Sweet Fantasies

When cooped in one's room with a flu/cold/virus for a fortnight, the options for entertainment become very limited. My current list comprises wishing for a better immune system, watching episodes of Heston's Feast,  studying (very grudgingly) and whinging almost continuously. Yeah, I know, I'm just FULL of joy when I'm sick.

Which leads me to this post: starved of the ability to head out and satiate my almost chronic desire to eat dessert, I am - in a half-delirious, half-crazed state - going to revist some of my favourite sweet comfort foods.

1. Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Pavlova with Summer Berries.

2. Macarons, La Belle Miette.

I am so addicted to this place, it deserves its own post when I am functioning more like a normal human being. Definitely could go a raspberry or chocolate or salted caramel or pistachio or...

3. Peach & Frangipane Pastry.

4. Stracciatella & Wild Cherry Gelati, Tutto Benne.

The chocolate ripple ice-cream from Jock's and the strawberry gelati from Il Dolce Freddo are pretty damn fine too, but I appear to have eaten all my previous purchases before I could obtain photographic evidence...


5. Ricotta & Nutella Cheesecake, Brunetti

6. Pikelet, Nutella & Strawberries.

I wouldn't say no to the pikelet being substituted for a waffle or a crepe either; I'm just not that fussy.

7. Cherry Pie, Sweet Source

My sister, G, bought this for me last week - what a legend. Nothing beats the tartness of cherries encased in golden pastry.

8. Mango, Toffee, Almond, Chocolate & B&P Spice Blend, Burch & Purchese.

9. Croissant & Dark Chocolate Pudding, Green Refectory.

 Happy om nom-ing!

Mamasita, CBD.

Even if you possess only a modicum of Melbourne restaurant knowledge, you'd be aware of the uber, crazy, insane hype surrounding Mamasita. To be honest, if you have read The Age or caught a tram/train in the past year, then chances are you've read about or overheard adoring reviews of Mamasita. Open since February 2010, Mamasita has been in the (foodie) headlines for two reasons: its authentic Mexican cuisine, and the no booking policy which sees prospective diners waiting for hours (but really!) for a table.

Skeptical is my default setting, and I couldn't understand how a year later Mamasita's scorching status was still going strong. My sister G was in town for a few days, so we figured we'd see what all the hype was about. Arriving at an almost unreasonably early hour for dinner (five), we nabbed two seats overlooking the Collins Street rush hour with little trouble.

A jug of sangria ($38) to loosen tongues...

The food at Mamasitas is largely based on the shareplate concept, so we picked a couple - I use the word 'couple' very loosely - of items which tickled our fancy. The menu is scattered with Spanish ingredients, but the staff are knowledgable and happy to share it round.

To begin, the famous Elotes callejeros - chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayonnaise and lime ($4.8). Hands-on food at its best: juicy kernels popping in your mouth, the finely grated queso (read: cheese) melting at a perfect rate, a pleasant mingling of spicy, tangy and sweet.

The Ceviche de atún - yellowfin tuna, blood orange, avocado, pickled jalapeno, lime, coriander and toasted sesame seeds ($16) followed. Ceviche is traditionally a Latin American dish containing raw fish and served in a semi salad, semi soup style. The flavours were bold, lip-pucker-inducing and addictive; the texture of the fish was firm and intriguing. Very refreshing!

G, with her aforementioned love of offal, couldn't go past the de Lengua y Mejilla taco - braised veal tongue and ox cheek, pickled vegetable and ghost chilli mayonnaise ($6). The reviews were positive, although the hit of the ghost chilli is something to be wary of...

Next up, a serving of tostaditas, crunchy morsels of fried tortillas topped with various tasties. We opted for the de Carnitas - slow braised pork shoulder, encurtidos (read: pickles) and jalapeno ($14). Braising is such an underrated technique; granted, it takes time, but the result is tender slivers of meat which just melt in your mouth.

The winner of the night were the quesadillas - fillings sandwiched between two tortillas and grilled until crisp and the queso (yes, there is and must always be cheeeeese!) is oozing out... the truffle/mushroom/queso combination (alas, I have forgotten its name and precise ingredients) is a must have. Earthy, cheesy and cut by the crunchiness of the tortilla, it's definitely worth ordering more than one!

