MELBOURNE: Ten Minutes by Tractor

I lied. This restaurant is actually not in Melbourne itself. But close. It's actually in Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne, about 1 hour drive.
I don't exactly know what's there to do in mornington peninsula. We only had 2 objective - Lunch at this restaurant and have a soak at the peninsula hotsprings.
Perhaps you can leave me some suggestions? :D

Ten minutes by tractor's menus are seasonal, with an emphasis on fresh produce, sourced locally. They have their own gardens of heirloom vegetables, herbs and edible flowers and the chef has his own secret foraging spots where he harvests more plants!

Here's me in the herb garden

Ten minutes by tractor is not only a restaurant, it is also a vineyard ! oh I LOVE dining at vineyards, I feel that they always serve really good quality food. 

And because they're also a vineyard, you're just surrounded by beautiful grapevines and what not. 

This restaurant serve both ala carte as well as degustation menu.
We always go for the degustation menu ( 8 course - $155, 5 course - $125)

ALWAYS GO FOR THE 8 COURSE !

I love window seats :D

We were served by this very nice service staff + sommelier Poitre ( who is now my friend on instagram )

 Very good restaurant, highly recommend if you're in the area !
But please prepare 3 hours for the 8 course menu.

Ten minutes by tractor
1333 Mornington Flinders Road
Main Ridge, Victoria
Reservations

MELBOURNE: Estelle by Scott Pickett

Nick's sister in law has been raving and raving about this restaurant. In fact, she claimed it was better than Vue de Monde. HUGE CALL WOAH. So we just had to, had to make a booking. 

Estelle is not the most convenient restaurant to get to. We were lucky because we drove to Melbourne hence we didn't have to try and catch a public transport. However, the traffic here was so bad! We stayed in this nice airbnb in the CBD, it's supposedly only a 20 minute drive but it took us more than an hour because the traffic just wouldn't budge! Tsk, another reason why I like Adelaide, traffic is so much easier ! I'm the kind who gets pissed at seeing 40km/h speed limit at roadworks, so imagine how I felt when we had to go <20km/hr because of the traffic :/

Dinner was $160 per person. 

Starters

Started off with some snacks -

1) quail egg, pickled nasturtium

2 ) smoked wallaby and black rice 

3) wagyu, raddish, bone marrow

 4) peas, broadbeans & buttermilk

Largers

Sweat bread.

kill me now, i don't ever eat innards. But was a delightful dish.

Asparagus with smoked eel

Diamond clam and white truffle

Rockling, cod roe and saltbush

Kohlrabi, fennel, majoram

Duck

Desserts

Strawberry, violet, basil

Apple, marshmellow, shiraz

Blueberries, yoghurt & leatherwood honey

This meal was sooooo good ! Nick says that this is his favourite place, and I don't deny! I t was really so delightful. I don't think I can say its better than Vue de Monde just going by the food alone, but if we were to bring in the price factor....... This is heaps easier on the wallet.

ESP

245 High Street

Northcorte, Victoria

Dinner: Tues to Sat

Click for reservation

MELBOURNE: Vue de Monde

Our second time in Vue de Monde. Previously, because we were poor students, we could only afford the lunch menu. This time, we brought our secret weapon, PARENTS :D

Vue from the top ( hehehehhee so pun-y)

Vue de Monde reminds me heaps of Orana and Hentley Farm, both amazing restaurants, in Adelaide. I guess fancy restaurants all stick to a certain pattern. I kid you not! I remember when a fancy restaurant start serving kohlrabi, every other fancy restaurants somehow found a way to incoporate kohlrabi into their menu

Vue de Monde
Rialto Towers, 525 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
$275per pax (food only)

MELBOURNE: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

I remember when Heston made the announcement of opening a restaurant in Crowne, and they were doing this lucky pick reservation thing whereby you register your name and email and if you're lucky to be picked, you get to be the first to dine and have your meal prepared by Heston, I made multiple registrations. 

Unfortunately, I was never really lucky when it comes to lucky draws.

So I had to wait until the hype died down, cleared my schedule, before I managed to finally have dinner Heston's. 

Grilled octopus ($38)

The thing about Nick and I is that I LOVE octopus, and Nick LOVES squid. Hence, whenever we have either on the menu, we definitely have to get it. In the event whereby there's both on the menu, we fight and see who gets to pick what they want. Usually I win :D

 You have never been to Heston unless you order their meatfruit. I'm not a fan of chicken liver, but this. YUM.

Chicken ($58)

Usually I never order chicken when I dine in a restaurant because I prefer to have better meat. However, Nick was saying that if Heston offers chicken, you definitely need to take it because it's going to be a really good chicken

Um, well, yeah its chicken. I think I should stick to my guns and never order chicken. But Nick said he liked the chicken :/

And for $58, THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN ME A WHOLE CHICKEN.

Snapper ($58)

And of course, definitely definitely can't miss having tipsy cake ($32) for dessert !

Crown Towers, Level 3
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank Victoria 3006

Friday to Sunday

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  12:00pm - 2:30pm
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  Monday - Thursday
  

  5:30pm - 10:00pm
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  Friday - Sunday
  

  5:30pm - 11:00pm