antenna premarital: WTC Wharf Progressive Dinner : Off the spork

Posted on | November 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

Sponsored by Nuffnang.

Why take a regular taxi to dinner when you can go via water taxi?

You can do that down at WTC Wharf, one of the latest precincts to pop up in Melbourne recently. WTC Wharf is accessible by Siddeley Street, and is located on the riverside of Melbourne?s World Trade Centre.

A bit of work has gone into making the precinct easily accessible: as well as the WTC Water Taxi service there?s also a new footbridge that links it from Spencer Street, around Crowne Plaza.

Several restaurants have opened in the precinct, and I went to check out three of the dining venues as part of a progressive dinner with a small group of other bloggers.

Byblos Bar and Restaurant

We began the evening?s feast at Byblos, where the food is a modern take on Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine.

We settled into our booth with a cocktail ? I had the C?est La Vie ($16), made with Hendricks gin, St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, grapefruit and raspberries shaken and topped with Chandon NV sparkling wine.

The kitchen sent out a selection of food for our entree. Did I say entree? This could?ve been our entire meal ? there was so much food. Check it out:

Batata Harra ($16.50): Hand cut potatoes sauteed in lemon, olive oil, chopped coriander, garlic anda hint of chilli.

Grilled halloumi ($15.90): Lightly grilled Cyprian halloumi served golden brown and accompanied by fresh lemon.

Kebbi ($4.50): hand-rolled roasted ground lamb and ground beef with pine nuts, chilli, and spices.

Rekakat ($4.50 each): Lightly fried filo pastry filled with feta and mozzarella cheese, freshly chopped onion and fresh herbs.

Fattoush ($13.90): a light mixed green salad with radish, tomato, cucumber, capsicum finished with toasted Lebanese bread and a lemon and olive oil dressing.

Shish Tawook ($5.50 per skewer): char-grilled chicken tenderloin marinated in olive oil with garlic, oregano and a mild pepper paste.

Kafta Meshwi ($5 per skewer): marinated lamb with parsley and traditional spices, finished on the grill.

Quail ($18): Whole roasted quail marinated in pomegranate molasses and served with eggplant and yoghurt.

Trio of dips ($13.90): Three dips served with pita bread ? Hommos, a blend of chickpeas, fresh lemon, juice and tahini, Labneh Bi Toum, a soft homemade cheese blended with garlic and mint, plus Baba Ghanouj, chargrilled eggplant with roasted garlic, tahini and fresh lemon juice.

The highlights out of all the dishes was definitely the lamb skewers. They were cooked perfectly and had picked up lots of smokey flavour and aroma. The chicken skewers were also rather good ? fortunately not at all dry as chargrilled chicken can occasionally be. Also, the skewers were served on top of a tomato and onion spiced Lebanese bread that soaked up all the meat juices and was served with a great garlic sauce. Delicious!

I also loved the Batata Harra ? the little cubes of potato were so moreish and garlicky. Fairly oily, but that?s where all the flavour comes from, right?

Everything else was also rather good, with the only misstep being a slightly dry kebbi, although the flavours in it were nice.

Kobe Jones & Riverside Teppanyaki

Our second stop of the night for our main course was Kobe Jones, who serve modern Japanese food. There was a slight mixup with our booking, however the manager was incredibly helpful and friendly.

While we were trying to sort out our booking, the manager told us to take a seat and then brought us some oysters to sample.

I had been to Kobe Jones when they used to be in Docklands (years ago, before the blog) and was interested to see what changes had been brought about in the new venue. One big change ? they have a massive teppanyaki table that seats up to 44 people.

We started with a cocktail ? I had the Red Lotus, a mixture of rum, lychee liqueur, orange juice and grenadine ($17). Others had an Apple Blossom Martini ($17.50) with green apple and vanilla liqueur, and a Japanese Mojito ($18), made with shiso, and fresh lime muddled with white rum and sugar.

Kobe Jones?s teppanaki menus start from $55 for several courses. As we were only there for main, we had a taster rather than going through an entire set menu. We started with a small bowl of warm mushroom salad.

Which was quickly followed by a plate of beef and salmon. Both were good, but the salmon in particular was fantastic, retaining its juices and moisture but topped with a crispy skin.

Three dipping sauces were provided: ponzo, miso citrus and teriyaki. My favourite was the sweet and salty miso in the middle.

The Wharf Hotel

Our last stop was the busy and happening Wharf Hotel for dessert. It looked like the kind of place you?d pop in with friends for a drink and a casual bite to eat.

We received a dessert each: either sticky date pudding or apple pie.

Both desserts were extremely generously sized and would be good (better) for sharing. The sticky date pudding was a big slab of soft, fluffy cake, surrounded by a sweet, sticky sauce and served with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

I also liked the apple pie, which was encased in a buttery pastry and served on top of custard with a big scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

Both desserts, in addition to being really large, were also served warm so we had to snap quickly before all the ice cream melted ? a difficult task sometimes for food bloggers! They were a nice end to our night, and it was just unfortunate that we had been fed so well at the other venues because we couldn?t do the desserts justice.

Competition

Would you like to head down to WTC Wharf for a meal? You can win a $100 WTC precinct voucher that you can use for any restaurant in WTC Wharf. Just answer the question: ?If you were to go to the WTC Wharf, which restaurant would you go to??

The most creative answer will be selected by Nuffnang and entries close on 16 November 2012. The terms and conditions of the competition can be found here. Good luck!

View Off the spork in a larger map

WTC Wharf
World Trade Centre
(Riverside) Siddeley Street
Melbourne 3005
wtcmelbourne.com.au

Byblos
WTC Wharf
World Trade Centre
(Riverside) Siddeley Street
Melbourne 3005
Phone: 03 9614 6400
Web: byblosbar.com.au/melbourne

Kobe Jones & Riverside Teppanyaki
WTC Wharf
World Trade Centre
(Riverside) Siddeley Street
Melbourne 3005
Phone: 03 9329 9173
Web: kobejones.com.au/melbourne