10 Minutes By Tractor

10 Minutes By Tractor

I have wanted to go to 10 Minutes By Tractor for a about a year now and had planned to go with a group of friends for my birthday. That ended up not happening but our friends decided they would still take us for me as my birthday gift. They picked us up at 7pm as the booking was for 8:00pm. It is a 45 minute drive down to Main Ridge and it is a beautiful drive as it is in the country. It was raining quite heavily but that did not dampen the mood as we were excited to be going.

  I could not get any good photos because of all the rain and being dark from the front. It is a small restaurant and most customers were dressed like you were at a expensive establishment except for a few who had t-shirts and jeans. They had an extensive alcohol list including a limited range of cocktails but the wine list is amazing.

 They do A' la carte or the Degustation and the Degustation is either a 5 course or a 8 course. We had all not really eaten to save space so we went the 8 course. Most of the fine dining experiences we have done  give you small portions but not here. We should have done 5 courses but we know for next time. With all fine dining restaurants the presentation is the main key and it makes you want to eat the food straight away. Being a two hat restaurant i had some expectations.

We ordered a bottle of wine of

2001 Jean Raphet et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St. Jacques which was the best wine i have ever had, no tannin and was so smooth. 

I am not sure what the first taster was i was so focused taking pictures.

For starters we had Somers Soft Goat Cheese with slow roasted grapes, fennel and celery relish with a walnut crunch.

I don't really like goats cheese but the flavours worked well together with the roasted grapes. It was sweet, creamy and salty all at the same time.

Second course.
We had Grilled Yellowfin Tuna with marinated eggplant, compressed cucumber, tomato salad and black olive crunch.

The tuna melted in your mouth and worked really well with the eggplant and salad.The eggplant was not over cooked and not undercooked. The vegetables are grown on the property so it is all so fresh.
 The serves were big but that did not stop me eating the bread. The bread had a warm homemade garlic butter that was addictive and amazing.

Third course.
The third course had Seared Scallops with roasted pumpkins, chickpeas, green beans and artichoke chips

I really don't like artichokes normally but like any male you fry something and make them crispy, you change the flavour to an amazing chip and it goes down well. The Scallop were quiet big and the pumpkin was soft and juicy.

Forth Course.

We got some more seafood, pan seared local Mussels with zucchini and pomme puree (apple).

The thing i love about Degustations is they make food that i don't like taste soo amazing. i did not realise i ate mussels until just a moment ago. The mussel was not tough like a lot of places do it and thats probably why i did not realise what it was.

Fifth course.

My favourite course Roasted quail with pearl barley fig puree and a beetroot vinaigrette and a brioche bun.

The quail was sweet from the puree and beetroot and fell apart as you ate it also the drumsticks are so cute. We had all eaten our buns before i realised i did not have a photo. We were starting to struggle now as we had eaten a lot of food and still had three courses.

Sixth Course.

We got Roasted Duck Breast  with golden raisins, pumpkin and chestnuts.

It was a big piece of breast but like with all the other meats was cooked so well....perfection. The pumpkin and gravy just added some more flavours. i was in heaven almost as i had Quail and Duck cooked just right.

Seven course.

The last of the dishes was Grass Fed Cape Grimm Sirloin Steak with open ravioli beef cheek, sauteed mushrooms and sauce.

I really struggled to finish my meal but i managed too finish it. The cheek and steak had no fat as it was top quality meat. The steak was rare on the inside but a bit crispy on the outside. It was the perfect meal to finish of the dishes.

We got a sorbet grapefruit palate cleanser.

It was a bit sour in order for you to taste and appreciate the desert that much better. 

Thank goodness it was a light thing to eat and then we got dessert

For Dessert we got a Chocolate Ganache with plum orange and pistachio chocolates.

The ganache was the best thing i have eaten in a while. So smooth and creamy and sweet.

We then got chocolates but i felt so sick from eating i could not take the pictures.

The staff were so friendly and accomodating. the food was just amazing and went beyond my expectations and i will be back as soon as i can. Thank you so much for an amazing night.

Thank you Kathy and Sam for a fantastic night and it was an amazing birthday gift. I felt so special to be treated to such a spectacular dinner.

Have you been here?

Leave a comment.

