Ezard

We went to Ezard a few weekends ago, as part of my Out on the Town excursion with the lovely Miss M.

After revelling in our fabulous hotel room at the Hotel Windsor over a bottle of French sparkling rose, we arrived at Ezard at around 9.45pm - fashionably late for our 9.30pm booking (we did ring ahead to say we were running late though!).

A quick squiz at the menu, and we decided on the eight-course degustation (vegetarian for Miss M) and two glasses of red - a syrah from Heathcote, Vic - after the champers we weren't so sure we could do a bottle :P

Anyway, on to the food!

There was a tray of salt and olive oil on the table - this was to accompany the bread, according to our waitress. The olive oil was infused with parmesan and rosemary. The idea was to dip our piece of bread into some olive oil, then crust it with the salt. I think we also had an amuse bouche but I didn't get a photo.

Three types of salt, and olive oil infused with parmesan and rosemary

Close up of the salts - I liked the middle one best!

The salt mixes were - and I'm going on memory here - bonito/pepper/seaweed, sugar and chilli, and Szechuan pepper/some ash thingy. (Yeah. Great memory).

First course was a Japanese-inspired oyster shooter. First, suck down the oyster, infused in a delicate broth, then chase it with the spoonful of fennel puree with nam jim. The black blob you kinda see in the photo is a soba noodle sushi roll. So good.

Course 1 - Oyster shooter

Next, a yellowfin tuna sashimi topped with the most delicate bonito panacotta, dotted with blobs of sticky soy and horesadish cream, finished with some wasabi foam. Another winning dish. The freshness of the sashimi was well complemented by the saltiness of the panacotta, and the horseradish cream packed a big punch of flavour for two small blobs of things.

Course 2 - yellowfin tuna sashimi, bonito panacotta, wasabi foam, sticky soy, horseradish cream

Two courses in, and I've used the word 'delicate' twice already. And that's the food at Ezard. Delicate, but flavoursome. There's a freshness about the food that is a welcome change from previous dining experiences, where every course seemed laden with butter, cream or a rich jus (exception being Quay).

The third course was a blue swimmer crab dumpling, with soy butter and taro crisps. It was pretty good, but not exactly memorable, considering the number of dumpling specialists in Melbourne these days.

Course 3 - steamed blue swimmer crab dumpling, soy butter, taro crisps

Halfway through the degustation now, and it's a good one. Crispy fried polenta served on a bed of mushrooms and peas, topped with a parmesan crisp and a poached quail's egg, and garnished with shaved black truffles. Decadent. So decadent.

Course 4 - polenta on a bed of veggies, parmesan crisp, poached quail's egg, shaved black truffles

Now for some seafood. A perfectly steamed mulloway fillet with an awesome tasting sauce, on a pillow of soft rice noodles and veggies. Very clean flavours, delicate (again!) yet well-balanced.

Course 5 - mulloway fillet, rice noodles, veggies

By the time the pork belly arrived, I could barely move. Felt really stuffed and had to get up and walk to the bathroom and back, in the hopes that the activity will shift things around in my belly and make some space for this awesome course. Did I mention that pork belly was involved?

Mmm. Pork belly. Bangalow pork belly with a fresh salad and dressing (think apple and celeriac) and a piece of cracking crackling. Yum yum yum.

Course 6 - Bangalow pork belly, salad and pork crackling

Ok ok. Deep breaths now. One more savoury course to go! And here it is - Chinese five-spiced roast duck on a bed of sticky coconut rice, baby bok choy, and a generous sprinkling of fine carrot crisps. The duck was perfectly cooked, slightly pink in the middle and still juicy, with a suitably salty, five-spiced skin.

Course 7 - Five-spiced Chinese roast duck, sticky coconut rice, baby greens and carrot crisps

Before dessert - a palate cleanser made from Calpico soda! With some melon and mint. How cute :D

Calpico soda, melon and mint palate cleanser

We all know that dessert goes into a separate stomach. We went with the dessert tasting platter for an extra $15. Well worth it, I say!

Dessert tasting plate. Ain't it purdy?

Of course, we HAD to take individual dessert photos. We worked our way around the platter, starting with the honey crunch ice-cream on a slice of toasted gingerbread, wearing a jaunty sugar swirl hat.

Honeycrunch ice-cream, toasted gingerbread, sugar swirl

And a rhubarb (and peach?) clafoutis, garnished with sago and pomegranate. The tartness of the pomegranate went really well with the sweetness of the clafoutis (which was probably what the chef was aiming for!)

Rhubarb clafoutis, sago, pomegranate

Another delicate one - this is an apple and rhubarb crumble.

Apple and rhubarb crumble

I just love how this one looks. Pear and caramel parfait with salted popcorn and Persian fairy floss. So pretty to look at, and so delicious.

Pear and caramel parfait, salted popcorn, Persian fairy floss

Another winner here. A pistachio frangipane with some caramelised strawberries and some type of yummy sauce (yes I'm such a sophisticated food critic).

Pistachio frangipane, caramelised strawberries

And last but not least, a bittersweet chocolate torte with five-spiced kumquats and delicate chocolate wings. The kumquats cut through the richness of the chocolate, and the torte reminded me of Quay's seven-layered chocolate cake, although it certainly couldn't hold a candle to that awesome chocolate creation at Quay.

Bitterwseet chocolate torte, five-spiced kumquats, chocolate wings

I didn't take photos of Miss M's vego feast, but it was designed along the same lines as the omnivorous one, with substitutes for the meat. For example, she got Jerusalem artichokes instead of fish (if I remember the course pairings correctly!).

By the time we rolled out of there, after coffee and petit fours, it was 1am. Yup. You read correctly. We had a three-hour, eight-course degustation. Indulgent and decadent. I felt like we needed to put our feet up and loosen our belts afterwards, I haven't eaten so much in ages.

Indulge in a two-hat dining extravaganza:
Ezard at Adelphi
187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
+61 3 9639 6811