Home Dining Room - Hawthorn - review

Name: Home Dining Room

Address: 601 Burwood Rd

Hawthorn 3122 VIC

9819 5555

Food: English

Average price: Entree: $6-$15, Mains: $23-$33, Dessert: $12

Complimentary: Nothing.

We ordered:

Entrée: Zucchini and feta fritters ŵ cumin and honey yoghurt - $14

Quite a generous entrée serving.

Crunchy exterior but very wet and almost raw on the inside. The cumin yoghurt was gorgeous but there was not nearly enough of it to go around. The fritters were very salty - had Mr.M try one to see if it was just me but he found them even saltier than I did. Due to the saltiness I couldn't finish the dish despite being hungry.

Pork belly with gribiche and apple - $14

Mr.M says: the entrée was great.

Baked ricotta ŵ stuffed onion, tomato and citrus marmalade - $28

This was like two starters shoved together on a plate. The onion was stuffed with plain white rice and peas - it reminded me of nursing home food. The baked ricotta was nice and the citrus marmalade added an interesting contrast but at the end of the day, it wasn't good enough to be called a main meal.

Confit duck ŵ butternut soufflé cake, shallot puree, cherry confit - $30

Mr.M: Main was OK but it felt like the duck was not proportional to the gunk below...either needed more duck, or less gunk. The duck was nice but the duck skin was overcooked.

Eton mess: white chocolate mousse ŵ berry coulis & crushed meringue - $12

It didn't taste any better than it looked. The mousse was grainy and tasted more of cream than white chocolate yet it was very sweet. The fruit is the most shocking part, the berries were defrosted and not fresh. The blueberries' skin was wrinkled and deflated and the insides completely tasteless mush. Mr.M had a blackberry that still had icicles on it. We tried to eat a few mouthfuls out of politeness but it was not nice at all.

Mr.M: dessert was so bad it made me throw up.

Cost: $98 for two entrees, two mains & 1 dessert.

Service: OK, mains took a little long to come out otherwise the service was fine.

Atmosphere: Like an English Nanna's house. It certainly felt like an English grandmother's dining room with mismatched crockery, red and gold wallpapered walls and wooden furniture along with old-school stereos and even a record player. They served us the bill wedged in between pages of Enid Blyton's Enchanted Wood, which I thought was a cute touch. I didn't mind the quirky quaintness, except I felt the music was completely out of place, changing from gangsta rap to reggae to pop, which was bizarre. 

Parking: There is decent street parking.

Website: www.homediningroom.com.au

Hours:  Tue-Sat 7.30am-10.30pm

Sun-Mon 7.30am-3pm

Would I return: No. The food left us feeling unsatisfied to the point we almost went to have ourselves a second dinner.

Fenix - Richmond - review

Name: Fenix 
Address: 680-682 Victoria St
Richmond 3121 VIC

9427 8500

Food: ModOz, English
Average price: Entree: $19-$23, Mains: $35-$39, Dessert: $18

Complimentary: Slice of bread with olive oil.

We ordered:
Entree: Pork & pistachio terrine, Madeira & date jelly, shallot marmelade - $18
 

Mr.M enjoyed this.

Apple & fennel salad, beetroot jelly, elderflower dressing - $17

Classic flavours but I felt it was let down by the large amount of jelly. I am not a fan of jelly as I feel it weakens the flavour, and in this case, it didn't give me that earthy sweetness you expect from beetroot. It was ok, nice presentation, but not the most memorable dish I have had with this flavour combination.

Main: Crispy suckling pig with granny smith apples, braised fennel & crème fraiche - $48

Mr.M thought this was OK.

Stuffed sweet peppers with caponata, grilled haloumi & gremolata - $28

The rice was well cooked and I loved the addition of the salty haloumi. What was lacking was some sweetness from the peppers to balance the strong savoury and herb elements of the dish.

Dessert: Chocolate marquise with black figs, PX sherry & anise ice cream - $17

Mr.M really enjoyed this dish as did I. I loved the texture and deep chocolate of the marquis which went gorgeously with the syrupy figs and spiced ice cream. Whilst I enjoyed a touch of the bitter lemon peel, there was way too much on the plate and it completely overpowered the other components. With a touch less lemon it would be a stellar dish. I would definitely order it again.

Treacle tart with buffalo yoghurt ice cream - $15

Simple but lovely presentation. On its own I found the ice cream too strong in flavour for me (very grassy and animal-ish) but it was the perfect counter to the heavy sweetness of the tart. Whilst I liked the flavour and texture of the tart, it was quite rich and I couldn't finish the serve.

Cost: $143 for two entrees, two mains and two desserts.

Service: OK. Not bad but not particularly stand-out either, fairly minimal.

Atmosphere: Almost cafe-esque. The tables were spaced well apart and the chairs were quite casual and simple. There were some red accents in the room, as well as a fire place, but everything was quite sparse in design with the large windows and outdoor views being the main focus. Although there was a wedding upstairs, downstairs remained quite empty and therefore the vibe was a little low and lacking.

