comes at $45. The last chance for you to experience this beautiful roast lunch is on the 26th of June 2011 ( You have only about 4 days left). So,what are waiting for??Book it in today (like NOW!)For more info,please click on the link below. Till my next dining experience,ciao a tutti!
http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/event/2115
Melbourne Wine Room
http://www.melbournewineroom.com/
125 Fitzroy St
St Kilda, 3182
Open Fri-Sun: Lunch
Tues-Sun: Dinner & Late
Price: $$$
Entrée: $8-$19
Mains: $18-$38
Dessert: $14-$15
NOTE: Roast lunch is $45/head excluding drinks
Cuisine: Italian
Description: Restaurant,Bar
Ambience: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Food: 9.0
Value: 9.0
My Rating: 8.75
Be the first in your friends to like itOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THIS OUT!
foodloca 
A fine article, foodsie, I think the sentence structure when describing fregola/couscous could be tidied up a little. cheers from pumpy.
OU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THIS OUT! is missing a letter!!
Hello lovely PS
The first dish of ocean trout looks divine… I say we visit there when I am next in town. Hugs, Mish
Hey dearie! Miss you so! Definitely..it’s a date!haha