Punch Lane
43 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
03 9639 4944

Punch Lane is a little gem that has been recommended by the Good Food Guide, just a stones’ throw away from my place.  One day, I finally dragged hubby out of the house to this cosy little place for a relaxing dinner.

Apparently, this place is pretty much booked out on a Thursday night so we were seated in a dark cosy shared table in the corner.  Thankfully, the restuarant wasn’t as full as they initially predicted so we pretty much had a table to ourselves.

3 cheeses kataifi balls w/ mint yoghurt & pomergrante molasses ($14.50)  is fantastic.  A dish of little crispy balls with a gooey centre, it is a delightful surprise with a tangy sour flavour from the pomergrante and a slight minty flavour from the yoghurt.  Highly recommended this dish with the contrasts in textures and flavours.

Normally I am a bit wary of chorizo- it’s normally too rich and salty for me.  Fortunately, Punch Lane’s Chorizo ($15.50) is cooked with onions and capsicum.  The natural sweetness of the cooked onions complements greatly with the chorizo making it a fantastic comfort food.

Hubby chose the Grilled Rib eye w/ oxtail sauce $39 and I was not happy- I made rib eye for him the night before!  Why was he eating rib eye AGAIN?  A bite of his rib eye soon proved why-very tender, this rib eye had a wonderful char grilled flavour with a beautiful thick sauce- yum.

I ordered a seared scallop w/ confit cherry tomato, crispy pancetta and pea puree $36.5.  It was a delight to the eye as well as the tastebuds, with beautifully presented gems of fresh scallops, dotted with pearls of nice, firm peas.  The two thin, crispy pancetta adds a tinge of saltiness to the scallop without overpowering the flavours.  Perfect.

Feeling decidedly adventurous as the night goes by, I decided to share a Pashka ($13.50) with hubby.  Pashka is a Russian dessert of sweeten ricotta, almond, chocolate  and candied lemon with poached pear in a cherry sauce.  Whilst these ingredients seemed to be common when used seperately, it proved to be a bit out of comfort zone for hubby.  It is certainly a bit of an aquired taste as the two blobs tasted more like cream than ricotta and the cherry sauce is a bit weird with the poached pear.  I found that it actually comes together beautifully, if you just combine all the individual flavours in one mouthful.  The chocolate/ almound flavours satisfy the sweet tooth in me, while the cherry, pear and lemon made this otherwise heavy dessert refreshing.

If you like good quality, simple food with great flavours, this is the place for you. 8/10