Bistro Vue for the Birthday Boy.

Hello Readers,

If you're still out there, I'm back with an exciting blogpost today!

It was my boyfriend's birthday on the 18th and so to celebrate I decided to take him to Bistro Vue. I'd recently been there for a tea class and we both love french food so I thought it'd be great for him to try their food. Chef Chris was apparently very excited that we came back! 

We started off with half a dozen Garlic snails with a parsley crust and some oysters. The waitress remembered me from my tea class and she was SO helpful and clever. We were trying to decide which oysters to order, when she suggested to just have one of each!

So the oysters are Label Rouge, Clair de lune & Rusty Wire. I liked the Clair de lune.

Next was Foie Gras baked in Brioche and a Steak Tartare. The Foie Gras was of course, incredibly rich but delicious and the tartare was perfect. It was so tasty, you don't even notice that you're eating raw beef.

Whilst we were waiting for our mains, we were surprised by a complimentary mushroom risotto from Chef Chris, he's such a nice guy! Risotto's never look very appetizing in photos but if you could taste and smell it, you'd wish you had a gigantic bowl of it all to yourself! The flavour was so incredible! 

My boyfriend had the Rotisserie Pork for his main, whilst I had the Lamb rump, pipérade and pommes fondant.

After the mains we were getting pretty full but there's ALWAYS room for dessert. Especially when it's a Souffle au Chocolat with a gorgeous cup of green tea (of course). 

Just when we'd thought the surprises were over, the waitress brought us out this lovely plate! It was so nice and considerate of them to do such a thing for my boyfriend, I really appreciated the extra effort. 

We were one of the last ones to leave the restaurant so after the dinner service was over, Chef Chris came out to say Hi and chat for a bit. He introduced himself to my boyfriend and wished him a happy birthday. I couldn't thank him enough for his generosity that night! Absolutely wonderful, I must go back soon!

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Bistro Vue is a gorgeously decorated restaurant, it feels as if you've been transported to Paris after walking through their doors. The accordion music played by a lovely gentlemen in the background really adds to the Parisian atmosphere, you just can't help but feel like you're in a romantic french film. hehe

That's all for now, the next blog promises even more food porn!

Tea Cupping & Food

Hello Readers,

I'm really excited about today's blog so I'm not going to babble on but get straight to it.

On Saturday, I attended the first session of Bistro Vue's Tea Cupping classes. 

This session was focused on Green Tea and they're held by Charles Serveau, the Tea Sommelier who replaced Sarah at Vue de Monde. He was such a delightful teacher and his passion and enthusiasm for tea was inspiring. 

A truly educational and eye opening experience that was held in the beyond gorgeous function room of Bistro Vue, my friend couldn't help but admire the architecture. 

We tried so many different kinds of Green Tea, I felt like I was in heaven. So much precision and care needs to be taken but it's worth it to brew a perfect cup of tea.

The day couldn't have possibly gotten any better....but it did. Our class was followed by a wonderful 3 course lunch paired with matching teas whipped up by the head chef of Bistro Vue, Chris Bonello. Chris was really friendly, such an easy going guy.

Photo courtesy of Charles.

Our first course was Cured Kingfish with salt bush, wood sorrel, lemon oil, seaweed salt.

Second course was Confit Duck Leg with Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted carrots and beer pickled onions. It was incredible how well the teas matched with this dish.

Finally for dessert a Rum and Vanilla parfait with 8 spice, honey and a White chocolate mousse.

An unforgettable experienced....well worth the early morning wake up and a bargain at $70, in my opinion. I only wish I could afford to attend ALL the sessions.

To top my day off, both Chris and Charles follow me on twitter! I feel kinda star struck haha.

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Before I finish this blog I'll do a very brief review and add some last minute food porn.

If you want good pizza in a stylish restaurant setting with spirited and charming waiters, +39 is where it's at. It was The Age's pizzeria of the year and I now understand why.

We ordered 3 pizzas, which were all good but the Quattro Fromaggi was mind-blowing. A 4 cheese pizza that has a really intense flavour.

Dessert was a Nutella pizza with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. It's hard to believe but this was the first time one of my friends had tried Nutella...I was mortified but he'd only been in the country a couple months so I let it slide. hahaha

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Now as promised, the food porn.

House Cured Vodka and Beetroot Salmon with a Mandarin, beetroot salad.

Salt and Pepper dusted Squid with Watercress and Mandarin Segments.

Porcini Mushroom and Chicken Risotto.

Beef Burger on a Brioche Bun with beetroot, lettuce, tomato, tasty cheese, bacon.

the CRISPIEST potatoes ever made by my masterchef boyfriend.

Lamb chops and vegies by the boyfriend. Don't let this picture fool you, I ate seconds....or was it thirds?

That's all! Sorry for the long post....See you next blog.

Brunch date with Mum at Cafe Vue

Evening, readers!

I'm back with another tasty blog about my eating experiences.

As a late mother's day celebration, I took my mum out for a nice brunch at Cafe Vue 401 on St Kilda rd.

It was a quaint cafe with a cool interior and rather friendly staff.

We started out with tea and coffee. Cafe Vue have their own coffee called, 5 senses that is, according to my mum quite good. 

My mum and I had their Wagyu beef burger and house chips. Such an excellent burger, there's not that many ingredients in there but it's a simple burger with A LOT of flavour. 

My sister and her boyfriend both had this Wagyu beef pie. I had a taste and it was great! So delicious and hearty and I just love how they plated the mash as well.

We loved the food so much we decided to go for Round 2!

We ordered their "Melbourne Club Sandwich" It was a BLT, A chicken and watercress and a ham sandwich. My favourite was the ham sandwich, it was not your typical school lunch ham it looked gorgeous and the flavour was intense.

Finally, just before you thought we couldn't eat anymore food we had dessert. It was just a macaron each for me and my mum, whilst my sister had a Trio of Chocolate cake.

Unfortunately I have officially made my stance on Macarons....I really don't like them anymore. They're just toooooo sweet for me. However Cafe Vue do make excellent macarons though, they were probably one of the best I've ever had so if you're a macaron lover give these a try.

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So I've had a pretty big marathon day of eating today i'll just leave you with a couple more pictures of the food I've tucked into lately.

A friend of mine in my last Japanese class made some fairy bread to celebrate. It was so nostalgic, I haven't had fairy bread since I was in primary school!

A Wagyu beef hot dog from the Snag Stand at Melbourne Central. (just realised I've had a lot of Wagyu lately. haha)

Finally some spanish donuts from Mocha Jo's in Glen Waverley. I prefer my spanish donuts nice and crispy but these were okay. It's such a shame that strawberries aren't in season though.

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That's all! See you next blog. :)