Kind E-gards

Dale Stewart

Izakaya Jiro Grill & Sake Bar

 We have behaved lately and not gone out as much because we are saving money for our next holiday, but on Tuesday I really wanted Japanese for dinner so we went to Samurai but it was closed for renovations. There was another Japanese restaurant called  Izakaya Jiro and on urbanspoon it had 89% so that was good enough for us to give it a go. It is  more expensive than Samurai but was still good. The serving sizes weren't as big but i think they went for the higher quality than quantity.

 

 

  It is a big place but from the front it looks really small, the decor is lovely and it has a good selection of beers, wines and sake.

 

 For starters we ordered the lotus root chips and they were crispy and lightly salted, they are probably the best i have ever had.  Our friends ordered a selection of skewers because the sounded different. They ordered some vegetarian and beef. some vegetarian dumplings and some other random dishes

For my main dish i ordered the Beef Yokisoba, it has egg noodles, beef, a selection of vegetables and Katsuobushi (fish flakes). The beef just melted in your mouth and the sauces tasted really good but it was not big enough for me.

Kim ordered the tempura udon and it had the usual udon noodles, tempura battered prawns and mixed vegetables. She said it was very good and plenty of food for her. 

I was still hungry after so we ordered desert. We ordered strawberry mochi, we always enjoy mochi and it was fresh. The skin was not hard and was not easy to take a photo because of how white it was but it was a tasty desert and a great way to finish the meal. 

The food was good and the staff are friendly but it was expensive. It is good to try somewhere different for a change.

Thank you Kathy for the pics as my phone had died again.

If you like the pics please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading.

kind E-gards

Dale Stewart

Taste Of Melbourne

Taste Of Melbourne

Our friends invited us to go to the Taste of Melbourne show on Thursday night, the show is at Albert Park. If you follow the Formula 1, every year they block off the park and transform it into a race track. Otherwise you can normally drive around it. 

I don't follow the Formula 1, but Melbourne goes absolutely crazy about it. We arrived just after 7pm and found parking.

With all festivals here it was surrounded with a fence, pity the entrance was not that pretty. But once you got inside . When you entered you had to buy a "crown card" and put money on it to buy food and drinks. One crown equalled one Dollar. The Rekorderlig tent was in the entrance inside.

We did not actually even go in here, I don't know why but anyway.

It was a big area and took a while to walk around, it is designed more for drinkers as there was a huge selection of wines, beers, ciders and some tequila and vodkas.

 The first tent had coconut water, then was a muesli tent or Yousli. They had a wide variety or you can make custom orders of it and get it shipped directly to your door. They had interesting flavours and was a nice way to start the festival.

We decided to get some food from Movida, We wanted some meat so we got the Pinchito Morunos. It was Lamb marinated in moorish spices and cooked over charcoal.

The lamb was tender and sweet with a bit of a chili bite afterwards.

One tent was full of Dilmah Tea but me being a coffee person did not really take much notice of what they had. I met this really nice guy who started Pics Peanut Butter, he was a very friendly guy and the peanut butter was really fresh and tasty. I forgot to get a Jar but he said he was starting to sell it at Coles Supermarket so i will have to get a jar next time i see it.

Now that Kim can drink some beer , we got beers from the Temple Brewing Company. We got a Hefeweizen and a Lambic. The Lambic was very sour but still amazing and kim enjoyed her Hef, it was light wheaty and fruity.

I have seen First Press Coffee in Spilt Milk and always wanted to taste it. I got my chance to taste it and i really enjoyed it. If i need a cold coffee i know what to get and where from.

After beers and coffee it was time for a cocktail, I had the Wild Turkey spice with freshly squeezed apple juice and it was refreshing.

 The Vineyard was filled with a variety of Wineries suppliers and you could drink a whole selection from all over Australia.

 We had a bit of money at the end so our friend Lee said we should put our money together and buy a last meal, I had a $1 left..( so I owe them coffee)  We ordered two Smoked Ora King Salmon. It had salmon, croutons, capers and lemon oil, because it was 9:30pm and closed they gave us a Blue murray cod & Green mango salad.

It was dark by the time we left.

It was an amazing night and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Thank you Lee & Vena.

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Kind E-gards

Dale Stewart