Mr Hive's Kitchen and Bar Crown Metropol Melbourne

Melbourne. what do you think of when you see the word melbourne? i immediately think food, a lot of food, food coma.

So 2013 is the year of change for me, a new year a new me, its also the year of exploring both in food and travels. To start i booked flights to melbourne, yes i know, its close by and i've been there a few times already but what's notto love in melbourne?!? i love it down there! i wanted to move down there to pursue another post grad degree but parents weren't happy about that so i have to stay put in sydney for now.

I was down in melbourne for 3 days ( not enough i know! didn't eat my bodyweight in macarons and pastries, boohoo!) and i finally got to meet daisy from never too sweet and  Michèle from ironchefshellie! (seriously awesome peeps they are!)

so what do foodbloggers do together? eat of course! they kindly let me choose the place and because i was obsessively stalking daisy on instagram, i decided on Mr Hive's at the Crown metropol. (seriously, peanut butter and chocolate are made for each other, read on to find out about their sexy offspring!! )

So off i went to the Crown complex and it took me 10 minutes to realise that the crown metropol was on the other side of this massive complex. after persuing the touch screen maps and asking a few security guards, i found my way there with the help of these stickers on the ground.

the corridor leading up to the restaurant had the aboves up, and i can only assume that they are Mr and Mrs Hive?

Because of daylight saving, our dinner at 630 still had lovely natural light, so it was great for photos despite my poor photography/ mobile phone camera skills.

 

We started off with something green and something healthy, a cucumber and yoghurt smoothie.  yep it felt a tad too healthy abeit refreshing for the 3 of us but the foodporn to come did balance it out ;)

we decided to pick an entree each and share it and i can assure you daisy's pick of the crispy little pig was quite popular.

Michèle picked the ceviche of snapper with lime, coconut and chilli. this was amazingly fresh and quite generous for a entree!

Daisy picked the amazing crispy little pig. this was served with macerated waterlmelon cubes and baby radishes, watermelon has never tasted so good. ever. Do i really need to talk more about the piggy? asides it being crispy, melt in your mouth, delicious, awesome, food porn material.......

i am a massive scallop fan so i picked the roasted scallops with wild ric and spices. this was amazing, i wanted more! i will so come back just for this! fat juicy scallops cooked to perfection....

collective shot of the entrees. i just had lunch but i'm hungry just looking at this!

Now we move on to the mains!
they have a daily specials board here on top of their standard menu and to be honest, everything sounded amazing, we had a hard time deciding!

After much decision making, i decided to go with the saltbush lamb. this was pretty delicious but i was still all hyped up from entrees so this main couldnt quite compare in terms of awesomeness with the entrees.

Michèle ordered the john dory with spring bay mussels and tomato essence. The fish was very fresh and the flavours were good but the size seemed a bit too small for a main.

Daisy opted for the chicken pot pie with wedges from the daily specials. This was so cute! i'm going to try replicate the looks of it at home!

At that stage i was pretty full but i couldn't leave without desserts! that would be a sin!
So we got up from our table and did some exericse (walking tothe dessert bar HA!) before settling down for more awesomeness and a self induced sugar coma.

I really like the concept of a dessert bar inside a restaurant.  It gives u the choice of having dessert at your table or a different place. it also means u can walk in just for desserts. I also enjoyed watching my dessert getting plated up! the hands of these chefs are amazing!

What i really liked about the dessert bar was the jars and jars of old school lollies that lined the shelves! i swear my eyes popped open like violet in charlie and the chocolate factory!

we were given a pre dessert ( yes! pre dessert! how awesome is that?!?)
this cute little piece of artwork is a white chooclate ganache, coconut mousse, fresh mango, basil sorbet and more white chocolate. this was vert refreshing and a very nice start to a sugar coma!

I present you with Mr hive's chocolate bar. So this is what i am talking about. the sexy child of chocolate and peanut butter. no wonder it is a signature dessert of Mr Hive's.  amazing, freaking awesome, orgasmic are all understatements of this dessert. I loved every single element of it and that scoop of peanut butter ice cream, i wanted to steal the tub and run! it was heavenly! if you love peanut butter and chocolate, this is a must try! ( if you don't like peanut butter and chocolate, this will convert you!). I could babble on about this dessert for another years or 2 so i better stop it. (No seriously, it is amazing!)

Daisy opted for the blackberry souffle with vanilla bean ice cream. i stole a spoonful of this, and man its probably one of the fluffiest souffles i've ever had and the flavours were beautifully balanced!

 Michèle opted for the summer berry eton mess. i loved the presentation of it! so pretty! this was pretty good too, despite being so full i wanted to eat everyones' dessert! oink!

 

Thats not the end of it! We were also given a almond milkshake with some ameretto ( almond liquor) and a salted caramel ozzy centre chocolate truffle! serious sugar coma right there but oh so good!
and because i am a sucker for novelty, i took quite a few pictures of those straws! (where can i get them?!? the ones i keep seeing are props only, not for drinking cos they disintegrate!)

And the end the night, we were given a lolly bag filled with all those old school candies to take home. obviously we didn't have enough sugar!

It was an amazing experience and it was great to meet both Daisy and Michèle, you guys are awesome beyond words ( the mini donuts set and luxbite macarons!!) i look forward to seeing you guys again soon be it in melbourne or sydney or possibly other food places!
And whoever Mr and Mrs Hive is, Thank you!

p.s  i was going to do a collaborative melbourne post but this place and another japanese place was too awesome i felt that they needed entries of their own!

Until next time,

Milkteaxx