Melbourne Cricket Club Members' Dining Room

Level 2, Gate 2, near the cnr of Jolimont Tce and Jolimont St
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Dress code applies.
Ph: (03) 9284 2300
For big match days, members can register to join the ballot on the Monday two weeks before the match. Details http://www.mcg.org.au/

IT'S Grand Final week and time to turn our attention to the footy.

Eating at the footy is not usually a memorable affair unless you've had an invitation to a fancy corporate box. Otherwise it's pies, jam donuts and hot dogs, washed down with a light beer or coke, all at exorbitant prices.

At the MCG on Saturday night I exploited my underused MCC membership to fork out a bit more to dine at the Member's dining room before the game.

As much as I grieved over the loss of the old MCC pavilion, the 1920s brick entrance, the historic dark green wrought iron gates and grand old stand, the old dining room was nothing to write home about.

Tucked away in a labyrinth of bars, corridors and meeting rooms, it was dark and musty, and served up gravy soaked roasts with soggy vegies your 95-year-old Nanna would love.

In dazzling contrast, the relatively new dining room, which opened in 2005, is a light-filled glass-encased space with floor to ceiling views of the hallowed MCG turf on one side, and views of the city skyline on the other.

The MCC logo is emblazoned on the carpet, and there is an abundance of wood panelling to remind diners they are in "the members". But the sizeable TV screens popping out of the ceiling and one gigantic screen on the back wall, replicating a sports bar at Crown Casino, brings the venue back down to earth with a thud.

As for the food, the menu is pitched perfectly to its audience (mainly middle-aged men) and the season.

Time wasn't on our side so we tucked straight into the mains with char grilled Portland beef eye fillet served on blue cheese mashed potato with asparagus and red wine jus ($35), lamb rump marinated in dukkah spices on a prosciutto, thyme and white bean cassoulet ($31.5), and a pork cutlet dish with mango chutney, potatoes and cabbage ($27.50).

The other main on offer was crispy skin fillet of barramundi on a lemon aioli, caper and red onion potato salad with Mount Zero olive tapenade ($28.50). All mains came with a side dish of broccoli. Quality bread and butter was also served.

Four entrees include sweet potato, ginger and lemongrass soup with scallop, coriander oil and kaffir lime leaf ($14), harissa spiced lamb fillet on current, pine nut and coriander cous cous with lemon yoghurt dressing ($18), crisp honey roasted duck breast and duck rillettes with herb sprouts and blackberry, walnut vinaigrette ($17) and sautéed garlic prawn tails, with roasted beetroot, zucchini and chervil salad with a balsamic and avocado oil dressing ($20).

For dessert things look even better with a vanilla crème brulee and almond biscotti ($15), baked papaya cheesecake with poached pineapple, lime compote and cashew praline ($15), mandarin and lime tart with rhubarb compote, mint syrup and clotted cream ($15).

There's also a cheese plate featuring King Island blues and bries with muscatel grapes and fig paste ($13).

But the best was yet to come. On completion of the first sitting before venturing through the glass to our reserved seats to watch the footy, diners are offered the chance to order "supper" for half time.

Mini scones, jam and double cream, party pies (they looked like Boscastles), sausage rolls and traditional chicken sandwiches were served up with tea and coffee. Top marks for the cute novelty factor.

Washed down with Crown Lagers for the boys and a Yarra Valley Pinot Noirs for girls from a good wine list, it was frankly, an impressive football spread.

The food is done by catering company Epicure who are at pains to source local produce wherever possible, and it shows. There's a function centre-type feel to the place - especially on big match days when the room is chokka-block, and with staff in those matching and ill fitting uniforms - because away from match days, that's exactly what the venue becomes.

The upside is being able to watch the footy through the glass without leaving your table, and being allocated reserve seating just out the front for when you do want to join the action, in arguably some of the best seats in the place.

I should also mention the dining room is for members and their guests only - MCC's waiting list is about 15 years at the moment.

Overall a really enjoyable and unique dining experience with decent food and a good wine list at reasonable prices.

7/10

- Kate

Robert et Louise

64, rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
+01 42 78 5589

I’m going to start this review with some advice: if you’re a chef, wannabe chef, ravenous carnivore or a foodie of any description and you find yourself in Paris, make sure you dine at Robert et Louise.

I first heard about this tiny restaurant in the Marais quarter during a chat with Kyneton chef Annie Smithers. She she nominated it as her favourite international dining experience and said it was at the "funny little restaurant with gingham curtains and a huge open fire" where she had the best steak of her life.

"(There was) a 50-year-old Frenchwoman who had a whole side of beef sitting on a wooden chopping board," Smithers said. "She would sharpen her knife, slice off a bit of meat and just put it on the grill plate on the fire. It was so simple, but there was something in the honesty of the food that was so basic but so perfect."

Just hearing that description made my mouth water and knowing I was soon to find myself in Paris, I put Robert et Louise high on my to-eat-at list.

Those not lucky enough to have heard the inside word from Smithers would likely walk straight past the small restaurant that is barely signed and surrounded by plenty of other eateries with much more welcoming appearances. Luckily, I was with someone with local knowledge and once I was inside I realised the lack of signage is exactly what makes Robert et Louise so charming. Why? Because it keeps the tourists (except us) out.

Although we soon discovered the nondescript appearance didn’t mean business was slow. Even at 10pm on a weeknight and were lucky to get a seat. Most diners were squashed along a communal table down the centre of the room or sitting at the bar near the door.

It took me a few moments to adjust to the scene - the tiny yet cosy joint just oozed atmosphere with exposed timber beams and walls adorned with pictures, ornaments and cooking utensils (you name it, it was there).

But the thing that immediately caught my eye, and what made this restaurant stand out over any other I’ve eaten at, was the kitchen and what came out of it.

Actually, “kitchen” is a pretty generous term for what was really nothing more than an alcove with an open fire with a cast iron grill over the flames and a giant wooden chopping block.

It was a very simple system: at Robert et Louise it’s all about the steak. Each order involved the chef grabbing a side of meat from the hanging fridge, hacking off the required cut and slapping the meat on the hotplate.

It sounds rough and rustic and not for the faint-hearted and it was all three. A few minutes on each side and voila, each steak cooked to perfection were served on a wooden board with nothing other than a pot of Dijon mustard on the side. Watching the process was mesmorising, mouthwatering and oh-so-French and I couldn’t wait to tuck in.

But first things first: for entree I had a generous serve of foie gras with spiced toast and apple slices (18 euros) while my buddy had a plate of saucisson, which is kind of like a French chorizo (6 euros).

Both were brilliant but it was the rump (18 euros) we were after and the rump we were about to get. As expected, the finished product (cooked medium rare) was a meat-lover’s dream. It was dark pink, juicy, tender enough to cut with a butter knife and also had my favourite steak requirement...plenty of fat with plenty of flavour. We’d ordered a serve of salad and potatoes (5 euros each) and a bottle of red (22 euros) to wash it down and despite the massive serves not a morsel was left on the plates.

Add some hilarious conversation from the three random blokes sitting next to us and this dining experience was simply the best. We finished with a shared crème brulee but as good as it was it barely registered. I went to Robert et Louise for the steak and to experience a genuine French bistrot and both exceeded expectations.

Forget the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. For me, Robert et Louise has everything you’ll ever want from a Parisian experience.

10/10

- Zoe