Greenhouse by Joost

 Greenhouse by Joost

This is a pop-up restaurant which is part of the current Melbourne Food and Wine Festival which happens every year in March. It is a temporary restaurant which will only run for 20 days. Joost is the (hot) man (ahem) behind the concept of Greenhouse. Wk was telling me how cool the concept is and yadda yadda and so, there we were today to finally check it out.

The first time we went there, there was a long queue as you can tell from the picture above. Waited for about 30 minutes only to be told that the restaurant is booked out for an event and only the bar (at the rooftop) will be opened for walk-ins.

Today we decided to go again and lucky us, we didn't have to wait.

As the name of the restaurant suggest, it is all about sustainability. All materials used to build it are either reclaimed, recycled or recyclable materials. The entire structure is mainly plywood, and Wk told me that inside the wall cavities, it's filled with straw/hay for insulation! How genius is that? The entrance is covered with the vertical garden, which you can easily read about it by clicking on the link. Lazy explain. They plant their own herbs (at the rooftop) and even Shiitake mushrooms! See the grid tower against the wall near the exit? This is upclose!

Everything... from the walls, chairs, even serving glasses and dishes. Read all about the facts here. Pretty amazing.

Cutleries are made of processed plantation timber, serving plates are terracotta pans.

Food's on the pricier side in my opinion but probably it's because they're all prepared with the freshest and organic ingredients. And besides, the chef that's cooking is apparently a celebrity chef. Matt Stone, I don't know who's that but he's quite cute hehe.

Clams, cider, sea lettuce

Maybe because I haven't had clams in a while but seriously, I loved every bit and juice of it. The clams were cooked beautifully, so succulent and the sauce/soup that came with it... yum. Ever clam I had, I used the shell to scoop up some of the sauce and have a sip. So good! And it's my first time having sea lettuce... some of it were really fibrous but it's packed with flavour, really interesting.

By the way, the clams were served in a base of a gas cylinder!

Spiced chicken, quinoa, yoghurt

When I first cut through the chicken, I could already see how moist and tender it is. Again, I thought it was perfectly cooked until I cut some more and blood started oozing out. Now I don't know if it's the way Australians eat their chicken (bloody?) but I grew up being told that chicken has to always be eaten fully cooked, no blood whatsoever unlike beef or lamb. So I had to return the chicken and they re-cooked it for us and as a person who cooks myself, I know when re-cook something it will never taste the same or as good anymore. It wasn't as bloody anymore but on the insides near the bones, you can easily tell it's still undercooked. And a part of the meat which is the breast, it was a tad bit dry and I suspect it's due to the re-cooking. What a shame. Otherwise, the flavour was actually pretty good. 

The quinoa was served cold with fried shallots (I think), lemon rind, parsley, mint, yoghurt and a sprinkle of some red spice I'm not sure what it is. Interesting since it's my first time having quinoa (a grain-like seed, healthier choice than rice). 

 Pumpkin, chickpea tagine, green chili yoghurt

Vegetarian dish and I love it. I never liked eating pumpkins but this one's really nice. I'm not sure what the sauce is... tasted like tomato to me. There's even red chili inside but is not spicy/heaty at all. 

That was it. We were planning to have desserts at the beginning but after the 3rd dish, we were feeling quite stuffed already so we skipped dessert.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. Food was ok, would have been awesome if the chicken was not bloody.

Post-meal touch up =P (Dunno why are my fingers looking so fat here...)

Did some Asian groceries after that, bought some of my favourite Rekoderlig Strawberry-Lime cider, came home, took a long nap, woke up and surfed the net while drinking cider (and looking ridiculously red with only 4% alcohol, blame the ridiculously low tolerance), then snuggled and watch telly.

This is what I call a perfect Saturday!