Restaurant Review: MoMo

At the basement of the recently refurbished grand Hyatt on Collins Street hides an intimate Middle Eastern palace, known as MoMo.

Entering from street level into a small elevator which simple states the restaurant name, one would wonder what to except from a restaurant on the basement level with no views, but the elegantly designed dining room is lit by rows of crawling crystal with accents on details such as elegantly polished artifacts and big sultan style sofa like booths.

This is a restaurant which is definite fine dining feel with all dishes of the special family style menus silver served at table side, the staff are all very professional maybe even on the borderline of uptight. The opposite of what restaurants are demonstrating these days with the more casual feel to good food.

We opted for the Arabesque menu since the last time I was here on Valentine’s Day the Moorish menu almost killed me including the massive platter of desserts at the end.
To start they gave a platter raw vegtables sprinkled with black chilli salt and a small bowl of fluffy dis shaped bread offred with oilive oil and pommegranate molasse.

For Entree:

Golden spiced calamari, cod-haloumy fritters, soused eggplant and pimento’s with verjuice Prawns in olive brioche crumbs with Turkish-style shredded celeriac and feta salad

The spiced calamari was soft and tender with cute marbles of cod-haloumy that tasted a lot like Takoyaki. The light Middle Eastern flavors on the calamari were complimented by the soused eggplant and pimento which gave textural contrast in what would have been a one noted dish.

The Prawn entrée was wonderful the prawns fried in olive brioche was perfectly cooked and the hint of olives was just there enough not to kill the sweetness of the juicy prawn. The Turkish style celeriac tasted like a traditional remoulade which would have been boring without the gamey feta.
For Mains:
Bowen Farm barramundi with sesame kataifi, Egyptian-style broad bean and cumin stew
with a side of Red oak leaf salad and raw cauliflower with Turkish apple vinegar dressing
The barra was soft, silky and very moist with the skin just crispy a very delicately cooked fish with a hearty stew. The side made this a very light start to the 1st main. The raw cauliflower went beautifully with the crispness of the leaves and dressing.

Grilled lamb loin marinated in yoghurt, green chili and mint on sujuk sausage-giant couscous stew.
Side of Maouf’s tabbouleh with hazelnuts

Lamb was a little of the tough side, though still cooked with amazing technique the couscous stew was absolutely delicious I wish I had more. the side was very refrshing with a traditinal tabbouleh with addition of everyones favorite nut.

Finally Desserts, I waited all night for these as they were the highlights on my last visit. A dessert platter each and a plate of wild sorbet with seasonal fruits are delivered to the table and at this point you know if you weren’t full by the end of the main this will definitely finish you off.

Green apple and Turkish delight soufflé with apple butterscotch sauce
Leatherwood honey and pinenut ice cream, blood orange-hibiscus jelly and saffron meringue
Rich chocolate and cardamom tart with chocolate-Turkish coffee cream
Momo is a must go, a real fine dinning experience here. If you’re not fussed about the way the menu is set out and looking for that special place for a special occasion I highly recommend this. Food is always exceptional and layout just screams class. Though prices are probably a little steep it’s well worth the visit just for the desserts.