Hare and Grace

It was Friday, Mr. just finished his week of night and was awake when I got home. Me in the mood of spending some quality time together while Mr. was feeling of heading into the city. Withins minutes, we were both dressed and on our way to the city. Without any reservation on hand, the planned was to walk around and check out some restaurants and were hoping it won't take us to long.

On the way, H recommended Hare and Grace after I requested some suggestion on Twitter. Knowing H, we knew we won't go wrong with her suggestion. Off we go to Hare and Grace after we parked our car. It was a pretty decent walk and discovered the other part of the city which we rarely explore.



Guess who I saw once we stepped into the dining room???? Adriano Zumbo!!!! It was the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival so it wasn't surprise to see him in Melbourne. I'm able to recognise him as I being catching his Zumbo show on SBS online for the past week. No, I did not ask for a autograph or a photo as I felt it's very rude to interrupt him and his friend. He definitely deserved some privacy.

Back to the food. We spend quite a bit of time deciding whether to go for 3 course banquet menu which cost $90 pp. Mr. was interested in trying the steak grill and he also questioned about the 3 course banquet potion. The waiter told us Chef is pretty generous and doesn't allow us to walk out without feeling full. After much hesitation, we went for 3 course. Save us the trouble of picking what to eat. Sometimes it's good to just sit back and relax and let someone do the thinking for you.



We started the meal with bread and butter. I love the butter as it's really light and sprinkled with hazelnut powder. I'm guessing the butter was pre-whipped. It's different from all the other restaurant I being so far.



We had 3 dishes for entree.

1st entree was Braised Red Peppers in their Juice


This dish surprise us. It was really refreshing and light. I was served cold and red pepper was sweet. It's not a dish either of us will chose so both were happy the chef picked it.

2nd entree was Braised Pork Ribs


The meat was braised for a long time because it just melt in your mouth. Do find this dish a bit heavy to be a entree. Flavour was nice but strong.

3rd entree was Scallops Garlic Aioli Herb Breadcrumbs


We had 2 scallops each and it was our favourite dish of all! The herb combination wasn't overpowering, breadcrumb was crunchy and scallop was fresh and cooked beautifully.

At this point both of us were feeling full which was unusual. We were struggling to finish 2 mains and 1 side.

1st Main was Roasted Founder Milk - Fed Mussels Potted Shrimps


This dish tasted light with a hint of milk in the gravy. All the seafood was really fresh.

2nd Main was Braised Beef, Beef Tongue with Vegetable and Mash Potato.


I don't really remember the taste of this dish. I should have kept notes using my iPhone. But this dish left a deep impression on Mr. He even wanted to go back and try their steak. I do remember it's another dish that melts in the mouth. The beef tongue had a pretty firm texture, it was my 1st time eating beef tongue so not too sure what to expect.

Side was Beetroot, Green Strawberry Salad


It was my 1st time eating a unripe strawberry. It was very crunchy but also sour! As for the beetroot, nothing special just normal beetroot.

Up to this point, we were very happy with the meal and definitely enjoying. Can't wait for dessert to be served. We were served with 2 desserts.

1st was Lemon Liquid Tart Sesame, Lemon Passionfruit Juice

2nd was Blackberry Trifle Tahini Custard Macerated Sponge

Both desserts were so beautifully presented! We don't even want to dig into the dish. BUT when we had our 1st mouthful, we were very surprise and very disappointed :-(

In the end, I was the only one finishing both dessert. I reckon I had more than 80% of them. Mr. found the lemon tart too sour. I felt it was meant for someone who loves eating fresh lemon pulps like me. As for the "tart pastry", it wasn't really a pastry made from flour and butter. I think it's made of sesame and it taste bitter if you had it by itself. I wasn't a fan of the "tart pastry" and left it out.

Mr. didn't like the blackberry trifle as well. The sponge was soaked with really strong hard liquor(suspect vodka). As Mr. practically doesn't drink at all, the strong liquor smell and taste turn him off. I can only taste the alcohol and nothing else :-(

Although the dessert was a letdown, I believe we will return and try other dishes and desserts. Service was fantastic and we were very well taken care off. The waiter was definitely right. We left with such a full tummy which will explode any min.