Review: Lunch @ PM24, 24 Russell Street, Melbourne CBD

I had wanted to pay PM24 a visit for a very long time. After all, I am a huge fan of The Brasserie by Phillipe Mouchel. However, I did not have the opportunity to do so. First, I was so preoccupied with my exams that I rarely pay the CBD a visit. Second, when I made a reservation, they had some construction going on the floor. Third, there were just other new places to try.

Finally, I've gotten to try PM24! And I was incredibly satisfied with the experience. :)


Comfy dining space
There are two types of menu. One is fo

Bread and butter
Chicken Liver Parfait
Cured Salmon
Coffin bay Oysters
Braised Ox Cheeks, Burguignon Style
Leg of Lamb
Rotisserie: Organic Milawa Chicken
Mocchacino, Chocolate Sorbet
Raspberry and Rum Sorbet with Green Tea Macaron Shells
Fruit Bread
Chocolate and Raspberry Gateau
The best creme caramel ever!
Home Made Strawberry Flavored MarshmallowThe lunch menu is pretty straightfoward. One gets to choose between a pre-fixe or ala-carte. While my dad and sister went for the pre-fixe, my mom and I had the ala carte so we get to try more dishes and check for consistency.

Prior to the arrival of our dishes, we enjoyed freshly baked bread with French butter. The bread had a gorgeous golden crust and very moist on the inside. It was so good, I had two slices. However, my parents prefer having the dukkah mix instead of the butter. I'm not complaining because the bread was just so delicioussss!

For entree, my mom had Coffin Bay oysters. She loved it with the dressing and claimed that it was better than the ones she had at Cumulus INC. My dad had the cured salmon. I tried that dish and was impressed. The salmon was not too salty and went beautifully with the mustard. My sister's chicken liver parfait was to die for! The parfait was rich with the taste of liver and had a slightly fruity taste. The strong flavors from the parfait was all too perfect with the buttered toast.

My sister opted for the braised ox cheeks for her mains. I loved the gelatinous texture of the cheeks and how it melted in my mouth. The sauce, rich with the taste of French herbs and red wine, complemented the meat and vegetables. Not to mention, there were lots of bacon pieces too! My dad had the lamb leg, which everybody loved too.

My mom and I ordered our mains from the rotisseire menu as rotisseire meat was the restaurant's specialty. My mom had the organic chicken. I had the lamb rack. The organic chicken came with lots of roasted greens, which I really enjoyed. The chicken was tender and easily pulled off the bone. Plus, it w! as reall y sweet and juicy. My lamb of rack, was unlike my dad's lamb leg. While my dad's lamb leg was on the tender side, mine had a nice bite. The sauce that came with the lamb was beautiful but best eaten with the other components. On its own, it would be to salty.

Desserts at PM24 were spot on. The dessert from the pre-fixe menu, the mocchacino and chocolate sorbet, was a chocolate lover's heaven in a cup. In spite of the strong chocolate-y taste, it was a very light dessert. My mom and I shared the degustation platter. It had creme caramel, sorbet with macaron shells, chocolate and raspberry gataeu, and fruit bread. We loved everything except for the fruit bread, which we found to be a little too sweet for our liking.

The smooth, jelly-like creme caramel had what appeared to me the best caramel I've tasted. The slightly burnt aroma from the gooey golden caramel was such a tease! It made me wonder how did they strike the perfect timing to prepare this goodness of a caramel. The chocolate gataeu with raspberries reminded me of Le Petit Gateau's Chocolate Passionfruit Cake. It was neither too cloying nor rich yet delivered the appropriate amount of chocolate. The raspberries, which would be too sour on its own, gave the gateau a sense of balance.The rum sorbet tasted like real rum and the raspberry sorbet like raspberries plucked off its plant. The macaron shells were on the chewy side.

Overall, we had a great dining experience at PM24. The food was very good and service was pleasant. My parents declared this as our new "place to go when they decide to come pay Melbourne a visit".

:)

Oh, and Fatty, Happy Birthday!


Little things:

-Cuisine: Bistro, Rotisserie

-Ambience: A bit like entering someone's home. :)

-Service: Pleasant. However, halfway when I was dining, the restaurant actually called me to ask if I was coming or not.

-Portion: HUGE! We were literally rolling out of the restaurant after the meal.

-Prices: Appr! oximatel y 50 AUD per person. Reasonable, considering the portion.

-Other information: