Restaurant Review: Maze by Gordon Ramsay

Location: Level 1, Crown Metropol Corner of Whiteman and Clarendon Streets
Phone: +61 (0)3 9292 8300
Link: http://www.gordonramsay.com/mazemelbourne/
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Overall Impression: 8.5/10

To read our review of our second visit to Maze, click here.

J and I decide to celebrate a meaningful milestone at Gordon Ramsay's Maze. Gordon Ramsay has always been one of the very few celebrity chefs that J has respect for (contra Jamie Oliver). Proof is in the pudding. He has been awarded a total of 12 Michelin Stars! To be honest, I didn't have very high expectations. I expected the food to be good but not fantastic... I expected hit and misses But I was in for a treat!Being familiar with the dining style at Maze, we opted for the 7 course degustation menu plus an additional dessert from the a la carte menu. delicious bread with seaweed butter and salt...Marinated beetroot with goats curd,cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette, toasted pine nutPan seared scallops, caramelised kelp,samphire, mussels, ChampagneSeared yellow fin tuna,white radish, yuzu, enoki mushrooms, black garlicMarlborough King Salmonhearts of palm, grapefruit, fresh almondsPan roasted snappercarrots and ginger, spanner crab tempura

Gisborne duck breastsweet corn, cracked wheat, cherries

Ox “tongue and cheek”,caper and raisin, carrots, horseradish pomme purée

Exotic fruit vacherin,passion fruit and banana sorbet

maze “lamington”, rosella jam

Hot chocolate fondant, Cherry yoghurt ice cream

Chocolate oozing out of the fondant

White chocolate coated raspberry ice cream

Everything was executed beautifully and was delicious! The theme appeared to be simple, to the point but perfectly done. Gordon Ramsay's philosophy of respecting the ingredients and produce was clear. Well balanced flavours and textures, beautifully presented.

The only dish we could fault was the dish: Pan seared scallops, caramelised kelp,samphire, mussels, Champagne. The scallops were not seasoned sufficiently and the foam it was served with had quite an overpowering chorophyll taste that we thought did nto match the flavour combinations for that particular dish.

A definite highlight dish was the Ox and Tongue cheek! It was absolutely delicious! Food wise, the standard and quality is equivalent to the 2-hat restaurants J and I have tried in the past. In our opinions, the nature of the service was the only reason they were awarded 1-hat instead of 2. I can see what they are trying to do with the service and personally, we both really liked it. They don't do the whole place your napkin on your lap or quickly fold your napkins nicely again the moment you leave the table to go to the restroom type thing. The service was prompt but very deliberately unobtrusive.

What a lovely dining experience. Very highly recommended.