MoMo Restaurant, Melbourne Australia

We know and love all of the Greg Malouf cookbooks, each one taking you on a journey to places as far away as Turkey, Pursia, Marrakech, Lebanon & Syria. When we were making our way down to Melbourne last year, it was one of the first places on our list. We managed to get a booking at 9pm for the second sitting, which of course meant time to try a Rockpool Bar & Grill burger as a little pre-dinner snack. We rush back to the hotel after our burgers, shower & freshen up and then bust a taxi over to Momo. When we made the booking, they explain the restaurant in located within the Grand Hyatt hotel, and that we should enter on the Collins street side, take an escalator up, then the one lift on the right, which will take us to the Restaurant. As soon as we enter the lift it's quite special, nice dim lighting & Arabian music, really setting the mood of what's to come. The elevator door opens, and we are greeted by a friendly staff member at the entrance who escorts us to our table.



Some delicious cocktails kick off round 2 for the evening. We have chosen the Arabesque sharing menu at $130 pp, which includes 2 entrees, 2 main course, 2 accompanying side dishes, dessert mezze, fresh fruit & sorbet. We then just have to select which items we want for each course from the al a carte menu. This takes only a few minutes, then the menus are whisked away and a little copper coffee pot of fresh vegetables is placed before us, with olive oil & some hot sumac bread.



Our first entree arrives and is a thing of beauty - Kifta Nayee, Middle Eastern style beef tartare with basil, marjoram, smoky chili and garlic bread. The raw beef was hand chopped, with a decent texture and depth of flavors. The smoky chilli was prominent, but the herbs really balanced it all out. Warm garlic bread was the perfect vessel for scooping up all of the flavours.



We really wanted to try the Quail entree, but unfortunately they were already sold out when we ordered. The waiter recommended the Duck, so we just rolled with it ... The Duck breast was roasted on the bone, with creamy lentil burghal pilav and baby beets . The soft baby beets were also highlighted by the crispy beet leaves, which added a really nice dimension to the whole dish.



Our first main to arrive was the Veal shank 'Laban Immor', smoked veal tongue and silverbeet 'manti' dumplings. This was amazing! Soft, succulent veal shank, delicate smoked tongue and plump little silverbeet dumplings sitting in a yoghurt and lemon sauce. Wow!



Our 2nd main was the Kurobuta pork rib eye, spinach gozleme creamy freekeh with pumpkin & pearl onions. The rib eye was cooked beautifully, still a blush of pink in the centre and moist throughout. The little baby gozleme was divine, I could have eaten a whole plate of this, and the freekeh with pumpkin and pearl onions freshened the whole dish up.



The sides we selected to accompany our mains was also a hard choice, they all sounded divine. We ended up choosing the goats milk haloumi fritters with almonds & leatherwood honey as well as whipped Dutch cream potatoes, French butter, pinenuts. A very good choice, both were quite rich but accompanied our main selection perfectly.

We are both getting quite full at this stage, but are presented with a beautiful selection of fruit to cleanse the palate. We grab some of Greg's books, which are all available to purchase, and also available to browse through, and take a little break to enjoy the fresh fruits, and let our dinner settle.



We feel revived, and my eyes beam when I see the Dessert Mezze. It is beautiful, even looks a little magical. The Persian saffron tart is light with a very faint hint of saffron and the beautiful orange color - a little tuille biscuit shaped of Aladin's lantern sticks out the top, with a little gold handle. Then there is a hot chocolate and Kahlua cake with whipped medjool date. The date is a luscious paste in the middle of the tart, a very nice surprise. And then a little Moroccan tea cup of lemon & orange flower ice-cream with rose. A very nicely balanced dessert plate.



Of course we finish the evening with a little pot of Turkish coffee, which comes with a plate of petit fors. As a little digestif, we also choose a Walnut & Date liqueur. Thick & rich, with a nice sweetness, it reminded me of a Pedro Ximenez.



