Coffee @ 30 Mill Espresso

30 Mill Espresso opened in November and is located in a prime position just opposite Tooronga Station - happily for train goers it opens at 6.30am. It gets its name from the volume of coffee found in an espresso - 30 mls.

Lunch @ Mr Foxx

You might know Mr Foxx under its previous name - Corner Place, a brand new cafe on Malvern road that opened around the beginning of this year. There's been a change of ownership and name and we thought we'd pop in for a late lunch.

Dinner @ Livingroom Restaurant

It's been a while since we've tried a new restaurant so tonight we head off to visit Livingroom Restaurant and Café. It's located on the corner near Malvern train station in what used to be 4 Victorian shops. The tables are an eclectic mix of antiques of all periods, shapes and sizes.



The dinner menu is divided into small plates to share and larger main course sized offerings.

We decide to start with the Livingroom Plate Selection ($45) - that is a chef's selection of small dishes


Quite a generous offering.


Left front: Labne balls marinated in preserved lemon, oregano and chilli
Left rear: Grilled Bread
Right rear: Fried Manchego Cheese with Pedro Ximinez dipping sauce (right front)



Left rear: Five spice chilli squid with nam pla dipping sauce
Left front: Mushrooms roasted with garlic and fino sherry
Right rear: Salt Cod Croquetas with Lemon Aioli (right front)

Of these items, the five spice chilli appeared on the surface, to be the odd one out but surprisingly, its flavours fitted in perfectly with the rest of the dishes. The huge bowl of mushrooms were incredibly tasty but way too many for us to finish. The croquetas had a lovely moist interior while the fried manchego was deliriously addictive - how does anyone resist melting cheese?

For mains:


Pot roasted free-range Chicken with Kipfler potato, prunes, bacon, green peas and rosemary

Beautifully cooked and presented, thick cut lardons of bacon mixed with sweet green peas and prunes.


Special of the Day: Venison Pie with sautéed spinach and parsnip puree

As a side, we ordered


roasted kipfler potatoes with garlic and rosemary



Orange Blossom Pannacotta with berries



Crème Brulee

This is the type of place that I imagine come weekends at breakfast and lunch would be absolutely packed. There's a lovely quirky atmosphere and good food too.


The details:

Livingroom Restaurant and Cafe
12-18 Claremont Avenue, Malvern

Phone: 03 9576 0356

Open:
Tuesday: 6pm - 11pm
Wednesday - Saturday: 8am - 11pm
Sunday: 8am - 4pm

www.lroom.com.au

Dinner @ Maris

It's hard for me not to think of Frasier when dining at Maris but once you eliminate that connection, you'll find yourself in a rather compact restaurant located in the less salubrious end of Glenferrie road.

Paalo wasn't too impressed with the bread chicken but the bread itself was excellent as was the olive dip served alongside. The wine we selected was a 2004 Monte Antico, a sangiovese blend from Tuscany.

For starters



Paalo had the grilled tongue served with a slow cooked egg, salted caramel, cauliflower puree. This was a dish that certainly had us reminiscing about Fenix.



I had the quail dumplings with almond cream and flaked almonds - it may not be very photogenic but it certainly was tasty. At the base of the dish is a surprise of spherisized stock.

For mains:



I had the beef fillet - cooked rare served with sauteed mushrooms, egg and cabbage. One of the more perfectly pieces of beef I've had - wonderfully tender with excellent flavour.

Paalo had the suckling pig with smoked beetroot and apple cubes -the pork was tender, the crackling appropriately crunchy. The smoked beetroot were particularly good.

Just because we can - we try the cheese platter



4 cheeses served with an excellent assortment of breads and crackers.

We probably didn't need dessert and on second thoughts, one would have been more than enough for the two of us



Left: Mango Meringue with Sheep Milk Ice cream
Right: Panna Cotta with stewed fruits, crostoli and almond biscotti

The details:
Maris
15 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
Phone: 9500 0665

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday