Name: Vue de monde
Address:Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9691 3888Food: Modern French
Average price: Degustation - $100-150 plus $15 for additional courses
Complimentary - Bread rolls offered throughout the night with french butter, salt and pepper.
We ordered the Gastronome menu (there was no menu and I forgot my pad and pen so please excuse the poor details) along with the non-alcoholic drink supplement and received the following:
Amuse bouche: Petit Clair-de-Lune oyster served with seaweed consummé, caviar and grapefruit air- I had tomato consomme with lettuce and avocado
The tomato consomme was tangy and sweet whilst the lettuce and avocado was cold and a little mushy.
Taco with crabmeat, fish roe, applesticks, nutmeg and mint jelly
I do not eat crabmeat - my partner said these were really delicious and were one of his favourite meals of the night.
Ginger martini 
This was delicious, smooth, sweet ginger with a large olive.
Mushroom Liquid gnocchi with mushrooms and a tarragon emulsion
This was a little bizarre. The gnocchi was almost rubbery and the burst of liquid that filled my mouth wasn't pleasant for me. The mushrooms were a little bland and I wish there had been more emulsion to cut through the heavy earthy flavours.
Champagne
First sip brought a huge hit of lemon - didn't like this much.
Thyme studded buffalo ricotta with buffalo milk skin and confit tomato, dehydrated olives, parmesan sticks
The Parmesan sticks were stale which was unfortunate. The flavours were nice, nothing spectacular.
Sparkling lemon verbena
This was delicious, refreshing, sweet, sour.
Butternut pumpkin 4 ways
There was a pumpkin risoni which was lovely, and salty. The butternut ribbons added freshness whilst the butternut balls were quite delicious. I believe the squiggly thing was butternut and yuzu (?) which was interesting whilst the sprigs of thyme complimented beautifully - this was my favourite dish of the night.
Whiting
Ryan enjoyed this - not his favourite but decent.
Hummus with charcoal, peas, dill
This was my 2nd favourite dish of the night. It was actually a cold dish, the charcoal gave it a nice smoky flavour.
Pork four ways
There was pork belly, the sternum meat, apple jelly some sort of pancake. Ryan liked this.
Coral trout, apple ribbons, baby leaks, abalone
This was ok - the apple definitely helped to cut through the heavy tastes. I didn't eat much of it though.
Waygu 4 ways
Ryan's absolute favourite dish. He loved the waygu sirloin and flank steaks. He didn't mind the chequerboard polenta and waygu. There were sticky ribs and a butternut squash filled dome.
Goats curd served with sugared rose petal, rose jelly topped with goats curd ice cream
The sugared rose petal, rose jelly and dust were lovely however I felt it didn't go at all with the goats curd. The sour curd cut right through the sweet rose and completely decimated it.
Kiwi lollypops with raspberry and zabalione
These were ok - didn't care much for the frozen mint jelly coated kiwi - the zabalione was nice though.
Cheesecake aux fruits de la passion
Now this was really lovely. The cheesecake was presented in a clear tube which the waiter removed allowing it to collapse onto the plate. The crumbs were frangipane and the cheesecake was topped with fresh passion fruit. There was also a passion fruit filled with passion fruit souffle on the sidecwhich was ok but I didn't feel it needed it. The cheesecake was creamy and worked beautifully with the passion fruit and crumbs.
Vincotto royale
This was a super fizzy, sweet grape drink with a deep after taste.
Boule de caramel fourre a la mousse de coing
Quince foam set into a caramel sphere with white chocolate cage and frozen white chocolate soil and creme brulee quince
This looked stunning however it was too sweet for me, surprising the fruit didn't cut through the white chocolate enough for me.
Petit fours
Meringue with a shot of passion fruit, carrot and coriander nougat, blood orange jellies and salted caramel chocolate, pineapple lollypop in mint jelly
The meringue was nice but the passion fruit overwhelmed it with its sourness. I couldn't;t eat the nougat because of the coriander but my partner liked it. The jellies were horrible as was the lollipop. And the salted caramel chocolate was perhaps the biggest let down - the runny caramel wasn't salty or sweet, quite bitter.
Chocolates to take home
The hazelnut was nice. The cardamom was by far the best. The milkshake was average and the gingerbread barely tasted like gingerbread at all.
Cost: $560 - $250 each for the meals and $60 for one person for the drinks.
Service: Excellent. Waiters were lovely and our water was always topped up. They even lent a hand to help me down the stairs in my platform heels.
Atmosphere: Ok. The entrance is quite grand but I found the dining floor to be a little too industrial with hanging globes and glasses suspended from the ceiling. The room is white with multicoloured striped chairs. The glasses and crockery are mismatched but lovely.
The room is quite tiny and the kitchen is open to the left allowing full view of the chefs. There was little noise, but it was noisy enough that you didn't feel people were listening in on your conversations.
We dressed up but there were people in smart casual clothes. No jeans though.
Parking: Ample. We were lucky enough to find parking on the one way street otherwise there is a nearby underground car park (you have to pay).
Website: http://www.vuedemonde.com.au/
Hours: Tue-Fri noon-2pm, Tue-Sat 6.30pm-9pm
Would I return: Maybe - I was a little underwhelmed given all of the raves and that it once had 3 chefs hats. I much prefer the other French degustation option - Jacques Reymonds. I may go back in the future though during another season.
