Cumulus – Melbourne – delicious fine dining dishes using Victorian produce

Cumulus is located on Flinders Lane towards the Spring Street end of the city. I came across Cumulus after ordering their dishes from Providoor during the Melbourne lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. Back then, I was mightily impressed with the caliber of their dishes, even though I had to prepare them at home, and was especially impressed with their crumpets with honey and butter sauce. This time around, I was visiting to celebrate a special occasion and the dishes in person were better than I expected – and would highly recommend to anyone wanting to enjoy the best of Victorian food and produce.

Cumulus can be reached on foot or by taking one of the trams on either Flinders Street or Collins Street. Flinders Lane itself is quiet a narrow road, with no much footpath space. Plus this end of the city is uphill.

The venue itself is on the ground floor, but there is a step before the restaurant’s entry so it’s difficult to people with wheelchairs or prams to get in. Inside the restaurant, the bar is located on the left hand side, while the kitchen is to the right. The tables and chairs are tightly packed. At the very least the ceilings are nice and high in a century’s old building.

Making a reservation is an absolute must, particularly most evening sessions. The venue doesn’t provide high chairs, but you can bring your pram if you tell the venue ahead of time of your party composition. (And the team are very polite and useful in this respect, since we were provided a corner table which allowed the pram to be parked beside.)

The menu itself is a curated set piece with starters, entrees, mains and desserts, plus a whole range of drinks including beers, cocktails, spirits, and wines. We opted against getting the banquet for $88 because we wanted to try their other mains, not their lamb shoulder. (Though it is tempting to order the banquet because the lamb shoulder is already $85 as a standalone dish, we just didn’t feel like it on the night.)

We ordered their Baker Bleu sourdough ($6), Grapefruit Stormy ($9, mocktail for the partner), Wagyu Bresaola ($22), Fremantle Octopus ($28), Ruby Chard Pie ($38), and Ravens Creek Pork Chop ($48). Plus we got the Kids Pasta ($25) and Kids Ice-cream ($5).

Of note, the service throughout the night was impeccable. We were first treated to their Baker Bleu sourdough (2 slices, cut into 4) which came with butter spread. Although the sourdough was nice, it would have better if either it or the butter was warmed up before serving. This was the only dish that needed improvement.

Otherwise, all other dishes were incredible and better than we expected. The Fremantle Octopus was excellent with a great sauce, flavour and texture. It’s tomato-y and slightly spices. I’d highly recommend this dish as an entree. The other surprise was the Wagyu Bresaola which comes with wagyu-like salami on top of kohlrabi and capers. The way to best enjoy the dish is to grab a slice of the wagyu-like salami and use it as a wrapper and add the kohlrabi, capers and sauce into the middle, and eat it like a cigarette – it’s an incredibly great dish. (Don’t make the initial mistake I did and eat these elements separately.)

We were then treated to the Ruby Chard Pie and Ravens Creek Pork Chop. The pie come in a hot pan with a wedge of lemon. It was flaky and full of delicious slices of artichoke and ricotta. It was a really interesting and filling dish. And we just loved the succulent pork chop, which comes all sliced in thick pieces and served with apple mustard and gravy. This dish was simply the best way to top off the night.

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