JJ's
Crown Casino, Melbourne
www.jjsatcrown.com.au

It is always great to find a special restaurant and then go back there again and again for special occasions.

For Hinch and Mrs Nosebag it is JJs at Crown Casino. It is classy but not opulent. The dinner tables are always packed and the huge bar starts to teem about 11 p.m. A great place for people-watching.

But, even if the ambience and the service is good, it still comes down to the food.

At  JJs they have a great entrée to share  called a Tasting Plater. Scrumptious and good value too. For $25 between you get a list of nine entrees and you get to choose five of them.

We settled for Seared Scallops, Grilled King Prawns, Tomato and Basil Bruschetta, Local Black Mussels with Tomato, Jalepeno and Tequila  Sauce and Roasted Mushrooms with Pesto.

Enjoyed them all, especially the scallops and the mussels.

I was so full that for a main course I went for another entrée: Asparagus and Moreton Bay bug soup. In some restaurants they tag the name Moreton Bay Bugs to a dish even though there is no trace of meat. It’s as if somebody has waved a bug claw over it. Not so at JJs. There were sweet chunks of bug meat.

Mrs. Nosebag went for the Grilled Salmon Fillet ($27.80) which was pink and tender and had a good crunchy skin.

If you are a big red meat eater – and have been brainwashed by the Sam Neil TV commercials --  there are heaps of steaks.  Grain-fed, grass-fed and a 300 gram slab of Black Angus tenderloin.

And a real beef connoisseur can have  250 grams of grain-fed Japanese- style Wagyu sirloin which will set you back just under $90.

There are also garnished like red wine jus or mushroom, peppercorn or béarnaise sauce with lemon butter.

Their side orders – like steamed vegetables, asparagus, fried or mashed potatoes – are all $5.70. Which is reasonable these days where sides can top ten bucks.

If I have one complaint it is that many dishes, from the asparagus soup to the greens, are over-salted. But then I am currently on a low sodium diet so maybe I noticed it more.

It is true that JJs is at Crown Casino. A good meal there, though, is not a gamble.

It has become our “special treat” place and it always feels like we are going on a date.

April 4, 2006