And...dessert. For there is always dessert when you eat with me! We settled for the Frituras de manzana - apple fritters, vanilla pear sorbet ($9) and the Pastel de chocolate - flourless chocolate cake, white chocolate and tequila sauce and PX jelly ($11).

The vanilla pear sorbet was refreshing and nothing beats a well executed hot'n'cold combination. Well, nothing except for this cake, which was probably suffering from an (amazing) identity crisis: 'They call me a cake, but I have the richness, intensity and texture of an orgasmically good dark chocolate truffle/ganache. Oh woe is me!' Don't worry, we promptly put the cake/truffle/ganache out of its misery.

A brief and somewhat irrelevant aside: I used to think Pedro Ximenez (PX) referred to the name of a person and not a type of sherry. I could never understand why this 'guy' was constantly popping up all over menus and in restaurants. Luckily for me, a waiter cleared my misunderstanding through fits of laughter a year or two ago. Makes for a good in joke with the sibling, I s'pose.

We left at seven pm, and by that point, there was a fairly considerable line snaking down the stairs. (On a Wednesday night too!) The food is definitely the kind you'd be willing to travel and wait for, but I'm not sure my patience would hold out for hours in a city like this. Though, those quesadillas were damn good...

Tip: As they say, 'go early or late, or be prepared to wait!' Going early equates to around five pm, and late is probably around ten pm.

Mamasita
Level 1, 11 Collins Street
Melbourne
http://www.mamasita.com.au/

L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe, East Brunswick.

Back in 2007, while holidaying in Melbourne, I happened to chance across Monsieur Truffe, a small stall at the Prahran Market. Neatly stacked bars of single origin chocolate sat alongside decadent truffles infused with raspberry, passionfruit and chilli, as well as other goodies such as nut-studded hazelnut pralines, caramelised almonds and cocoa nibs. The owner of the stall was a delightful and soft-spoken Frenchman who clearly knew his chocolate.

In 2009, I discovered Monsieur Truffe had morphed and translocated to a small store on Smith Street - in addition to the brilliant chocolate bars, sinfully good hot chocolates, light sorbets and a range of desserts also made an appearance. Famed dessert chef Pierre Roelofs had a brief nighttime stint, which was a gastronomic highlight.

Monsieur Truffe's latest venture - L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe - is located in an old warehouse on the edgier stretch of Lygon Street and has been open for just under a month. The larger space houses all the machinery required for converting the humble cocoa bean into its more glamorous form; glass panels invite one to hop along for the ride.

My lunch companion and biomedicine buddy, A, started with a 72% Ecuador hot chocolate ($5) and I opted for a moccha ($5).

Let me make it emphatically clear: a Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate is in a class of its own - none of this saccharine, whimpy stuff with a marshmallow perched beside. A Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate is a brooding, dark, luscious hue of brown. A Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate is rich and intense to the taste and offset by a perfect level of bitterness. A Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate will linger on your tongue and tickle your senses. Yes, if a Monsieur Truffe hot chocolate were ever personified, I would have to marry it.

L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe also serves food which is a little left of centre from conventional cafe fare. A went for the apple and rosemary pancake, smoked duck breast, scrambled eggs with chestnut puree and truffle oil ($16). Forever seduced by the egg, I ordered the winter panzanella salad with 65/65 eggs ($15).

Both dishes were beautiful visually and delicious gustatorily. My salad - traditionally made using day old bread and tomatos - was a colourful assortment of beetroot, heirloom carrots and baby parsnips. Nestled in the middle was a perfectly wobbly, just-cooked egg (65/65 refers to the temperature - in degrees Celsius - and time - in minutes - the egg is cooked).

The cake selection was simply too good to pass up: A had a slice of the chocolate cake ($4), and I went for the simply named 'pudding' ($4). The chocolate cake was dense and rich; the pudding was sweet, eggy and embellished with figs (huzzah!).

