Monday, March 16, 2015

Saint Crispin

We had heard mixed reviews about Saint Crispin and despite the big "hoo haa" we managed to get a table for the 6pm dinner service that very same day.

Saint Crispin is the result of chefs Scott Pickett (The Estelle) and Joe Grbac (formerly of the Press Club). Being a two-hatted restaurant in Melbourne, we had high expectation of this place. Who wouldn't be? Everything was plated beautifully, like pieces of art and almost too beautiful to eat. Did the flavours go well together? We're not so sure and were left questioning some of the chefs' decisions. We ordered:

Snap, crackle and pop - Deep fried pork crackling! Saint Crispin did a good job on this. Tasty seasoning salt and crunchy.

Kangaroo loin, mastic, native plum and Warrigal greens - We love tartare and have no problem eating raw meat. However, there wasn't a mention on the menu that it's actually a tartare. In saying that, the kangaroo was tasty and the favourite dish of the night.

Courgette flowers with blue swimmer crab mousse- This dish had no textural elements to it. The mousse was quite nice and had an Asian(Thai) influence to it but the flowers were soggy and left more to be desired.
Crispy buttermilk chicken, 63 degree pullet egg, cos and popcorn - The chicken was tasteless and a little dry, and definitely not crispy. The egg was interesting but we were left thinking it was more of a breakfast dish than fine dining.

John Dory, octopus, black venere rice and South Australian olives - The fish was cooked well and the flavours went really well together. We just wish the portions were bigger for the mains. It looked like an entree.

Strawberry, sumac, longan and caramelised white chocolate - Goat curd being a very strong flavour on this dish should have been mentioned on the menu rather then finding out when it's placed in front of you. Certainly not a favourite of the night.

Ossau Iraty, Pyrenees, France, pumpkin, mustard fruit and rye - It shouldn't be a dessert; more fitting as an entree as the sweet elements of the dish were not detectable. The flavours did not go well together and as much as we love a cheese course, this was awful.

All in all, we wanted to love it but we were left with a feeling of disappointment. The meal(3 course options each) was very reasonably priced but would rather be charged more for more decent portions and for more thought to go into the flavour combinations. Some hits and misses for sure.

Service: :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star

Type of venue: Modern

Worth a return visit? No.

Address: 300 Smith Street,  Collingwood VIC 3066

Saint Crispin on Urbanspoon


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