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Verge
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Restaurant
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Melbourne
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Price:
Moderate
Score (/20):
15
Reviewed By
Sue Dyson and Roger McShane
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Address:
cnr Flinders Lane and Spring St
Melbourne, Victoria, 3000
Country:
Australia
Food Style:
Modern Australian/Japanese
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Verge restaurant occupies a prime corner location in Melbourne's CBD with sweeping views to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in one direction and Parliament House in the other.An informal bar and the kitchens occupy the ground floor with the main restaurant area being upstairs to better expose the view.From the minute you walk in you are enveloped by the friendly, professional service. You actually get the impression that the staff really care about you having a satisfying dining experience. Drink orders are taken swiftly with many wines available by the glass including interesting selections such as a Prager Gruner Veltliner, Grosset Watervale Riesling, Argiolas Vermentino, Tardieu Laurent Les Bec Fins and Poggerino Chianti Classico.Dishes here are cooked with an assured hand. The chef favours Japanese recipes, but does not restrict the menu to flavours from that country alone.Our meal started with a steamed dumpling of Japanese roasted eel and shitake with soy consommé served in a shallow oval white bowl. The consommé was sprinkled with sesame seeds and studded with spikes of flavour from sisho leaves. Possibly the most interesting dish of the night came in the form of a single slice of fatty Kurobuta pork loin that had been rolled with chorizo and served with chestnut, smokey tomato and small cubes of pumpkin. We thought at first that the texture of the pork might be challenging - the fat was barely set, but it turned out to be an absorbing dish with fine, integrated flavours that went perfectly with a glass of Michelot 'Clos St Felix' Meursault. Equally comfortable with the Meursault was a dish of tortellini of abalone served with fresh horseradish and a bisque sauce that was more like a shellfish emulsion. A main course of venison 'sous vide' was served with a cabbage roll, braised witlof and a cylinder of beautifully prepared buckwheat. While the cabbage roll did not seem to have a place in this dish the chocolate enriched sauce was a triumph. The pairing of the slowly cooked venison with the chocolate sauce was further enhanced by a Gilles Robin Crozes Hermitage that displayed exceptionally fine tannins. Australian shiraz producers could learn a lot from the wines of the Northern Rhone. How we long for elegance in wine rather than the assertive blockbusters that seem to be in vogue.Our meal finished with a warm quince and ginger cake served with quince 'paper', honey nougatine ice cream and poached quince. This was a lovely dessert enhanced by one of Spanish wine maestro Telmo Rodriguez's dessert wines, the MR Moscatel.In summary, this was a very pleasant meal bolstered by efficient, caring service and excellent cooking and underpinned by a very thoughtful 16 page wine selection.Review date: 18th August 2007
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