My friends and I headed to Lil Boy Blue for breakkie/brunch on a Sunday. I had seen some of my other friends visiting this place for dinner and the food looked amazing, so decided to check it out.
Lil Boy Blue is a restaurant and bar in Kew by owner/chef Joshua Clarke and is located in a heritage listed buildling. The place has a modern yet rustic feel and is filled with wooden tables complete with blue water glasses (which I really want for my house by the way), a brass horn which is mounted on the wall and the look is completed with a sketch of a little boy (done by local artist Conrad Bizjak). It really does live up to its name!
There is the main dining area at the front of the restaurant, and you can walk through to where the kitchen is and there are higher tables where you can dine as well. There is an upstairs function area which is available for bookings as well as a private sunroom.
The menu is a mix of simple Modern Australian food, where an interesting mix of ingredients are put together in each dish and consists of Breakfast (served till 2pm on weekends), Nibbles, Lil Plates and Big Plates are also available on the menu which is available later on in the day and into the night. There is also a dessert menu, and sweets which are made in-house every morning by the chefs which are located in the front cabinet.
My friends and I were seated on the higher tables and were given the food menus to peruse. I had had a quick glance at the menu before coming here so had an idea of what I wanted to have already, but was still torn between certain dishes as to what to order. I was tossing up between the Salmon Gravlax with Polenta Chips, the Piklets and the Poached and Crumbed eggs (you know how much I love my crumbed poached eggs =p). I settled with the Poached and Crumbed eggs, as P was getting the Salmon Gravlax and I was going to try some of hers. We also agreed to share the Pikelets at the end – as our dessert for brunch =p
T also wanted to try out the Popcorn Pork Belly Popcorn (which is under the Nibbles section and was only available after 12, but the waitress asked the kitchen and we were available to get this dish). That’s a big tick for customer service! Our waitress also asked us if we wanted to wait until we finished our food before the pikelets were put thru so they would be fresh when they came out – thoughtful – another big tick!
We started off our meals by getting our coffees that we ordered. The coffee here comes from Allpress and was nutty and creamy and all round delicious.When our dishes came out, they were visually pleasing and this proceeded in all three of us taking many pictures of our food (yes we were those people =p). Once we were done, we tucked into the food. My dish was Poached & Crumbed Eggs with Trio of Mushrooms, Soldiers, Salsa Verde, Pickled Capsicum & Goat’s Curd. T had the same dish as me but added salmon and P had the Salmon Gravlax with Polenta Chips, Avocado Puree, Poached Egg & Creme Fraiche, Dill & Mustard Dressing.
My dish was delicious – I loved the trio of mushrooms and they were juicy and flavoursome, this coupled with the pickled capsicum and the soft texture and tanginess of the goat’s curd completed the dish. I liked the addition of soldiers – pieces of buttered sourdough. The poached crumbed egg was perfectly cooked, and the yolk was runny just like how a poached egg should be. One addition that I would have liked would have been a sauce or some sort – to dip the soldiers into.
P had the Salmon Gravalax – this means that the salmon has been cured in salt, sugar and dill which adds to the flavour and yummyness of the salmon. The Polenta chips were fluffy and fresh, and were perfectly cooked – crunchy on the outside and soft and like clouds on the inside. The avacado puree was smooth and the creme fraiche had the perfect tanginess to it. As a whole the dish was cleverly put together and tasted fantastic. Definitely a dish try. T and P enjoyed the Popcorn Pork Belly that came with Apple Aioli. I thought the combination was quite interesting and as I dont eat pork, I only tried the apple aioli which was sweet and fresh.
The Pikelets came once we done with our savoury dishes. The Pikelets came with pear, apple, vanilla & spice compote, cinnamon ice cream & almond praline. The Pikelets were fluffy and lightly sweetened and the combination with the poached pear and apple was fantastic. The ice cream was my favourite component of the dish – I have never had cinnamon ice cream before. Eventhough I was really full from my savoury dish, I really couldn’t leave any of this dish behind – it was that yummy. I must say it is one of my favourite pancake / pikelet dishes to date.
Lil Boy Blue is a great find in Kew and the atmosphere is welcoming and the place is buzzing with conversation. The service is friendly, warm and attentive. I do want to come back and check out their dinner dishes and see if they are just as good as their breakkie ones. Lil Boy Blue is open seven days a week and goes right through to dinner and cocktails from Tuesday to Saturday.
Rating: 3.5 Pandas
Price:$$$
Menu: The menu can be found at http://www.lilboyblue.com.au/menu
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Relaxed, Buzzing with chatter and warm, great for a catchup with friends
Standout Dish: Pikelets with Pear, Apple, Vanilla & Spice Compote, Cinnamon Ice cream & Almond Praline
Service: Friendly, Warm and Attentive
Online Booking: No
Restaurant Details and Location:
www.lilboyblue.com.au
309 High Street, Kew
Tel No: 9853 5003
Opening Hours:
Monday: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday to Saturday 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sunday: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
grazing panda 