Melbourne's bargain foodie: July 2010

Sunday, 4 July 2010

Cumulus Inc.

The meal at Cumulus inc. was easily one of my enjoyable meal in recent times, I left there a very satisfied man.

Let me take you through it. I went there for late lunch (2+ in the afternoon), place was packed, tables were all taken, only seats available were two seats at the bar.

2 kinds of Bread (Wholemeal and white) were served. Definitely not your average bread, set the tone for the meal. Firstly, crispy school prawns sautéed with chilli and garlic. The best of both worlds, you get the sweetness of the prawns, and the crispness of the shell. Have it whole, with a twist of lemon and you are in heaven.

Crispy school prawns sautéed with chilli and garlic-$14

Next up Kitchen Charcuterie selection, wagyu bresoala, prociutto, salami and pressed chicken terrine. Recently I've been a sucker for charcuterie plates, so I enjoyed everything. If I had to choose my favourite, I would go for the Wagyu Bresoala, for very obvious reasons.

Kitchen Charcuterie selection-$24

For mains, we had the Crumbed pig tails and buttered snails, a dish as beautiful as it sounds. Been wanting to try some pig's tail since Fergus Henderson crumbed up some pig tail's on Masterchef. The version at Cumulus's is less rustic, the pig's tail here is beautifully crumbed (with Japanese Panko), what you get is unctuous pork fillings and crisp coating, it was simply amazing. The buttered snails on the side, was beautifully cooked, juicy and flavourful, it was flawless.

Mustard Crumbed Pig's Tails with buttered snails, pickled shallots and watercress-$21

To accompany the dish a salad that was out of this world, the perfect complement to the oily, buttery main of pig's tail. This fresh, zingy and textural salad was a real surprise, it was like having a refreshing, light risotto. Terrific!

Cracked Wheat, freekah salad, preserved lemon and barberries-$11

To cap it off, a very well though out dessert. Again Andrew McConnell, has weaved his magic, a dessert that have everything, colour, texture, good contrasting flavours. The combination, of the heat from the ginger granita, and bitter sweet ruby grapefruit (fresh and jelly) is really beautiful. The Vanilla Ice cream adds decadence, all in all a great restaurant style dessert.