Project 219

219 Russell Street
Melbourne
Victoria
3000

I'd wandered past Project 219 on Russell Street a few times and was initially tempted by the crepes on offer. The exterior decoration recalls a previous use of the building as an "Importer of Hardware"...

Inside the fit out was modern with a bit of grungy industrial look, the counter and prep area was at the front and stairs down to a new cocktail lounge in the basement.

It was pretty quite when we visited on a Tuesday lunchtime, with just one or two other customers.

Brendan went for a burger ($9) which looked good and went down well.

I had the veggie burger which was also $9 and a side of chips for $2. The patty held together pretty well as I ate it despite being moist and with the fillings made up a decent burger. The chips were crisp on the outside too.

The service was friendly, and as swift as we needed at lunch. Overall although it a little atmosphere I'd be happy to go back.

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Nautigals - Mexican

57-59 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Vic 3233

We first ate at Nautigals in 2012, and on our most recent visit it has moved to a Mexican menu on the evenings it is open for. It's worth checking as outside holiday periods if it will be open, as it is often open as a daytime cafe only in the week.

The Mexican theme hasn't been taken too far, although we did spot this sombrero. We ate in the courtyard, which was pretty quiet when we arrived at around 7 on a Saturday, but it soon filled up. 

We shared the bean paste tacos for entree, topped with chopped tomato, red onion and avocado, they were super tasty and disappeared in no time.

The chicken enchiladas topped with a little tomato sauce, cheese and guacamole and served with sour cream and jalapenos, a simple green salad and chips were great value for under $20.

The grilled sweetcorn was some of the best the better half had ever had, sweet, soft and juicy with an awesome spicy sauce. She is a corn fan and has tried plenty of it at different Mexican spots, and this was apparently a winner!

I had a veggie burrito which again had a sensible amount of cheese melted over it, so hopefully didn't raise my cholesterol levels too high. The flavours and textures were authentic and satisfying, and the plate certainly filled me up.

The service was casual and friendly, but still pretty efficient. The meal came to $78 including a few beers and we'll certainly be popping in again when visit Apollo Bay next, if they are open for dinner.

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Cafe 153, Apollo Bay

153 Great Ocean Road
Apollo Bay
Vic 3233

03 5237 1123

On the corner of Hardy Street and the Great Ocean Road, in Apollo Bay Cafe 153 is at the northern (Lorne) end of the strip of cafes, shops and pubs. We headed there with some nervousness after reading some average reviews on urbanspoon, mainly focussed on the service, but also on value.

On arrival, the two service staff seemed a little overwhelmed with a flurry of new diners, including a grounp of 7, when there were already two larger tables seated. We were shown to a table by the window of modern, clean and bright interior.

The menus weren't too long but contained some interesting options, I've included them below as they are different to the current online examples, the starters cover plenty of offerings from the ocean...

...as did the mains...

... and indeed the specials.

We shared the house gravlax pizza for entree, which show cased the smoked trout brilliantly, with the goats cheese working much better than expected, all on a small thin and crispy base...

I went with the seafood chowder for my main, the soup was thick and reasonably flavoursome, the seafood was the real star, with great mussels, prawns, fish and scallops. I probably could have done with another slice of the lovely sourdough.

The concept of a Brazilian claypot was new to me, but the seafood stew was beautifully flavoured, packed with plenty of mussels, prawns, fish and scallops and topped off fried soft shell crab. It certainly had the better half raving about it for a couple of days!

We found the service to be friendly and pretty efficient once everyone was settled, certainly more cafe than fine dining, but that was to be expected. Perhaps when Apollo Bay is packed in the holidays it can get very busy, but is that 153's issue? The view across the bay to the Otway hills is fantastic and the good food was worth the $100 we paid including a few drinks. We'll be thinking of heading back next time we are visiting!

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Royal Mail Hotel, Birregurra

49 Main Street
Birregurra
VIC 3242

Birregurra is a small town 18 km east of Colac, just off the Princes Highway on the way to Apollo Bay. The Royal Mail Hotel in Main Street was first licensed in 1871 but the current building is more art deco in style, certainly from the outside.

We stopped in en route to the coast on a Saturday for some lunch and found  ourselves a seat outside in the courtyard and perused the bar menu, there was also a longer restaurant menu, with more substantial dishes.

We both went for the chicken Royal Mail Sliders, which arrived as described, the only slight surprise were the brioche style buns. The chips were crunchy and perfectly cooked. Each of the sauces with the mini-burgers was distinctive with the peri peri standing out, both in spiciness and as an overall standout.

I finished off with a decent long black to aid the next chunk of driving.

Birregurra isn't somewhere I'll find myself that often, but I'd happily go back for a bite. The service was friendly and efficient and they managed to deliver my coffee just as I was finishing off my food!

