Flower Drum (Melbourne)

Lunch at Flower Drum was my most anticipated meal on the weekend in Melbourne. As I have heard of its legendary Cantonese cuisine, served fine dining style, for many years.

Baked crab shell was the first dish and captured the essence of an entire crab in the shell with a creamy sauce. Watching the humble rice noodle roll served in a fine dining setting was quite an experience (it tastes the same though). Stir fry noodles with angus beef was of high quality – the noodles did not stick and the dish worked nicely with high quality beef.

Details:
Flower Drum
17 Market Lane
Melbourne
http://www.flower-drum.com

Cutler & Co. (Melbourne)

My partner visited me while I was in business in Melbourne (thank you). So on the first night we went to Cutler & Co for dinner, and we went for the degustation without considerations.

Dinner had a great progression of flavours. My top 3 dishes were the chicken soup with abalone (very intense broth), smoked and fried duck (great leg meat in a cube), and the dessert (amazing Earl Grey ice-cream).

I didn’t feel stuffed like I would normally after a sampling menu. Maybe I was just craving for more…

Details:
Cutler & Co.
55–57 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy
VIC 3065
http://www.cutlerandco.com.au

GPO Bendigo (Bendigo)

The project team walked past the GPO at Bendigo almost every day on the way to the client office. I ended up having dinner there on a Wednesday night; coincide with their weekly special of paella. The menu also offered a range of tapas and pizza dishes. The paella had an excellent crust from the rice, a feature of all great paellas – I just wish there was a more generous portion size!

Details:
GPO Bendigo
60-64 Pall Mall
Bendigo
http://www.gpobendigo.com.au/