MAZE

8 Whiteman St, Level 1 Crown Metropol (03) 9292 6268
Score: 32/40
If Maze wasn’t billed as a ‘Gordon Ramsey Restaurant’, I probably would have been there sooner. He clearly cannot have a meaningful contribution to the thousands of restaurant that bear his name, which is clearly for sale. He’s a culinary call-girl.

But when a work contact asked me there for lunch, I thought, ‘why not?’. So off I went. And I’m really glad I did.

Maze’s menu is one of a grazing, tapas style. The lunch special at three courses for $38 or four courses for $49 is very reasonable and one of the great lunch finds in or around the CBD.

There were three of us, so we managed to cover the entire menu, including:

-Marinated beetroot with goat’s curd cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette and toasted pine nuts

-Applewood smoked kingfish with fennel purée and pickled celery globe artichoke and finger limes

-Seared yellow fin tuna with white radish and yuzu and enoki mushrooms with black garlic

-A butternut squash with compressed cucumber and pumpkin seeds

-Ox “tongue and cheek” with  caper and raisin as well as carrots and horseradish pomme purée.

-Smoked haddock veloute with watercress saag aloo with poached quail eggs.

The service was friendly and helpful, the food was of an extremely high standard and any menu built around me shoving as many flavours in my face as possible is always a winner with me.

Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10
Food: 9/10

Website: www.gordonramsay.com/mazemelbourne