Peter Verey

Dinner menu at Palace Garden is a good representation of Cantonese fine dining while still highlighting the kitchen’s unique style . A variety of cooking styles and textures is showcased and the service is terrific .

Favourite dish was the braised fish maw with king crab in pumpkin cream . The pumpkin cream which sits somewhere between a sauce and a soup is a lovely sweet vessel for flavour and texture . The fish maw was super tender and tasty while the crab was not only served up in sizeable chunks but also scattered throughout the cream delivering variety throughout the dish .

Other highlights included the textbook wok fried lobster cuisson , am always amazed at the accuracy of outstanding wok cooking when dealing with fragile ingredients such as lobster and this was perfectly judged .

The partridge bisque was comforting and despite being free of rice certainly gave congee vibes .

Pigeon with lemongrass is a great pairing and this was well scented , crisp and juicy

Full menu below

Roasted Goose served with Kristal Caviar
Iberico Pork Loin barbecued with Honey Sauce

Wok fried blue lobster with alliums

Premium Partridge Bisque with Bird’s Nest

Fish Maw braised with Alaska King Crabmeat in Pumpkin Cream

Baby Pigeon crispy with Lemongrass Scent

Seasonal Vegetables poached with Fresh Lily Bulb and Wolfberry in Supreme Broth

Minced Beef Fried Rice with Black Truffle Sauce

Sweetened Gorgon Fruit and Fresh Lily Bulb double boiled with Osmanthus Less

French inspired food in beautiful room in the old Melbourne Stock Exchange . Not reinventing the wheel but every dish hit the spot .

Saucisson and radish with a great crusty baguette

A two bite beef tartare enriched with bone marrow and chives

Excellent cured mackerel with fermented pear sauce and salmon caviar which actually works really well with the dish .

Tender as possible Corner Inlet Calamari , with a curried cafe de Paris butter .

O’Connell strip loin with bearnaise and absolutely stellar pommes frites . Less

Needed a quintessential well executed Mod-Oz lunch when visiting Melbourne and @atria.dining @theritzcarltonmelbourne delivered .

Beautiful property with a great view across Melbourne from the 80th floor . Terrific expansive wine list and the cooking was assured and aesthetic.

Pork jowl, puffed buckwheat , organic apple , lovage

Victorian seafood Crudo with white soy dressing , torched Alfonsino , snapper, sea bream.

Macedon ranges duck, cherry, radicchio.

Murray cod , nasturtium pil pil , zucchini , almond .

Pommes dauphinoise. Less

Amaru has always had a distinctive style . Native and foraged ingredients, light sauces, sustainable , expert level cuisson . It is really the only fine dining venue that I feel compelled to visit when in Melbourne .

some of the highlight components were

- bunya nut tofu , perfect texture and the nut flavour was pronounced .

- Mud Crab with zucchini chawanmushi was the dish of the night , layers of zucchini studded the dish, particularly taken with the chawanmushi and the zucchini ponzu

- The cooking of both the WA Marron and the Jurassic quail was faultless

-The final dessert with a koji and Davidson plum ice cream and rainforest cherries was utterly brilliant and definitely my front runner for dessert of the year .

Menu below

Heirloom Melons / Bunya Nut / Sunrise Lime

Mud Crab / Heirloom Squash / Basil

Western Australian Marron / Seaweed / Bitter Lettuce / Clams

Quail / Quince / Pumpkin Seed Miso

Dry Aged Pork / Muntries / Warrigal Green Kimchi / Fermented Pear

Bees Wax / Camel Milk / Green Tomato / Queen Garnet Plum

Rainforest Cherry / Koji / Davidson Plum /saltbush Less

My favourite restaurant in Melbourne , faultless pasta with terrific texture and amazing emulsions. Always number #1 place to revisit when back in Melbourne .

Rigatoni with nettle sauce , red pepper sauce and pistachios . The texture of the rigatoni was firm yet pillow like , the duality of the sauces combined beautifully.

Risotto with herb oil and super tender mussels and abalone .

Mafaldine with sher Wagyu shank and pickled chilli sauce .

