The Hardware Sociéte - MELBOURNE

Address: 118-120 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Cuisine: French fusion breakfast & bunch

Mushroom Ratings:

Food: 9/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 8/10

This hidden gem in the heart of Melbourne's lane ways is the perfect place for breakfast, although they do a decent lunch as well. 

I've been here quite a few times now, but what draws me back here is the unique french fusion style that makes every dish taste as if you're miles far away. 

Here below is the Scrambled Eggs with mergz sausage, persian fetta, beetroot, sage. The fetta cheese goes really well with the egg. 

Another great tasting brekkie choice (right)- the Baked Eggs with chorizo sausage, cherry tomato & thyme salsa, crunchy almonds, pata de mulo ewes milk cheese. 

This was surprisingly filling, despite the size. The egg was wrapped in a mixture of ingredients that just worked perfectly together.

Here we have Scrambled eggs, with french earl grey tea cold smoked salmon, dill & horseradish creme fraiche, asparagus. 

On the left is a very interesting mix of Coddled Eggs, with chicken liver pate, cured meats, tea cured salmon and condiments.

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Nobu - MELBOURNE

Address: 8 Whiteman St, Southbank, Melbourne VIC 3006

Cuisine: Japanese

Mushroom Ratings: 

Food: 7/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Here’s another place I’ve been thinking of going for a very long time. Unfortunately, I just came back from a trip to Japan, so my expectations were quite high, especially since the prices charged at Nobu are higher than average.

The first dish to come out was the Yellowtail sashimi with Jalapeño at $23. The jalapeño really added that extra flavour punch, especially if you enjoy a bit of spice. Each slice was cut with precision. My only criticism is that it wasn't the freshest sashimi. Most likely a few days old, as it didn't have a juiciness to it.

Next, we had the main Nobu Lunch Bento box - $50.

The bento box included the signature dish - Black Cod Miso. This on its on in the dinner menu was $49, so during lunch this was much better value, since it came within the bento box. The miso sauce really infuses the flavour into the black cod which is  soft and falls apart in your mouth.

Here is a close up of the Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing. The sauce had a tangy taste and was amazing.

The next bento box was the Nobu Deluxe Bento - $69. Again this one had the Black Miso Cod.

Close up of the King Crab Leg. Very small, but very tasty!

Sashimi salad with jalapeno dressing. 

The sashimi itself wasn't particularly different, nor was it extremely fresh, but the jalapeno dressing hit the flavour buds in my mouth with a punch. 

I wanted more of this. Much, much more.

Finally, we got to dessert, and chose the chef's tasting plate. They were all very well presented.

This was a donut of some sort, with chocolate oozing out

This was really nice - I think it was some kind of creme brule. 

Apple sorbet - a bit sour! 

This one below was by far the best dessert here - whisky cappuccino layered with crunchy coffee crumble, coffee creme, milk ice cream, and whisky foam. It comes in the full size at $14. If you are a coffee fan, then don't miss out!

Overall, I thought Nobu was pricey, given that the main dishes did not have a dramatic variation to standard japanese dishes. The sashimi itself wasn't the freshest, but I can still fully appreciate the Chef's expertise in the cutting style of the sashimi and artistic presentation. The dessert was much more satisfying in terms of the new and innovative flavours.

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Number 8 - MELBOURNE

Address: 8 Whiteman St, Southbank, Melbourne VIC 3006

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Mushroom Ratings:

Food: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8.5/10

Ambiance: 8/10

Along the Yarra River at Southbank, is a string of enticing restaurants – but Number 8 has been on my ‘To-Eat-List’ for quite some time now.

I came here with some workmates on a Thursday night and was seated at the bar to choose drinks, as we arrived early. It was a nice touch to see the drinks menu operated on an iPad that offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages. The prices ranged from $10 up to a $13,200 bottle of French wine aged from 1907. Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of disposable income.

We then settled into our booked table, and were served some bread for the table while we wait for our food. The decor is modern and elegant at the same time with touches of random art on the walls. 

 The first entrée dish that arrived was served to my workmate, who had the calamari with grapefruit, red elk and roasted garlic aioli (LEFT). I had a little nibble of this, and although I’m not a big fan of calamari, this was the most tender and juiciest calamari! Perfectly soft and oozing with juices.





The entree (RIGHT) was the Wagyu carpaccio, with confit heirloom tomato and red onion chips. Again, I only tried a nibble of this, but it was paper thin! It didn’t really taste like meat, but rather just melted in my mouth. It was an explosion to my tastebuds, and as my workmate put it, “devastatingly good”.

Next up, was the mains.

Below was the Pan-fried Cone Bay barramundi with roasted shallot consommé, Freeka and local yabbie risotto. I didn’t try this one, but I thought the presentation was nice.

Then my main – I had the Milawa organic chicken breast with sautéed Victorian mushrooms, confit leg pithivier. The main came out in a smaller portion than I expected, but the chicken was juicy, and the range of different textures on this one plate was quite surprising. The sauce tasted more like a fusion of soysauce mixed into an Australian form, which was really pleasant, but overall, I didn’t find the chicken all too special (maybe because it’s just chicken?). Toghether with the portion on the small end of the scale, I’m not sure if the price value met the expectation I had for this dish. Other than this individual criticism, the flavours, textures and artistic presentation of this dish were perfect.

For sides we had hand cut Russet Burbank Chips and Rocket salad, both of which served as good sides.

Finally – dessert.

