LA LUNA BISTRO - Bring On The Beef

320 Rathdowne St, Carlton North - ph: (03) 9349 4888

You've got to admire a restaurant that displays a massive drawing of beef cuts like this:

Yes, that's the image on La Luna's massive blackboard-like wall. The message is clear - YES, WE SERVE BEEF.

By the end of my meal, I discovered that not only do they serve beef, they create an amazing meal out of it.

We came to the restaurant if a large group tonight, so opted for the 6 course set menu for $68.50 per person.

Course 1: salmon tartare served with green salad and vinagrette. Although the picture I took doesn't do it justice, the dish was amazing - probably my favorite for the night.
The non-seafood option was a cured meat plate with olives & victorian extra virgin olive oil. The olives were incredibly silky and smooth.

Salmon tartare

Cured meat plate

Course 2: Double baked cheese soufflé served with garlic crouton. I really liked the presentation of this dish - how the suffle was out of its mold (which I believe would not be an easy thing to make)

Cheese suffle

Course 3: Grilled Bullboar sausage served on a bed of spicy hummus. Even though I am not a fan of sausage, this one tasted fantastic and went really well with the hummus. Its amazing how much difference there is between your average supermarket sausage and the real thing!

Bullboar sausage

Done with the entrees; now comes the main dishes. New beef knives are brought out, together with some beautiful, bodied Shiraz. We are all excited - duck and steak are coming next!









Course 4: Roast duck, garlic green beans & cherry jus
Course 5: Filet mignon served with mash. Now, I actually did some research on this (err, checked on Wikipedia): The filet (tenderloin) is considered to be the most tender cut of beef, and the most expensive. Because the muscle is non-weight bearing, it receives very little exercise, which makes it tender. And tender and juicy it was. We didn't need the carving knives; it melted in your mouth.

Filet mignon served with mash

Course 6: Dessert. A beautiful poached pear & chocolate tart was served with a good dollop of mascarpone. It was a sweet way to end the night!

Pear and chocolate tart

In sum, loved this restaurant. Food was great and very reasonably priced. Service was friendly and it is a BYO restaurant. We brought nice bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, both of which were properly decanted and served in their appropriate wine glasses.

Taking a look at their website, I noticed they also do brunch - wonder what that would be like in a stake house...