Momo Restaurant
Lower Plaza Level
Grand Hyatt Hotel
123 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Chasing up lunch at Cumulus Inc. with Degustation at Cutler & Co. - first day in Melbourne

After our flying visit to Cumulus Inc. and a quick taxi across town we found ourselves standing in front of Cutler & Co. in Fitzroy. I had booked us a table, but upon entering they can't seem to find our reservation. We are asked to take a seat at the bar, and of course oblige. A quick scan of the Aperitif menu and we have a Campari with fresh pink grapefruit juice and an Aperol with fresh blood orange juice on our table.



We are quite happy at the bar while they appear to be sorting out the little mishap with our booking. They are all super-friendly, and in just minutes we are ushered away to a lovely table in the main dining room, a staff member following with a tray and the components of our drinks. We are given menus and the wine list upon sitting ... even though we are still quite full from our very late visit to Cumulus Inc we still decide on the Degustation. Fresh baked, warm bread rolls arrive at the table along with a couple of fresh shucked oysters to kick off the dinner.



Little appetizers just keep on coming, including little toasts with smoked trout & pickled onions, soy roasted pumpkin seeds, marinated olives & a little pot of 'just-like-Mum's' French onion dip with baby radishes. The palate is certainly awakened, and we are ready to eat.



Cured Kingfish with avocado, octopus & pickled cucumber is very clean. The sprinkling of the Japanese-esque furikake seasoning really elevate the subtle flavors.



The Heirloom carrots with shanklish, pistachio & radish is a vibrant & exciting vegetable dish. The creamy shanklish curd cheese is hidden in nice little surprise pockets under the carrots. The pistachios are crushed with some other seasons, like a very mild dukkah spice. The carrots are raw shaves, braised and roasted.



We swap our soup course for the wood grilled lambs tongue, sweetbreads, smoked egg, celeriac & anchovy - and are very glad we did! Very nice combination ...



I was very excited by the sound of this dish. Poached chicken, foie gras parfait, sprouts, quinoa & prune - but was a little disappointed when it arrived. The chicken was fine, but really needed something like a rich foie gras to elevate it - we both found the parfait tasted like a chicken liver pate, and had none of that foie gras richness we were yearning .... the crisp quinoa was the star of that plate for me.



There are several words that will always excite me on a menu... and two of them happen to be Sucking & Pig. Unfortunately, after this dinner, I lost a bit of that excitement:( I don't know if it's the fact that we were one of the last tables eating and the food was a bit rushed, but we have had better suckling pig on the street side in Vietnam and even at yum cha. The meat was dry and the skin lacked any sort of crackle. Which makes me forget anything else about the dish .....



Perhaps the pastry chef wasn't in such a rush to get home, as the next few courses start to make up for it. The first little pre-dessert, crisp tuille cones with a creamy piped apple sorbet nicely washes out the dry pork remains in my mouth.



The dessert of violet ice-cream, chocolate ganache and sour cherry is sophisticated and full of surprises. The sponge cake, the crumbles, the honeycomb like crack and just a really pleasant combination of flavors. A glass of sauternes is the perfect night cap.

It's been a big first day in Melbourne, we've seen & eaten a lot starting off with a Cumulus Inc. and Cutler & Co. double up starts this trip off on a roll.




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Cutler & Co.
55-57 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy Melbourne 3065
T: +61 (0)3 9419 4888

Mr & Mrs ....

Well, after more than 7 years together with travels around the world & back again, we tied the knot in Las Vegas on October 11th 2010. An amazing few days together .. we were in a 8 car accident on the E 15 expressway in our taxi on our first day ... funny enough on the way to pick out the above dress & tux which we were 3 hours late to our appointment at Tux One. It was a wedding that was organized in about 10 days, but the 2 of us had a delightful day. My shoes were purchased the morning of, on my way to hair & make-up at Colors with a Bouchon coffee & pain au chocolate in tow. We had a garden ceremony in the Venetian hotel 3:30 pm followed by an hour of photography with the Venetian photographer.

