Attica - Ripponlea

Name: Attica

Address: 74 Glen Eira Rd
Ripponlea 3185 VIC
Phone: (03) 9530 0111

Food: ModOz,
Average price: Entree: $20-$30, Mains: $30-$45, Dessert: $18
Degustation menu: 6 courses, $95, 8 courses: $140, $235 with matched beverage

Complimentary:2 slices bread with almonds, olives, butter and smoky tomato relish with olives.

The bread was lukewarm but easily tear able. The assorted olives and almond are a nice touch. The butter is slightly tangy but its the relish that wins the day with it flavourful punch.

Carrot cooked in its own juices.
This was ok, a touch boring.

Pineapple jube
This was actually really strong and pina-colada-esque, also quite sticky and dense too. 

We ordered:

textured cauliflower with horseradish

Delicious and complex. I can't recall the sequence in which everything revealed itself but the strongest contenders were the horseradish with its peppery bite, the calming, exotic coconut and the sharp tang of the crimson barberries. This dish is fun. It also contained puffed wild rice, leek, and witlof.

snow crab 

This dish was like mine except it included crab and roe. R loved it also.

young peas, grains and natural pea juices

The peas are cooked at a low temperature, therefore they still have that firmness as if straight from the pod. The mixture of grains added a nice textural element as did the house-made fromage frais with its soft coolness. The dish did lack a little 'oomph' and was slightly monotone in flavour but overall it was a nice, light dish.

A simple dish of potato cooked in the earth it was grown

The potato, which is sightly sweet perhaps from being cooked in cabbage, was tender but still firm - perfectly cooked. The smoked goat's cheese with coconut husk ash gave a wonderful tangy, smoky element to compliment the potatoes starchy creaminess. The crunchy fried saltbush leaves also worked well. R's also had dried Spanish tuna.

bass groper, chorizo, smoked jasmine flowers, almond

Unfortunately R did not enjoy this at all and barely ate half - it just didn't personally appeal to him.

chilled cream of antonello garlic and green grapes

The cream was thick and the dish was cold. The garlic was the key note and tended to mute everything else.
It was nice. It also had chives, carrots and mustard cress.

beef, sour milk jam, dandelion salt, asparagus

R found this a little too salty.

crispy tofu, braised kelp, spring onion, pickled cucumber

I'm not one for fried or pickled foods really so I wasn't a fan of this. It also had sweet maple glazed witlof and white onion puree, nasturtium leaf with kipfler potato chips. The braised kelp was lovely though and I liked the texture of the tofu - it was just a little heavy for me.

pork loin, morcilla, wild fennel pollen

R thought this was ok - but he hated the relish, he didn't feel it went at all. He liked the pink lady apple reduction though.

spice crusted tomato, hazelnut, zucchini, shanklish

Similar to the dish I had last visit - and once again I just didn't enjoy the texture or taste of the tomatoes. The other elements were nice though.

terroir

This time around the waitress suggested we mix everything together - I liked it a little more than last time but it still isn't a winning dish for me. R thought it reminded him of cheap cereal with dehydrated fruit. It's interesting. This is a combination of fromage frais, beetroot and almond cake, freeze dried raspberries, brewing malt, flowers, white pepper, golden kiwifruit, vanilla avocado jelly, & sorrel granita.

Violet crumble

 
This made R's Top 10 last year and I am fairly certain it will again - he tried to scrape every drop from his AND my glass. I don't like icy treats like sorbet or ice-cream but for a cold dish, it's nice - the flavours of the violet fromage frais and crystallised flowers to the chocolate dust, house honeycomb crumble and butterscotch syrup make a dynamite team.
Cost: $280 - two 8 course degustations.

Service: Great. We had different staff each time but they all knew about the dishes and our water was always filled.

Atmosphere: Mellow. The lighting is definitely dark, towards the end of the evening it began to make us tired as the restaurant is also decorated in dark, woody hues. The noise level isn't very loud and the tables are spaced apart well. It has a stylish casual feel. The view this time was into the kitchen to a very strange looking and most likely expensive contraption, but there was also a lovely view into the courtyard, I would recommend being seated in this area rather than the front.

Parking: Ample - the main street doesn't get much traffic after hours (we went at 6:30).

Website: http://www.attica.com.au/

Hours: Tues-Sat: 6pm til late

Would I return: Maybe - only for the violet crumble (R).