Circa
Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Melbourne 2000
Contributors' Choice
Page 10
Circa
Phillip Rich trying a wine during a staff tasting at Circa
Circa is a restaurant fit for a prince. Very classy, luxurious without being stuffy. Style, drama, lots of space, luminous curtains billowing, big comfy chairs and tables. On the first floor of the Prince of Wales Hotel it is at the hub of St Kilda, action everywhere. Great entrance off Acland St, extraordinarily elegant bar with its long sinuous strip of lit glass. A smart kitchen led by Michael Lambie and a menu which started off reasonable in pricing and soon went up. A place so clever is asking for trouble and it's received a deal of criticism. But Melbourne needs a Circa, needs a place to celebrate in real style. At lunch in late Autumn the dining room was disturbingly quiet yet the food was very fine and the service attentive without being intrusive, a hard thing to get right when a room is so quiet. The wine list here is excellent, though not always matched by adequate service knowledge. The menu is carefully thought out, prepared and presented with cooking techniques and sauces in Anglo-French classic style. Overall a pretty package, which should continue to be an important part of Melbourne's dining scene.
Prince of Wales
2 Acland Street
St Kilda
Phone: 9536 1122
Opening hours: Lunch: Fri-Sun 12 noon-3pm Dinner: 7 days 6pm-11pm
Licensed
Accept credit cards
Seating Inside: 90
Features: Restricted smoking, private room seats 20
Favourites: Menu Exceptional- degestation menu $85 pp, with six suggested wines $165, Salad of cray fish with confit tomato, crayfish oil & lemon $24.00, Roast wild Barramundi fillet, serared scallops, bacon lardons with sauce lie de vin $35.00, Spiced quail salad with spinach and apple pinquat dressed $18.00
A 1999 interview (and recipes) with chef Michael Lambie and the Van Haandel family and an updated review here
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