Tel: (03) 3 9659 1000
Website: http://www.stamford.com.au/spm/page.asp?e_page=569758&roomNo=456430
Trading Hours:
Buffet Breakfast: Weekdays 6.30am - 10.30am, Weekends and Public Holidays 6.30am - 11.00am.
Express Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30 pm
Dinner: Monday - Saturday 5.30pm - 10.30pm
Attire: Smart casual
Reservations: Required Friday and Saturday nights only
Ok - this is my first rant/post about hotel restaurants - most are there solely to service the lazy travellers or late checker-inerers, and in this instance I am a victim of both. After driving 7+ hours to get to Melbourne, I was tired and hungry and in need of a evening repast. Despite all my foodsnob reflexes & culinary delights that Melbourne has to offer, laziness got the better of me - so here I was, dining at the hotel's restaurant (which I am usually against).
Entree: Chef's market soup - "prepared daily" with fresh ingredients from the market. When I asked the waitress what the ingredients consisted of, she said carrot and something else. I envisaged a minestrone-esque soup but was surprised (later to my delight) that it was more like a carrot/pumpkin type of flavour and texture. The carrot notes were present, but not overpowering - it sort of set a backdrop for the showstopping cumin flavour - it was like a pappadam in liquid form, very moorish and savoury.
Below: Thai Spiced Chicken Salad - tomato, pickled cucumber, carrot, spring onion, ginger relish. A great rendition of the thai chicken salad - trangy dressing, light herbal vegetables and the cherry tomatoes (which I usually hate) with th pickled cucumber were just a perfect accompaniment. It was the dish I expected, with almost a Japanese twist.
All in all, I can't say I had a bad meal. I waited a ridiculous amount of time for it (like 45 minutes or something) but the taste and thought in the menu really did not let me down. The cons is the extremely dim lighting (hence the terrible photos) but on the plus side, I could dress like a bum and noone really noticed because it was so dark.
I also had a lovely guava juice there too. Secretly addicted to guava juice after this episode...
