De Clieu

187 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy, VIC 3065
http://www.declieu.net.au/

Today is Labour Day which means public holiday meaning NOT WORKING !!! I, Maya and Suri decided to celebrate the day with brunch at Hammer & Tong. We were waiting in the tram stop for number 86 to come while looking over photos on urbanspoon and deciding what to order. We were so excited to try this place which has been a hype for quite some time that we kept on flicking the photos until Suri saw the home screen and said "they are closed on monday". After searching for sometime, I came up with Proud Mary and there we go. This time we did check the opening times and they do open on Monday so nothing to worry. We arrived and found a closed sign on the door, no luck at all. Then we decided to go to De Clieu, the place we passed by and definitely open. It was 12.30pm when we arrived, there were 6 or more people waiting to be seated so I thought I'm gonna be starving for another hour. Luckily when we asked the staff who is BTW really cute, there was a table for three in the corner.

I started with Skinny Mocha which was beautifully presented. But when I touched the glass it was too hot, I had to leave it for a couple minutes before I could drink it which is a bit disappointing.

Mocha - $4

The menu sure offers a lot of things from egg benedict, broadbean fritters, honey braised lamb bun and even scrambled tofu. But I had to go with the pork neck, the dish every one has been ordering.

The pork neck came with spring onion roti which was really good, thin and crispy like canai. The meat was tender and I must say they are really generous with the portion. The tonkatsu sauce was also good but it was a bit too much, less sauce would be better for me.

Berkshire Pork Neck - $17

Suri went for the broadbean fritters and she was happy with her choice too. I had a bite and the fritter was really crisp and full of flavors. The portion was a bit small compared to the others but it was enough to keep her full.

Miso and  Broadbean Fritters (vg) - $16,5

Maya ordered Wagyu beef burger which was the special of the day. The bun was sweet and crisp just the way I like it. The chips and onion rings were great (nothing could go wrong with deep fried). However, the patty was a bit dry and it falls apart when you bite it which more like eating minced beef rather than a patty.

Wagyu beef burger - $15

Service was excellent, the waiters were friendly and helpful. One funny thing was we saw a cockroach on the wall next to our table, none of us was brave enough so we asked for help. The cute waiter laughed a bit and caught that brown little thing. Whenever we saw him, he smiled and said sorry. We also stayed for another two hours chatting and none of the staffs came to our table to offer a bill which happens to most places because they need us to leave. The other waiter also helped us take a picture :)

Me, Maya, Suri <3

Would I come back ? Definitely yes, to try their eggs benedict and cured salmon.