Sunday, July 18, 2004
Belly up, European style
Two days in a row, I ate sumptuously. The first was at this themed restaurant called the Cuckoo on Mount Dandenoong. The geographical wonder was about an arduous hour’s drive from the city. Nope, we didn’t sign up for the excursion by intention but rather ended up going by chance. We were mucking around Arrow [our apartment block] when we met this gal who showed us the laundry and gym areas. We wrapped up the mini show-around with a half hour talk in the latter.A trip to the Dandenoong would have cost nearly a hundred if guided by experts so we didn’t mind being led blindly by greenhorns for free. Dandenoong turned out to be quite disappointing. All we saw were remains of a restaurant and the pile of garbage it left behind. I think if we arrived at the other side of the mountain the view will have been more breathtaking. For one, it’s not difficult to find something more breathtaking than the ‘Dandenoong we saw’. However it was, indeed, literally breathtaking on the peaks. The weather was horrendously cold with gusty winds slapping your face and legs.
Then there was Cuckoo's Bavarian buffet spread which was excellent [save for the lack of vegetable dishes] and it's homey décor which Marche aspired to but failed miserably at. The waitresses wore these costumes complete with aprons, corsets, big flouncy skirts and boots [I think]. We were entertained briefly by a bald headed guy singing Sinatra’s Fly Away With Me, Tom Jones and other classic numbers. Woohhhh they had so much dessert man. Cakes of all sorts, pancakes with icecream and syrup, mousse and pastries and…. They had, they claimed, the largest mechanical cuckoo clock in the world. Even if it turned out to be a heady claim it was magnificient nonetheless: forests and deer were carved into solid redwoord. Altogether: good.
Then it was down Lygon street which was packed with Italian eateries. Bistros, cafes, alfresco dining, fine dining, ice cream palours, cakeries etc all were selling the Italian cuisine. We ate at Cafe Cabretto where it was snug and warm on the inside. The lasagna, bruschetta with tomatoes and herbs, traditional salmon pizza and fettuccine with chicken was all excellente! We wanted to try the dolce pizza [desserts like nutella, fruits or chocolate get smothered on thin pizza crusts] and the gelati icecream but we were either too full or too cold for them. That's a pity.
We heard that when the F1 Grand Prix came to Melbourne this year, the whole of Lygon street was turned into some extended racing car showroom, with those sleek monsters lining the entire street. Wooh wooh for me.
lux at 11:17 am