Vue de monde — Restaurant in Melbourne

MY FAVE FINE DINING HANDS DOWN! read on for a long review of each of our dishes below:

smoked damper (bread) 🍞 just look at those gorgeous char lines 😍 i can't even begin to describe the wonderful smell this bread emanated throughout the entire room as the hibachi grill softened and molded it to perfection... just drooling at how good this bread was, we even asked for seconds which they were more than happy to provide 😅

oyster & macadamia tofu this is the dish that started us off actually but i was too excited for the bread 😂 the shaved macadamia on top was so soft and essentially melted away! so interesting and unique! and the oyster itself was so fresh and creamy, paired beautifully with the macadamia 🦪

blue mussel w caviar im not the biggest fan of mussels but i LOVED this, the mussel was creamy and soaked in a wonderfully crisp marinade! i also loved the presentation utilising the empty mussel shells, so unique and non wasteful! 🤍

Davidson Plum roll-up oh man this brought back school day memories! just tearing through that sticky, stretchy roll up with my teeth, enjoying the sweet and sour flavour of the plum ❤ so so good

avocado w lemon aspen + ginger this was such a pretty start to our main courses, the chefs told us they use slightly unripended avos which are more firm and hold the rolled shape! 🥑 thought that was really interesting 😅 loved the softer avo mixed with ginger underneath, altogether a super refreshing dish

@blackmorewagyu w bbq greens these guys are the only wagyu providers in Australia to actually sell wagyu meat back to Japan 😂 this was cooked to melty perfection, and i loved cracking into the crunchy pomme souffle 🥄 also hidden inside the greens were some ridiculously tender beef cheeks! such a nice lil surprise 🥩

WA marron curry I WANT 10 MORE OF THIS MARRON DISH PLS the curry was so rich, decadent, and had a hint of spice to really drive home the warmth that this dish provides. marron was fall apart tender, and the best part? we got to use our bread to mop up the leftover curry 🤤

pine mushroom w smoked eel see that white froth on top? that was smoked eel 😏 salty, funky goodness mixed with the earthiness of the mushroom, a match made in heaven 🍄

Australian cheese trolley when you first walk into the @vuedemonde dining room, i passed this trolley of cheese and salivated sadly as we walked by it, thinking how bad i wanted to try some. little did i know, it was already part of the menu! 🧀 we got to try 5 unique cheeses; the blue and goats cheese aren't to my taste but the bries, cheddar, and gouda were stunning matched with the thin crackers, and a caramelised onion bun! 🧅 such a great way to end the mains!

choc souffle w tea ice cream this is the one menu item that Shannon Bennett has refused to give up, its been on the menu for the entire 21 years! and for damn good reason, the souffle was so soft and airy, literally felt like eating chocolate clouds 🌥 the choc flavour was rich and melty as the cold tea ice cream sunk through the top, and all these wonderfully warm flavours melded together 🍫

lemon verbena & sorrel sorbet we were given a plate of colourful leaves and petals, and told to crush them up as they poured liquid nitrogen over the top! crispy from the nitrogen, we used a pestle to crush into a fine powder 🌼 a quenelle of sorbet was placed on top, and together created a sweetly sour refresher!

rockmelon w lime zest the rockmelon sorbet was sweet and rejuvenating, loved the presentation utilising the leftover rinds as well! 🍈

centrepiece treats did you notice the lil centrepiece in the previous pics? they ended up sneaking it away and replaced it with an edible one at the end for our petit fours! so creative and unique!! 💛 the lamington was soft and had a great raspberry burst inside, the passionfruit balls were a pop of citrus, and the gumnuts were a hit of black sesame flavour!

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We started off with a warm welcome from the team. Great attentive and very friendly.

Upon seating down, we were approached with a trolley/shelf of wines etc. and we kindly declined. Within less than a minute, another staff, more senior looking, swing pass with the drinks menu and asked once again if we'd like some drinks. At this point it felt pushy and I get it, drinks are very high margins for restaurants. But please just stop.

We started off with the Chilled radish broth. If I did not overhear the staff from the table next to us say we're suppose to eat the radish by dipping into the broth, we would've thought it was just garnish because the waiter/chef didn't tell us so. Otherwise, great start, very refreshing.

Avocado, borage, finger lime tart — very odd flavour combination. It wasn’t very easily palatable.

Macadamia, caviar, kelp — this dish looked so stunning. I really looked forward to eating it but it ended up wayyy too salty and rich that it wasn’t even enjoyable. Had to order some toast to go with it which was grilled in more oil when we clearly said the dish itself was way too salty and rich.

