Part 1 of my extended vacation is a 4 day trip to Melbourne. This was my first time visiting the city post-pandemic.
And a lot has changed.
For one, a number of the places that I liked during earlier trips are no longer in business. *cue sad music for Hotel Lindrum*
At the same time, there are couple of places that have opened up since I was last there.
Here are some of the (foodie) highlights from my Melbourne trip:

Monday’s lunch was at Cumulus Inc. Melbourne holiday tradition requires a day 1 lunch at Sake Hamer Hall, but I couldn’t get a booking. Booking issues aside, it was nice to see that the tuna tartare is still on the menu. It’s still as good as the last time I had it.

I skipped dessert at Cumulus because I wanted to make a pit stop at JOY Cupcakes. It was on my bucket list for this trip and it didn’t disappoint. The base was just the right amount of squishy and the icing was soft and pillowy. I demolished mine as a sort of cupcake ‘sandiwch’. I.e. split the cupcake, take the bottom half and put it on top of the icing so that it forms a sandwich. I think I like JOY Cupcakes a bit more than Little Cupcakes – with the pillowy icing and all.

Day 1 dinner was had at Rockpool Bar & Grill inside Melbourne’s Crown Casino complex. And yes, I did order the filet steak. Was it good? Yes. Would I order it again on a future visit? Maybe. It was easily one of the pricier steaks that I’ve had, at $72 per steak. So it’s something that I’d order if it was a really special ocassion.

Day 2 dinner saw me going to Sake. Out of all of the dishes that I ordered on Tuesday, the salmon nigiri is a perennial favourite. Fish + rice + schmear of wasabi = perfection. I will admit here and now that the one ‘food sin’ that I’ve comitted repeatedly is to mix my wasabi into my soy sauce. Allegedly, if you’re craving a more fiery bite, you’re supposed to either ask the sushi chef to put a more generous schmear of wasabi to the nigiri or else put that schmear on yourself (on top of the fish). Just don’t mix the soy sauce with the wasabi that’s provided.

Day 3 dinner saw me tick off a long service leave bucket list item: try caviar. Yours truly started dinner in the bougiest way possible.
Verdict? The caviar itself was ok, as were the crisps and waffles. The only thing I didn’t get was the potato rosti. It felt a bit odd to have something that was that level of hot act as the base to what would otherwise be a really decadent moutful.
The only other thing I didn’t like from Society was the duck. I’ve had better. The skin wasn’t as crispy as I’ve come to expect.
Until next time,
Anna