Pei Modern

Just about the best meal I’ve had in Melbourne, beating the meal at Dinner by Heston. Compliments to the chef who really makes an effort to showcase the freshness of the produce, with every dish a winner. My new favourite.

Very nice lunch here. I had the lunch special. Had the cured meats for entrée and a pork chop for main. Both dishes were superb. Service was excellent too. My colleagues felt similarly. I am definitely planning a return visit.

The only bad thing we experienced about our visit here was finding it; walking through shopping/​hotel complex following the signs we walk through it, past the food halls, out to the foyer and the signs ran out??? Since I assumed it was deliberate I eventually walked outside and around the corner to find them however it could have been easier.
It is popular; please book, there were no spare tables when we visited and I can see why, while the theme could be an upmarket café the food is simply devine, and the serving staff are incredibly helpful — offering recommendations, helping with drink pairings, and generally making you feel at home.
We stated with cocktails at the bar since we were 10 minutes early for our booking (second seating), and the bar tender made good conversation and better drinks; he advised us to tell him somethings we liked and let him suggest something — and I like to try new things.
We struggled to decide on what to order as the choice was broad and here was little we did not want for try! After much negotiation we ordered and as expected each dish was nicer than the last.
Highly recommended for a casual get together for work or even a date night.

Interesting menu with some very nice well prepared dishes. The commercial radio music piping through the audio system killed any ambience that the otherwise nice venue may have created. Hard to find too much else to fault, but hard to find much to get excited about either.

Pei Modern. We are up to the minute. We are so modern here that we don’t have time for old fashioned ideas like good customer service.

To wait more than 90 minutes for your order to arrive from the special two course lunch menu is a joke. To find it is not very exciting nor well done is am insult. Won’t be returning as there are far better offerings in this part of town.

We arrived alittle early for our booking and they gave us the option of sitting at the bar and waiting for our table (a nice cosy one in the corner) or taking one of the other tables. To the bar!
After about ½ hour our table was ready. We gathered up our drinks and took our seats on the comfotable bench seats.
OMG so many things on the menu here.
After we ordered, they put some bread on the table. It was so nice. I normally don’t eat the bread as I don’t want to spoil my main meal, but on this occassion I gobbled it all up. The butter was unsalted and they gave you salt on the side.
So I started with the Oysters (Coffin Bay) which were plump and juicy. Followed by Grouper, Kale & Cavier. This was delicious. A little too much Kale, but better too much than too little. I just left some of the kale behind. The fish was covered in a foam sauce that was light it enhanced the flavour.
A place I would love to return to on a future visit.

We went to Pei Modern fresh (but not in a clean way) off the plane from Los Angeles for a reunion dinner with my Parents. It was all round, a pretty good place for a catch up over a bottle of really nice champagne.
Service was very friendly and the atmosphere was great. I love the painted branches in the roof, it gave the whole setting a very natural and light feel for being deep, deep in the concrete jungle of Burn City. I also liked the open kitchen, having worked in hospitality I get kind of nosey and enjoy watching the kitchen staff work.
Our waitress recommended a great bottle of bubbles and we enjoyed sharing a few entrees and mains. The salt cod croquettes were light and delicious.
Overall we enjoyed a high-​end dining experience with some lovely presentation at Pei Modern.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the food at Pei Modern. The flavours are delicious and the standard of cooking is very high. It’s just that the serving sizes seem more suited to being part of a tasting menu than a standard three-​course dinner. I left hungry. Nice ambience, good service, knowledgeable about wine. I’m been several times since for bar snacks and found that to be much better value for money.