Before the pasta the ubiquitous Australian kingfish crudo , this timed paired with Geraldton wax oil , grapes and caviar . Less

Have a bit of travel coming up the next little bit so think this was the last sushi meal for about 2 months 😢.
Fun night with chef Osamu explaining the process and thinking about the nigiri he curates , alternating textures and temperature, he tries to give a unique omakase experience .

Loved the contrast of otoro from both the belly and the cheek , and the Nodoguro barely touched with flame to wake up the oil on the skin is always a pleasure .

Full menu below

Scallop and shrimp with caviar
Ark shell clam sashimi
Charcoal grilled Hamachi
Abalone cutlet
Seared Snapper
Snow crab and tofu in dashi
Nigiri sequence -
Cheek Otoro
Belly Otoro
Marinated akami
Iwashi
Uni
Nodoguro
Kuruma ebi
Anago
Toro handroll
Shizuoka Melon Less

French food in the hands of Japanese chefs is one of my fav fine dining genres , however this leant a little more bistro than I anticipated.
Fact is there was nothing wrong with the meal whatsoever just a case of my expectations not being correct .

A grilled Spanish carabinero prawn was full of flavour and the sourdough bread helped greatly in mopping up the juices .

3 fine specimens of white asparagus were paired with a white miso espuma , a satisfying if not exciting dish .

Cuttlefish tartare were bound and formed into balls and deep fried with kataifi pastry . Perhaps this dish was a nod to HK street food. I must confess I prefer the local HK cuttlefish paste balls but did enjoy this dish regardless .

Last course was a solid puck of braised monkfish with a ragu of barley , chorizo , green olive and fish broth. This was perfect Provençal comfort food . Less

Came to Shanghai but had outstanding Cantonese food @102house_shanghai .

Originating from Foshan, the restaurant opened in Shanghai in 2021 and has allready obtained Michelin ⭐️ ⭐️ and a 40th ranking in Asia’s 50 best .

The only option is a seasonal set menu which last night ran to 21 dishes over 12 courses .

While most dishes were familiar to me and I have seen them on menus in HK or Macau , the quality of the execution was eye opening. In particular all the stir fry dishes were judged to the optimum level , with proteins and vegetables supremely tender , juicy and flavourful.

Photos attached represent some of my favourite courses .

Deep fried caul fat surrounded a jumble of oysters and mushrooms , the rough texture of the caul far wrapping gave terrific texture .

Pigeon and scallop was a stir fry combo that I haven’t encountered, the pigeon was juicy and slippery , the scallop supple and sweet .

Wok fried shrimp was served with Chinese onion and sweet peas , clean and fresh .

The Lobster with shrimp roe was one of the best examples of lobster cooking I have ever had , the meat just seperated from the shell and was juicy yet cooked thru .

Crispy chicken was deep fried but also deeply smoked for a great contrast .

Sweet and sour pork is the signature dish , the pork is pork belly and is crisp as glass, the fruit changes seasonally while it was pineapple on this occasion , other variations feature peach, ginger and strawberry.

A coral grouper was cooked with mild shrimp paste , ginger and tofu skin , fun dish to get messy with .

The final savoury course was were rice noodles in fish broth and geoduck , milky and cleansing .

Full menu in comments .. Less

When you go to Shanghai and while having lunch you find out that the chef from said restaurant will be in Macau next week 🤦‍♂️. ( Go check out the 4 hand dinner at Imperial Court April 26-28 )

But no regrets as was a delicious lunch @meetthebund.2019 .

Specialising in Fujian cuisine , loved the clarity of flavour in all the dishes .

Small Fujian surf clams were flavour packed with a chilli vinegar dressing , could happily slurp up dozens.

Chilled tofu skin with Celtuce was a super refreshing starter .

Angus beef was cooked with dry spices and mixed with a tangle of chilli threads and dried tangerine peel . Sweet and spicy ..

Miniature grouper was served 2 ways , first in a porridge that was so velvety , it really gave New England chowder vibes and was delicious .
Secondly the grouper was briefly scalded with hot oil and served atop a bed of seaweed , quality ingredient led cooking .

Finally a “mystery “ green veg stir fried with red pepper and garlic , great fragrance and the vegetable was perfectly set . Less