The name Ice Cafe made me think of my childhood dream, much like Chill On Ice Lounge & Ski Lodge on Russell St did. However, it wasn't at all icy. In fact, it was a comfy warm little place full of cushions and couches. Well, maybe the only thing that makes it a little on the 'cold' side is the layout of the tables and crockery. At least my pants didn't stick to those cushions as we ate our lovely meal :D.
The cafe is small to say the least but apparently it's very popular with the locals for a great tasting breakfast or lunch and as we found out, it was also fantastic for dinner. Why were there no people in the cafe you ask? It wasn't because it was too cold, but rather because this well hidden little gem is tucked away on quiet Cato St, just off the corner of Malvern Rd in Prahran, so they probably don't get as much foot traffic as they'd like - shame!
Our meal, you guessed it, was from a coupon yet again. I know, I've been desperately trying to use up all the coupons I bought at the end of last year which are all expired or expiring. This time it was a great bargain because for $25 per person, we got an entree, main, side, wine AND dessert. That's a lot of food. I literally couldn't even walk when we finished.
We were given the choice of either a Geoff Merrill "Pimpala Road" Chardonnay 2008 or a Grant Burge "gb51" Cabernet Shiraz 2008 for wines. We're both not big wine drinkers, but for the sake of the blog post, we got one each. :D I liked the chardonnay more as I thought the shiraz was a tad on the dry side for me. But one's white and one's red so you can't really compare right? I have no idea what I'm saying. I definitely need to touch up on some wine knowledge.
We were also given complimentary bread with butter like most places do. The bread was fantastic, although it was just normal white bread, it was soft in the centre and was very fresh. For some strange reason, I didn't have a big appetite that day so just to be safe, I only ate half of the bread at the start of the meal. It was sad to not eat my bread, but it was definitely a wise decision.
To make it easy, Yuye and I chose one each from the menu for all the courses. For entree, Yuye got the pumpkin and feta tart with salad. We both agreed that the layer of pastry at the bottom of the salad was too oily and a bit too crunchy (meaning it was probably overcooked). However, in my opinion (not Yuye's), the flavours were just perfect. The rocket leaves worked in great harmony with the goats cheese and caramelised onions. As the pumpkin was sweet, it also went perfectly with the dish as a whole. A simple yet stunning dish. This set the standard for the rest of the night and was by far my favourite dish. It was also nicely presented with rocket piled up high.
