Lunch @ The Press Club

It was one of those Sundays, you know the one - where it's been a hard week and you need to go out and do something nice so you can face the coming Monday and all those fires you have to put out.

As luck would have it as Paalo was looking for places to go, he discovered that The Press Club was now open for lunch, for something they call, Masa, a Greek yum cha as they describe it.

A phone call later and we were set to go!

There are basically three options, Alpha, Beta and Gamma which are 8,10 or 12 items respectively and it's left to the kitchen to decide what dishes you end up with.

As we need fortifying, we opt for the Gamma option.



Pretty much every table gets a version of this Mezedes board - we have, going clockwise from top left, mixed olives, stuffed vine leaves drizzled with Greek honey, cucumber Tzatziki, warm toasted pita bread for dipping, pickled cabbage and goat feta.

The Greek honey was some of the best honey we've tasted.

As we were happily nibbling on this another dish was presented



Avgolemono, the famous Greek egg and lemon soup, this was made with quite an intense chicken stock.

Next up another mixed platter



Sautéed Garfish fillets and deep-fried soft shell bay prawns with aioli. The prawns must rate as the best prawns we've ever had - eaten whole, wonderfully crisp and the prawn meat delectably sweet.

*Major rant alert*
I must say that the saddest sight was seeing diners either PEELING the prawns or chopping the heads off. I just couldn't believe it - a total and absolute waste. I would have been weeping if I was in the kitchen and saw those bowls of prawn shells and/or heads coming back.



Served alongside the garfish and prawns was a rice stuffed tomato and the most excellent Greek Salad.

Our final savoury course was the rotisserie chicken with pistachio crust served alongside lemon roasted potato and skordalia.



Sweet time is next



Scrumptious Greek Donuts with honey and



Baklava



a good scoop of ice-cream on crunchy crumbs sit between the two.

I can certainly see the Sunday Masa being a success - it's a great casual atmosphere and you can linger over the dishes, there's no rush. Backgammon boards are available should you be so inclined. There were quite a few large tables and this really is the perfect type of food for them.

Price wise, you can't complain, the Gamma menu is just $50 a head.

The details:
The Press Club Restaurant and Bar
72 Flinders Street
Melbourne
Phone: 03 9677 9677

Open:
Lunch: Monday - Friday and Sunday
Dinner: Monday - Sunday

web
www.thepressclub.com.au