I based my booking on reviews from Unilocal and the general buzz about this place.
Perhaps it was my high expectations — but we left bitterly disappointed.
1. to book you use an online system and I don’t like this impersonal approach
2. When we arrived the entrance was not clear so we went into the bar door side. The guy there looked puzzled and said «yes?» and then said, oh no you need to go there — pointing across the room to the Maitre d’. So we shuffled over to the Maitre d’ who gave us a look of «oh shit, they’re on time. Now what am I going to do?» And he said, can you wait in the bar a moment — the table’s not ready. So we shuffled back to the bar and the guy there said words to the effect of «what are you doing back here?»
When we told him we were sent back here — he looked at a loss — and then we just stood in the bar! Finally, they came to collect us and take us to the table.
I know this is a minimal problem but we just felt unwelcome and it certainly didn’t feel like a top class restaurant.
3. The fit out is MEH. Just pared back, minimal dining room.
4. The food was OK but not memorable. I ordered a pasta dish that had little chicken meatballs in it (my terminology, not the menus) When I cut into the first, one bright red liquid squirted out. I was horrified. I cut the little chicken meatball open and it was very bright pink. The plate was taken away, and returned to me with the message «don’t worry about it, there’s liver in it and that makes it that colour».
5. We did receive a small glass of bubbly when sitting down to apologise for waiting for a table.
I just didn’t find anything spectacular, memorable, or outstanding.
I think it might all be Emperor’s New Clothes stuff.

A friend took me to Pei Modern for their super quick lunch (Eat! Pei! Quick!). $ 39 per person gets you three courses and the reassurance that your food will come out quickly and you should only need 45 minutes to finish. Great for lunch hours and they also do the same menu for pre-​theatre dinning.
The meal consisted of shared entrees — croquettes and a salad. And then our choice of main, my friend chose the Market Fish with Peperonata & Summer Herbs and I had the Courgette Risotto with White Onion & Pecorino.
We both had food envy when our mains came out so decided to share. All the food was delicious.
And then to finish they serve you petit fours and coffee.
The service is lovely and the atmosphere is really nice and on the day we went I felt it was nice and quiet even though the restaurant was busy. So even though we were «rushing» through lunch I didn’t feel rushed.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that Melbourne can enjoy Mark Best’s food without needing to head North. Pei Modern is his first Southern venture and it delivers the top-​notch service and food that makes his restaurant Marque in Sydney so special, but settling into a much more approachable groove. Where Marque aims for the fine-​dining crowd with an adventurous degustation, Pei Modern delivers an all-​day bistro-​style experience. That is not to say that the food is any less spectacular, but that it’s more accessible and relaxed.
Nestled at the bottom of the Sofitel and named after I. M. Pei, the architect who designed Collins Place, Pei Modern has that Scandinavian aesthetic of pale crisp furnishings. The restaurant moves from a bar area with its own menu, through to the comfortably designed main room (despite my personal dislike of plastic chairs), with a generous outside terrace as well. The service team is led by Ainslie Lubbock, winner of this year’s Good Food Guide service excellence award, and is warm, with a strong attention to detail. The kitchen is run by head chef Matt Germanchis, and the menu features new takes on classic Marque dishes as well as exploring new territory with so-​called ‘bistronomy’ dishes. Breakfast has its own menu, while lunch and dinner share most dishes, and while you can order a la carte, the seven course dinner menu for $ 90 (lunch is four courses for $ 50) is the best experience.
The food is technically perfect, without being overcomplicated, and lets the simplicity of the produce speak for itself, yet there’s often a twist or a more unusual ingredient that lends an edge to the dishes. The Almond Gazpacho with Blue Swimmer Crab has moved south to become a staple of the menu; this dish is rich and creamy without overpowering the crab, and red grapes add a sweet acidity throughout. Another Marque classic is dutch cream potatoes and luscious bone marrow sunk in a pool of decadent potato foam and dusted with mojama (dried, cured tuna) and coffee. This dish is sinfully delicious and begs to be savoured; perfect proof that a few perfect ingredients can deliver an overwhelming experience.
Dining with someone who tends to avoid offal, the lamb sweetbread dish made them an instant convert. Nuggets of crumbed and fried sweetbread were delicate and well-​seasoned, and the simplicity of the tender carrot and sauce were a revelation of how delicious the humble carrot can be. One constant across the menu was the generousity of each plate, with our final savoury course offering lavish tender-​pink slices of hanger steak with chargrilled and smoky bullhorn pepper and an aromatic harissa paste.
Smooth mango sorbet with vibrant ginger granita was a perfect combination of flavour; light and delicate with a refreshing zing from the ginger. It sounds very simplistic, which it is, but it was mouth-​wateringly delicious. The second dessert didn’t feel as harmonious, with rich chocolate ganache and hazelnut off-​set by a lemonade sorbet. While both parts of the dessert were good on their own, the lemonade sorbet tended to cleanse the palate too much, for me, washing away the luxurious chocolate.
Pei Modern delivers the polish and taste of Mark Best’s Marque, but makes the wise choice to make it more of an everyday experience, rather than just for special occasions. The excellent service and simple dishes with an edge are why it was named Best New Restaurant by the Good Food Guide. The highest praise you can give a restaurant is that they delivered such good food that it’s hard to pick a favourite dish, and Pei Modern made it impossible to decide. This is one of the best dining experiences I’ve had all year.