Heritage wheat damper, cultured butter — grilled right in front of us served warm. However it was so so dry, and tasteless. Even the cultured butter which was pretty tasteless as well, couldn’t lift it up. We left it unfinished. The sourdough toast we asked for earlier tasted so much better

Chocolate soufflé with billy tea ice cream — said it was dark chocolate but it was too sweet. But I also agree that this is a very subjective comment

Matilda biscuit & Peppermint gum slice — Basic. We didn’t even finish it

THE BEST DISH was the Trolly of Australian Cheese, which wasn't even made in house. We had a second serve of cheese as the other dishes left us unsatisfied other than the lobster bisque, radish broth, and everything else not mentioned above actually taste good. Just good, not great or amazing. Nothing made me go "wow" that night.

Total dining time was 4 hours. We sat from 6:45pm until it was close to 11pm. The gap between the courses was way too long. Not sure if it was intentional, but it felt like the kitchen couldn't keep up. We were left bored, wanting to finish the courses and just head home.

The kitchen tour was impressive. Such a huge team of people and the kitchen was so clean.

Overall experience, was very theatrical but had little to no substance. It was pretty sad because you can see the effort in the team putting this together but it didn’t deliver.

At $360 for this kinda experience is quite disappointing. I'd even joke that the money goes to the rental of their expensive dinnerware that costs $1000 a set. I'd rather spend this $360 on other fine dining establishments that Melbourne and Victoria has to offer, that I wouldn't think twice on and have been recently that actually is good and worth the money.

Besides mediocre food I have to give credit to the Service which was an 11/10 so good so attentive, friendly,...

A night to remember - fine food, engaging staff, amazing views.

I have not been back since it was helmed by Shannon Bennett. The first impression is the noise level - from the customers, the open kitchen and the staff members whom, at intervals, engaged in a welcoming chorus. The vibe is definitely more casual.

The food - a delight and very Instagram-able. For $360pp, there are about 13 "courses". (see below, degustation menu). Several dishes stood out for me. Macadamia, caviar, kelp - a stunningly crafted dish (looks like a pond) with a generous dollop of quality caviar. For comparison, I have tried the sturgeon caviar at the recent Food and Wine show - that one taste flat - this one "pop" with a sweet, briny taste. It pairs well with the smooth and nutty macadamia puree, with a breath of freshness from the peas.

The second dish that I enjoyed very much is Red kangaroo - a "simple" dish of slices of meat cured (on a salt slab?), and then dipped into an intense mushroom broth. Pure joy.

And that trademark, elegant souffle - the height, the softness - sublime!

I have paired the degustation with a selection of teas - $150 - which I enjoyed very much - engaging with the staff member on the origin of the teas, exploring and learning the different tasting notes and nuances of individual teas (like wine) and loving that very special 2007 aged tea from the ancient tea trees of Jingmai, Yunnan, China, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

For me, the service is very Australian - its not snooty, its engaging, informative and professional.

There are moments that are more than the food - interacting with a staff member in the kitchen to "make" my own, very refreshing cucumber and lemon myrtle sorbet with liquid nitrogen. Having the damper charred tableside. And a cheese "porn"' moment - to see the huge selection of Australian cheese presented on the cheese trolley - and with the aid from a knowledgeable staff member, select those that suit my individual taste.

A special mention to the chair - it is one of the most comfortable to sit through a 3 hour + degustation.

A memorable, albeit expensive, evening.

Degustation Menu with Tea Smoke eel, Wild Garlic and Leek Tart Sydney Oyster with Wasabi & Avocado Koo Wee Rup Asparagus, Smoked Salmon Roe, Geraldton Wax Australian Shincha from Yarra valley Macadamia, Caviar, Kelp Organic Genmaicha, Kagoshima, Japan All of the Maron from WA with custard and rich butter sauce Formosa Bonita 47, Nantou, Taiwan Cucumber with Lemon Myrtle - palate cleanser Red Kangaroo, cured & Mushroom Broth 2007 aged pur-eh, Jingmai Yunnan China Heritage Wheat Damper & Cultured butter Blackmore Wagyu with Onion Puree, Wild Mushroom Milan Kumari, Ilam, Nepal Australian Cheese 2014 "I can't believe it is not honey" White Tea, Carbonated, Fujian China Blueberry, Koji & Wild Jasmine Sorbet Chocolate Souffle with Billy Tea Ice Cream 2022 Recombinator Yunnan China Coffee...