Annie pulled a miracle and secured a Friday night reservation at the number #1 restaurant in Australia, Vue de Monde, for our engagement 😏 This restaurant has been on our to-try list for years and after hearing so many amazing reviews from pre-Covid times, we were hungry for this extravagant feast.
The set menu was $350 per person. We dined on 23rd June 2023.
The set menu was $350 per person. We dined on 23rd June 2023.
The restaurant is located on the 55th floor of the Rialto Tower. When we entered, we had to wait for the Front-of-House in the lobby to give us the all clear to enter the elevators. Once we were in the sky, we were greeted by another Front-of-House who took our coats, and then we were guided down their impressive wine collection entrance before settling in to our seats. The entire system was smooth and efficient, and also a subtle flex on Vue De Monde’s part 😏.
Entrée
We started off at the number one best restaurant in Australia with a jerusulum artichoke with sunflower seeds. This was a crispy bite that was sweet and light with a good balance of salt. It felt like a healthy – or should I say clean – bite of potato, without the starch.
Our next dish was a pickled pumpkin with saffron and Tasmanian sea urchin. This was a savory bite filled with refined flavours of pumpkin. It tasted “healthy” underneath 😝. The urchin was creamy. I could taste it had be cleaned thoroughly with water but it wasn’t as creamy or salted as Japanese urchin. There was also seaweed and vermicelli noodles in the bite. The pickled saffron added a touch of acidity.
Next was a visually-bougie dish, although simple in gastronomy; a Sydney rock oyster with Parmesan cheese and wasabi. The nice appeal was that this was fresh wasabi shaved down from the root, doused in nitrogen ice to give it a snow cone-like texture. The oyster was plump for its standard, and creamy. It tasted delicious and refreshing, as the salt from the Parmesan was so airy-like in texture.
Ok Vue de Monde, you’re starting to impress us now. This next dish was a caviar and cucumber bowl, with dashi and tofu. We are a sucker for f-a-n-c-y. We were easily swayed by the generous serving of Serbian fish roe – although considering the price range, we expected nothing less – and it was indeed fresh, salted and delicious. The tofu was what surprised us. It had a nutty taste, which we learned after a second rehearsal from the server was from the infusion of macadamia. The tofu also has its expected smooth and silky texture, complemented by the umami (dashi) and refreshing cucumber balls.
The wait time at this point was bearable and almost unnoticeable but looking back hindsight, it was a tad slow.
The wait time at this point was bearable and almost unnoticeable but looking back hindsight, it was a tad slow.
The next dish was a full show. The server brought out a trolley with rustic tools to deliver a visual presentation of bread, cooked freshly on Japanese white oak tree on high temperatures. The smell was drawing and aromatic. The bread they served (soz, didn’t catch the full name) was similar to Doha. It had a complex taste, filled with unique seeds.
But the butter, yoooo, it was good. This was creamy butter inoculated with blue cheese so it had the creaminess and pungency of blue cheese. In otherwise, punches you in the face with flavour and we loved it.
But the butter, yoooo, it was good. This was creamy butter inoculated with blue cheese so it had the creaminess and pungency of blue cheese. In otherwise, punches you in the face with flavour and we loved it.
Main Course
In hindsight, the wait for this next dish was quite long.
This next dish was a coconut and cauliflower puree with marron. I didn’t get to take a photo of the crustacean on its own before the curry was poured in. The curry sauce was very salty, like almost unbearable to finish. But looking past the sodium, it had lemon grass and cumin flavour. The marron was sweet and tender, and much needed to balance out the salty curry, but unfortunately it felt like a waste eating this beautiful seafood for the sake of easing our palates.
This next dish was a coconut and cauliflower puree with marron. I didn’t get to take a photo of the crustacean on its own before the curry was poured in. The curry sauce was very salty, like almost unbearable to finish. But looking past the sodium, it had lemon grass and cumin flavour. The marron was sweet and tender, and much needed to balance out the salty curry, but unfortunately it felt like a waste eating this beautiful seafood for the sake of easing our palates.
We had a very interesting palate cleanser, and a first experience for us. They brought out a pastel and mortar of sorts so we could crush the flowers and herbs (anise seed) on the spot for our dry ice and apple sorbet. It was a fun dish, and tasted refreshing.
The wait for the mains was slightly long and felt uncomfortable, enough for us to notice despite being deep in conversation.
The wait for the mains was slightly long and felt uncomfortable, enough for us to notice despite being deep in conversation.
