Melbourne Patron

Warning!  If you are going to eat at Lûmé anytime soon, I'd advise you to STOP READING NOW! The dishes described below are likely to show up in your dinner, at least until the menu changes significantly, and I don't want to be your spoiler. (Having said that, don't read any reviews online either, because most of them spoil the surprise too. Just sayin'.)  Like a welcoming suburban home I'm not really sure how to start describing my feelings about  Lûmé  (226 Coventry Street, South Melbourne). I went along expecting fine dining: a fancy degustation of a high culinary standard. I wasn't even sure I'd blog about it. I knew there'd been hype (much of it self-generated, I later discovered). But I tend not to read up lots about a place before I go there; I find that can make it less of an organic experience, and I like to make up my own mind. So I was not prepared for the experimental factor in the food here - actually, I had very few expectations...

Saturday brunch [noun]: Re-caffeination and hefty dose of egg-based sustenance following a traditionally large Friday night out. Performed alone or with the support and company of equally hungover friends. I'd wanted to try Gas Eatery (253 Coventry Street, South Melbourne) for brunch the last few times I'd been to South Melbourne Market. Always waylaid by other plans or further shopping, it never seemed to happen. So when a friend suggested a group recovery Saturday brunch on Melbourne's south side, I suggested Gas. It was a lovely sunny day, full of Vitamin E and other such hangover benefits, so we were lucky to get a spot outside, thankfully under umbrellas. According to a handwritten sign perched on our table, the outdoor furniture was for sale and on loan from Pomegranate, the homewares store next door. Brightly painted, metal-based chairs and tables (apparently made in France), they added a happy touch to proceedings, but begged the question from more than o...