The day continued with another 3 hours of buzzing around the city with the delightful Mindy Bean with photo's at the Las Vegas sign, downtown and at dusk along the strip. We then slipped into something a little more comfortable and were chauffeured over to the MGM grand for a 9 pm reservation at Joël Robuchon. It was indeed an intimate Wedding Reception Dinner, the 2 of us enjoying 4.5 hours of extreme indulgence with the 16 course tasting menu ... topped off with cocktails to start, bubbles, then wine matched with every other course.

We look forward to our life ahead and all that it brings, which is bound to be lots of travel, fun times and big food ....

It just keeps pulling ... Fei, Sapporo.

It’s a gravitational force that just keeps pulling us in.

Fei is the perfect stop. Whether it be for a dessert after a mountain of Yakitori and a midnight pizza fix, a fantastic start to an evening with a few amuse for the bouche or in this case, for a special night out, some nice wine and the chef’s omakase course. What’s great is we keep going back and we’re always having something new.



The evening starts with a terrine. The ever-so-gracious Kumi going out of her way to explain to us what we’re eating and willing to go to any extremes to do so. With a little charades we gather it’s a bird … but then Kumi and her partner both harmoniously let out a little “Cooo ,, Cooo”. Ah-hah, Pigeon! It is a fine demonstration of a pigeon terrine, there are chunks of all the bits encased by a thin slice of bacon. It’s nestled in a romesco-like spicy sauce with some crisp watercress fanned out from one side.



Some crusty baguette arrives to accompany the terrine, and an Italian olive oil is poured at the table into a tiny little ramekin.



The house Prosseco, which is generously poured from a magnum pairs just beautifully with the terrine.

Pink soup. Pink wine. It makes perfect sense! We move onto a beautiful pink velvet beetroot soup. It tasted every bit of sweet red beets, served just warm and seasoned with only salt and pepper and finished with just a splash of cream. A large shard of homemade cracker and a delicious Italian rose have us both seeing pink!



Tatchi, or cod sperm, is the next star of the night. A clump of the stuff is pan-fried with a super crispy coating. It’s super fresh and although being quite creamy, it’s still quite firm. It’s sitting in a pool of gorgonzola sauce which marries together incredibly. A single round of fried potato giving it that little bit of extra crunch.



Okinawa always features as a point of interest on Fei’s menu. We’ve had from the little jewel of the south, banana, golden kiwi, baby vegetables and many more. Tonight is a showcase of Okinawa Spring vegetables. The risotto is made with a handful of the vegetables, the al dente rice clinging to them with a touch of cheese and butter. There’s an array of tempura’d baby vegetables on top a splash of balsamic reduction and a citrus salt.



As the risotto plate was whipped away we enjoyed a little break before the next course. We both patiently sat … and there was an amazing smoke smell that filled the room. It was a mellow wood, perhaps apple or cherry, with such a sweet smoke aroma. We were intrigued as to what was happening in the kitchen. Secretly I was hoping whatever the cause of the delicious smoke aroma filling the room was for us, but not expecting it. Smoking something during service is pretty dedicated, and being it was the only time of the evening we noticed it happening it was also pretty special. As the plate was placed in front of us we both indeed did feel special. Kumi tells us we’re about savor the delights of smoked Wild Hokkaido Duck. It was so beautiful, the coulors bringing us back to winter after our little Okinawa Spring break. And the duck, oh divine! Delectable! Delicious! The smoke was racing around my head and filling every crevice with each bite of the tender pink flesh. I made of point of putting down my cutlery with each bite to truly enjoy each moment. The dishes accentuation’s consisted of smokey pan juices, fresh shitake’s and 2 perfect spears of Treviso. A basket of crusty fruit bread arrives just in time to mop up all the delicious juices.



Kumi then gives us about 4 options for our pasta course. Again with above-and-beyond to explain to us one pasta dish, firstly snapping her hands together like a hungry shellfish, we kind of assumed it was some sort of mollusk. Not content, she returns moments later with a Seafood Handbook. Ah, surf clams! Kim jumps at that one. Plump morsels of the clam meat are tossed through a fresh saffron spaghetti with dried mini tomatoes and herbs.



