Cumulus Inc
Following on from our punny lunch at Cutler & Co, we decided to continue the Andrew O’Connell love and headed to dinner at Cumulus Inc with Maria and Daz from The Gourmet Challenge.
Since Cumulus Inc only takes bookings for large groups, Alastair, Bro and I showed up early in the evening to secure a table. Good thing we did, because it filled up fairly quickly. Although now I realise that with five people, maybe we could have booked?!
Between the five of us, we ordered several dishes to share.
We started with a serve of crispy school prawns, sautéed with chilli and garlic ($14), because we can’t seem to resist school prawns whenever they are on the menu – see exhibit A and exhibit B. They were light and crispy with just a tiny hint of heat and garlic.
Oh and we noticed the table sitting next to us shelling their prawns. Sadness. They missed out on the best part, which also would have happened to be most of the dish!
This was a portion of slow cooked octopus with aioli and dehydrated olive ($10). It was teeny, but the octopus was oh so tender and a very nice little mouthful.
Next we had the foie gras parfait with toasted brioche ($17). The parfait was very rich and smooth, but umm… there were five of us and only four small pieces of toast! We had to ask for a bread refill to finish up the parfait.
Oh, this was gorgeous. So gorgeous. The grass fed steak tartare ($21) was delicious. We mixed in the egg and onions, cornichons etc, and tucked in.
It was served with condiments – normal tabasco, jalapeno tabasco and anchovy sauce. The anchovy sauce came with a little dripper – it was very potent! But the steak tartare was so perfectly seasoned that we found it didn’t need the condiments.
And for mains we had a whole slow roast lamb shoulder ($69). This is really good value for money! It was great too – the meat was so tender and juicy. We shared it between the five of us, and it was the perfect amount of meat. I think it’s a main that is best shared between several people, but we saw a couple a few tables over sharing it between the two of them (as well as sides!) They ate quite a lot of it too – I was rather impressed at their lamb eating prowess.
The lamb came with lemon and onions, and a big knife to carve it with. Thanks to Maria for carving it up for us!
We also had a salad – the cracked wheat and freekah salad with preserved lemon and barberries ($11). Although now that I look at all these pictures, I feel like we should’ve ordered some vegetables or greens.
And then – dessert!
Alastair and I shared the pear sorbet with burnt butter shortbread and almond milk ($16). This is one of the best desserts I have eaten in ages. The sorbet was intensely peary, cold, smooth and slick. I loved the super butteriness of the shortbread and the almond milk was soft, resembling a panna cotta.
And Bro had the steamed chocolate pudding with hazelnut toffee and crème fraiche ice cream ($17). He said that it was rich and delicious.
For second dessert (as you do) we all had a madeleine filled with lemon curd ($2.50 each). The slightly crisp crust lead into a fluffy, cakey biscuit that was filled with tangy lemon curd… drool. They came to the table still warm, and were gone very quickly. Next time I think I might be tempted to order two per person!
In case you can’t tell, we loved our meal at Cumulus Inc – actually much more than our lunch at Cutler & Co. It’s obvious why Cumulus Inc has so many fans – and you can count me as one of them!
Read about a previous visit to Cumulus Inc here.
Cumulus Inc
45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
(03) 9650 1445
penny aka jeroxie
June 17, 2010 @ 11:03 pm
This is my favourite restaurant in the whole world! And yet I have not blogged about it. Just find it so hard to write something that I am completely biased.
Hannah
June 17, 2010 @ 11:28 pm
Eep, I've wanted to try steak tartare for the longest time! (Which is actually quite bizarre, as most of the time I feel I coudl very happily – ecstatically, even – be vegetarian.)
Your dessert does, indeed, sound divine, and makes me happy because it reminded me of the fantabulous pear sorbets I had a gelaterias in Florence. I saw a recipe for maple syrup shortbread recently and was tempted, but I think that making it with Nuttelex would constitute something of a travesty…
Anh
June 18, 2010 @ 2:52 pm
I have heard all the glowing reviews abt this restaurant. Need to drag my boy to come and queue up for me :))
Adrian @ Food Rehab
June 18, 2010 @ 4:06 pm
I must go here..even for the foie gras parfait!
Juliana
June 19, 2010 @ 5:53 am
Oh! What a torture…everything looks so good but so far 🙁
Agnes
June 21, 2010 @ 8:55 pm
Penny: Oh, I can't believe you haven't blogged about it when it's your favourite restaurant! Who cares about being objective – you're allowed to gush on your blog 🙂
Hannah: Steak tartare is yum! But it always makes me think of the Mr Bean skit, where he gets steak tartare in a restaurant and ends up hiding it everywhere. The dessert was SO GOOD. I don't even like pears that much, but the sorbet was insanely fantastic. PS: everything is better with butter??
Anh: Hehee, yes make the boy line up! 😉 Otherwise just rock up at 6pm when they open!
Adrian: yes – you must go!
Juliana: Well if you're ever over this way, you'll know where to eat! 🙂
Ashley
June 22, 2010 @ 12:33 am
Ooh, it's so lovely to see they've still got those prawns, I've always ordered them when I've gone in the past and loved them!
That lamb shoulder looks quite beastly, but amazing! Will have to make a visit soon (it's been a while) to try that out….
imasugarjunkie
June 22, 2010 @ 11:29 am
OK all this food looks delicious! I am veryyyy jealous of your trip here – although I am not sure if I would have been too keen to try the steak tartare!
Agnes
June 23, 2010 @ 10:06 pm
Ashley: we always find it impossible to go past the school prawns too 🙂
imasugarjunkie: oh, but steak tartare is fantastic! You have to try it sometime 🙂
mademoiselle délicieuse
June 27, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
I keep hearing great things about this place – perhaps it is time for me to take a short trip to Melbourne once again? =p
Agnes
June 28, 2010 @ 8:49 pm
mademoiselle: yes, yes! Come for a visit! We'll go for dinner! 😀
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
July 1, 2010 @ 11:07 am
You beat me to it! Wasnt hard though, I've been quite slack lately with the blogging. Those prawns were fantastic, and the dessert. Can you're tongue have a memory? cause its remembering the fantastic food we ate that night!
Simon Food Favourites
July 2, 2010 @ 12:30 am
i miss eating those crispy school prawns, they were so good. unfortunately didn't get to try the slow cooked lamb shoulder because there was only 2 of us so wouldn't have been able to finish 🙁 really wish i had more people at the time.
thanh7580
July 3, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
Those lemon madeleines are so amazing. I'm definitely going to order two per person next time as well. Maybe even three of four haha.
thanh7580
July 3, 2010 @ 1:39 pm
Those lemon madeleines are so amazing. I'm definitely going to order two per person next time as well. Maybe even three of four haha.
Conor @ Hold the Beef
July 4, 2010 @ 10:21 pm
My sister and I had two great meals here during our first Melbourne visit. Will try to get back on our next one. I think we'd probably do a decent job of finishing off that shoulder. Maybe. If we didn't have second dessert too 😀
Agnes
July 5, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
Maria: Hey slacker! Get to your blog! Or no more good meals for you!
Simon: Awww, no lamb shoulder for you? I do think it would be too much meat for two people – hopefully you found other good dishes to make up for it.
Thanh: Haha, two madeleines per person… and five for you?? 😉
Conor: if you need extra eaters, you know where to look! 😀