Butchers Grill, Melbourne CBD

If you’re visiting Melbourne, you’ll see Butchers Grill advertised in almost every tourist guide and I can’t see why not. The beautiful interiors, vibrant wallpaper and grand chandeliers create an elegant European yet cosy dining atmosphere. The menu was so amazing that I have to admit, I may have over-ordered just a teeny bit for dinner between the boy and I.

Complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar!

Char-grilled baby octopus with tomato, fennel and feta pasta ($17.00)

Seared scallops with vegetable cream and pork crisps ($18.00)

Snicla – pork fillet filled with smoked ham and cheese served with spring onion and potato salad ($31.00)

Grilled lamb loin with pea puree, salted grapes and flamed capsicum ($38.00)

Bombe Alaska -28 degree vanilla ice cream with warm chocolate center and flamed meringue  ($15.00)

The Food Zoo experience: My favourite dish was the feta salad and the Bombe Alaska (which took a while to choose from the amazing mouthwatering dessert menu!). Was a bit disappointed with the scallops which were slightly overcooked but don’t think this would deter me from coming back next time!

Butchers Grill
141 Bourke St
Melbourne CBD
T: (03) 9639 1222

Olio, St Leonards

I have actually wanted to try this place out for a long time after seeing it on  pigged-out but since it’s only opened during weekdays it has been quite difficult to arrange (with long work hours and all…).  The place wasn’t as packed as I thought it would be given the Friday night but I guess they had their busy period during happy hour at the bar. So basically, good location (The Forum, St Leonards), good food and according to my friends, good cocktails!

Specials for the night though nothing appealed to our table in particular… The regular menu looked appealing enough!

Wagyu skirt steak (MB8) w green beans, pecorino cheese, hazelnut dressing ($15.00)

We had to ration this piece between five people (our half of the table) and I couldn’t really tell it was wagyu… Tasted a lot like salami though!

Salmon and potato fish cakes with shaved fennel, radish, lemon aioli ($14.00)

I really liked this entree… A nice texture of little chunks of potato and salmon without any offputting fishy taste. Nice enough to be enjoyed without the lemon aioli (though I couldn’t resist and put a bit too much aioli).

Loved this dish – Nice juicy scallops perfectly complimented on a seafood vegetable pastry. The dish was amongst one of the favourites at dinner and I think it’s the fennel puree that makes do very interesting!

Linguine w QLD tiger prawns, tomato, chilli, rocket & extra virgin olive oil ($21.00)

Nicely cooked linguine (loved the texture which reminded me of Chinese noodles “yi mein” or “e-fu”) with a little chilly tint to the dish – loved it!

Char-grilled grainfed beef striploin with cafe de paris butter & fries ($31.00)

Most of the table was dissatisfied with this dish – I am a HUGE lover of steak… MEDIUM RARE steak! Although the waiter had specifically told us it was medium rare, we found that it was cooked exactly like the medium steak we had ordered. Not happy Jan!

Prawn & chorizo sausage with chilli, tomato, & mozzarella cheese ($18.00)

Yummy pizza with a nice thin crust… Chilli but worth it!

Greek lamb with megadarra, tzatziki, eggplant & olive salad ($29.00)

The only thing that made me want to eat this was because it came with tzaziki haha. I don’t eat olives and don’t recall eating much eggplant but the lamb was quite nice – better than the steak at least!

Mushroom Risotto

Strong mushroom taste in nicely cooked creamy risotto!

Arme de Gaugin from La Renaissance

We didn’t try any dessert (such as chocolate pudding, tiramisu etc) from Olio because we had to save our stomach’s for the birthday cake! A nice berry mousse and sponge cake from La Renaissance (owned by the family that also runs Baroque). Yummy yummy yummm!

Olio Cafe | Bar
205 Pacific Hwy
St Leonards, 2065
T: (02) 9439 8988