The first main was a braised kangaroo tail with leek and unknown vegetable (soz the convo was good and I have bad hearing! 😔). The meat portion was very small, hidden underneath a pile of kale, lettuce and cabbage. And unfortunately tasted very salty. Even though there was barely any dressing on the vegetables, it was still not enough to balance the salt in the meat. Looking past it, the kangaroo was savoury — just hella salty.
And again, the wait time was increasingly longer. As nice as the restaurant was, we were starting to question if it was worth the price point by now.
Our second and final main dish was a caramelized Black more David Wagyu with mushrooms, garlic, capers and truffle bisque. The meat had been grilled nicely on a hapachi grill, giving it a smokey flavour profile. It was also juicy and tender, with an addicting caramelized outer coating. The accompaniments were all natural options to go with the beef, and elevated the meat wonderfully. This was the only dish we thought that wasn’t too salty, and done just right.
Our second and final main dish was a caramelized Black more David Wagyu with mushrooms, garlic, capers and truffle bisque. The meat had been grilled nicely on a hapachi grill, giving it a smokey flavour profile. It was also juicy and tender, with an addicting caramelized outer coating. The accompaniments were all natural options to go with the beef, and elevated the meat wonderfully. This was the only dish we thought that wasn’t too salty, and done just right.
The cheese and crackers appeared magnificent, with an extravagant trolley rolled out with a charismatic server showing us our selection of cheese. We picked 5 (one was goat, can you believe Mick tasted it 😱😂), and was served wattleseed cracker and quince with it.
The option for lactose intolerance people was a beetroot dish in 3 forms and a blueberry sorbet. It was underwhelming, only because beetroot is such a hit or miss ingredient as a dessert, and the blueberry was straightforward.
The option for lactose intolerance people was a beetroot dish in 3 forms and a blueberry sorbet. It was underwhelming, only because beetroot is such a hit or miss ingredient as a dessert, and the blueberry was straightforward.
There was a very long wait time here, before a server came by and asked us if we wanted a tour of the kitchen. The other patrons were offered this too.
It was a solid 10-15 minute guide, with an opportunity to take photos with the chef’s (although this option was very awkward because everyone had to stop cooking for the photo — ahhhh, the Wagyu!!). We also got a beautiful glimpse of the Melbourne skyline and the most impressive souffle station, where young – let’s call him Kev – was whipping out hundreds of soufflé…..
It was a solid 10-15 minute guide, with an opportunity to take photos with the chef’s (although this option was very awkward because everyone had to stop cooking for the photo — ahhhh, the Wagyu!!). We also got a beautiful glimpse of the Melbourne skyline and the most impressive souffle station, where young – let’s call him Kev – was whipping out hundreds of soufflé…..
The started their coffee and tea rounds here so I helped myself to a nice cappuccino. This was an additional $8.
Our main dessert was SOO GOOD. All four of ours were exactly the same and that’s soooo impressive when you really think about how hard this dessert is to create, especially on mass scale. This was a chocolate soufflé with billy ice cream. It was perfect! ✨ Delicious with the right amount of sweetness and richness, balanced by the cold soothing touch of the ice-cream. We voted it best dish of the night.
We ended the set menu with the petit fours. We were served a gumnut and a lamington; both were delicious in its own true aspect. We just didn’t like the gumnut because 1) it was out first experience of one and 2) it was not our kind of dessert.
Drinks
The cocktails were good, with some visual aspects. We didn’t have too many though, because we were conscious of costs.
Service
The service was great, but we expected nothing less from the number 1 rated restaurant in Australia. Everyone placed our dishes and utensils down in unison, everything was removed promptly, and items were aligned and adjusted throughout the night. There was absolutely no fault in the service.
Review
Overall we had higher hopes for Vue de monde (VDM), only because they’ve held the championship title for so long. The gastronomy was there, the flavours were there, but the wait time, number of dishes and the SALT threw us off. There was not a lot of dishes for this “fine dining”course, considering other places do 2-3 mains or 2-3 desserts for a fraction of the price.
We still had a lovely time and in retrospect, it still rated higher than some of the other $$$ restaurants we’ve been to but when reviewing VDM against itself, this dining experience felt hollow.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!! 🫶🏻
We still had a lovely time and in retrospect, it still rated higher than some of the other $$$ restaurants we’ve been to but when reviewing VDM against itself, this dining experience felt hollow.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!! 🫶🏻