I had the crème brulee, white chocolate ice cream, brandy gelee, honey comb, wafer, lemon balm.

Yes, this was both mouth-watering and eye-watering.

I was really surprised that the crème brulee tasted even better than it looked! I think I may have been holding back tears. The shell on the outside of the  crème  brulee was thin, delicate, crispy and cracked easily with a spoon, the inside spilling with the softest and creamiest custard. Delicious! 

Now onto the ice cream – The menu described this as ‘white chocolate ice cream’ but as seen in the photos this was actually purple in colour, and didn’t taste like chocolate at all. It tasted like… lavender flowers! Perhaps, I was given the wrong ice cream, but I didn’t care, it was amazing!

Overall, the chefs at Number 8 cook a clean and fresh menu – with textures that complement each other flawlessly. I would recommend trying Number 8 and most definitely will come back again for the crème brulee!

Newmarket Hotel - MELBOURNE

Address: 34 Inkerman St, St Kilda, Melbourne

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Mushroom Ratings:

Food: 8.5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 7/10

Ambiance: 9/10

From the outside, this place looked like a shoddy broken pub, but this was quite deceiving after we walked in. Newmarket offers a range of delicious Spanish tapas at quite a high price range, and a trendy indoor/outdoor seating area.

Pictured: Outdoor seating of Newmarket

Pictured: Soft Shell Crab Taco

Pictured: Prawn Taco

For starter dishes we ordered from a part of the menu called “street food”. We chose a prawn taco (left) and a soft shell crab taco (above). They were as delicious as they look, but for $17 a taco, they came out a lot smaller than initially expected. In three bites, I finished the palm-sized taco, but it was the guacamole sauce that had me craving more. The flavours were strong as they were colourful, and something different to try, even though they were not very filling.

Pictured: Soft Shell Crab Taco

Our second dish (bottom left) was the BBQ Chorizo sausage ($18) with a sweet almond nut sauce. This was devine. The sausage was grilled perfectly with a sweet caramelised taste to it. It coupled perfectly with the sweet almond sauce. I would definitely recommend this! I also chose a side-dish of wild mushrooms (pictured bottom right).

Pictured: BBQ Chorizo Sausage

Pictured: Wild Mushrooms

Pictured: Rib Fillet steak

The main dish for the night was the Rib Fillet steak. The 300g steak was very sweet and full of flavour juices. My only complaint being it was a tiny bit on the chewy side. For a steak, this was very decent and it went very well with the sauce, which had a bit of wasabi flavour (?) to it and went very well with the steak. I would also highly recommend this dish, even though I prefer wagyu at Maha (review coming soon).

Pictured: Sangria

For drinks, there was no question that I chose sangria. As expected it was tropical, sweet, fresh and intoxicating. The prices were quite steep at $17 a glass or $35 a jug, so we chose the jug for better value. Although the Sangria was good, I still prefer the MoVida version slightly better.

All up, the dinner cost $135 for 2 persons.  Some dishes were a bit steep for its sizing but we were full and were not disappointed by the unique culinary skill of the chef. The atmosphere was trendy and not too loud (unlike Movida). The tapas were very flavoursome and unique, but I still prefer the larger range of tapas offered by MoVida. 

Wonton House (Russell St) – MELBOURNE

Address: 181 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Cuisine: Chinese (Hong Kong style)

Mushroom Ratings:
Food: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 4/10
Ambiance: 5/10 

This place is a cheap and authentic Chinese eatery on Russell St Melbourne. It reminds me of the awesome standard meals you can find in the small café/lunch restaurants all throughout Hong Kong.

For a bit of traditional Chinese nostalgia, Wonton House is my staple place to go. All the dishes are also quite cheap, no more than $20 for a big generous serving of fried chicken. Or even $10 for a smaller serving with rice. This has to be my favourite dish for $10!

Pictured: Spicy fried Chicken spare ribs

Pictured: Special Fried Rice

Next up, Fried Rice.

Fried rice is one of the most simple dishes to make, and normally not even worth noting. But this Special Fried Rice for $10 is definitely worth a mention. It comes out steaming hot and fragrant, with BBQ pork and veggies perfectly cut into small squares. Not too oily or too dry. I can finish this even before the side dishes come out.

The Milk Tea is also the BEST in Melbourne, hands down. And I am quite fussy with the perfection of my milk tea. This is traditional milk tea as it should taste!

Pictured: Milk Tea

Pictured: Veggies in Egg Yolk

For a healthier sharing dish, I enjoyed this one – the mixed vegetables in egg yolk sauce. 

The sauce is smooth and creamy, and is a huge serving enough as a side dish for 4 people, and costing approx. $20.

Wonton House also offers decent standard Yum Cha dishes – Har Gow, Siu Mai, Char Siew Bao. Which sounds like gibberish if you can’t speak Cantonese, but I can assure dumplings are done quite well here. But my favourite dishes are those pictured above.

SERVICE

Food aside, don’t expect too much of the service. They are what you would call 'loud Hong Kong wait-staff', who would shout instructions across the room to another staff. The staff are also generally quite cranky. But for a good cheap lunch or dinner, this place is possibly one of the best Chinese eateries in the Melbourne CBD. Definitely better than any currently down the street of Chinatown!

Word of Caution!

There’s also a second newer Wonton House on Swanston St that opened up a couple of months ago. I find the Swanston St Restaurant a little lacking in food quality. It is the exact same menu, but the Chef is definitely less skilful than the one in Russell St.