The Town Mouse

The Town Mouse
312 Drummond Street
Carlton
Vic 3053
+61 3 9347 3312

Squeakers! There’s a sexy new rodent in Carlton and there’s absolutely nothing mousey about it. Fakebooo, Ashley and I met up for dinner one wintry evening. Enclosed behind large glass doors is an inviting and seductive embrace of black tile, tan wood and amber lights. I loved these quirky touches: a mouse imprint on the wine glass, the aptly named menu and the colourful jeweled water jugs.

We started off with flaky profiteroles stuffed with goats cheese, drizzled with honey and just a hint of caraway. It was brilliant. Fakebooo marveled at the fresh tartare. Marinated with yuzu and lightened with pear, it made him exclaim “Eh very nice lah!”

(Left) Goat’s cheese profiterole, caraway, thyme and our honey $3
(Right) Venison tartare, pickled radish, nashi pear, ginger and wasabi $15

The next dish of potatoes in hay was earthy and made me think of horses and stables. It came with a rich emulsion of buttermilk and brown butter. The lamb belly was unlike any lamb cut I’ve ever come across. It was full of fatty unctuous flavour and melted at the slightest bite.

(Left) Lamb belly, dried carrots, artichokes, goat’s milk, pistachio and orange blossom $23
(Right) Kipflers cooked in toasted hay, buttermilk, crisp sage and almond brown butter $12

The pork jowl was, to simply put, pure unadulterated fat at its best. It came with an Asian twist with a kimchi and apple salad. Ash and I couldn’t get enough of the slow roasted cabbage. It was a perfect winter dish and reminded me of a savoury apple pie. It is sheer genius that such a humble cheap vegetable could be cooked in this manner and produce a wonderful dish. I look forward at attempting to replicate this at home.

(Left) Blackened pork jowl, smoked carrot kimchi, cos, green apple and peanuts $24
(Right) Slow roast red cabbage, prune, parmesan and red apple $14

So far, every dish was pretty amazing and had yet to disappoint. Desserts couldn’t get better? Ha! The chocolate tart was an absolute mindf***. The chocolate was laced with a kick of chilli and the salad had interesting plays of basil and lemongrass. It created a little playground on the tongue. The lemon curd was tangy and delicious. It came with shards of condensed milk and brought me back to childhood days and “white rabbit” sweets. The quince was nicely spiced with the sorbet tasting of beer, hops and yeast.

Chocolate tart, Thai flavours $15
Lemon and yuzu curd, white chocolate, burnt coconut, spiced rum and coconut sorbet $15
(Right) Warm rooibos braised quince, walnut, verbena, coffee and white ale ice cream  $14

The Town Mouse is a great contribution to Melbourne’s culinary scene. A visit is a must and good times are indeed guaranteed!