Dinner at The Meat & Wine Co. in Melbourne.

We had some mixed dining experiences in Melbourne though the ones on the less than fine scale were purely our fault for being in the wrong area or for expecting decent food out of a place that obviously wasn't going to pull through on it. The place we went to on the last night more than made up for anything that was below par!

Having walked along the Yarra River in Southbank checking out the menus outside all the restuarants we decided on dinner here. Luckily for us we were there at 5:30pm and they seated us at a table that they needed back at 7:30pm because by 6pm it was packed to the gunnels and stayed that way ever since! I imagine you generally need a reservation in order to get a table, and this was a Tues night!

There were cow hides on the wall and drum music playing on the system, the menu was leather bound, the drinks menu was one of the biggest I've seen, this place was obviously what it's name suggests. The first few pages detailed the cows they get their meat from, the farms they are reared on, the lifestyle they have, the grain they are fed, for how long, the grade of marbling on the meat, etc etc. I was still on a steak high from Bojangles in Warrnambool and decided I was going to order something else. Hubby found Kangaroo on the menu and was sold, I went with lamb ribs, something I have never had before. We got a side of veg to share because this was mainly a meat and potato menu.

The Kangaroo was marinated in the house marinade which I couldn't quite break down. Definitely sweet, maybe winey? Whatever it was did the trick of tenderising the meat wonderfully and made it less 'gamey' tasting. It was cooked medium rare, maybe even rare and was melt in your mouth. After a less than delightful experience the first time we ate Kangaroo when we cooked it at home a couple of weeks ago I am glad I gave it another shot as this was superb. It came with a pumpkin and sweet potato mash, sweet potato chips and a black cherry and wine jus. I don't like pumpkin so the side did nothing for me though I am sure it was as fine as the rest of it!

This is what half a rack of lamb ribs looks like, I can't imagine what the full rack would have been like! The ribs were marinated in lemon, herbs and mustard and managed to be as tender as if they were slow cooked yet still pink in places with some caramelised areas, what an amazing finish! I was thoroughly impressed with the ribs. This is the place to go if you have any passion for meat or wine, what a great culinary experience.