Birdman Eating

Trendy and me usually don't go together. I always get in on something really late and usually miss the whole period when something is cool. Case in point, I'm not on facebook and I still love my hypercolour t-shirt, hopefully the two points are not related. Birdman eating has been the hot place for eating breakfast/brunch for quite a while now, so when Noels and I were deciding on where to eat, Birdman eating crossed my mind. Considering I never do things the traditional way, we actually had dinner at Birdman and not the trendy hit breakfast thing that everyone is doing these days.

I was a littler surprised with Birdman Eating, it was a Friday night, the perfect dinner time buzz hour 7-8pm and yet there weren't that many people out for dinner. There is an incredible amount of places to choose from on the Smith/Gertrude street junction, so I can understand that they weren't batting people away.

The menu consists of small dishes to share. We chose a combination form the menu and the specials board. We started with Seared scallops with quince butter and crispy panchetta. The scallops with nicely seared leaving the inside still juicy and succulent, the quince butter added a little silkiness. What was a massive surprise to me was the addition of vanilla, the whole thing was accented buy this very strong sweet flavouring coming from the vanilla, it was actually quite pleasant.

Zucchini & fetta Fritters. These were yummy massive balls of zucchini goodness. Once they came out I was expecting them to be slightly overcooked, considering their dark golden colour. But once cutting them open you could clearly see they were moist and fluffy on the inside. The fetta gave the fritters a nice salty creamy flavour, and the labne on the side gave a sharp flavour bringing the whole thing together.

Spiced lamb skewers with smokey eggplant. The lamb skewers were such a yawn, but the smoky eggplant! YUM!!!! It was fantastic, smoky, creamy and just perfect. I wish we had order a massive bowl of it, we asked for some bread which arrived warm on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Just perfect to mop up all the eggplant and olive oil yumminess.

Confit pork belly, pickled raddish, horseraddish yoghurt, apple cidar and vanilla syrup. I was really looking forward to this dish, however the confit pork didn't excite me. The pork was soft with a crisp skin, but nothing special. What stood out was the pickled radish, they were tangy and crunchy. I was expecting the horseradish yoghurt to be a little hot like good fresh horseradish, but sadly it was very mild. I was also disappointed with the vanilla syrup, I completely missed it. It might not have made it to the plate at all.

After our meal we were still a little hungry so looked at the dessert menu for some inspiration. Only pannacotta's were on offer. I like me a good pannacotta, but I had one for dessert the night before so was looking for something a little more inspiring. I some how convinced Noels that we needed to go to Cutler and Co for dessert. Its only down the road and the desserts are good. Bad mistake, did I mention it was a Friday night and the perfect dinner service buzz time 7-8pm? We made it to Cutler and Co, asked if it was possible to have dessert. That was not a problem, but we would have to eat it standing up at the bar. Maybe we should have done it, we could have started a whole new craze, dessert standing at the bar........the quintessential melbournian thing to do. Our better judgement kicked in a we walked out and down Gurtrude street. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this:

Perfect! French Crepes for dessert it is!! We managed to come across Breizoz French Crêperies.

Noels had the Almond praline crepe which came filled with plenty of almond and praline bits.

I went for something a little more dangerous, whats life if its not filled with a little fire. I opted for the flambée Chestnut & rhum crepe. I was surprised how good it was. Filled with a generous serving of chestnut puree and absolutely doused in rum. At one point I had genuine concerns for my eyebrows.

To be honest the crepes were a real highlight. I probably wont go back to Birdman Eating for dinner, but I might attempt to become a coffee hipster and go along for a double shot machiato with a dash of soy milk foam one day.