The Press Club - Melbourne

Name: The Press Club

Address:
72 Flinders St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9677 9677

Food: Modern Greek
Average price: Entree: $21-$29.90
Mains: $34-$42
Dessert: $14-$18.90
Kerasma menus: four courses $74, five courses $84
Degustation: 8 courses for $135pp.

Complimentary: Bread with olives.

We ordered an 8 course degustation (this was quite a long time ago so I can only comment on the dishes I remember):

Watermelon and ouzo jelly cubes

I did not like these at all - not sure how vegetarian they could be as most jelly does contain gelatine.

Prawns – tomato soup, olive sponge, young basil, kefalograviera crisp 

The others thought the skewers were ok. The saganaki cigars were lovely but the soup was a little lacklustre and too bitter for me. What we all went nuts over were the potato crisps with a paprika seasoning - absolutely awesome, I would love to know what they were spiced with, best chips ever.

Flowers - zucchini, feta, maniataropita, sweet kalaboki 

This was ok, nothing special.

Oysters with olive oil   

The olive oil was smoking as it was a liquid nitrogen concoction. Although once it melted it made the oysters a little too liquid.

Beetroot – raw, pickled, pressed, roasted, horseradish yoghurt, cumin vinaigrette

I really enjoyed this. The  highlight was the powder streak going down the plate, it had a wonderful flavour and just brought everything else to life. Lovely dish.

Tzatziki

Everyone thought this was nice.

Chicken – pastelaki of its wings, kritharaki, mytzithra snow

Everyone enjoyed this. Mine didn't have the chicken of mytzithra but corn instead. I would have liked the kritharaki to be a little more cooked as it was just a touch too doughy for me, but then again I grew up with it mostly in soups so I am used to it being really soft. The flavours were lovely and it was a comforting dish.

Pig – baklava, loin, belly, apple horiatiki

This was ok.


Lamb – neck, sweetbreads, black garlic

Mushroom Pie - black garlic

I hated this. I've never seen anything like it in reek food anyway, mushrooms aren't exactly a big thing and I thought the pie was lacking in flavour. I actually didn't like the tangy black garlic either, I barely touched this dish.


Tzatziki glyko – candied cucumber, honey cream, yoghurt snow, pistachio powder

We all liked this.

Aphrodite - white chocolate mousse, cherries, roses, soil, scent 

Reading the description I was beyond excited - chocolate, cherries and roses are my idea of dessert heaven.
Boy was I surprised - I did not like this at all. I kept trying different spoon combinations - anything to try and enjoy this but in the end I gave up.The white chocolate blob wasn't tasty or texturally pleasant, the chocolate soil was just bitter and powdery, the lovely rose petals were lost with the tangy berries and horrible jelly blobs.
Plus side - it looked gorgeous on the plate. And G, unlike the rest of us, liked it.

Cost: $540 for an 8 course degustation for four people (the boys also ordered beer but I no longer have the receipt so I am unsure what they cost).

Service: Ok. Whilst one of our waiters was really friendly and helpful, the other was quite rude, especially when I mentioned that I don't drink alcohol. Other than that the service was fine.

Atmosphere: Dark and stylish. The best feature is the window which wraps around the restaurant on both sides and lets some light into the to otherwise pitch black restaurant. Like most restaurants these days you can see into the kitchen.

Parking: Limited street but plenty of paid underground car parks.

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


Hours: Mon-Fri noon-3pm
Sun-Thu 6pm-10pm
Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm

Would I return: No. It's pricey and none of the dishes really knocked out socks off.

Selene - Santorini - Greece

Name: Selene


Address: Fira - Santorini
+30 2286022249

Food: Modern Greek
Average price: Entree - $16.50, Main - $29, Dessert - $15?.

Complimentary: Bread slices.

Fava soup with mastika and basil oil


This was really delicate, with a hint of mastika.

We ordered:

Entrees: Cold tomato soup with niotiko cheese ice-cream - $16.40


The tomato was ice cold and refreshing but I found the ice cream texture too grainy and the taste too bitter.

Polenta tart with tomatoes, egg and quail - ?


Ryan really loved the quail but found the tart a little boring.

Mains: Vegetables rolled in phyllo dove and xinomizithra cheese kennel - $20


The pastry was perfectly flaky and the vegetables had a lot of flavour, they were a little on the greasy side though. The cheese helped to cut through the greasiness and complimented the dish well.

