Pablo Honey

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We would like to thank Pablo Honey for inviting Helen and I to dine at their newly opened restaurant/bar. Please note that this meal was sponsored by Pablo Honey, however we pride ourselves on writing honest reviews for you guys and in this instance it’s no exception.

There’s a reason why we don’t dine at St Kilda much and that’s simply because the parking can be absolutely horrid! It was no different this time, as St Kilda had some event on which not only meant that parking was bad but traffic was also bumper to bumper. After a bit of driving around and frustration in the car, we decided to go to my trusty paid parking spot at the Coles car park. It was a short walk to Pablo Honey and wasn’t too bad.

We were greeted warmly by Emily at the door. First thing I noticed was the huge and brightly lit bar on the left. The honeycomb wall which doubles as alcohol bottle storage space was a very nice touch and stays true to the name of the restaurant. Emily had reserved a nice big table for both of us. As I’ve mentioned before in my reviews, big tables are just awesome, because we eat so much and it’s nice to have some table space to move the dishes around for photos.

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A friendly waitress attended to us straight away and handed us the drinks menu. She would turn out to be the sole person serving us for the night, which I was very happy with. She was quick, on the ball, and knew the menu inside out. From the ingredients to the cooking techniques, she could answer all the questions we threw at her. She was a gun at her job, and Pablo Honey are very fortunate to have her working for them.

We opted to go for 3 small share plates and 1 large share plate in order to try some more foods. Looking back at what we ordered and the prices, I would say that the small share plates are pretty good value as they are a decent quantity for the price. Add to the fact that you also get to try more dishes it’s a no brainer. I personally found the large share plates a bit expensive, as the 3 dishes ranged from $45 to $55.

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We ordered the smoked chicken wingettes, ceviche of octopus, green tree ant cured salmon, and the smoked fillet of snapper as the large share plate. The smoked chicken came with a salsa which had nice spiced flavours. Chicken was also extremely tender. There were however only mild hints of smokiness, I was expecting a lot more smokey flavours as per the name of the dish. As I bit into the chicken, I noticed that the meat was not smoked and as I suspected it the smokiness was from the sauce.

The ceviche of octopus I didn’t particularly enjoy. I expected the octopus to be more raw, but instead I was served an orange coloured thoroughly cooked octopus. The octopus itself was also very chewy, and was quite hard to swallow. Green tea cured salmon was my favourite dish of the night.

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The salmon was fresh, soft and fatty! Great dish as it wasn’t heavily flavoured and allowed the salmon taste to shine. The salt and vinegar taro chips which came with the salmon was weirdly satisfying and went surprisingly well together. The taro chips to salmon ratio was a bit of whack though and we had way too many taro chips left over. Considering they were too flavoured to have by themselves, we couldn’t finish the chips. The smoked fillet of snapper tasted really good. I could tell that the fish was smoked this time as it penetrated the snapper meat. This also caused it’s downfall too as it made the delicate snapper meat a bit tough. The seaweed salad that came with it was probably our least favourite of the night. It may as well have been called a grapefruit salad as there was so much grapefruit in it. The dressing was also not very pleasant.

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The dessert was very unique. We ordered the Dulce de Leche Mousse which was recommended by the waitress. It came out in the mould of a skull which represented the the wall of many beautiful skull sculptures behind our table which are designed and created by the owner Matt’s wife. There are so many pretty ones that are available for sale there. Anyway back to the skull dessert. With a spoon, we cracked into the skull sculpture which got us into the mousse. It was a very interesting way of presenting it. The initial entry of the mousse was pleasant and eyebrow raising but it got too sweet very quickly. There was also the element of popping candy which gave it some texture.

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In summary we did enjoy our time at Pablo Honey. The interior decorations along with the superb customer service was the highlight of our experience. I admire the creativity of the food as it sets a point of difference with other restaurants, however the food was a bit hit and miss. Some fine tuning of the food and the potential would be infinite. The great thing was that Matt (one of the owners) welcomed our suggestions, and with such an open mind, it’s surely a recipe for success. I love supporting small restaurant businesses and would be happy to help in whatever way I can. If you’re around the area, give Pablo Honey a visit and show them some support, as I see a bright future for this new restaurant.

