On Sunday, after flying from Cairns to Melbourne, checking into our hotel and meandering through the city for a bit (city post to come soon!) the Husband and I were hungry! We had had breakfast at the Cairns airport and I got a fruit smoothie before our wandering through Melbourne – other than that, we’d had nothing to eat during the day.  We decided to check out what restaurants were available in South Bank overlooking the Yarra River, right near our hotel.  We came upon Blue Train Cafe, were drawn in by the Specials board, and were hooked by the menu.

Upon entering the restaurant, we saw funky colors and a good looking dessert display case so we knew to plan accordingly through our dinner.

We flipped through the menu, although I knew I was going to have one of the specials.

We had hoped to sit outside but it was pretty full from the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.  Luckily, we were seated almost as if we were outside

To start, the Husband and I were intrigued by the name of one of the beers – the Mountain Goat (I think from Victoria).  I ordered a “pot??? while he ordered a “pint.???  We didn’t know how big a pot would be, but I knew it would be smaller which made me happy (I often have difficulty getting through one glass of beer or wine, forgetting about it as I eat my meal).

We were impressed with the Mountain Goat and would definitely order it again.

I was excited to see reasonably priced salads on the menu and got one to start.  It was a rocket, beetroot, goat cheese, and pine nut salad.  Yum!

The Husband saw Bread and Dukkah on the menu and remembering how he enjoyed it at the Capricorn Resort he decided to try it again.  This time the olive oil was already mixed in.  (It’s hiding there at the bottom.)

My entree was amazing.  I ordered the special – Gnocchi with Duck and Spinach Ragu.  The gnocchi was as good as the dish we had at Romano’s on Hamilton Island.  The duck and spinach ragu was to die for.

The Husband ordered the Singapore Noodles.  It had chicken, pork, bean sprouts, scallions, and capsicum mixed with noodles.  He thought it was fine, but compared to the gnocchi, he wished he had ordered the same as me.

As we mentioned earlier, we knew we had to have dessert after seeing the display case.  The Husband went back to double check, but I knew exactly what I was having… chocolate mousse! Even the dish it was in was edible chocolate.  A bit spongey but still quite good!

The Husband ordered a flourless chocolate cake which he adored.

Overall, this was an excellent meal and well priced (in Australian metropolitan standards at least).  The service was quick and friendly and how to pay was much easier to figure out (there was a sign!).  The restaurant also offers breakfast and lunch which we imagine would be good.  Two thumbs up from these Americans!