Melbourne Day Three - 09/11/10

 Started the day off with brunch at Madame Sou Sou~

 It’s a French cafe/restaurant, so the interior design and music are made to fit the mood

Funghi a la Parisienne $18, with poached egg $19; toasted brioche with buttered mushrooms, smashed avocado and goat cheese rondelle

 It could be that French food just don’t fit our tastes, but it was salty and not that great.

Beignets de mais doux et courgettes $18; sweetcorn and zucchini fritters with double smoked bacon, slow roasted tomatoes, avocado salsa and horseradish creme

French onion soup $15; with gruyere crouton

Just don’t get this. It’s sickening and way too salty. We left almost 3/4s behind, and it was enough for the waitress to ask if it was okay.

There must be something we’re missing here, because other than our mediocre experience, there are rave reviews everywhere else. Maybe if you avoid our choices. Anyway, don’t let us put you off, if you still want to pay them a visit:

Madame SouSou
231 Brunswick St
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Phone: (03) 9417 0400

 During our shopping trip on Brunswick St. It was supposedly 28 degrees, but felt much higher, and it got so intense that we could hardly step outside for more than 5 minutes.

 PRESS CLUB!! This place doesn’t really need an introduction, and yes that blurry figure in the background is Callum~ George wasn’t there though, probably in Sydney filming Junior MasterChef.

 The atmosphere was dim and romantic, but not TOO lively or jolly i would say but quite restrained.

Complimentary bread with olives dipped in oil

Entree
Kingfish $31.9; tea cured vasilopsaro, kalamarakia, pink fir, smoked oyster, watercress

 This was beyond delicious. If you’re at The Press Club, you MUST try this, even if it’s the only thing you get to eat, the visit will still be well worth it. The size shown in the photo is half of one, if we had known it was this good, we would have probably ordered one each.

Main
Lamb $47.9; roast loin, glazed neck, beetroot horiatiki, almond skordalia

 This was what the waitress recommended first, although she did go on to recommend the rest of the menu, and we both ordered this. It was a good choice, as the taste was pleasant and there were many different taste combinations you could make with each bite. However, it did not reach the same standard as the kingfish, although this would be very hard to do, as the entree was near perfection.

Sides
Sweet corn $9.5; kalaboki charred, herbed yoghurt cheese, almonds

 It’s a good idea to have something on the side so you don’t get bored with the flavours of the main. The sweet corn was zesty and tangy, and went well with the lamb.

Dessert
Frouta $18.9; fragola, karpouzi, vatomoura, mango, crema & pipperi

 The dessert is so pretty it deserves two shots from different angles~

There were a few other options on the menu, and maybe you should try them instead. Although this looks pretty and appetising, take note of the maroon coloured sorbet. It looks like some sort of tongue, and tastes incredibly sour, that it soon became a task to finish it. But if you can handle extremely sour food, you could give it a go.

Outside The Press Club

Go there NOW! Even if it’s just for the kingfish and Callum :p

The Press Club
72 Flinders St
Melbourne 3000 Australia
Phone: (03) 9677 9677

Trading Hours
Lunch Mon-Sat: 12noon-3pm
Kerasma Lunch Sun: 11:30am–3pm
Dinner Mon-Sun: 6pm–10pm

Reservations are essential. Not sure how far in advance you need to book, but we made ours about 5 weeks before, so make sure you leave plenty of time for a table.

Pretty streets around Melbourne CBD

Phoenix Bar; where we went in for a couple of minutes to use the bathroom. Although we didn’t get anything, the staff were friendly and the atmosphere was nice, so it seemed like it would be a good place for drinks. Located on Flinders St, near Press Club.

The shoes we took