fine dining

Vue de Monde Melbourne mud crab

10 course Chef’s Menu @ Vue De Monde (Melbourne)

During a recent visit to Melbourne, I impulsively booked a table at Vue de Monde (a Shannon Bennett two-hatted restaurant) as they had available tables on a Friday lunch. It worked well for us as we had no other plans that day. It was a 12 noon reservation and we got to the Rialto tower […] Read more…

Esquire Brisbane sponge cake

Degustation dinner @ Esquire

Earlier this year, J organised a surprise weekend away. I didn’t know where we were going. He had packed a suitcase, called an uber which took us to the airport, and we went straight through the security gate, and I still didn’t know where we were going! He finally let on that we were going […] Read more…

Wild Duck dumplings

Dinner @ Wild Duck

A few weeks ago, J and I had a celebratory dinner at Wild Duck in Kingston. I had never eaten at Wild Duck before so this was a good opportunity to try it out. It was a Friday night and we walked in without a reservation. The restaurant offers modern Asian cuisine in a fine […] Read more…

Truffle lunch @ Otis

Last month, along with my friend Michelle (of HerCanberra), we headed to a truffle luncheon at Otis who were offering 3 courses at $58 per person. It was a Saturday and there weren’t that many people dining in, so our food arrived reasonably quickly. Course 1 – truffled house made tagliatelle with parmesan. This was […] Read more…

Courgette flavours of corn and croquette

Dinner @ Courgette (Canberra)

J and I were invited to a milestone birthday dinner at Courgette in Canberra city. It had been years since I last dined there so I was really looking forward to it. As there were a few of us dining for dinner, we were seated in the wine cellar. A dangerous place to be in […] Read more…

Lunch @ Dinner By Heston Blumenthal

J and I treated ourselves to Friday lunch at Dinner By Heston while in Melbourne. As with thousands of others, I was disappointed that I wasn’t one of the lucky lottery winners to dine at the Fat Duck, but was glad I could book into Dinner By Heston. We dined at lunch to save a […] Read more…

6 course lunch @ Rubicon

While still on leave, I was trying to decide where to lunch and decided to try an oldie but a goodie – Rubicon at the Griffith shops. The last time I had dined at Rubicon was during my pre-blogging days. I remember a dinner degustation where the diner was able to choose any of the […] Read more…

Degustation dinner @ Natural 9

A group of friends and I took advantage of a recent Dimmi deal offering 50% off a degustation dinner at Natural 9 which opened a few months ago at Canberra Casino. The degustation dinner was usually $100, so we couldn’t turn down the offer of 5 courses for $50. The new look Canberra Casino looks […] Read more…

Chef’s Tasting Menu @ Otis Dining Hall

Otis Dining Hall, brain child of former Sage chef Damian Brabender, opened a couple of months ago. When I heard they had a mid-week chef’s tasting menu (5 courses for $70), I decided to try it out for lunch after coming back from overseas. I was greeted by the waiter who was wheeling out the […] Read more…

Eating in Tokyo – Part 5 – Narisawa

Following on from Eating in Tokyo – Part 4 – Shinjuku and Ginza… Did you know that the city of Tokyo alone holds more than 200 Michelin-starred restaurants? That’s one city with the largest number of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world! On my trip to Japan earlier this year, my sister allowed me to pick […] Read more…