Cumulus Inc. (Melbourne)

Melbourne

Retro-review from February 2010 by St

What better way to kick start this blog by a trip down memory lane and in the foodie capital of Australia- Melbourne.

It was 8 on a saturday night and Timmy and I found ourselves at a netcafe trying to find a place to eat. The places he had in mind were all booked out or beyond the cbd which we weren’t too keen for. This included Cutler & Co. from Andrew McConnell, twice The Age Food Guide Chef of the Year. Luckily in Timmy’s food-driven mind, he knew that McConnell had another joint, Cumulus Inc, so to google maps we searched.

We thought we went the wrong direction up Flinders Lane. Thank goodness we passed Cecconi’s (one of Becc & Nate’s fav) and so we persevered on and a few metres away was Cumulus Inc.

The place was packed and looked tres chic with its clusters of light balls hanging from the ceiling. Good thing they had additional sitting at the bar and  an open kitchen counter. It didn’t matter that we just rocked up as they don’t take bookings for small groups. We sat on the side trying to suppress our olfactory and sight senses as it was now 9 pm and I needed to eat pronto! We were going to give it 30 minutes and then Timmy had permission to carry my limp starved body out to Maccas but at 9:20 the waiter showed us to seats up at the bar!!

So many wonderful dishes on the menu but here is what we ordered:

An oyster for Timmy. While he enjoyed the good oyster I was happy nibbling on the complimentary bread/ I’m- going-to-save-myself-so-I-can-pig-out-at-what’s-to-come. 

Moulting bay oyster $3.50

Next were the prawns sautéed with garlic and chilli. It was not what I was expecting but I think I ignored the word ‘crispy’. I was looking forward to some fresh cooked prawns with chilli flavour like in Vietnamese prawn salads or Singaporean chilli crab but on a much smaller scale. Obviously my scales were way off. The dish reminded me of my mum’s bag of small dry prawns she would fry for dinner when she hadn’t gone shopping. The chilli and garlic flavour was mild and didn’t really hit it for me. With hunger we dug into the prawns hoping with a new one, we would grow to like this dish. Let’s just say, at the end of the night, we still had a few prawns left.

Crispy school prawns sautéed with garlic and chilli $14

What a spectacle the next dish was- octopus columns with aioli and olive and other fancy colours borrowed from the tomato, basil and green chilli. Tasted as good as they looked.

Slow cooked octopus with with aioli, dehydrated olive $10

Maybe because we were having dinner after 9 that my head started playing tricks with me and decided to order fish for my main as I usually prefer more meaty stuff. The fish was swimming in a glorious curry sauce made from coconut cream, cardamom pods, curry leaves, garlic, ginger, chilli and butter. Creamy without being heavy or thick, with my last mullet piece, I swept the plate clean.
 

Red mullet with spiced tomato, grilled prawns, coriander and mint $36

Timmy had the 200g of medium rare chargrilled veal backstrap. Extremely tender to eat, and went well with the mayonnaise based anchovy dressing and shallots glazed in red wine and chicken stock.
 

Grilled veal backstrap, green bean salad, anchovy dressing and glazed shallots $34

*Special mention to Zoe from Cumulus Inc. for sharing her knowledge on our two mains.

Adding to the hip and coolness of the place are the amenities. One word-Aesop. Yep, they even have swanky bathrooms with Aesop soap. Just cooool.

I definitely want to come back to try more on the menu. Looking back, although we were satisfied, we could have ordered more but Crown casino was waiting for us that night. Timmy is still lamenting that there was only two of us because he wanted to try the whole slow roast lamb shoulder which is for four to share ($69). Timmy and I don’t drink much but they have a great wine list including brands unique to boutiques. Also I hear their breakfast is deleesh!

I couldn’t help but ask our friendly waiter/bartender one question: So what is Cumulus named after? I didn’t give him time to answer before I said: Like cells around a woman’s egg, an oocyte? Being an IVF scientist, I was pretty pleased with myself for knowing this- I’m sure the other diners didn’t have a clue. However the waiter’s look of confusion mixed with “you’re strange” did make me think twice. In fact, cumulus refers to clustered or lined clouds, hence the vertical balls of light hanging off the restaurant’s ceiling. Ohh. I see now.
 

Clouds or oocyte cells?

Prawns were a let down but everything else was effortlessly swell. Must come back for the lamb shoulder. Wokking rating/5:    

Cumulus Inc.
45 Flinders Ln
Melbourne
03 9650 1445