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Abesha Ethiopean Restaurant

327 Barkly Street
Footscray
VIC 3011

Although it's not far from home, we hadn't ever visited Abesha until deciding to try it recently on a Saturday. The colour scheme is certainly true to the country of origin.

Inside the decor is fairly basic, but there are quite a few African touches, and the clientele was mixed.

Behind our table there was a coffee set.

There were a couple of imported Ethiopian beers options on the menu, and we and enjoyed refreshing our memory of both.

The menu (which I couldn't find online so have included below) features a range of Ethiopian dishes, some of which were familiar, some less so.

We shared the vegetable sambusa's as an entree, which was served with a sour cream dip.

The crisp pastry enclosed a satisfying lentil heavy filling.

The Abesha special features a range of dishes served on injera. The kay watt, of chopped lamb in a berber sauce, red onion, garlic and ginger and the alicha wat worked well with the range of veggie and lentil based dishes.

I had the vegetarian combo with a large serve of the rich yemiser wat lentil stew and six other unique other flavours.

The bill including four beers was just over $50. The service was friendly and the atmosphere relaxed, with some groups sharing drinks and others also eating. We certainly left feeling heavy bellied and may well return.

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Greenpoint Brasserie at Domaine Chandon

727 Maroondah Highway

Coldstream 

VIC 3770

It had been a long time since we had visited the Greenpoint Brasserie at Domain Chandon in the Yarra Valley, but good memories of previous experiences there persuaded us to return with visitors staying briefly in Melbourne.

The setting amongst the tidy vines and gardens is idyllic.

The simple modern fit out make best use of the location, with views across to the Yarra ranges. We had a booking and were promptly shown to our seats, both the tasting bar and the restaurant were pretty busy, with a variety of patrons, some in decent sized groups.

The salmon rillette with capers and horseradish was served in a coffee cup and topped with a fine layer of jelly along with rye bread. The texture was great and although the flavour was pleasant it lacked some punch.

We shared the charcuterie platter this included a rustic Pork, apple and cabbage terrine, a much finer chicken liver parfait and Casalinga Sopressa for the carnivores. On the veggie side, the balsamic onions were the best pickled onions I can remember having, the mixed olives were good and I liked the sweet tomato and pepper caramel chutney. The only quibble would be the size of the board and servings given the $32 price tag.

Three of us ended up choosing the herb crusted hapuka, which I don't remember seeing outside of New Zealand before. The fish was fresh, firm and perfectly prepared with the crust adding texture and flavour. The nicola potato, asparagus, speck, parmesan and beurre blanc all added to the dish.

The lamb rack served with truffled white polenta, broad beans and tomato was the other dish sampled by our party and proved equally popular, as did the 2010 sparkling Rosé.

 

We found the service friendly, attentive and efficient. The bill with several glasses of wine came to $240 which didn't seem over the top given the quality of the food and wine. The afternoon we visited there were a reasonable number of flies around, and as guests were regularly using the sliding restaurant doors to wander in and out of the beautiful garden, plenty had made it inside, and certainly knew when our mains arrived. There isn't much that could be done, but it did leave a distinct entry in the memory bank. Domaine is certainly worth a visit if you are in the Yarra Valley for the combination of the food, wine and vistas.

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D.O.C. Pizza & Mozzarella Bar, Carlton

295 Drummond Street
Carlton
VIC 3053

After reading some reviews we decided to check out D.O.C. whilst we were in Carlton. When we arrived at 6:30 on a warm summer Sunday evening most of the other tables were already taken both inside and outside where we chose to sit.

Living up to their claim of providing "...real Italian eating and age old simplicity..." the vibe is certainly pretty latin, with most if all the waiters hailing from there. The Carlton restaurant occupies a building that may once have been a pub on the corner of Faraday and Drummond streets, there is also a cafe and a deli on Lygon street not far away.

We ordered some drinks and then reviewed the menu featuring a mix of classic and original options. The Lurisia “Sei” or 6 beer I had was a new one to me, a Belgian wheat style beer brewed in Italy which was pretty sweet and a nice change. We grabbed the waiters attention and ordered.

My choice was the trusty napoletana with San Marzano tomato, mozzarella, anchovies and olives. The base was perfectly crisp, light and browned, the flavour from the small salty fish permeated the pizza making a definite hit.

The Pizza Tiger Prawns lived up to its name featuring one crustacean per slice along with tomato, mozzarella, endive and fresh chilli. Again it was cooked just so and the spice permeated the dish.

The mista salad of spinach, radicchio and rocket leaves well dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar provided a contrast of flavour and texture to the rest of the meal.

As we ate the a queue began to form, by 7 it stretched along the front of the building, which made eating our meal feel like being the key attraction in a spectator sport!

The pizza's were great, some of the best I've eaten in Melbourne, the service was fairly prompt despite the crowds and certainly Italian and friendly. The bill came to $70 with a couple of drinks, and we'd certainly return, being careful to try to get there early if we weren't keen on queueing for a seat.

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