Happy Bray Week!

What a wonderful week!

Mine and my darling husbands birthdays... A beautiful weekend, a surprisingly lovely birthday, and to finish it off a massage, facial and pedi on the way to meet Mark for our annual birthday dinner at Fifteen... Which was just divine, as expected...





Happy birthday desserts!





Surprise flowers from my darling, and also from my mothers group friends :) needless to say, with all the messages, texts, calls, gifts and lovely flowers, I felt really special on the big day!

Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne

Fifteen Restaurant Melbourne
http://www.fifteen.net/restaurants/fifteenmelbourne/Pages/default.aspx
Basement, 115-117 Collins St(Enter via George Pde)Melbourne, Victoria
Reservations:1300 799 415

It has become a bit of a tradition to come here for Marks birthday, for a few reasons... One is its nice to treat ourselves to a beautiful meal... Two, they do a lovely vegetarian option, and seeing as though Mark is a vegetarian that helps... Three, all profits go towards helping more young people get into the program...

A nice space, we were seated in the less cosy area this time, unfortunately the wood seats aren't comfortable enough for a two hour meal, they really should keep this seating for the express customers and give the more comfy seats to those eating the 6 course degustation menu...The service is always spectacular, it hasn't yet disappointed... Strangely they have changed the pricing structure so that the vegetarians price is the same as the meat eaters price which seems a bit rich to me, but more profits for the kids I guess?!? The cheese board went from being full the first time, to 5 or so cheeses last time down to one cheese this time... It does make sense as I'm sure everyone is always too full to eat it, but its a noticeable drop in cheese there!

Overall I did enjoy my meal and I am assured that Mark enjoyed his, though I was a little disappointed in a couple of the courses, we will be back next year!


Starter:
Cheese rice and tomato in a batter covered in salt with aioli - one of the best parts of the meal!!!



1st course vegetarian option:
Bread salad - there wasn't a vegetarian option on the menu for this course, we thought it might have been a bit of an afterthought...



1st course meat option:
Porchetta ‘di testa’ with Fifteens pickled vegetables
This was probably my least favourite course, not hot on uncooked meats...


2nd course:
Ribollita: a thick Tuscan bread soup with cavalo nero, cannellini beans and lashings of Oliveria's Fifteen olive oil

This was a hearty soup, but it lacked seasoning and really felt like something I could easily whip up at home...




3rd course vegetarian option:
Rotolo of baby spinach, baked ricotta, sliced mushrooms, marjoram and lemon with nutty brown butter, crispy sage and Parmigiano Reggiano





3rd Course meat option:
Tagliatelle with a rich beef shin ragout, rosemary and orange gremolata and Parmigiano Reggiano
The tagliatelle was lovely, the star of the show was the beef which melted in my mouth...



4th course meat option:
Slow roasted, crispy Berkshire pork belly with oozy parmesan polenta, jus and salsa verdi
This was by far the most outstanding pork belly I have ever had, not too fatty, the pork tore away and melted in my mouth, the crackle was perfect, the polenta complimented it all, just freaking divine!!!



4th course vegetarian option:
‘Torte di verdure mista’: ricotta and mixed seasonal vegetables in a rustic pastry case with crème fraiche and pangrattato




Orange sorbet to refresh the palate before dessert



5th course:
Orange and vanilla frangipani tart with mascarpone
On its own the tar was lovely, a little heavy but with the mascarpone it lightened it up, a delightful dessert!



6th course:
Goats cheese and fig chutney
It was supposed to be farmhouse cheddar but they were out of it
I was far too full to try this but Mark said that the strong cheese was good...

Fifteen Melbourne

Fifteen Melbourne
Basement,
115 – 117 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000(Enter through George Parade)
www.fifteen.net
Telephone : 1300 799 415
International : +61 (0) 386 486 000

We have been to this restaurant before, when it first opened... The food was fantastic, though it was very dark and at times hard to see... We thought that we would go back again for Marks birthday and have another round of the degustation menu - awesome that they have a meat and vegetarian option... The slow roasted lamb the first time was the meat highlight of the year for me, unfortunately that wasnt being served this time...

The food was pretty good, not as great as the first time, but the lighting was better, and the service impeccable... Our waiter - Dan - was extremely helpful on the pregnancy front making sure that I could eat everything on the menu, and changing dishes accordingly...

Appetiser: Zucchini flowers with mint and ricotta in tempura batter
A yummy start, I think that it was Marks favourite

Vegetarian 1st course - we both had this: bruschetta with a creamy cheese and broadbean mash and peas

This was divine!

Vegetarian Course 2: Minestrone

Mark said that this was average, a bit bland

Non vegetarian Course 2: tuna carpaccio with quails egg and salad

Another great course, the tuna and the egg went surprisingly well together

Vegetarian course 3 we both had this: ricotta, mushroom, sage, marjoram wrapped in light pasta sprinkled with parmesan

This was amazing, the perfect amount, too much could get a bit rich

Vegetarian course 4: oozy polenta, roasted pumpkin, cavalo nero, poached free range egg, parmesan and micro herbs

Mark said that this was good

Non vegetarian Course 4: John Dory in a butter herby sauce

Good fish, great sauce!

Palatte cleanser: watermelon sorbet

Dessert course 5: Chocolate tart

This was too rich, neither of us could finish it

Cheese board course 6
We only barely touched this, after 2.5 hours with the flu we were both ready to go, and full up on the prior yummy dishes...