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Pablo Honey
Approx $50 AUD per person
Website: www.pablohoney.net/
Address: 68 Acland St, St Kilda VIC 3182
PHone: +61 3 9534 3246

Pablo Honey Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Noir Restaurant

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We recently discovered Noir in Richmond and was very impressed with the food and service so of course wanted to share our experience with you!

Noir is a cosy French restaurant so you do have to make sure that you make a booking if you’re planning to dine there! Although the space is small, the wooden tables and chairs are quite generously spaced from each other so you do get a sense of intimacy and personal space.

From the moment we walked in, the service was excellent and it remained that way throughout the night. From the waitress who talked us through the menu, to the sommelier – who had a thorough understanding of the wine list and made a great recommendation on the Chateau Turcaud, a lovely white wine that went well with the food – it was an impressive experience.

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The food was also exceptional. We started off with the Royal Miyagi premium Tasmanian Pacific oysters. We got some with champagne granite and some with pickled watermelon, spanner crab and chilli. They were refreshingly delish!

We also ordered the eye fillet of beef tartare with Waldorf salad and pommes gaufrette. This was one of my favourite dishes and I absolutely loved the flavours of the beef tartare combined with the sweetness of the apple. It was a match made in heaven!

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The cured kingfish with vichyssoise mousse, baby leeks, sugar snaps and samphire was our other entrée and was a beautifully presented dish with fresh flavours that complimented each other perfectly.

For mains, Davin ordered the seared fillet of bass groper with macadamia nut gnocchi, sorrell and Portarlington mussels. I ordered the crisp breast and confit leg of duck with black fig and pain d’epices puree. The duck was tender and definitely had that crispiness to the skin that you need for this kind of dish. With the fig and puree combined, each bite was a burst of yummy flavours. We also ordered the potato gratin and steamed yellow beans with confit shallots, walnuts and roquefort as sides.

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Dessert was also a highlight! We shared the Cremeux d’ Anjou which had strawberries, blueberries, honeycomb and berry and basil sorbet. It was amazing! The fruit, the crunch and sweetness of the honeycomb and the refreshing sorbert, it was a beautiful dessert! And presented so prettily too!

I would highly recommend Noir for some beautifully presented and delicious food, excellent service and great ambiance!

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Noir Restaurant
Approx $70 AUD per person
Website: www.noirrestaurant.com.au
Address: 175 Swan St, Melbourne VIC 3121
Phone: +61 3 9428 3585

Noir Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Bahari The Hellenic Palate

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If you are craving some amazing, fresh Greek food then look no further than Bahari The Hellenic Palate. With such great reviews we were of course expecting big things and boy did they deliver!

The restaurant had a great modern and rustic funky vibe to it with the combination of the brick floors and dark wooden and white decor. We were given a window seat so had a nice view plus the natural lighting from outside.  First and foremost I have to say that staff were super friendly and on the ball. They were very attentive and were more than happy to provide recommendations and make suggestions, especially when we were indecisive because we wanted to order everything on the menu! Every dish sounded amazing!

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So the menu itself is designed for sharing with small and large sharing plates. We finally agreed on (are you ready for this?) the trio of dips, the haloumi with onions, tomato, roasted peppers, olives and sumac, the wild mushrooms with roasted garlic and crumbed feta, the char grilled octopus, the zuchinni flowers stuffed with garlic prawns, the cured raw tuna, the cauliflower and pomegranate salad AND a chicken souvlaki! Of course we probably over ordered but it was already hard enough shortlisting it down to that final list. So let’s talk about the highlights.

One of my favourite dishes was the haloumi, it was SO good! It was super soft and was complimented well with the tomato, roasted peppers and olives. The wild mushrooms was also mouthwatering and each bite was a burst of juicy and seasoned flavours.

