July 1, 2011: Regal Postal Service Hotel

eating Cindy's apple tree pies!) as well as on our agency to Dunkeld. We arrived inwards the dark, missing the classic see of the fine art deco edifice amongst Mt Sturgeon inwards the background (the photograph inwards a higher house was taken the side past times side morning, before a transcend notch continental brekkie). Still, nosotros weren't at that spot for the views - it was all close the food.

The Royal Mail has a vegetarian degustation equally a criterion option, which ever gives me a goodness vibe close a place. And it's a large one: 10 courses, including three desserts for $130 or a slightly terrifying $245 if you're reckless plenty to fit wines (I was, piece Cindy was less impulsive). I won't pretend to live a vino expert, therefore I'm non going to comment on each sip - on the whole, they were stunning, amongst solely the innovative purpose of sake for i course of teaching disappointing whatever of us.

The breadstuff came amongst a smoked butter, which divided sentiment - I loved it, but non everyone at our tabular array was convinced that butter needed the tweaking. The bread, equally ever at fancy places, was outstanding.

Things got started properly amongst a white edible bean as well as parmesan sandwich. This was i of the best dishes of the nighttime - rich, crispy footling parmesan toast slices amongst a gorgeous bean  filling. It's surprising how few of the fancy degustations we've gone likewise guide keep made much purpose of beans equally poly peptide - they should, because this was amazing.

Next upwards was a course of teaching I was variety of dreading: love apple tree on toast amongst handmade sheep's ricotta.

My issues amongst love apple tree are no secret, but this won me over - it was warm, tender as well as tasted amazing. The 'toast' was a grainy mix that added a fleck of mash to the softness of everything else. Kudos to The Royal Mail: I'm withal surprised that they managed to brand something therefore love apple tree heavy that I actually enjoyed.

The love apple tree was followed past times a vegetable broth, filled amongst pickled vegetables as well as kohlrabi.

This was a fairly uncomplicated dish - crispy pickled vegetables inwards a mild, slightly sweet, broth. There was a weird starchy variety of jelly layered across the bottom - nosotros couldn't figure out what it was, but it added something a fleck intriguing to an otherwise straightforward veggie broth.

Next upwards was this cute footling dish: egg yolk, rye, legumes as well as yeast.

The egg yolk was a perfect footling populace of awesome on transcend of a crunchy mix of rye as well as legumes. The yeast underneath may good guide keep been nooch, made into an interesting variety of glue amongst a creamy, salty flavour.

We were deep into the savouries past times now, as well as I was excited to live getting about poly peptide amongst tofu, potato, mustard as well as nashi.

I was slightly disappointed to detect out that the tofu had been frozen as well as and therefore grated over the Irish Gaelic patato as well as nashi pile - certain it's a clever as well as innovative trick, but I was actually looking forwards to something amongst tofu equally the centrepiece. Still, the combination of the crispy sugariness pear as well as the creamy potatoes amongst a creamy sauce as well as about seedy as well as slightly hot mustard. The tofu didn't actually add together a lot unfortunately.

Another starchy dish was side past times side on the menu: jerusalem artichoke, triple cream as well as chive.

This was a weird mix of textures - the outside was a fleck woody as well as tough, piece the within was a velvety soft creamy puree. I'm non quite certain how it was done, but it was a really impressive trick. To live honest, the peel was a fleck annoying to eat, but the mush within was fantastic. The shallots were tender as well as tasty, although I mean value it was a fleck onion-y for Cindy.

Our second-last savoury dish was precisely called cool climate vegetables.

Interlude about years ago). I liked the straightforwardness of this dish, which actually permit the character of the vegetables shine through.

Our finally savoury dish for the nighttime was eggplant inwards white miso amongst dried grains as well as cured kelp.

This was a delicious chunk of eggplant, tender without beingness textureless, coated inwards about sort of miso marinade as well as soaked inwards a broth that was likely miso-derived equally well. The grains were quite similar to the materials that came amongst the egg yolk earlier. Neither of us guide keep whatever existent retentivity of the kelp - I tin blame the booze at this point, but I'm non certain how Cindy tin explicate it.

Onto dessert! The transition came amongst the romantically named 'fallen fruit' (apple, almond, caramel, chamomile).

This was an apple tree cooked inwards its peel to live soft as well as smushy, smeared amongst a stick caramel sauce as well as served amongst a pulverization of almond. This dish was paired amongst a low-cal chamomile tea (a intermission from the booze!) which cutting through the sweetness of the apple.

What followed was the most impressive dish of the night: beetroot as well as mandarin, cocoa as well as walnut.

The flavours as well as textures of this dish were precisely stunning - the beetroot turned out to live a powdery beetroot-based icecream, which was a mind-blowing concoction. There was the low-cal chocolaty mash of the cocoa as well as walnut, the sugariness Standard Mandarin crème brûlée as well as the citrussy freshness of existent mandarin. Possibly the best dessert I've ever tasted.

Course #10 was a slightly to a greater extent than conventional dessert: pistachio, hazelnut, honeycomb, chocolate.

There was a dense pistachio repast cake, delicately sprinkled amongst fantastic black chocolate, about chunks of honeycomb as well as a footling egg of smoothen as well as creamy choc-hazelnut ice-cream. Every goodness degustation should halt amongst a chocolatey dessert.

Speaking of chocolates, nosotros finished upwards amongst these cute footling truffles amongst a surprisingly potent Earl Gray season to them.

Outstanding.

The Royal Mail puts on a really impressive spread - at that spot were a few savoury courses that didn't wow all of us, but past times the fourth dimension we'd worked our agency through the desserts I was laid to telephone phone this the best repast of the year. The infinite is non equally charming equally I'd expected - on the upside it's spacious plenty that you're non forced to hear to other people's conversations all night, but on the downside the atmosphere was a footling flat. The service was impeccable though perhaps a footling on the formal side for us - it's dainty to experience that you're at a fancy place, but the service mode of the high-end restaurants sometimes makes me experience a fleck awkward. Still, nosotros had an amazing nighttime as well as staggered across to our really comfy rooms, loaded upwards amongst about really fine nutrient as well as wine.

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The reviews of The Royal Mail are plentiful as well as gushing, although nobody else has gone amongst the vegetarian carte du jour it seems: Eating Melbourne, Tummy Rumbles, Half-Eaten (in haiku form!), Melbourne Dining Experiences, Pepper, Salt, Sugar, Spice, La Diva Cucina, The Gourmet Challenge, Double-cooked, What's for Dinner?, dot yum, omnomnomnom, Chit Chat Chomp as well as Melbourne Gastronome.

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The Royal Mail Hotel
98 Parker Street (Glenelg Hwy), Dunkeld
5577 2241
veg degustation $130
http://www.royalmail.com.au/

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Accessibility: The Royal Mail seems super accessible, correct downward to the large apartment showers inwards the rooms.