• A delight with more to discover: enjoying the vegetarian lunch menu at Heirloom

131 Bourke St
Melbourne 3000
03 9639 1296
www.heirloomonbourke.com.au

Heirloom boasts a vegetarian menu extraordinary enough to entice a meat eater – which it did for my friend last week.  It is always pleasing when a restaurant has a separate vegetarian menu.  It is even more exciting when they deliver it to the table without you asking.  At Heirloom they are proud enough of their vegetarian menu to show it off, and sophisticated enough to not judge you for your dietary requirements.

Busy at nights, quieter at lunch, Heirloom is an attractive restaurant with open, modern design.  The food is listed as fusion French/Japanese.  This is also taken into the table setting with Japanese crockery alongside European glassware and cutlery.  With three of us there for a girly lunch, we ordered the set-menu which is $30 and includes an entrée, main, glass of wine and coffee – very good value.  If you can eat dashi, they will also serve a soft egg custard as a starter.

The entrée was an impressive display:  potato dauphinoise, whipped chevre, frisée & nashi salad, black olive caramel.  The potato had been finely sliced and spread with onion and cheese giving it a salty tasty and soft texture.  The whipped goats cheese was delicious, flavoured with herbs and accompanied with walnuts, asparagus and dehydrated beetroot slices.  To the other side of the plate was a nashi salad, crisp and fresh.


The main was just as enticing with a long plate of wild mushrooms, quinoa and pearl barley.  The mushrooms were smooth and moist, giving a nice balance to the denser texture of the quinoa and pearl barely.  The top was artistically decorated with salad leaves, and strips of salted buffalo ricotta.   Fried purple sage leaves added an extra flavour and crunch.


The wine was not bad (a South African Cabernet Sauvignon).  The coffee well made. 

My non-vegetarian friend loved the vegetarian menu and was more than satisfied by the end, as was I.

We concurred that it was a wonderful meal.  The dishes were creative and delicious, the service friendly and obliging, the setting tranquil and stylish. 

We had a lovely experience but there is still more to discover at Heirloom.  Their breakfast menu is split by East and West with tantalizing dishes in each section.  Their dinner and dessert menu sounds delicious, and their wine and sake lists are extensive.  No doubt I will be posting again about this delightful place soon.

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