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Davin really liked the zuchinni flowers and garlic prawns. The zuchinni flowers was battered to crispy perfection and the prawns inside were also flavoured really well.

We also loved the trio of tips which came with fresh hot bread and the chicken souvlaki which we heard good things about and did not disappoint! All dishes were just so scoffable and we just ate our hearts out. We could not fit dessert after all that food but have no doubt that would have been nice too.

Overall we were very impressed with the quality of the food and the fantastic service. We would definitely come back again if we’re craving some high quality Greek food!


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Bahari The Hellenic Palate
Approx $50 AUD per person
Website: www.bahari-richmond.com.au/
Address: 179 Swan St, Melbourne VIC 3121
Phone:+61 3 9427 7898

Bahari The Hellenic Palate Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Rockpool Bar and Grill

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A lot of the restaurants at Crown come with a lot of hype but not much substance. I’ve been stung many times before with various restaurants in the complex, so I actually avoided Rockpool Bar & Grill for a long time, thinking that they’d just be overpriced and underwhelming. I would never have thought that they would be one of my favourite and ‘go to’ restaurants!

Even though I have been here on numerous occasions, I have never ventured into the main dining room. The reason for this is because the ‘bar menu’ is just such good value, and you get full access to the proper menu also. So the rules are simple, you come and ask to sit in the bar area, the area is strictly for walk ins only and they don’t allow for booking. They will either ask if you want to sit at the bar for a drink or you can go and wait at Spice Temple. Spice Temple are owned by the Rockpool Group so either way they’re going to make some money off you. If you do choose this option, they will make a phone call to Spice Temple to grab you when a bar table is ready.

With the bar area you’re not actually sitting at the bar, but there’s another section with a little partition to seperate from the main dining room. You still get to sit on at a table with some comfy chairs, so you don’t need to stress that you’ll be sitting on bar stools! When it gets busy, you do have to wait a while… my longest wait was nearly an hour. However generally 15 to 30 mins, a table will be ready.

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There’s an adequate amount of options on the bar menu. What’s my pick of the lot? The Mishima burger of course! Mishima is a special type of Japanese cattle which David Blackmore breeds. This burger is not available all the time, so it can be a bit of a gamble whether it’s available or not. Sometimes when I’m really craving for it, I would call them up first to ask if the Mishima burger is on the bar menu. Otherwise I just wing it and hope for the best! This is my favourite gourmet burger in Australia and it’s truly amazing. The meat patty is cooked medium rare – when the meat is freshly minced, you can have a medium rare patty no problems. The meat is not only juicy and succulent but also has that strong beef flavour. The pickled zucchini and onions just top it off as it adds some acidity to the taste. They even seperate the tomato and cos lettuce so you’re burger doesn’t get soggy, how’s that for consideration!

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I’ve also had other dishes such as the Minute steak, fish stew, cured ocean trout on brioche and the steak tartare. Speaking of the steak tartare, this is another stand out dish which you must get! It’s served with fat cut chips which surprisingly goes really well with the tartare. These two dishes are my favourite but I cannot fault any of the other dishes here. They all taste great and you won’t be disappointed. I used to also get a quail entree but they’ve since taken that off the menu. I’m quite upset the quail is gone… Rockpool if you’re reading this, please bring the quail back!

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Service here is proper and professional. They don’t seem to smile much and they do take their jobs very seriously. They don’t really get anything wrong and I find them to be on the ball at all times. I did get a warm and bubbly waitress last time I was there which was a nice surprise, but generally the service is not like that. Depends what you prefer really, I’m someone who likes to have a chat and have a joke around with the waiting staff. There’s no right or wrong I guess. If you’re someone who loves proper and professional service, then you’d like the way they go about their business at Rockpool Bar & Grill.

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Rockpool Bar and Grill
Approx $50 AUD per person (bar menu)
Approx $100 AUD per person (full menu)
Website: www.rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrillmelbourne
Address: Crown Casino, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: +61 3 8648 1900

Rockpool Bar and Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato