Melbourne: Pei Modern - a review

Pei Modern
(www.peimodern.com.au)
 Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening hours: Mon-Fri (+ Sat for dinner only, 5pm - late)
Breakfast: 7.30am - 11.30am
Lunch: 12pm - 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm - Late

I can't remember the last time I walked into a random restaurant for a proper sit-down meal without having read up on any reviews prior. I had zero expectations and only the barest inkling of the price point. Thus, this restaurant review will run slightly in reverse, in terms of my usual format. It was on the first day of my recent Melbourne trip that I stumbled across Pei Modern. 

I stayed by myself at the Sofitel hotel on Collins Street on the first night. While the hotel itself is quite nice (once you eventually find your way in) the format of the entrance is quite strange and confusing. Basically, there is no main entrance. I ended up accessing the escalators to go up to the hotel lobby by walking around the bend behind the Collins Place building, which is where Pei Modern is hidden. At a glance, it looked pretty closed off, and I couldn't see inside it, so it didn't appeal to me at all. Like the Sofitel, the entrance to this eatery is also not immediately obvious. The name sounds Chinese, so I assumed it served modern Chinese cuisine. 

So how did I end up going there? Well, by the time I got back to the hotel that night, it was already approaching 9pm, and the restaurant I wanted to go to, Maha Bar and Grill, closes its doors at 10pm. Since it was already late, I just wanted to go somewhere for a quick dinner; for just a main and a dessert. Upon enquiring about the opening hours and table availability at the hotel's restaurant, No35, at the hotel reception, the person on duty, noting that I was just eating by myself, kindly advised me that since said restaurant was bordering on fine-dining, and menu prices would reflect this (he estimated $50 for main and dessert), he could recommend some good casual-dining places close by that are more reasonably priced for a solo dinner. He mentioned an Italian and a Mexican eatery, but I opted for his first suggestion of the Pei Modern bistro, since it was just downstairs, and he said it was modern French cuisine. I figured that since the receptionist is French, he must know good French food from bad, right?

Before I launch into my review of the food, let me clarify first up that the food at Pei Modern is not French at all, but very much modern Australian; although, I guess, the food may well be vaguely French-inspired. The price point of the menu items, while not extortionately high, are also not the 'casual-dining' prices I was led to expect. In fact, looking at the No35 menu now, online, the prices are comparable. Despite the inaccurate information I was given, I have to thank that receptionist for introducing me to this bistro. 

The interior:

I was shown to the bar while I waited for a table in the dining room. The bar area is partially closed off from the dining area by a wooden partition, but there's also a few tables with tall chairs here that you can choose to sit at. Here, I ordered a mocktail composed of orange, apple and lime juice, watermelon soda, and mint ($9). I've never had watermelon soda before, and having a carbonated mocktail was definitely a bit different. It was refreshing and tasted quite nice. My table in the next room was ready in a matter of minutes, and I was seated in a cozy corner with comfortable padded seating, the open kitchen to my left. Apart from this type of seating along the wall of this side of the room, the rest of the furniture consisted of white, plastic chairs and bare four-legged wooden tables with natural or white-coloured table-top surfaces. Paired with dark-coloured walls and ceiling, wooden accents and dim lighting, the bistro takes on a simple yet contemporary and chic look. The atmosphere is casual and relaxed, and guests can freely chatter loudly. 

The service:

I was served by 2 different waitresses during my whole sitting, and both were very friendly and knowledgeable about the dishes on the menu. It's great to be made to feel welcome by waitstaff at a restaurant. It's the way it should be in the whole of the hospitality industry, really, but unfortunately, I've found this to not always the case.  

The food:

The house-made sourdough bread was served in a rustic cloth bag, with some salted butter alongside. There's nothing usually much to say about bread and butter, but I remember this particular butter being much creamier (in a good way, of course) than the usual. 

The waitress recommended most of the items on the menu, so I ended up choosing the wild barramundi with diamond clams and green tomatoes ($38). This dish was lovely and delicate, dressed in a simple clear broth, and garnished with micro herbs and tiny white flowers. The absence of a rich, creamy sauce allowed the fresh flavours of the food to take centre-stage. The barramundi was nicely cooked and the skin was wonderfully crispy. The clams were nice, but few; I think there were about three on the plate. The most interesting element in this dish, for me, was the samphire, which I've never eaten before. A fleshy stem-like plant that resembles super skinny baby asparagus, the samphire is a coastal succulent that grows along the Victorian coastline, as well as on that of Scotland and other parts of the UK. Overall, I loved this dish. I think the last time I was this impressed by a fish dish was when I had a swordfish dish for lunch at Gary Mehigan's Fenix, which is also located in Melbourne. 

Main: Wild Barramundi, Clams, Samphire and Green Tomato 

For dessert, I was tempted to get the stuffed caramelised tomato with star anise ice-cream, because it sounded interesting and is the bistro's signature dessert dish, according to the waitress. I don't particularly like liquorice-y flavours or raisins, with which the tomato is stuffed, so I chose, instead, the buttermilk and banana ice-cream with hazelnut praline, chocolate ganache and chocolate tuile ($15). 

Dessert: Buttermilk and banana ice-cream, hazelnut praline, chocolate ganache, chocolate tuile

I didn't mind the ice-cream; it tasted of ripe bananas, like its name suggests. However, I was not a big fan of everything else on the plate. The chocolate tuile had a burnt taste, and I wish the hazelnuts were just toasted and not pralinéd, so that there wouldn't be too much of the hard crunch element present. There was also a flat, rectangular piece with a cake-like texture, resembling a softened chocolate biscuit. I'm not too sure what it's supposed to be, but whatever it was, the dish could have done without it.

Despite the fact that I didn't love my dessert, I was still overall well pleased with my dining experience here. I will not lie; the serving sizes for both main and dessert are small, and may not appear to be worth the cost for those with very big appetites, but I find it is perfect for someone like me with a small stomach. For those belonging to the first category, I would definitely recommend ordering an entrée as well, to ensure you won't leave hungry. Will I go back again? Very likely.

Now, the interesting thing is that when I was Googling this restaurant online, just before writing up this review, I found out that my serendipitous discovery, contrary to my belief, is not at all just a random hidden bistro waiting to be discovered, but one opened just last year by Mark Best (owner of renowned Sydney restaurant, Marque), Peter Bartholomew and David Mackintosh (both from my favourite Melbourne Spanish tapas restaurant, MoVida), and which has been awarded the title of 'Best New Restaurant' by this year's Good Food Guide. The Pei kitchen is headed by Matt Germanchis, who has worked at MoVida, and the bistro is managed by Ainslie Lubbock, who is from Attica, a highly rated fine-dining restaurant in Melbourne.

It's probably a good thing actually that I didn't know Pei Modern is owned by Mark Best, because I probably would have avoided dining there. I haven't written up a review for Marque yet, which I dined at last year, but in summary, the food was okay, but my whole experience there was ruined by the snooty attitude of one of the waiters there that served us. When he asked whether our party wanted still or sparkling water and we replied that still, plain water would be fine, he didn't bother hiding an arched expression on his face, and said in a condescending tone that the restaurant filters and carbonates its own water, so regardless of which we choose, we would still have to pay $4 per person. Basically, he was suggesting, and assuming, that we had chosen what we had, because we were being cheap, and his attitude made it clear that he thought we were somehow unworthy of his service and of his even feigning a genuine smile.

This was not the first time I've met waiters who think they can have a high and mighty air about them, just because the restaurant they work at is fine-dining or quite popular; however, this is not acceptable, and should not be accepted by customers, especially those paying good money for the food and service. Thus, I make a point of never revisiting restaurants that give me bad service, especially if the food is not that particularly outstanding. I'm glad that the service at Pei is at the other end of the spectrum from what I received at Marque.

The last point of interest I discovered is in the reasoning behind the Asian-sounding restaurant name. (Clue: The bistro is at the 'Paris end' of Collins Street.) If you're thinking about the Louvre pyramid in Paris, you would be correct: the name is a nod to the Chinese-born architect, I.M. Pei. Unbeknownst to me, until I read the hotel newsletter in my Sofitel hotel room, his architecture firm, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, actually designed the Collins Place building (completed in 1981), which is incidentally where Pei Modern resides. Interesting, non?

My finished knitting projects!

I'm proud to report that I've finally finished two projects that have been in hibernation for a while, over the last two days: the Knot Sleeve Blouse by Olga Buraya-Kefelian (for Blue Sky Alpacas) and the Short Stays by Larissa Brown (for Jane Austen Knits, 2011). According to my Ravelry project pages, I started the former in December 2011 and the latter at the end of March 2012. Yep, I know; I'm pretty slack, huh? But at least I got there in the end! 

The main reason I stashed these projects for so long is because I've been trying to lay my hands on some professional blocking tiles, in order to do a proper job of it. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but in the past I've been using the ironing board to block small items like scarflets, and a thick towel over my quilting board for bigger pieces. Ever since reading some pretty good reviews on the 'Knitter's Block' blocking tiles by cocoknits (www.cocoknits.com), I had my heart set on getting a set for myself, convinced that it would change my blocking results forever. 

I ended up buying the large set of 18 tiles, because the small set of 9 doesn't seem like it would form a sufficiently large blocking area for large items like shawls. At $85 plus about $50 for postage and handling (more if you want to send it via express or registered mail), I had high expectations for this rather costly investment. 

Knitter's Blocks

I will keep this to-the-point: I regret buying this product; I should have just bought the children's play mats of this likeness. The carpet-like fabric covering of the tiles is supposed to gently grip the knitted fabric, which I think it sort of does. However, when I blocked both of my garments, I found that even after a full 24 hours, they remained very much damp. This is rather unusual, because when I've blocked other items via my previous methods, if I block them in the morning, usually by evening they'd be dry; most definitely after airing overnight. 

After over 24 hours, I needed the blocking tiles for my blouse, so I had to remove the still slightly damp short stays and hope that it would be okay. I'm not sure if it's because of this, or if it's due to the fact that the shoulder straps in the design are not wide enough, but the edges still retained the tendency to curl under slightly. Probably a combination of both. Anyway, upon removal of the garment from the tiles, I realised that the surface of the tiles were still quite wet, which is why the side of the knitted fabric touching it was also damp. The non-absorptive surface of the tiles is supposed to speed up the drying process, but it seems to do the reverse in my case. It appears that the moisture gets trapped between the fabric and the top of the tile covering and can't evaporate. Thus, after 24 hours of blocking my second garment, the Knot Sleeve Blouse, I whipped out the hairdryer and used that to dry out the fabric while it was still pinned to the tiles. Worked a treat. 

The inclusion of the cotton sheet to help with the blocking was nice, but it felt a tad oily and it also took forever to dry out, despite squeezing out as much water from it as I could before laying it over my garment. I wish the tiles were thicker too, so that the T-pins could be secured in them more firmly without stabbing into my mattress below. In the future, I think I should probably lay a towel between the garment and the tiles both to help absorb the water as well as to add more thickness to the blocking medium. Doing without a towel, I'd probably flip the tiles over to use the non-carpeted side. Hence, I should have just bought some kids play mat tiles, since these will do the same job, by the looks of things, and at a much cheaper cost, too. I don't know how this is working better for other purchasers, but for me, it's not as great as it's cracked out to be, and I feel rather jipped.  

Complaints aside, here is my Knot Sleeve Blouse:

Blocking on the Knitter's Block tiles

(By the way, I am loving the stitch holders by Clover. I bought another 2 small-sized ones when I was in Melbourne just for this garment, because of the wet blocking it had to undergo with live stitches on holders. They hold the stitches securely, and being plastic, there is no danger of them rusting like the metal ones might after soaking in water.)

The completed blouse, after blocking, grafting of the sleeves and attachment of the MOP buttons.

It was my first time grafting two pieces of knitted fabric together, so it was a new technique for me. For the first strip, I got distracted and forgot which side I was up to and whether it was time to slip off the stitch or prepare it, so I ended up with two extra unworked stitches on one needle when the other was emptied of stitches. Oops. My tension for the graft was a bit too tight for the second strip, but I tried to even it out as much as I could. The last two strips worked out fine, but I still have to work on making the edge stitches at the start of the grafts neater somehow. I also didn't realise until after I'd finished all the grafting that I hadn't bothered to fashion the strips on both sleeves in the same orientation before grafting; so now the shape, in terms of bulkiness, looks somewhat asymmetrical. The moral of the story is to always use lifelines on both pieces of fabric being grafted together. 

Front view

The knot feature in the sleeves is quite pretty - indeed, it is what attracted me to this pattern in the first place - but as some people on Ravelry have pointed out, the bulk of the fabric forming this has a danger of making the wearer look like they have big arms. It definitely looks better on the model on the pattern pamphlet cover than it does on me, but I think I can get away with it. Just. 

A better view of the knot sleeve detail

Back view

This is probably the best-fitting garment I've ever knitted, although if I was to knit it again, I would probably opt for the bigger size or do some maths and make some adjustments to the stitch count in some areas. The latter would probably be a better idea, since, as you can see from the above picture, the garment is already a bit on the looser side around the waist area. The armholes are a bit on the small side, sitting pretty high up. The yarn is nice and soft, and the fabric is stretchy, so it's not exactly uncomfortable, but with more movements during a day of wear, I'm not so sure this will still be the case. I will have to try it and find out for myself. From the picture of the front view, it is also obvious that the button band is pulled a bit out of shape towards the top, from the stretch across both front pieces. I like my button bands to sit flat and neatly on top of each other, which is why I'd probably add more stitches in the bust shaping section next time. 

I'm sure I've sung my praises for the yarn I used at some point or other, but I'll do it again. I am talking about the recommended yarn for this pattern; the Blue Sky Royal yarn by Blue Sky Alpacas. This 100% royal alpaca yarn has a beautifully soft hand and knits up to a wonderfully soft and light fabric. I have been handling this project well over a year, and have not experienced any problems with pilling, scratchiness or itchiness. I am head over heels in love with it, and already look forward to the next time I can knit with it again. 

Overall, I love what the pattern with this gorgeous yarn has created. The design is modern and feminine, and the fitted shape, together with the fine-gauge yarn and small, delicate mother-of-pearl buttons, make the garment one that has the benefit of being made from a luxury fibre by hand, without the rustic, homemade look, that most non-knitters stereotypically associate with hand-knit clothing. 

Short Stays:

Being blocked. There were 6 tiles to begin with, but after  blocking for 12 hours, I removed 3 due to space restrictions on the table I had to shift the lot to. 

The completed short stays after blocking and with the neck edging knitted on. 

I was prepared to love this piece, I really was. The ties took forever to knit, but it was a relatively quick knit after that. As you can see, the shoulder straps ended up being too long on me, which is why the garment is not sitting where it's supposed to. If I was knitting it to function as a stay, it would be no good to me at all. As is it, however, it makes a cute little vest that I can wear over fitted work shirts. Well, so long as others don't look closely enough to observe that there are bust darts seemingly knitted in the wrong places!

Front view

Back view

A lot of people on Ravelry have noted the off-centre panel at the back, so I was prepared for it. I agree that it looks a bit odd; like it's an error in the pattern. I don't mind it too much, but if I was to ever knit this again, I would probably centre it, just because I like symmetry. 

I'm not overly crazy about the neck edging that is knitted on at the very end. It matches the front edging, but it is wider at the back, which makes it look a bit weird. I wonder why the back shoulder straps weren't designed to be just as wide as the front ones (sans edging), so that the edging thickness would be the same all around. Is it to prevent curling? It's nice and firm and thick, so it gives structure, but I'd much prefer a more refined look. 

Back neck

I'm glad I have finally gotten two WIPs out of the way. Phew! Like last year, one of my New Year's knitting resolutions is to finish all WIPs before starting new ones or buying new yarn. I've got at least 2 that I'm still interested in finishing, one of which I aim to finish before the start of Winter. Hmm we'll see how that goes! I wonder what I should do with the yarn I've bought specifically for certain patterns that I haven't attempted yet, but aren't really interested in making anymore. Should I knit them anyway, or use the yarn towards different projects? This is exactly why I need to concentrate on one project at a time.

Meanwhile, it's that time of the year again to start working on my annual premmie beanie contributions to the hospital! I shall start these tomorrow :)