Long story short, we had some credit with Jetstar so used it for flights to Melbourne. We had planned earlier in the year to save up and have a nice dinner for my birthday.
Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne is in the Crown Casino complex at the far end (east). As you walk in you can see the dry aged beef and there is a large picture of some type of cow as you open the entry doors.
The waiters are very knowledgable and helped us sequence the meal. The bread is delicious and is very dangerous if you have too much at the start! (Kiri)
-Oysters w meuniere sauce
-Fremantle octopus salad w tarator and grilled radicchio
-Crisp skinned snapper w confit fennel, broad beans and green olive butter
-Wood-fired rotisserie chicken w tuscan salad and aioli
-Mishima wagyu rump w potato and cabbage gratin
-Pavlova w passionfruit
Amazing. The octopus salad was great, although it is billed as a steakhouse I think the salads are very under-rated – because they’re always standouts. The fish was cooked to perfection, as it always is in Neil’s establishments. We also ordered a side of the green beans with anchovy and chilli dressing w almonds. Kiri and I really enjoyed them. The smokiness of the chicken from the wood-fire was great. The Mornington Peninsular Pinot Noir went amazingly with it (and was very reasonably priced!).
The highlight for me was definitely the mishima beef. The best piece of beef I’ve ever tasted. And perfectly seasoned.
A few wines we had with the meal: Clover Hill 2006 sparkling, a premier cru Chablis, a Mornington Pinot, a Margaret River Cabernet blend and a Barossa Shiraz/Viognier. We also didn’t really order a dessert wine, we were sent a sommelier for some advice to go with the pavlova. The sommelier just poured the glass of wine. It was great anyway (and from France).