With all of the positive press and of course the recent raft of accolades and awards bestowed upon Pei Modern in The Age Good Food Guide 2013, visiting them at the Sofitel Hotel on the Paris-​end of Collins Street has been a priority. Sure, it only took me a couple of months, however the wait was worth it.
As usual, I arrived with the intention to eat, drink and be merry with one other person and no booking. Both front of house and the barman greeted us and exclaimed that it would be no problem whatsoever to seat us in the dining room. That was music to my ears as I was very hungry and thirsty.
The dining room can best be described as cozy. Not all of the tables were occupied during my visit but considering the configuration of the tables, I suspect cozy would be an understatement if the restaurant was at capacity. The white plastic chairs where comfortable enough and throughout the long dining experience that I undertook, I never started squirming or feeling uncomfortable.
There is an outside area that borders the Sofitel hotel driveway. I was hoping to spot some quality automobiles but there was no such luck. I did spot the self-​important people pacing up and down in the area shouting into their mobile phones however along with a few people outside with coffee and smoking. It appeared to be a relaxed area despite the occasional car and taxi traversing the driveway from the hotel.
The restaurant is broken up into three areas. The dining room which would hold about 50 people, the outdoor area and the bar area which has its own limited menu which includes jamon iberico. Throughout my lunch, I would walk past the bar area and the tables would always be filled with people chattering, drinking and eating. It would make for a good casual and impromptu place to conduct an ad-​hoc meeting, or even drink and have some bar food. I will be calling into the bar before I see another film at the Palace Cinemas next week, which are located next to the restaurant.
Beautiful house-​made sourdough bread with freshly churned butter, water, menus and the wine list were presented to us by Lisa, who was quite friendly and as we would learn, very professional after we were shown our table. My first impression was that the menu was concise so my expectations effectively were raised knowing that they must specialise in a limited number of dishes. All of them should be amazing. I ordered a Lord Nelson Three Sheets whilst I reviewed the wine list.
Service was very keen to take our orders and I had to explain that we were in no rush and were very keen to relax and try many things and not act like conventional diners. The service then adjusted and we were left to our own devices where we were attended to when the appropriate visual cues were made. I appreciated that.
For wine, I stayed local and ordered the 2011 Bindi Composition Chardonnay and I was impressed with how it paired with my first of three starters (no, I do not share being an only child) which was the wonderful Almond Gazpacho with Blue Swimmer Crab which I found amazing. I am highly critical of dishes with Blue Swimmer Crab as I think it is overused in restaurants however a favourite of mine that usually is destroyed when preparing it with vacuous elements. Pei Modern has a winner with this dish and I was so pleased in the end that I commenced proceedings with this dish.
There are so many starters that I wanted to try, it made it difficult to choose so I just kept going. My guest ordered the Steak Tartare and I opted for the Burrata, Blood Orange and White Anchovy. I really didn’t know what to expect as logically I did not know how the white anchovy would be presented in a dish like this but once again I was not only surprised but impressed. The anchovy was pressed and made to appear like a flat-​bread which was perfect and so nicely paired with not only the 2011 Bindi but also the blood orange and Burrata.
I was advised that the Steak Tartare was divine and better compared to what you get at Movida. Since I do not share, I ordered this dish next. Once again, another winner. I would rate this on par with Movida and also it would be chasing the tail of what you get at Rockpool Bar & Grill.
Sadly as I knew that my stomach was rapidly filling and the wine was leaving me in probably too good of a mood, we decided to order mains mainly so we had an excuse to return and try more entrees and the exciting bar menu. I ordered the 9+ Wagyu, Nettle Purée & Tuscan Red Onions for my main. What a fine cut of meat. It was prepared without a fault and matched very well with the Nettle Purée. There were copious amounts of red onions, some of which were abandoned when I was finished with the steak, which was a generous amount of meat in its own right. This dish certainly was contending for my favourite dish of the evening however that honour would have to be bestowed on the Almond Gazpacho with Blue Swimmer Crab as it is something unique and a dish you will not find anywhere else.

