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Eating Out: Montania

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Last night, my mum’s boss took us all out for dinner. He does this from time to time, and it’s a nice way for us all to socialize and hear about any dramas happening in the office.
We have dined at many different locations, including; Carlton, St Kilda, Brighton and Richmond. However, this time we stuck a little closer to home, and hit up a local shopping centre. I had already checked out the menu online during the day, so I knew what I was ordering.


Montania has a reputation for serving South Yarra type food in the suburbs. It is a cozy, yet roomy restaurant. I would recommend booking; just to be sure you can get a table.

We ordered drinks, and mum’s boss ordered a tomato juice. He requested it be laced witht and worcestershire sauce. The waitress checked with us shortly after delivering the juice to see if it was to his liking. Little touches like this can really make you appreciate friendly staff.


Trio of Dips $11.00
Lightly toasted house made bread accompanied with our chef’s selection of dips.

We started with dips to share. We dined on; avocado, spicy capsicum and roasted eggplant. The Baba Ghanoush (roasted eggplant) was by far my favorite, followed closely by the spicy capsicum.
The bread was fresh and crisp, not oily at all.


Rib Eye Steak $28.90
A generous 350gm steak, char-grilled to your liking and coated with a red wine jus, accompanied by field mushrooms on a potato mash.

Mum’s boss went for the rib eye. He raved about how amazing the lamb shanks were, but wanted to try something different. It was beautifully presented, and cooked to his liking. A generous serve, indeed.


Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks $25.50
Braised with root vegetables, served over a creamy potato mash with its own sauce.

Mum and Dad ordered the lamb shanks and the seafood crepe to share. I’ve noticed Dad has become aware that if everyone ordered different dishes, it makes for great blogging. (For more food blogger facts you should know, check out Not Quite Nigella).

The shanks were divine. The meat just simply fell of the bone, and the sauce was extremely tasty. A generous portion size with two massive shanks, unlike a previous dining experience at Credo. These shanks were well worth their money.


Seafood Crêpe $29.90
Savory crepe filled with fresh seafood in a cream sauce with salad.

The seafood crepe was on the specials board, and my parents do love their seafood. Dad remarked how light and fluffy the pancake was. It looked pretty damn delicious too.


American BBQ Pork Ribs $28.00
Montanias famous BBQ ribs served with Greek salad & chips.

I went for a man’s meal; ribs.
I have been craving ribs ever since watching the Food Safari episode on USA food. Luckily, these ribs did not let me down. They were ribs on steroids! There was far more meat than bones. This was not a problem, but I had to share the last one and half ribs with the rest of the table, or else I would have become morbidly obese.
The BBQ sauce was really something special. I guess they aren’t their famous ribs just for the portion size. The chips soaked in the smoky BBQ sauce was just the icing on the cake. The salad, TOTALLY unnecessary, but I guess that what makes the dish some what healthy.
I was given a bones dish and a finger bowl, but since there was so much meat, I didn’t need to get my fingers messy; a knife and fork did the job quite well.


Strawberry Crêpes $ 11.00
Flamed in Contreau with a rich toffee sauce, garnished with a dollop of cream and crisp toffee.

Mum chose a dessert for us all to share… not that we needed more food after the main courses.
I told her she couldn’t order the crepes since she had them as part of her main meal, but she wanted to try them regardless.
WOW. They were so good! I’m glad we shared though, there is no way I could eat this on my own. Deliciously sweet with plenty of strawberries inside and outside. It’s fair to say, we were quite stuffed after this.


With fantastic staff, very generous portion sizes, mouth watering food and lovely atmosphere; it’s not wonder the people keep coming back to Montania.
You can stop for a meal, or just a coffee and cake. In the warmer months, the French doors open onto the outdoor dining area.

I’m looking forward to going back to try the other yummies on the menu.

Montania on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

Wow! Looks good. I love the look of the shanks & the crepes.

I just moved not far from there, so a well timed review! Good to know there is some good food in my new haunt!

Hehe, good on ya Dad for getting into the blogging spirit!

Those sauce soaked chips are calling out to be snatched off your plate while you're not looking.

We go there for lunch all the time. Their chicken salad with stawberry dressing is awesome, as is their greek lamb salad. And their spag marinara. om nom nom nom

These looks delectably good and simple! Aren't mum's recipes always the best ()along with blogger recipes of course) ? :)

Oops sorry Shellie! That was mean for another site-oops!

That's very nice of your mum's boss! Makes you feel like one of the family. Hehe YAY for your dad for ordering something different! ;)

Nice! I've always wanted to try ribs too. Those ones look fabulous. Wonder if I can convince Jonny to make the trek out to Ferntree Gully :-)

Hi Penny aka Jeroxie - mmmmm shanks....*drool*

Hi Sarah - Oh, congratulations on moving!Be sure to check it out.

Hi Conor - Yeah, I agree, good on ya Dad! Oh there were lots of chips being stolen from my plate!

Hi Jacks - Chicken & strawberries... hmmm... I might have to give that a whirl next time.

Hi Lorraine - lol! No worries, I was wondering why it didn't make any sense. Very nice of mum's boss indeed.

Hi Esz - You could make a day of it and go up to the Dandenongs ;)

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