Lunch at Coda

Fellow bloggers and tweeters have been enthusing about Coda of late so I was delighted when the family invited me there for lunch to celebrate my umpteenth birthday.



Chef Adam D?Sylva, The Age Good Food Guide's 2008 Young Chef of the Year, was formerly at Pearl and Longrain. He opened this venture in June with ex MoVida manager Mykal Bartholomew and Kate Calder, former floor manager at Taxi. Within weeks of serving his first dishes there, he picked up a hat in the recent GFG awards .



The menu is a diner-friendly one and one could happily graze through some of the 20 smaller dishes offered or take an entree and mains approach. The emphasis is Asian and the flavours are both fresh and nicely assertive.



I went for the spanner crab with galangal, roasted chilli and lime, prettily served on a betel leaf, and followed it up with a blackened quail half served with daikon and shiso salad. Elsewhere round the table there was a satisfied silence as others tried the citrus cured Hiramasa kingfish with fresh wasabi and minute balls of pickled radish, the San Daniele prosciutto with compressed melon and bread sticks and sugar cane prawn with a sweet chilli sauce.











My main, or ?bigger? dish, was sizzling prawns with roasted chilli, slices of king brown mushrooms, and Thai basil. Well flavoured, with the prawns still juicy. Two had the MacLeay Valley rabbit cassoulet ? not a hearty cassoulet but a delicate, nicely understated one. Fish cooked in the bag was also a light, moist dish.







When it comes to desserts, I love chefs who offer a tasting plate so I went for that - baked lemon tart with yuzu marshmallow and a Valrhona chocolate custard pot with hazelnut brittle & pumpkin foam that had us scraping the bottom of the cute little pots. A nice contrast of sweet and citrus, crunch and softness. Equally impressive were the banana soufflés served with sherry to pour into the souffle and date ice cream.







I like a meal where the servings aren?t too large and taxing, where the flavours are well thought out and the presentation is a delight in itself. D?Sylva and his happy crew ticked all the boxes.



I want to go back and try more of the small dishes. Hopefully these will remain on the menu for a while yet. D?Sylva told us he?s not hurrying to change the line-up as people often come in to sample dishes they?ve heard about and he doesn?t want to disappoint them. Six bigger dishes are offered, along with eight sides, four desserts and a cheeseboard.



Service was excellent and the place was buzzing when we were there - a Saturday lunchtime. That speaks for itself.



Coda

141 Flinders Lane

Melbourne, VIC 3000

03 9650 3155









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