Vue de Monde

Level 55 Rialto Towers
Melbourne, 3000


(03) 9691 3888

From the 55th floor of the Rialto building you do really get an amazing view of the world, so it is no wonder that Vue de Monde has chosen this site as their new home.
You know you are in for an evening of luxury when you arrive at the ground floor reception and shown to the lift, all while the suited front of house man is talking into his spy style walkie talkie announcing us "Chef's table has arrived", yes have, yes we have.
Now, you must be warned that the lift ride is indeed quite a ride, in fact half way up your ears begin to pop. On this particular evening it was a group of 5 of us there to celebrate my husbands birthday. This group included my mother in law a woman so terrified of heights that I practically had to pin her down to keep her from jumping out of her skin. The doors open and there in the dimly lit foyer is another well dressed host waiting to lead you to your table. She leans down and presses a tiny hidden button, a wall becomes a door, you are in a wine cellar. Another button pressed and another door opens and into the dining room you go.
As soon as you step into the dining room you are presented with giant windows and the most amazing view of Melbourne, I look over at Mummy-in-law and watch a bead of sweat starts to form on her forehead. We are greeted by every waiter that is not busy serving a table and are promptly seated at the Chef's table. This is a large table that gives you full view of the kitchen and on the other side a fabulously huge glass window overlooking the city. It is away from the normal rif-raf dining area, so you do feel rather special and oh so posh.

 

For the eternally hungry like myself, there is already hand cut crisps and dip set for you. The table is decorated with dried vine twigs from the Barossa Valley and polished stones, However these twigs and stones do have function, cutlery holders, hidden salt and pepper pots and just plain prettiness. The chairs are covered in kangaroo hide and oh so comfortable for our 5 hours eating and drinking extravaganza. With the window on one side, the kitchen on the other and the decor and ambiance, it almost feels like you are part of performance art piece. And considering what we ate, Art is exactly how I would describe it.

For our evening at Vue de Monde we chose the Gastronomes Menu(degustation menu) with matching wines. We were in for a long night.

Amuse Bouche

Oyster and lime

Smoked eel, white chocolate and caviar

 

Crispy venison sandwich

Pumpkin

Spanner Crab and avocado wood sorrel

Pine Mushrooms, walnuts, bird's cress, cona infusion

Marron, beef tongue, brown butter emulsion

Duck egg, celeriac puree, lamb sweetbread, pickled onion, truffle

Cucumber sorbet with crushed herbs

Blue eye cod with wasabi leaves and garlic air

                   Wallaby, turnips, swede and radish

Blackmore wagyu beef, chestnut, garlic foam

Mixed breads and condiments for cheeses

Fire engine red, Cheddar, washed rind

Home made lemonade, frozen toffee apple and popping candy.

Lemon meringue ice cream, white chocolate, lemon curd, parsley

Chocolate souffle, vanilla anglaise

Lemon jubes

Marshmallow with rosemary

Golden gaytime

Chocolate mousse lamingtons

How do I begin to tell you about this meal? There was just so much. I'm glad that I made the wise choice of taking a discreet little book in which to keep notes. Sadly however, because our meals included the matching wines, the last few notes are practically illegible, none the less I have endeavoured to do my best memory recall and have called upon witnesses from the night.

The amuse bouche selection was up 1st. The oyster in clear wrapper I didn't really understand. Oysters are so delicious on their own that I felt that this was a bit gimmicky and I just didn't get that wonderful oyster taste. The pumpkin rods were an unusual choice. It was very light in flavour and it just felt like it was unfinished. The tiny venison sandwich on the other hand was crispy and packed a lot of flavour and the jerky that held the sandwich together was brilliant. My favorite had to be the eel. I usually enjoy eel anyway, but there was a lovely sweet crunch to it. It sounds so odd, but it really does work.

The spanner crab was lovely and fresh and avocado goes brilliantly with almost anything in my eyes, so this particular combination was classic and the wood sorrel really gave it a lovely citrusy taste.

You are presented with a bowl with mushrooms and you think, oh.. mushrooms. But then the chef arrives at your table clutching what looks like a clear coffee percolator. Inside is one of the most fragrant mushroomy soups I have ever had. It is poured over the contents in your bowl and is then yours to enjoy.