It’s rare these days, with social media a-​frenzy, that I can walk into a restaurant and not know what to expect; not the cuisine, not the atmosphere, nothing. But so it was, with Pei Modern.
First of all, I had trouble finding it. I knew where it was, roughly, but I wandered around for a few minutes before actually finding the entrance. And friends had the same problem. So that was a minor inconvenience.
From there, though, it was very smooth sailing. Great food, great service, great wine. I focussed on seafood; cold smoked tuna entrée, kingfish and clam main. Both very nice. Others around the table had varied items from the menu, and the general feedback was good, to very good. The menu was a little limited for L given she doesn’t eat seafood, but she managed OK.
Dessert time, and I went with the caramelised tomato. Daring. A gamble, given some of the delightful sounding options I passed over. But boy, was it worth it! Matched with a glass of Pedro Ximinez, the dish was a buzz of flavours; sugar and anis, spice and creaminess.
We sat outside, and it was a little noisy, but not too bad really. Our waiters were friendly and happy to share a laugh, adding to the whole experience.
Would highly recommend.

If there’s one thing we can agree on, Pei Modern is never dull and seems to polarise and excite controversy! I’m a friend of some of the people involved in Pei so maybe I can only see through rose coloured glasses… but seriously, a sterile hotel-​restaurant experience? Where were you?! mmmm a restaurant given a hat in the 2013 Age Good Food awards as well as New Restaurant of 2013 plus numerous Gourmet Traveller gongs has to be doing something beyond socialising — it’s pleasing some one. I’ve eaten at Pei four times now. It’s always been a delight, a style of food and service which is, for me, refreshing and flexible. I can see that it may not be every diner’s cup of tea and that’s fine. The food is simply outstanding and it’s only getting better. Last week I lunched on a burrata, blood orange and anchovy salad that was so delicious (I’ll return for that one). Thank goodness the almond soup is a stayer on the menu, same for the beetroot tart. There’s plenty for the cautious or conservative diner and also for the adventurous eater of broad taste. I don’t get why entrees are «strange» because some had offal and others cream — that can only reflect the fact that person who made that comment doesn’t eat offal or cream — plenty do and enjoy. If you’re looking for a menu a bit more regular this may not be the place for you but that doesn’t detract from its quality. Great wine list and bar too — oh and pre-​lunch grazing is very pleasant. The place seems to have relaxed more and hums along nicely while people drink coffee and read papers.

