My last time in Melbourne was more than two years ago and, as you can imagine, my knowledge of restaurants and food was much more slim then. So this time around I promised to do it right, even if we were only there for a short weekend. 6am flight and out of Melbourne airport by 8.30am on a Friday morning. Where do we hit up first? Of course, the infamous Cumulus Inc.
Cumulus Inc. is part of the ever growing restaurant empire of Andrew McConnell, of the highly acclaimed Circa and Three, One, Two. While I have yet to have the opportunity to dine at either, I was curious and all too excited to taste his offerings at Cumulus (no thanks to Not Quite Nigella).
Cumulus Inc. is part of the ever growing restaurant empire of Andrew McConnell, of the highly acclaimed Circa and Three, One, Two. While I have yet to have the opportunity to dine at either, I was curious and all too excited to taste his offerings at Cumulus (no thanks to Not Quite Nigella).
Freshly baked carbs!!
Front: Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice $7.50 Back: Organic OJ $5
Organic Fair Trade: Single origin coffee house blend #7 latte $3.80
Shakshouka $16
A combination of baked eggs with roasted peppers and shanklish with two slices of turkish bread - definitely some Middle Eastern influences here. Shanklish is a Levantine cheese, usually with a more pungent flavour if aged. The flavours of this dish were aromatic but others thought it to be too tomato-y/peppery for their liking. I wasn't one to complain though as I ate their leftovers hehe.
Grilled Lyonnaise sausage, smoked hock, braised beans & 65/65 egg $16
I've been talking about this 65/65 egg for too long - the egg is poached at 65 degrees for 65 mins!!!! It was runny, and shiny, and silky just was an absolute treat. The saltiness of the sausage and the slightly sweet braised beans together with the toast and eggs is my most memorable breakfast to this day.
The rest of the dishes I did not get to try unfortunately, but don't they look like a wonder!
House smoked ocean trout bagel, sorrel, capers & cream cheese $15
The Full English - farmhouse slab bacon, blood sausage on toast, fried eggs & smoked tomato $18
Smoked bacon sandwich, gentleman's relish $14
Madeleine filled with lemon curd $2.50 each
The madeleines take 15 mins to be baked fresh and cooling time, so I ordered it three quarters of the way during my meal. Surely not long after finishing my dish, our waitress came with two beautiful madeleines. I caught a whiff of the eggy and lemonly smell and it was divine (who doesn't love freshly baked goods?). They were not too sweet and, for someone who is not a fan of lemon flavours, the lemon curd complimented it well. Something I will definitely order again.
Medium Canelé $3.00
I wasn't too familiar with canelé having never tried one before, but they are French pastries with a soft custard centre and a dark, thick caramelised crust. It was a tiny morsel and the bite I had was too little for me to judge. It was soft and custardy sponge-like in the centre with a hard toffee-like crust. It wasn't too sweet to enjoy either. Will def get one for my own next time.
We had our first taste of Melbourne and were already ready to settle into a early morning food coma. The staff wasn't as attentive as I've them to be which was a shame, maybe they were annoyed at all of us coming in with large suitcases seeing as we weren't able to check into our hotels yet.
All in all, I am excited to try more of McConnell's offerings if this is what's on the table...
All in all, I am excited to try more of McConnell's offerings if this is what's on the table...
Labels: food