At this point I'm wishing I hadn't filled up on the bread and chippies, but I happily dive into our next course of marron(sweet and tender) and beef tongue(beautifully cooked and between 2 crispy wafers), brought together with a rich butter emulsion. Just Divine.

I like sweet breads and I was really looking forward to this course, especially with the celeriac puree and truffles, but it didn't work for me. The aroma of the truffle was beautiful as it was shaved onto the plate at the table, but I think that because the Duck egg yolk was cooked at 60 degrees and served luke warm, it brought down the overall temperature of the dish and took away from the desired effect.
Time for the next act, the palate cleanser. At your table arrives a team of waiters carrying plates with mixed herbs and flowers and a what looks like a small, fat baseball bat. I am confused, but then the chef then pours liquid nitrogen into the bowl and you are instructed to grind the bowl contents with the bat. How very clever. Then they add a scoop of some of the loveliest sorbet I've ever had. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would love Cucumber sorbet, but it turns out I do.

I've always enjoyed the taste of wasabi leaves, and was intrigued by the description of 'garlic air' so I was really looking forward to trying the blue eyed course. It was a lovely cooked piece of fish, simple combination.

Wallaby time. Now this particular course was way out of my mother in laws comfort zone, which is such a shame because these adorable little guys are delicious. It was so tender and the textured veggies were a great contrast.

You can't go wrong with David Blackmore's wagyu beef, I've had it alot recently and have not been disappointed. On this occasion the beef was beautifully presented , the wild garlic foam was an amazing colour and full of flavour and the raw chestnut was a lovely addition. Great dish.

The Cheese selection at Vue de Monde is not huge but is nice. I ordered the Fire engine red, Cheddar, and my usual favorite, the washed rind. This came with a large selection of breads and a generous amount of condiments. The condiments were lovely and varied, but I didn't enjoy the bread. Overall they may have just been having a bad bread day

Time for the sweets. Home made lemonade to start, served in a tall shot glass with dry ice(I think). It looked like a tiny cauldron bubbling away. Ooh I felt like I was a kid again. Then there was the fun and fabulous frozen toffee apple on a bed of popping candy. I love this stuff, it is another childhood memory, aah no wonder I was a chubby kid.

More sweets, this time in the form of Lemon meringue ice cream, white chocolate, lemon curd with a hint of parsley. It was decadent and so sweet, maybe a little too sweet for me, but considering the cost of the meal, I ate in anyway.

Chocolate souffle and vanilla anglaise, I just didn't think I could fit anymore in, or even attempt to taste it. But because I'm a champion, I did and I'm so glad because it was so light and so very rich.

Finally our meal is drawn to a close and we are treated to some petite fours. Lemon jubes, Marshmallow with rosemary, Golden Gaytime. Very cute, very authentic tasting and very delicious. I will need that Golden Gaytime recipe please Mr Bennett.

Just when you think it's over, the encore, Lamingtons. However instead of some sort of sponge cake, there is chocolate mousse. It is a tiny bite size morsel, but there was so much flavour.

Our evening at Vue de Monde truly was a culinary highlight for me. The food itself was a standout, with every course being a surprise. The fact that the chefs themselves come out and explain the meal to you is a wonderful touch. Truly interactive. I'm happy that we chose the matching wines as this generally stresses me out. In my opinion there were a couple of misses, but 2 out of 14 ain't bad. It was impossible to find fault in the service, I had read a few reviews that said that the service was pretentious and rude. This was not the case for us at all, they were friendly, knowledgeable and very accommodating. The overall feel of the restaurant is that of distinction and exclusivity, it really is the kind of place that you should visit f you have an event to celebrate. For the smokers, there is even an out door area. I don't smoke but I still went out there to have a look because the view is indescribable. Although my first picture at the top of the post says it all.

To secure The Chef's table, there is a minimum spend of $250 per person, which is fine if you are choosing the Gastronomes Menu, however this is not including the matching wines. Matching wines will set you back a whopping $15-$25 per person, per course.

Yes it's expensive, yes it's extravagant, but it was without doubt one of the best restaurant experiences I have had to date. I now have total respect for Shannon Bennett and the entire crew at Vue de Monde. Thank you all for a wonderful evening.

Ratings out of 10
Food 8.75/10
Service 8.75/10

Atmosphere 10/10

Value 7.5/10

Vue de Monde  8.75/10
Would I return?Yes (if I win the lotto)