Parking: Ample - there is a decent amount of street parking and plenty over the road at Ikea.

Website:  www.fenix.com.au

Hours: Mon-Fri noon-3pm, 6pm-late
Sat 8.30am-noon, noon-3pm, 6pm-late
Sun 8.30am-noon, noon-4pm
Open for coffee daily from 8am

Would I return: Yes. 

Barrio - Ivanhoe - review

Name: Barrio
 
Address:77 Upper Heidelberg Road
Ivanhoe VIC 3079
(03) 9499 9907

Food: Mediterranean, Enlish
Average price: Entree: $11.90-$19, Mains: $24-$34, Dessert: $10-$15

Complimentary: A slice of bread.

We ordered:
Starter: Mediterranean tasting plate - a selection of house made appetisers, with grilled chorizo, roasted pepper and onion salad,  white fish ceviche, spiced chicken bisteeya - $17.9

The spiced chicken bisteeya very nice but the fallafel a little burnt on the outside.

Mains:  Pumpkin gnocchi with sage burnt butter sauce, marinated goats cheese and rocket - $25

The gnocchi was wonderfully soft but quite sweet. I would have liked more goats cheese to add saltiness and creamyness to cut through the sage oil as well. But all in all, it was a nice dish.

Twice cooked western plains pork belly 'feijoada' style, chorizo and beans, boneless rib on portuguese bbq sauce, sweet carrot, mint and cabbage salad - $29

Mr.M (formerly known as R) thought it was ok.

400g hereford prime m.s.a. grade rib eye, char-grilled with potato puree, glazed shallots and red wine jus  - $34

Both D & A enjoyed this. Large enough to share.

Sides: Rocket, pear & parmesan salad - $7

Simple, but well dressed, would have liked a greater percentage of pear and parmesan though.

French fries - $7 

Desserts: Trifle, seasonal fruit, vanilla sponge, crème patissiere, jelly and crushed meringue - $14

A & K enjoyed this.

Soft-centred chocolate pudding with vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce - $14

This was a great pudding; perfectly molten on the inside with a nice chocolate depth. The ice cream was a little too subtle on the vanilla but nicely creamy. The caramel sauce wasn't dark enough and therefore more like sugar syrup.

Rocky road ice cream sandwich - vanilla ice cream sandwiched between chocolate biscuit, home-made marshmallow, cherry, and almond praline - $14

D liked this.

Cost: $218.80 for two starters, 4 mains, 2 sides & 4 desserts.

Service: Not great. Our glasses remained empty for long periods of time and our dirty plates were left on the table too long.

Atmosphere: Typical modern. Set within an old fire station the decor was neutral with some leather booths and black chandeliers to accent. We were in a small side room that made us feel a little disconnected from the main room which had a more lively atmosphere.

Parking: Ample - decent amount of street carparking, as well as a Safeway carpark across the road.

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

Hours: Tue-Sat 12pm-3pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm; Sun 9:30am-3pm

Would I return: Yes.

Huka Lodge - Lake Taupo - New Zealand

Name: Huka Lodge

Address:  271 Huka Falls Road,
Taupo 3377,
New Zealand

T + 64 7 378 5791

Food: ModOz, English

Complimentary: It is part of the room tariff.
Bread roll with butter and salt.

Served warm.

Mushroom arancini.

These were our favourites - I had to restrain myself from spoiling my dinner.

Carrot ginger soup
This was too heavy on the ginger for me, it was also served at room temperature.

Seafood spoon

Clearly I have no clue what this was - hubby didn't like it though.

Cheese and petit fours buffet

Huge table adorned with fruit, cheeses, mini chocolates and cookies.

Entree: Crab cocktail
Tomato preparations, crunchy wild rice

Hubby liked this. I can't remember what my vegetarian version was.

John Dory
Pea, shallot and chive dressing

Veg version - leeks with peas and tofu 

A little boring and bland.

Mains: Caprese
Several preparations of tomato, mozzarella and basil.

Unfortunately this lacked a lot of flavour. I didn't even finish.

Blue Nose
Green herbs, half dried tomato, black olive

Somehow no photo, so no idea.

Hawke's Bay Lamb
Eggplant variation, goat's cheese, slow roasted capsicum

Hubby liked the lamb, but found the eggplant odd-tasting.

Salad leaves
 

Dessert: Chocolate all the way

HUGE let down - The white chocolate, pistachio coated roll was horrible and tasted like the fridge. The chocolate sorbet was bitter and grainy. Can't remember what the other thing was - I think grapefruit was part of it - but the whole thing was unsatisfying. 

Cost: Included in the room tariffs. 

Service: Great.

Atmosphere: Overall hunting-lodge-esque. There are too many rooms to summarise. Dinner can either be communal in the dark but vibrant dining room, or you can choose to eat privately in up to 10 locations such as a wine cellar, outdoor on the veranda, or in the study (our location) etc.

Parking: Ample.

Website: http://www.hukalodge.co.nz/ 

Hours: Daily 8pm (for guests only except for Autumn and Winter).

Would I return: To the hotel - Yes - but not for the food.