Although I have been to Melbourne several times, I have never been to Cumulus Inc. I discovered that they were going to take over Egmont St Eatery for two nights and I decided to purchase a ticket to the event. The menu included items from Cumulus’ past and present menu with the ingredients sourced from local producers. The dishes were made to share and some of us had to eat on shared tables.
Ortiz Anchovy, Aioli, Espelette
This was a great way to start the meal. I originally thought that the anchovy would be quite powerful in flavour. However, everything was well rounded and worked really well. Yum!
Salt Cod and Parsley Soup
I was apprehensive about this due to the sharpness to the colour green. The soup had two layers, with the salt cod aspect at the bottom and hot in temperature. With the parsley, part was on the top and cold. However, when drunk, this soup was outstanding and I just wanted more.
The bread had a really nice crust and the butter was handed whipped. I think the bread was slightly deep fried. This went really well with the soup.
Tuna Tartare, Goat Curd, Crushed Peas
This was well presented and was another outstanding dish. The tuna went really well with the goat cheese and the lightly crushed peas.
Calamari and Radish Salad, Fried Bread, N’jula Dressing
This was an interesting dish, due to the combinations of ingredients. However, I liked this salad. The contrast between the textures of the radish, the squid, and other ingredients was good.
Cauliflower, Pistachio, and Pickled Currents
This dish worked really well. The cauliflower was nicely cooked and adding the texture with the pistachio nuts was great. The pickled currents were different and the sauce at the bottom brought everything together very nicely.
Duck Waffle, Duck Liver, and Prune
When I saw this, I wanted all of it, but it had to be shared with the others on the table. The three different elements worked really well and were one of the best things I had that evening.
Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder
This lamb was slowly cooked and then blasted in the oven to get a brown crisp skin on the ends. It was nicely seasoned, really tender and surprisingly a lot of meat which was shared between two people.
Black Barley and Farro, Candied Hibiscus, Za’atar
This salad was great. Tones of different ingredients and when mixed together it was great with the lamb.
Spiced Pumpkin, Pin Nut Cream
Really nicely cooked pumpkin, the nut cream went really well with it and also went really well with the lamb.
There was also a side dish of slightly pickled red onions with lemon. This was also really nice and balanced out everything really nicely.
Apple Confit, Burnt Butter Ice Cream
A nicely presented dessert. The burnt butter ice-cream was fantastic and loved the biscuit base. The apple was tart and the caramel sauce followed the burnt flavour from the ice-cream.
Madeleine Filled with Lemon Curd
These were served warm and were fantastic. These were so nice that I wanted more and used my finger to scope up the leftover lemon curd.
This was a great dining experience, and great to taste what Cumulus had to offer. The whole menu worked really well and everything was really nice, but I thought the Duck Waffle, Black Barley, and the Lemon Madeleine were my favorites. I will definitely try and go to Cumulus when I go back to Melbourne.
Website; Culums Inc
Melbourne Address: 45 Flinders Ln, Melbourne
Trencherman's Travels 