Pei Modern is an impressive culinary experience in an upmarket part of Melbourne next to The Sofitel on the top end of Collins Street. If I have lots of positive things to say in this review its because I left happy and wanting to return. Again and again.
Pei Modern is the work of Mark Best from Marque fame in Sydney (voted Sydney’s best restaurant in 2011 and 3 hatted) together with Peter Bartholomew and David Mackintosh of Movida fame. With many runs on the culinary board Mark has entered the competitive world of Melbourne fine dining and has already scored a century before lunch here.
The name of Pei Modern is a tribute to I.M. Pei who designed The Louvre’s glass pyramid (and who designed the Collins Street building that Pei Modern resides in). I would say even The Louvre’s Mona Lisa would come to life at the sublime dishes at Pei Modern.
In a fabulous precinct at 45 Collins Street, one can walk around to Pei Modern neighbouring The Sofitel. With one of the best hotels in Melbourne next door Pei Modern attracts plenty of business and professional types. The outdoor area is a great spot to enjoy the precinct’s upper crust ambience.
Pei Modern is certainly modern in it’s fit out. The use of timber is awesome in terms of walls and seating (with cushions). A board runs across the back wall with menu options duly written in large writing. A mirror adorns the side of the room (with a trendy effect) and there are classic white tiles on the floor. Lighting was used sparsely for effect and it was almost dim with spotlights punctuating (it was a grey Melbourne day when I visited).
The dining space is initially restricted for breakfast but opens up into a large space with more diners. In the main dining area one can appreciate an open kitchen with professional chefs.
So here I came for breakfast already impressed with many of the cafes and restaurants in the precinct, eager to compare. Of course I intend to come to Pei Modern for lunch or dinner at some stage. I’m keen to try the Roast Rabbit or the Pork Jowl or Salt-​crusted Swede Riverina Lamb, not to mention the Duck Breast, Hanger Steak or the Pork and Fennel sausages.
t’s rare that you fancy most things on the menu and want to try them all. But even the breakfast menu at Pei Modern brims with imaginative offerings. The influences appeared to be European. Head Chef Matt Germanchis used to work at Movida and Movida Aquis (of which I’m a big fan).
The menu at Pei Modern impressed me from the «get go». I’m a man who loves a good black pudding — as my heritage is English. Having enjoyed some black puddings around Melbourne I was keen to compare. The black pudding comes on sourdough with a poached egg and garnish.
I was close to choosing the Cuca Sardines, Relish and Toast or the Omelette, Chard and Cheddar on Sourdough. I’m curious to try the popular (as I saw many ordered) Bacon and Mustard Hightop Sandwich for only $ 8. The Mushrooms and Goats Curd on Sourdough also looks enticing. On the counter were pastries and croissants and the like.
But I was glad I chose the Black pudding as it was so intense in flavour and a hearty breakfast. This black pudding was moist and had a great tang to it. I was pleased there was a good portion of it — note to some others not to hold out on your black pudding. The egg was perfectly poached and the combination was sublime. Yes, this was a premier black pudding on the Melbourne culinary scene. Notwithstanding the sourdough was also superb. Pei Modern bake their own bread and churn their own butter.
The coffee was also sublime. Pei Modern serves up Single Origins and blends on its La Marzocco machine.
Service is excellent at Pei Modern. After all the Maitre D’ Ainslie Lubbock has just been awarded the Australian Gourmet Traveller 2013 Maitre D’ of the Year.
The waiters are professionals who are friendly and engaging, but also adept and flexible. Let’s face it — the business crowd is not always the easiest. While I was there a few suits were asking for all sorts of bespoke tailored breakfast variations and the waiters handled it with aplomb. I admit I am also a suit, but tend to stick to options as they appear on the menu.
Pei Modern was rated at number 29 in Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants by Australian Gourmet Traveller and it seems a good fit.
Pei Modern is a great place to meet people and experience up market dining at still reasonable prices. And there’s a lot to be said for that.

Best Dish Forward: Salt crusted swede Lamb + onion tart
Team, lets real talk for a minute, Pei Modern has a killer location, a fancy name and a solid line chef line up in the kitchen. But something ain’t quite cool about it, the main dishes are all pretty simple sounding and missing all kinds of taste, the staff aren’t likely to be your friends outside of work hours, and its not over priced but PM are certainly getting the better portion of a net cost of goods.
Joining the Unilocaler cohort in being wee bit under whelmed with the joint, but might give it another go for breakfast.