Chatting to the ever-friendly Thibault Fregoni (aka Monsieur Truffe and the lovely Frenchman I met in 2007), he mentioned that chocolate production is yet to start but is imminent, and that the menu changes regularly - sometimes even daily - depending on what produce is available. Two excellent reasons to be back soon!

Tip: If possible, try to visit during the week when things are less busy as the staff are still finding their feet, and can be a tad absent-minded at times.

L'atelier de Monsieur Truffe
351 Lygon Street
East Brunswick
http://monsieurtruffe.wordpress.com/

Tank Restaurant, Brisbane.

It's a little ironic that my first restaurant post is neither in Melbourne, nor the kind of place that the average university student regularly haunts. However, the Tank dining experience is definitely one worth raving about, and provided a gentle but firm reminder that Brisbane's food scene is progressing nicely (for all the criticism it seems to shoulder). Following positive reviews from Gourmet Traveller and The Australian, there was no better excuse to visit than to celebrate my mum's birthday. (Said mother had no objections whatsoever.)

The food at Tank has a focus on Japanese ingredients and French cooking techniques, which sounds a little incongruous at first, but then kind of makes sense in an illogical way. My previous experience with this combination at Verge a few years ago still makes me a little weak at the knees, so the expectations were pretty high.

Starters included tea glazed walnuts and lotus root chips ($7) - the chips fell on the salty side, but perhaps were intended for a stronger companion than water.

Our entree selections were two in number: the grilled lambs tongue, sweetbreads, Jerusalem artichoke puree, pickles ($23) and the crisp and smoked duck, goats cheese, mandarin, seaweed and wasabi leaf ($24).

Although offal is a somewhat confronting idea to most people - self included - the tongue was deliciously tender and the sweetbreads (a great euphemism for the thymus or pancreas) had a lovely creamy texture. My sister, G, who has no qualms with offal, was a huge fan.  

For mains, we ordered the wild barramundi, tempura calamari, heirloom carrots, burnt carrot puree ($36) and the anise roasted kingfish, sake steamed clams, heart of palm salad ($35).

The star of the night however, was the lamb shoulder to share - 'cooked for a very long time' and served with shiso mint sauce and rosemary jus ($81). 

Q: How long is 'a very long time'?

A: Twelve hours at ninety degrees. (!) 

Some kind of magic must happen in those twelve hours: the meat fell cleanly from the bone with the lightest fork prod, and was juicy, melt in the mouth and incredibly tender. Unfortunately, the shoulder was carved before I could capture its pristine, untouched state, but you'll have to believe me when I say it was a truly a thing of beauty. The sides of green beans with a miso dressing and beer battered chips and mayonnaise were a lovely touch.

With the table cleared of mains, I fulfilled a long-held dream of mine: to address the waiter, dessert menu in hand, and say in an offhand tone, 'We'll have one of everything'. Okay, so I lie - I was far too excited (yes, I really am that nerdy with my dessert), but I think our waiter was just as enthusiastic.

From top to bottom: nashi pear cheesecake crumble, poached rhubarb, vanilla ice cream ($16); cup of 'green tea' - green tea custard with flecks of tea, a thin layer of green tea custard, green tea sorbet and served with sugar encrusted cubes of bread ($16); hot chocolate pudding, toasted sesame ice cream ($16); chocolate and kinako truffles ($6); and my favourite of the night, shochu roasted jumbo camerosa strawberries, crisp meringue, cardamom cream ($16). The cup of 'green tea' was texturally complex, but well executed, and the most subtle flavour-wise, while the kinako - soybean flour - provided a nutty, slightly salty contrast to the chocolate.

Tank is one of those places worth saving the pennies for when a special occasion comes around - the venue is edgy but inviting, the waiters friendly and knowledgeable and the food is elegant and thoughtful. A tip though, if (or more correctly, when) you order the lamb shoulder, keep in mind the serving size is generous - enough to make three people deliriously happy, excepting adolescent carnivores.

Tank Restaurant & Bar

North Quarter Lane, Ground Floor, Santos Place,
31 Tank Street

Brisbane, QLD

http://www.tankrestaurant.com.au/