Phone: +61 03 96001454
Website: http://www.themillrestaurant.com.au
I have to admit that this was not my first choice for the evening, but I am definitely happy ending up here for my dinner. I had been looking the whole week because the occasion was special. Being so late in looking for a place to eat and being under San Valentine, almost all the places were already fully booked or with a specific menu for the evening. I was planning to take out for dinner a very nice girl I like on Saturday 13 February and I was looking for a cosy place, where you have enough atmosphere to talk quietly, but it did not had to be sooooooo romantic. I also wanted to look for something in (or close to) the Melbourne CBD to fit in with all the other scheduled things for the evening. After having checked few places on the Yarra river and in other clubbish areas of the CBD I found this very well reviewed place in Hardware Lane: the Mill. What attracted me first was the fact the I never heard of this place before and the place hosts the famous Charlie's bar at the ground floor. So it would have been a good option for the second part of the evening.... and finally Hardware Lane is a really nice lane of Melbourne with street music performers and full of people eating outside but not too crowded, quite nice then to have a walk there before and after the restaurant.
Once I made my mind up on the place, I started to have a look at the reviews in the usual websites of reference and doing some cross reference checks. The average score was quite high and whether I was quite sure about the quality of the food I was not completely convinced about the service that would have been a very important component of the evening. The more I was reading the more I was getting enthusiast and confident that The Mill would have been the right place for the evening. Then I picked up the phone and called them to book for a table for Saturday evening. When I called, the restaurant manager was not there so instead of calling back later I decided to drop by the place during lunch time to have a further check. Once I got there, I talked to the restaurant manager with deals with the bookings he was very down to earth and helpful in finding a solution for the booking and all the details planned for the evening. Being both late eaters we were lucky to find a spot at 9 pm and even if I was not able to select a specific table, when we got there the restaurant staff, aware about the plan for the dinner, reserved for us a very nice table on the corner of the room near a very nice lamp... We were also lucky that at 9 the restaurant crowd moved already out and few tables were occupied. The atmosphere was great and the music coming from Charlie's bar not disturbing at all. 
We then started eating. My guest was not really sure what to order so we decided for having entree', main course, and dessert for both of us. I am a food lover and when I go out eating I like to try the full range of opportunities offered by the place. We ordered the following:[Entree']
- Pan seared haloumi cheese with kalamatta olive, mandarin, and roquette slave.
- Pumpkin, mascarpone, and spinach ravioli with swiss brown mushroom carpaccio, crushed amaretti, and sage beurre noisette.
[Main Course]
- Pomegranade and apple rolled pork belly with roasted garlic mash and jus.
- Duck breast on a sage polenta cake with fried lotus root and red currant jus.
[Sides]
- Roquette, parmesan, and apple salad.
[Dessert]
- Glass chocolate tart with mesh orange blossom, white chocolate, double dark Swiss chocolate ice cream, and pashmark with a coffee ganache.
- Meringue based panna cotta with cocoa shavings and a rose scented dragonfruit syrup.
[Wine]
- Lindenton late picked 2007 Marsanna Viogner, Heatcote, VIC
We started with haloumi cheese and pumpkin ravioli accompanied with bread and olive oil. I read that the haloumi cheese prepared at the Mill was wonderful, hence my expectations where quite high... and I think they met the real delivery! The pumpkin ravioli instead were a little bit sweet but it is very difficult for pumpkin ravioli to avoid the sweet taste and that sweetness did not ruin the eating experience. The selection of the main course while ordering took a while but in the end we were both satisfied of our choices: my guest took the pork belly, she was very interested in seeing how it was prepared and she told me that she never took the pork belly in non chinese restaurants because it has to be prepared properly. Even in this case the chef made it all and even if the taste was different than expected. After looking around for a while on the main course options I decided to go for the duck breast. I think this has been the best choice of the evening: the duck breast was so tender and soft and the mash potatoes together with the jus gave to it a special taste that I still remember.
The desserts were incredible. I went for the panna cotta based mango and the taste was so elegant and delicate that you could not believe that there was actually mango inside the dessert. My guest decided to take the glass chocolate tart. The presentation was mouthwatering, the taste perfect, and the portion abundant....All of the food was accompanied by a delicate white sweet wine. We were unsure about taking a bottle because if we missed the wine that would have been not nice... With the help of the restaurant manager we took probably the best sweet white wine we both had ever had..
We have been served by two different waiters that were always keen to ask us whether we needed something and if the evening was going nicely. The restaurant staff promptly bring us the bottle of wine kept in cold storage when our glasses were almost empty and always listened to our needs. I have never seen a so supportive restaurant staff so far in Melbourne. Moreover, they also actively took part to the surprise plan I prepared for my guest and helped me in delivering a small gift for her at the end of the dinner.As a whole, food, atmosphere, service, and company, this was my best time in Melbourne for a dinner. I definitely recommend this place for a relaxed, romantic evening with someone or simply to have a great eating experience. I will definitely love to come back again, more than happy if with the same guest.
... ah.. price? ... just say reasonable :-)
