Persimmon, Movida Bakery and Burch & Purchese
Persimmon
NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, South Bank, Melbourne
03 8620 2434
My high school friend Basketball Head came for a visit from Brisbane and I thought I’d take him to somewhere quite refined and cultured, like The National Gallery of Victoria. No, we are not here to see Napolean, we are here to eat at Persimmon. 🙂
Since Persimmon is notoriously hard to book, I booked way in advance via Dimmi’s. Fortunately I called them to confirm my booking because apparently they couldn’t find my booking! Thankfully they can accommodate us, and we even got seated near the window overlooking the Grollo Equiset Gardens. After relaxing for a bit and absorbing our surrounding, we ordered a share plate and one main each.
Our share plate of school prawns ($15) was nicely done, nothing to scream home about but it was good. The wasabi mayo was the differentiating point here from the Huxtables, Cummuluses and Rumis. I love it as it has a distinctive kick to it. The portion size was probably a bit too big for two but we had a good go at it and finished most of the plate.
For mains, Basketball Head debated between Kingfish ($29) and Ocean Trout ($24), so when he decided to order the Kingfish, I ordered the Ocean Trout to let him try some.
My Oak smoked ocean trout didn’t really taste smokey but I love it. The fish was very fresh and it had a nice clean flavour to it. The celeriac and apple slaw and keta fish roe made the dish pretty and light also. I could certainly go back just for this dish.
I tried some of Basketball Head’s kingfish and thought it was wayyyy to salty. It also seemed a bit overcooked and tough. Basketball Head seemed to like it though, he said there were parts that are more tender and less salty.
We sadly have to skip some very tempting dessert as I was taking him around to Movida Bakery, Burch & Purchese and Luxbite, all in one day. All in all, I felt that the food in Persimmon was good, but not mind-blowing. 7.5/10
Movida Bakery
3 Tivoli Road, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
03 9663 3038
When Basketball Head said he wanted to go to Movida, little did he know I was going to bring him to another Movida- Movida Bakery. Well, he was only staying for 3 days and he was seeing his other friends the other 2 days, what am I supposed to do? 😛
So Movida Bakery desserts it is. Hidden in one of the quieter suburban streets of South Yarra, this place seriously looked more like a bakery than a cafe. A very industrial/bakery looking interior, the kitchen itself was bigger than the seating area.
We perused the sweet treats that was piled in front of us and decided on the rhubarb donut and choc & peanut oat cookie. Alas, the cookie was sold out so we settled for just the donut. Gosh it was good. Very light and puffy, the rhubarb centre added a slight sweetness and tanginess without being soggy. Beautiful.
Dr. Ben also raved about their coffee and their sourdough. I also got massive food envy watching people having pies and some awesome scones. Will need to come back again, and very soon.
Burch & Purchese
647 Chapel Street, South Yarra, Victoria
03 9827 7060
People are probably going to yell at me for that, but I don’t care much for Burch & Purchese. Yes, this is the first time I have actually visited, but my best friend Monkylicious have bought me their Salted Cocoa Nib Dark Chocolate, passionfruit curd and a few of their desserts last time and I found them wayyyy too sweet and one dimensional for my liking.
Their studio is really cute and the staff are very friendly and enthusiastic. If I hadn’t had their cakes and chocolates before I would definitely be enticed to buy some. There were free tasting of their mango, milk chocolate and ginger cake on that day and once again I found the cake very sweet and I could only taste the ginger and nothing of the mango and chocolate.
All in all, I would definitely take people there as a tourist destination, and I am sure that massive sweet tooth might like this place, but I am certainly not be interested in buying anything there.
I’ve always wanted to dine at Persimmon, I think those prawns are reason enough. XD
YAH, no one should resist school prawns!