Paris Go

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Well it’s definitely been a while, so we’re sorry it’s taken this long to write up another post. With work, study and all these other side projects, we have been busy bees! Anyway, you all should know by know how much I LOVE French cuisine. So of course I had to write up on yet another French restaurant we recently came across.

Paris Go is located amongst other great restaurants on Rathdowne Street, Carlton. However the high ratings and reviews on Zomato did make this restaurant stand out just a tad so we had to check it out.

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Upon entering, you see white tablecloths, white wooden banisters and white walls. The walls however are complemented with artfully, colourful framed French posters, paintings and mirrors which I kind of wanted for our house. A mixture of wooden chairs and French velvet button chairs are scattered throughout the restaurant.

Now right here, I have to say how super friendly and fantastic the staff were. From the moment we arrived until we left, they were nothing but attentive, switched on, accommodating and friendly. Kudos to them for providing such awesome customer service throughout our experience.

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But of course onto the important part: the food. We started off with my favourite, oysters! They were served three ways: natural, baked in cheese, and natural with a yummy green, possibly garlic type sauce. They were fresh and delicious! We then ordered the King George whiting dumpling in a prawn sauce which was something we’ve never had before and was very interesting! They were fluffy and the sauce was full of prawn flavour. We also couldn’t say no to the steak tartare which had a special dash of cognac. The flavours of this steak tartare was perfect. Sometimes you come across steak tartare which are more on the plain side. However this one was packed with flavours without it being too flavoured, if that makes sense! Our final entree was the fresh steamed southern Tasmanian mussels in a champagne sauce and oh my gosh, these were also super fresh and flavoured really well too. We were impressed. So far so good!

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Ok so you’re probably wondering, how can we possibly fit in mains after ordering FOUR entrees? Because we decided to share everything we decided to only order one main in addition to the four entrees. This ended up being the 250g eye fillet with bearnaise sauce and the staff were very lovely to split the steak in half and serve it on two individual plates so that we got our own steak and sauce. It also came with french fries which we shared. The steak was cooked rare, just how we liked it and the bearnaise sauce was really nice. Oh and we also ordered a lovely bottle of French red to go with the food: Cotes Du Rhone, 2012.

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Although we were pretty full, we couldn’t help but have a peek at the dessert menu. Being a total sucker for lemon type desserts, I quickly zeroed in on the caramelised lemon tart so it was settled pretty quickly. The tart had just the right amount of tang with dollop of cream. We gobbled that up quite efficiently too.

Overall it was a fantastic experience and I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for some traditional French food. Lots of ticks to great food and fantastic service!

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Paris Go
Approx $70 AUD per person
Website: parisgo.com.au
Address: 116 Rathdowne St, Carlton, VIC 3053
Phone: +61 3 9347 7507

Paris Go Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Heartattack and Vine

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I’d like to share with you guys today a refreshing Italian restaurant located on Lygon Street. Now I know what you guys are probably thinking. Italian men standing at the front of their restaurant with menus, herding people in like sheeps! This is actually one of my pet hates, and I would never recommend a restaurant that does this. Heartattack and Vine is the total opposite of this unwelcoming stigma. They let their showcase of food, and the faces of happy diners do the marketing. We’ve walked past Heartattack and Vine many times after dinner. Everyone always looks happy and relaxed dining here. Having missed out on trying their food so many times, food frustration kicked in, and we made an exclusive trip to Carlton to try them out.

Heartattack and Vine is an Italian tapas style restaurant. They have an outdoor seating area outside, but since it was a warm day when we went, we opted for some indoor air con goodness. Dimly lit lighting sets a romantic and intimate scene. They showcased all their beautiful cichetti (tapas) at the front behind some thick glass. Staff were welcoming with big smiles on their faces, and we were seated straight away on the communal curbside bench. The dining area was small and cosy, and they soon realised how big our appetites were! We ended up taking up the space of 4 people with our food. The concept was simple, you walk up and pick what cichetti you want and either pay on the spot or start a tab. Cichetti were $3.50 each or 3 for $10. More substantial items such as oysters or house salads, had their own prices.

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After ordering 2 Italian reds, we were on a mission. The cichetti were great value and we pretty much tried them all. I was asking what everything was just to satisfy my curiosity, but I knew I was going try all of them! We were truly impressed by the variety offered, and it wasn’t too carb heavy, which was a bonus. The dishes were simple yet with all the ingredients combined they worked effortlessly. The produce was extremely fresh, proof is with the seafood. It’s hard to disguise freshness with seafood, the mussels and oysters here were spot on! Figs, quail eggs, mascarpone cheese are some of the other delicious delights you may find on the day. I say ‘may’ because they are constantly changing their dishes to the seasonal produce. I’m not expecting to eat the same things next time I come to here, and that’s an exciting thought!

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Heartattack and Vine offers an abundance of food to cater for any picky or adventurous eater. I don’t expect any two persons to eat as much as we did, but if you do decide to go a bit crazy, it certainly won’t send you broke. You’d be hard to find value like this, with quality to match. I have a feeling this will be one our regular go to places, and I hope it will be yours too!

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Heartattack and Vine
Approx $30 AUD per person
Website: heartattackandvine.com.au
Address: 329 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
Phone: +61 3 9005 8624

Heartattack and Vine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato