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“ The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

Dinner @ Cumulus Inc., Melbourne

I believe that good food is made for sharing, and so do much of the population in Melbourne, judging by the popularity of tapas-style restaurants in the city. On our final night in Melbourne, we made the impromptu decision to have dinner at Cumulus Inc. - one of those popular places in Melbourne that almost always has a queue for a table at meal times. Cumulus Inc. has a no reservations policy, which means that everyone (who is willing to wait) has a chance to dine there, unlike some impossible-to-book restaurants that exist in almost every city we've visited. The place was already full and buzzing when we arrived at 6:30pm on a Tuesday, but we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a spot at the bar (the waiting time for a table was an hour). This "eating house + bar" has a simple and sleek décor with a black and white theme, which is refreshingly unpretentious. Service was prompt and professional, and the kitchen was willing to accommodate our allergy requests. The menu had a great selection of oysters, and there were plenty of choices for a wide range of tastebuds.

Facing towards the white-themed eating bar and kitchen:

The black-themed bar side of the room was where we sat and watched the bartender mix up drinks:

Complimentary bread basket and butter that was generously refilled when it got emptied:

Two types of oysters - Clair de Lune Bouton and Moonlight en Surface. Both varieties were deliciously fresh and succulent, with slightly different flavour profiles:

Beautiful olives that were so tasty that our boy kept going back for more:

Roast Aylesbury Duck Breast with Toasted Grains, Lentils & Plums - this was an excellent dish. The duck breast was very moist and tender, and the crunchy bed was just a delight to eat:

Spiced Cauliflower with Goats Curd - this vegetarian plate was really tasty! The cauliflower had been roasted so it took on a slightly charred flavour, and the goats curd complemented the cauliflower quite well:

We had quite an enjoyable experience at Cumulus Inc., and I would like to re-visit to try out their breakfast menu, which I heard is good.

Cumulus Inc.
45 Flinders Lane
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Australia
Tel. +61 3 9650 1445

Cumulus Inc. on Urbanspoon
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2 comments:

  1. volscats2 May 2012 at 19:25

    Have you ever eaten somewhere that did not help you with the food allergy for the boy? It seems like every place is very willing to do so.

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  2. expatgourmand3 May 2012 at 07:53

    Yes we have eaten at places that didn't accommodate our allergy requests. Some restaurants say they cannot guarantee the food is allergy-free since the kitchen uses the same oven/utensils to make dishes containing ingredients the boy is allergic to. A few restaurants have chefs that don't like to change their recipes. And we also have encountered a restaurant that was careless with our allergy request because we found nuts in a dish. Some places we don't even bother asking due to language barriers or hygiene issues (we don't mind eating on the risky side, but none for the boy).

    It was very easy to make our allergy requests in Australia as well as the more expensive restaurants in HK. It seems repetitive having to mention it in almost every post, but I have random readers coming to individual posts from search engines and the allergy point might be useful info for them :)

    Thanks for asking the question :)

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