My Trip to Fifteen Melbourne

I think everyone who has been to Fifteen Melbourne (the 'Jamie Oliver' Restaurant) has something to say about how overrated the food is, and how Jamie Oliver actually doesn't cook your food for you (well duh..neither does Neil Perry, Tetsuya or Bill Granger and they actually live in Australia). So I had reasonable expectations when I got there. I liked the way it was set up, with the kitchen as the stage, and all the diners semi facing the 'spectacle' of cheese grating and sautéing, and trying to see if they recognised anyone from the show. Hmm...I wonder if CJ still works here.

The food was really good. The lunch deal was quite a steal, $28 for two courses and wine. We had fried scallops minestrone, and rotola with shitake, spinach, ricotta and burnt sage. It was earthy, it was herby and the flavours were pretty robust. My kind of meal. And the dessert, a sticky date pudding-ish creation with peanut praline ice cream was decently satisfying. And that was one of the best Semillon SB I had in a while.

So yeah all in all it was a pretty satisfying meal. I wouldn't say it was particularly creative or experimental or even gourmet. There was no celeriac foam (trademark of a 'cutting edge' establishment) or lemon chiboust to cleanse my palate. But it is a down-to-earth and wholesome place where you pay $10 more for a dish just because the owner wrote a few cookbooks and has his own TV show.