30 Jacka Blvd

The short drive from our rendezvous point A Related Article gave us the opportunity for a quick bout of reminiscing as we wound our way out of Downtown Melbourne and through some of the Inner Suburbs, before arriving at the beach suburb of St.Kilda for the continuation of our evening.

Set right on the beach, the place actually doesn't look anything particularly fancy from the outside although it probably is rated as a nice appropriate building for the locale.  In fact, if we didn't have a useful guide with us the only reason we would have been able to find the place is because it's the only restaurant looking building in the general vicinity - and even then you could be forgiven for thinking it was some sort of yachting club place.

Our friends knew the drill, so inside and straight upstairs to the restaurant - I'm not even sure if there's any sort of downstairs option but I'd have to think the space was well used - maybe some private function type rooms?  Greeted by the host almost as you step off the stairs we were ushered past the quite large painting (of a style I have no idea, sorry) which is only memorable to me because it's also the design on the back of the menu.  I'm guessing there was another similar piece somewhere else because the dessert menu has a different, but similar styled cover.

It's one large room, various sized tables and a great view of the Bay.  I think it goes without saying that every reservation would include 'by the window, please"...  We didn't get one, but that's actually ok.  You still get to enjoy the view and as the sun goes down the other diners are mostly blocking the direct rays that are doing their thing.  Just as the sun hits the horizon, there's a pretty significant evacuation as people who don't have the window seats step out on to the deck for viewing and / or picture taking - yes, we were in on it...

It's not a loud place, but there's definitely restaurant noise through out, especially when we arrived as the place was full, or very close to it. By the time we were packing up much emptier and therefore less noise around, but I still don't recall hearing any specific music, if any at all.

Our Server took care of us, was patient with us as we dilly-dallied a bit making up our minds, had useful suggestions, was polite without being snooty, and took a really good picture of the 4 of us.  The place is at the fancy end of the scale, no doubt, and there's clearly some rules about how the staff interact with their tables, but she had a laugh with us when given the opportunity.  The Wine Dude (not sure what they call themselves here...) also took care of us, but due to the knowledge of our friends he didn't get to offer much in the way of suggestions, perhaps none at all.  It's a wine-off-the-table type place, but we were never left wanting a refill.

This was another meal A Collection of articles where we were way more excited to be with old (Hey!  Not grandpa & grandma old!) friends than to be paying close attention to our meal and to that end we had an awesome evening.  Awesome!  I know without doubt that we all enjoyed what we selected immensely and that there was oohing and aahing across the table at each others dishes, but we really do not have a clear (actually, it's so not clear it's not even close to foggy...) recollection of what we had.. 

Our meal may have gone like this...  Apologies to all concerned for any misremembering, omissions or errors!  They are all my own doing and I blame having too good a time catching up!

• Craiglee Shiraz - selected in tribute to the Sunbury region being the closest thing to a home base we had while on this trip.  But you don't need a reason like this to enjoy it.  Full, but not overpowering, a little bit of spiceyness and some tannins there.  I would have had no problems having a 2nd...
• Kingfish Ceviche, salted grapes, flying fish roe, sunflower seeds, zucchini, chardonnay vinaigrette 
• Seared Atlantic Scallops, ruby grapefruit, walnut & witlof salad, parsnip puree, chickpea cress  
• Brothers in Arms
• Blue Swimmer Crab & Bug Risotto, peas, basil, lemon mascarpone 
• Rolled Quail Saltimbocca, caramelised lemon, nasturtium, almonds, caper & cauliflower burnt butter 
• Western Plains Pork Loin, Belly & Cheek, baked apple, coleslaw, port wine sauce 
• Tuna a la Plancha, butter poached prawns, tomato escabeche, yoghurt, roe, green peppercorns 
• Dessert Wine 
• The Bombe, frozen white chocolate parfait with strawberry sorbet and toasted meringue 
• Soft Chocolate Torte, praline crunch, coffee sable, passionfruit sorbet 

We probably won't get back (not because we don't want to!) due to opportunity but we're certainly happy and better off for having spent an evening 'on the beach' with our dear (not old!) friends.

Stay JOLLY!
DMichael & Luise