American-​Chinese architect, I. M. Pei, is as renowned as he is divisive. In many of his projects, he has courted controversy — for example, the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris considered both as a national atrocity and an affront to the neighbouring classical architecture, and yet also lauded as a touch of modernity for old Paris; the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong applauded for its striking appearance and yet criticised for its lack of feng shui appreciation. It’s this same philosophy of contentious creativity that has seemingly been translated into Pei Modern, a recent newcomer to Melbourne’s burgeoning refined casual dining scene. Located directly across the driveway of the Sofitel Hotel, Pei Modern offers a circadian experience of breakfast, lunch, after-​work drinks and dinner, taken al fresco, at a discretely partitioned bar or in the sit-​down dining area. Rejecting Melbourne’s exasperating obsession with industrial blackness and dark furnishings, it’s graced with an unmistakeable modernist-​cubist influence. Moody pyramidal lighting profile the retro curves and soft lines of a main dining area. Chairs awashed in an artic-​white Nordic palette wrap around tables that are spaced closely and sparsely set with not a bread plate nor linen tablecloth in sight. They afford view of chefs incubating in a partly-​opened kitchen and of trucks and taxis unloading cargo and people outside.
…
Alongside newcomer Henry & The Fox, Pei Modern ushers in an era of more refined casual dining. But Henry & The Fox is consistent, assured modernity. The same cannot be said of Pei Modern. Its architecture is pleasing in its elegant bright modernism, the ambience buzzing and date-​night ideal, but its culinary offerings are unfortunately, hit and miss — revelatory in flavours and technique in some parts yet devastatingly disappointing in other aspects. The predominance of offal on the menu is most unpalatable. Neolithic-​ism in vogue? No thank you! With the exception of the tomato dessert and the sauternes custard, desserts in particular require serious re-​consideration. The service standard too is of a protean nature. Pei Modern clearly has no atavistic urge to be like its older sibling in Sydney — the very fine, very beautiful Marque. That’s entirely fine a business proposition in a city more inclined to casual dining, but MoMo & Coco cannot help but feel sad that the opportunity to launch a true fine dining institution has been foregone for something just a bit edgier but barely distinguishable from what is already widely available in Melbourne. The Sofitel is home to the beautiful fine-​dining No 35 (a long-​time MoMo & Coco favourite)…it deserves another fine-​diner. That should have been Pei Modern. Although our past three visits to Pei Modern have been overwhelmingly of disappointed expectations, we do however recognise its potential. Like its namesake architect, Pei Modern is about creativity and contention. It just needs consistency.

The big question on everyone’s lips as we arrived for dinner was — would Pei Modern deliver to its full potential, or would this be another sterile hotel-​restaurant experience.
Unfortunately, the answer is the latter.
There was some very nice food there. Our mains were all delicious and well portioned, but nothing spectacular for the price. The entrees were all strange and either offal or cream based.
One of the most bizarre things was when we asked for some bread. We were informed that they «didn’t really do the side plate thing» and we had permission to eat on the table and make a mess. Then we were served pickles and salami… again, no plates. I don’t know if they were trying to be edgy, but it was very uncomfortable. They also didn’t really clean up all the breadcrumbs so we found ourselves sweeping it onto the floor to avoid sitting in it.
The wine suggestion was fairly off the mark from what we requested too. All in all, not an unpleasant experience, but not somewhere I’d go again nor recommend.

I was aiming to have breakfast here, but a delayed tram meant I arrived smack bang in between the breakfast and lunch service — a kind limbo where no food was available from the kitchen and I had to coax my tastebuds from the idea of toasty eggy things in to more savoury meaty «lunchy» things. My lunch companion and I didn’t mind, we sipped cups of tea (from annoyingly hard to pour teapots) and caught up on news from the week.
When we finally got the go ahead to order, we delved straight in to the bar menu– fried rabbit shanks, a juicy cuca sardine on toast and «pork puffs», which was nothing at all like the dumpling/​pastry thing we were imagining and instead fried bits of porky fatty goodness, sprinkled with a savoury and sweet power. They were interesting, and probably a great accompaniment to beer, but just a little too evil to assault my palate with that early in the day.
Next, a bowl of shared mussels — big juicy things, cooked expertly with a delicious broth that we mopped up with good sourdough. Then smoked trout on flat bread (more like a cracker) with herbs. The mussels were the star of the meal and I know I’ll be back for them with a glass of wine on the side.
Service could have been a little more confident, and maybe it was due to it not being busy but I felt at times as if I were dining in a library — there was a quietness and slightly awkward feeling that I just couldn’t shake. A second go round will help me make a better judgement but so far I like Pei Modern, I’m just not as wowed as I thought I might be.