Jacques Reymond

Jacques Reymond is a French restaurant situated in a stately Victorian mansion in Prahran, Victoria.  The establishment has been a part of Melbourne’s fine dining circuit for twenty years and is much loved and highly decorated, having held the prestigious Three Chef’s Hats rating for a number of years.  Jen and I dined here for the first time this year for my birthday.

You might recall that the last French degustation I had was at Le Bernardin in New York, an experience that left me a little underwhelmed.  Happily, Jacques Reymond delivered on all the points that I felt Le Bernardin lacked.  The staff were friendly and courteous, the food was locally sourced and there was still plenty of creative flair in the courses.  I can’t say I’ve ever had cuttlefish, pork and chicken served in a single dish before.

Here’s what we had:

Clear broth of shiitake, fragrant lemon balm, clams

Yellow fin tuna, smoked salmon mousse, spiced nougatine, togarashi, lemon caviar

King George whiting, acidities of pickles Japanese style, yuzu

Cuttlefish, pork and crispy chicken skin

Parmesan custard, green peas, macerated grapes, wasabi and apple granita

Flinders Island lamb, smoked eucalyptus scallop, scampi, masterstock jelly

Sher wagyu ala plancha, burnt onion and coffee

Camargue red rice, champagne, Yarra Valley berries