It was a hard choice, but I settled on the gnocchi. The baby gnocchi silky smooth in my mouth, coated in butter, parmesan and cracked pepper.



We’re now getting pretty full … but when offered a Margarita pizza we’re not going to say no!



After a little break we start with the grappa. A glass of grappa di pinot noir is poured at the table for Kim. I enjoy a beautiful rose liqueur. So elegant!



Another thing we, well, me especially, cannot resist on a visit to Fei, pistachio gelato.



The other choice is always a tough one, as there’s always a new dessert on the menu, but tonight with the Zucotto on the menu, the choice was easy!



Every single time we have the pleasure of popping into Fei, we leave with a feeling of exhilaration and inspiration.

Until next time ...

Kamimura's, Niseko Hirafu

You can wait up three months before being able to set foot as a diner into Tetsyua's in Sydney, luckily for us with not to much trouble we were able to acquire a seat at Kamimura's. Kamimura is a Japanese chef who worked his way up through the ranks of Tetsyua's before returning home to open his own much acclaimed restaurant. The front of house is led by by former "Glory days" Bel Mondo manager Michael Phipps.

Nine course degustation is the only option for eating, the menu changing seasonally as well as records of your dining being kept so should you return within the same season you won't be offered the same menu twice. To go with the dinner we opt for the matching wine deg, it's hard to pick a bottle to match and entire meal, and there's a interesting sounding Nagano Merlot on the deg. that we're keen to try.

First dish up is abalone with eringi mushroom and yuzu, I've always liked the combination of abalone and mushrooms, the fine yuzu peel shavings lifting the dish lightly.



Next served in a martini glass, a flounder sashimi with caviar. The fish is lightly dressed in lime, the caviar is both sturgeon and salmon providing a great saltiness and over the top micro shiso giving a herbal hint.



We were then offered a small house made bread roll as an accompaniment to a perfectly executed duck and veal consomme. Crystal clear with a rich duck flavor.



The forth a foie gras terrine with twice cooked eggplant and port reduction. The terrine covered with a layer of diced chives and a few grains of sea salt, the eggplants creaminess adding to the foie gras's richness. This dish we were told was one of the first dishes Kamimura made for Tetsyua and has been with him ever since.



The next dish was the one with the interesting wine pairing we were waiting for. The Nagano Merlot was soft and rich with hints of cherries and blackcurrant. We thought it was really drinkable, and were happy to see some local support for the very young Japanese wine industry.



The dish it was paired with Hokkaido scallops with truffled cream and herb salad was nice, the scallop cooked perfectly.



After this it all got a little kinki, kinki fish that is. Kinki fish is one of the most valued and if hand line caught, most expensive fish in Asian cuisine. Super soft and super silky, sitting in a flying fish broth with braised gobo. It's topped with fried leeks and a little shredded nori.



By now we were on such a roll that when the next dish came we ate half of it before remembering to take a photo (please don't tell the food bloggers union). Braised endive with mimolette. Salty, sweet and still with a little bite.

The last of our savoury courses was Wagyu with three different Niseko potatoes, red, purple and yellow, confit in three different oils, walnut, hazelnut and olive. The wagyu was deliciously rich, I only wish that there was twice as much.



Cheese and crackers were next arriving on handmade wooden plates from Kamimura's home town Asahikawa.



Our pre-dessert of green tea sorbet was lifted out of ordinary with the addition of candied adzuki beans, a red bean often used in Japanese sweets.



We finished up with spiced sauteed apple topped with biscuit crumbs and a calvados ice cream. Again a dish full of contrasts; salty, sweet, warm and cold and delicious and tasty. Well the last two aren't contrasts but it was both.



Finally for us was petit fors and tea.



You can see hints of Tetsyua here and there, but Kamimura has definitely stamped out his own style.

We'll be back with the change of season to see whats next.

Kamimura Restaurant

1st Floor Yamashizen West

185-8 Aza-Yamada
Kutchan-cho, Hokkaido
044-0081, Japan

Telephone: +81 (0)136-21-2288
Fax: +81 (0)136-21-2288