Vinsanto glazed pigeon with bulghur with dried apricots and santorini pistachios - $32


Ryan really loved the pigeon and said the blughur was flavourful - great flavours and exciting dish.

Desserts: Chocolate parfait with candied white eggplants, begarmot cream - ?


This was a really interesting dish. The chocolate parfait was a gorgeous texture and velvety smooth without being too sweet. The eggplant had a hint of eggplant-taste and added another gorgeous candied texture whilst the bergamot gave a delicate floral note to the creme - absolutely lovely to eat.

Greek coffee creme, vin santo biscuits - ?


The creme was perfectly textured and tasted like Greek coffee, strong and a little bitter. The biscuits had that soft but chewy stale-like texture and I didn't feel they went well with the creme. It was nice, but a little boring.

Cost: Over $120 EURO - so a little pricey when you earn Aussie dollars.

Service: Good. Our water was always topped up and the waiters were knowledgeable on the menu.

Atmosphere: Good. We sat outside so it was a more relaxed, casual vibe. The view is nice from the tables, but the great view is upstairs where you can have drinks.


Parking: Ample street parking.

Website: http://www.selene.gr/

Hours: Tue-Sat noon-2.30pm, 6.30pm-9.30pm
Sun 9am-2pm

Would I return: No - it was OK, not great enough for the price.

Kouzina - Doncaster

Name: Kouzina modern Greek & mezze bar

Address: Westfield Doncaster
Shop 2001
619 Doncaster Rd (Cnr Williamsons Rd)
Doncaster 3108 VIC
Phone: (03) 9840 6055

Food: Modern Greek
Average prices: entrees - $11, mains - $25, desserts - $12.
Complimentary - nothing.

We ordered:

Entrees: Pork kebabs - $12.50.


Ryan said they were juicy and tender but definitely needed the tzatziki for flavour.

Flaming saganaki - $13.50.


I'll give points for theatrical display by lighting Metaxa poured over the saganaki. However, the Metaxa completely overwhelmed the cheese which needed nothing but a squeeze of lemon.

Mains: Vegetarian moussaka -$22.50.


This was Layers of eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, feta, lentils, tomatoes, kefalotyri Béchamel baked in a clay pot served with a Greek salad. I felt this was overcooked as the topping was quite papery whilst the lentils on the bottom were dry. I also don't feel the lentils added anything whilst I could not taste the feta at all. It was basically slices of zucchini with tons of bechamel. The Greek salad on the side was average, no dressing so was a little dry.

Veal yiouvetsi - $21.50.


Tender veal ragout with roma tomatoes, root vegetables, orzo pasta, three Greek cheeses slow baked in a clay pot. Ryan said this was full of flavour and the meat was falling apart it was so tender.

Desserts: Dessert sampler for two - $26.50.


'Chios' mastic chocolate mousse; tasted a little like cheap chocolate in that it didn't have that deep chocolate flavour and tasted like 'cream' whilst not being super creamy in texture. Couldn't really taste the mastiki. The berries (previously frozen I think) were also a little bitter.

Baklava; moist and syrupy but there was way too much cinnamon and it became bitter.

Fig brulee; this hardly had a sugar crust and it was runny and grainy with some pureed fig in the center.

Pistachio and rosewater ice cream; this tasted more like a vanilla and honey icecream nice consistency and Ryan's favourite.

Honey and sheep's milk yoghurt panna cotta; this was really lemony and was served with pomegranate seeds which were unpleasant to eat and did not compliment the dish.

Cost: $96.50 for 2 entrees, 2 mains and 1 dessert platter.

Service: Great. Our plates were cleared almost immediately and they were pretty good with topping up the water. We told them we wanted to eat and go - our entrees arrived 10mins after ordering, the mains took 20mins after our entrees were cleared and the dessert came 15mins after the mains.

Atmosphere: Good. Very lively. It's in the newly refurbished Westfield Doncaster which is almost like Crown in decor - really lovely and stylish.


We went on a Saturday night and the restaurant was practically full,. There are seats at the back in front of wall length windows with a gorgeous view of the city skyline, we arrived just before sunset and watched the beautiful view.


Those seats were full as were most of the seats outside the front of the restaurant in the shopping centre so we sat adjacent to the bar on a communal table on stools.


Parking: Ample - the shopping centre has hundreds of car spaces. Parking is free for the first 3hours or 4hours if seeing a movie.

Website: http://www.kouzina.com.au/index.html

Hours: Daily 11am-11pm.

Would I return: No - it's decent but not great