French – GastronoYum

2 Malthouse Ln,
Melbourne VIC 3000

Located off Flinders Lane between Exhibition and Russell Street, there is lots of longstanding popular dining options in the vicinity such as Chin Chin, Cumulus Inc. and Fonda Mexican.

We came here for a FoodSocial event.

FoodSocial holds a monthly event called Global Feast, where they visit different countries from A-Z and focuses on the cuisine of the selected country. We were lucky enough to win ourselves a pair of tickets to the F of the A-Z, F for France.

We love French cuisine. A lot. What made winning these tickets even better was we got to meet the head chef for the event.

Exterior

A section of the restaurant upon entry is outdoors.

Table setup for the event.

Menu for the evening.

Kir Royal

Gougère

Basically a cheese profiterole.

Savoury, light & airy.

Head Chef Edouard Deplus and the organiser Pheh Sze

Boeuf Bourguignon – Beef short ribs, mash potato, classic garnish

I absolutely loved this dish. Even used the bread to mop up the sauce off my plate.

Tender, moreish & flavoursome.

The boeuf bourguignon with petits pois à la française and bread

Petits pois à la française – Peas, onion, lettuce, bacon in butter.

Healthy, full of greens & delicious.

Canard À L’Orange – Roasted duck, orange glazed, baby turnips

Sticky, however although flavoursome, was tough.

Might have been slightly overcooked.

Gratin Dauphinois

Potatoes and cheese slow baked in the oven. No words.

Caramelised top, creamy inside & melty-goodness.

Flounder Grenobloise – Baked flounder, brown butter, Grenobloise condiments.

Fresh, light & healthy.

Chocolate Fondue

This was so much fun. Toothpicks got too troublesome so we just used a spoon and poured the chocolate over the fruits on our plate.

Beautiful Mess

My experience at The French Brasserie was:
– Flavourful
– Satisfying
– Attentive staff

Food: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 9/10

175 Swan St
Richmond VIC 3121

Located an easy 3-minute walk from East Richmond Station, or 1-minute walk from Stop 11 – Church St/Swan St via Tram Route 70 Wattle Park via Swan St.

Placed in the vicinity of plenty of well-known eateries such as Jimmy Grants, Meatmother, Fonda, Sabai & Bahari, this French restaurant can be easy to miss with such heavy competition.

Noir is decked with mostly wooden furniture, and even though the overall restaurant looks small, the tables are well-spaced so you get the sense of intimacy.

Interior

Wine recommended by the sommelier ($14/glass)

Paired very nicely with our mains unfortunately (for you) we were told this was the last bottle.

Appetiser – Pumpkin, Parsley & Caramelised Onion (Complimentary)

Creamy, light & subtly sweet.

Confit Chicken, Ham Hock & Foie Gras Terrine w/ semi dried grapes, baby leeks & verjus ($22)

Rich, melt in your mouth & full of texture from the chunky pieces of meat.

Cured Ora King Salmon w/ pickled prawns, creme fraiche, smoked caviar & veronique dressing ($21)

Healthy, refreshing and citrusy.

FYI veronique refers to a dish that features grapes.

Complimentary bread on the side with our entrées

Crispy Belly of Pork w/ black pudding purée, rhubarb & confit swede ($37)

Crispy, savoury & moreish.

The confit swede was rather salty, not something you would eat on it’s own.

Crisp Breast and Confit Leg of Duck w/ black fig & pain d’epices purée ($42)

Filling, flavourful & tender.

We didn’t know what pain d’epices was but it tasted very strongly of 5-spice. Upon googling, I found out that pain d’epices is a type of bread and does involve using lots of spices such as nutmeg, star anise, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.