Dinner by Heston, Melbourne

For Tim's birthday last week, I took him for lunch at Dinner by Heston.  As you can guess, Dinner by Heston is a restaurant associated with Heston Blumenthal.  It is situated on Level 3 of Crown Towers in Southbank, Melbourne.

The entrance to Dinner by Heston is a long dark passage.  At the end is what looks like a black wall, but just when you think you won't get in, that black wall slides back to reveal the interior of Dinner by Heston.  We were greeted by two friendly staff members, one of whom showed us to our table.

 

Shortly afterwards, we were greeted at our table by a French sommelier, from whom we ordered two glasses of French pink sparkling wine.

 

A short time later, a waiter brought over this lovely dark bread with a delightfully chewy crust:

There was a five course tasting menu ($160 per person), but we decided to go with main and dessert from the a la carte menu.  All of the dishes are inspired by a particular historical time.

Tim ordered the roast duck breast with beetroot and chard from the 1600s ($58):

I ordered the roast quail with confit butternut pumpkin, pumpkin puree, spiced crumb and chard ($56) from the 1860s:

These meals looked deceptively small, but were very filling.  The quail was soft and melted off the bones - no need to "chew the bones" to get all of the meat.

For sides ($14 each), we ordered the carrot with caraway, which was beautifully sweet and caramelised, and a favourite of mine:

and the green beans with almonds:

We drank glasses of shiraz from the extensive wine list to accompany the mains.

 

Next came dessert.  Tim went for the lamington ($32): 

This lamington was not made of cake and coconut - the centre of the lamington was a creamy smooth mousse filled with raspberry jam and resting on a chocolate ganache foundation, and covered with grated milk chocolate:

I went for the signature dessert, the Tipsy Cake:

This was a lovely buttery brioche, swimming in a boozy "tipsy" sauce, with roasted pineapple on the side.

We skipped the coffee as there were no flat whites or cappuccinos =- we didn't understand the coffee menu at all.

The meal finished with a complementary chocolate pot each:

The service at Heston was friendly and efficient.  I loved the "steam punk" atmosphere, the fact that I was seated where I could see the kitchen staff cooking through the viewing window, and that we had a window table with an expansive view of the Yarra River.

Dinner by Heston was a special experience which I enjoyed very much.

Dinner by Heston

Level 3 Crown Towers

Crown Melbourne

8 Whiteman Street

Southbank VIC 3006

Ph:  (03) 9292 5779