~ Curious Charlie ~

Degustation Tuesdays @ The Beach @ Tuesday, April 09, 2013

On (last) Tuesday evening Freud & I went to 'The Beach' for dinner. A great location in summer, but perhaps not during winter, being by the sea. To get to the location take Tram no.1 to South Melbourne Beach, feel free to take a nap, as it's the last stop. ;)

It's a restaurant & pub, but a nice one, great for any occasion - except dinner with the in-laws perhaps. You might want to go somewhere with more atmosphere on a weeknight for that.

Degustation Menu 25.00

The Beach has been offering a degustation menu on Tuesdays since January, and I've always wanted to go, except classes got in the way, every week. What is a 'degustation menu' you ask? It's a sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishes in one sitting, like tapas sort of. At 'The Beach' it's only offered on Tuesday nights, and it's limited through not as limited as LuxBite's Events. Best to make a booking, just in case.

The menu is released through their fb page during the afternoon on the same day. It's 8 courses, including a small dessert. From a little bit of analyzing we have found there's a high chance of these dishes: Bruschetta, Saganaki, Something pasta, Eye Fillet and the presence of pork/prosciutto in some form.

Custom Pinkberry Mocktail 8.00

I don't know what this is exactly, other than a sort of fruit juice, there's definitely apple juice in there and perhaps some cranberry. At the bottom there's mixed berries, of the frozen variety, raspberries & cranberries. After ordering this by description only, Freud said he felt sorry for the waitress XD, I'm not trying to make her life difficult, it's just that I've had this drink before at 'The Beach' and quite liked it. Later her shift ended and we had the waitress we had last time :), the one who knows about the drink. Oh and Freud ordered a Lemon Lime Bitter 4.00.

Bruschetta

Tomato, basil & buffalo mozzarella

Picture of the week! Love the natural lighting. Through the course of dinner you'll notice the change in lighting. Next time I'll use the tripod, which was in my bag at the time interestingly. Low lighting is not my thing, nor is holding the camera still for a second. :P

The bread was nice, warm & fresh. Memories of the smell of bread baking and bakeries. Everyday I try to do something different, that Tuesday I ate the tomato. I survived! This is amazing because I don't like fresh tomatoes, only semi-sun dried. Freud on the other hand pushed his tomatoes to the side of the plate.

Grazing Plate of Prosciutto, Olives & Roasted Peppers

Saganaki - Grilled Kefalograviera Cheese with Kalamata Olives

Interestingly the olives are mentioned twice, though I did eat Freud's olives while he ate my prosciutto (I don't eat pork/ham/etc). The peppers were gross (in our opinion) but I actually tried it, while he wouldn't touch it. We're both picky eaters, though he's the pickier. I found saganaki fascinating as I've never had it before. It's basically grilled cheese but quite salty. Reminds me of hot chips (not the same thing as french fries). I like it. And so did Freud, who said his uncle (a chef) made plates of them at the last family gathering. He liked it much more than I did.

Pumpkin Panacotta with Paramasen Cheese

Freud asks what's panacotta? To me it's a dessert, creamy, but jelly like in a way. Cream jello/jelly? I love pumpkin, and I do believe it's an American thing, there's always a vast variety of food that has pumpkin in it during the fall (autumn) which it is now. A seasonal veggie. The paramasen made the flavour of the panacotta quite intense, paired with a slice of garlic bread it was lovely. Though on its own it's too strong. Served as a dip it would be very nice. I liked this dish more than Freud.

Palette Cleanser - Lemon Sorbet

Half way through, the lighting has changed from natural to warm. I like sorbet though have always seen as it as a diet dessert, as whenever we have it it's always on the icy side. Not this time, it was nice & creamy. :) Oh and it's smaller than it looks - but it's not meant to be dessert. :P

Linguine with braised duck, ~~prosciutto~~, leek and cream

This was the dish I was slightly thingy about, as when I asked for it to be served without the prosciutto we were told that it had already been made, and mixed in. Luckily for me my serving only had three pieces of prosciutto sitting on top, as if to serve a decorative purpose. Meanwhile on the other side Freud had lots of it, thoroughly mixed in. I loved this dish, and it was the perfect serving size too. As it would have been too much with the creamy sauce. I love duck. Freud's something new this week was trying duck. No comments were made, so I gather he enjoyed it.

Eye Fillet with Baked Chat Potato

Freud's favourite dish of the night. Am I the only one who thinks they look both like potatoes in the picture? I love eye fillet but unfortunately don't get to cook it much (consider the price and risk of me stuffing up), it was served with tangy light bbq sauce and a potato drizzled with a creamy buttery (more butter than cream) sauce.

Chocolate Truffles with Strawberries

Solid balls of dark chocolate, rolled in crushed peanuts. Served with strawberries & strawberry sauce. I found the truffles a bit more dry than moist, but they were better if you have it with the sauce. Like, but didn't particularly love it, as it's one of those few things I could and have made myself at home. While I like truffles I see them more as a party food rather than dessert, I prefer tarts or something different for dessert.

Overall we had a great time, and all the food was great. I liked everything, and Freud liked most of the components of each dish. We would recommend you try out the degustation menu, though not if you're a vegetarian. ;) I personally would say it's good value and a great way to try the best of 'The Beach''s offerings. And the service is always good. We'll be back in a few weeks to try out their Wednesday Specials. :)

If you're wondering how long we were there for the lighting to vary from natural to warm indoor lighting, we were there for 2.5hrs, though we weren't in a rush and there was lots of conversations, as Freud & I lead very different lifestyles that never intertwine.

P.S. If you like them on fb you get a free drink.

Krissy said... on April 9, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Wow this looks cool! I always see the word "degustation" floating around on restaurant websites but never really knew what it was. I like the small serving sizes... seems really good!

Thanks yet again for another restaurant rec! :)