It was Mother’s Day and since mumsy and daddy bear hasn’t had french before, I decided to take them on a little culinary adventure. I made a booking for the fam bam and we took a trip to Fitzroy behind the great yellow door to get to Hell of the North.
I got there first and got our table and waited for the rest of the fam bam to arrive. While waiting, the staff were making sure I had water and if I needed some liquid courage whilst waiting. Finally, the fam bam arrived we started to order everything on the menu. The wait staff recommended we ditched some dishes (was a good recommendation since we wanted to try EVERYTHING!) and he’ll bring the dishes in groups. First group – cold dishes. We got the trout rillette which was on the specials board and it was AMAZEBALL! The trout was smoked and everything was perfectly seasoned. Mumsy bear LOVED this dish and ate almost all of it.
Trout Rillette – $20
Baby A have always wanted to get the charcuterie board so today was HIS DAY! The board consists of the following cold meats: chicken liver parfait; rabbit, pork and black garlic terrine; and pork rillette. The board was awesome sauce. I love liver parfait and this was oh so delish. We weren’t a huge fan of the pork rillette though, quite fatty and very dry. The rabbit and pork terrine was quite lovely too and there were pickles and some sort of sweet jelly / jam to spread on your bread. You can never go wrong withe the charcuterie board and this one did not disappoint. Daddy bear finished the whole thing!
Charcuterie Board – 32
The next group to come out – seafood / soups. The snapper with pumpkin, cavolo nero and chestnuts. I wasn’t a great fan of this dish, I found the snapper to be too crispy on the outside and a bit dry on the inside which was a shame. That pumpkin though, it was so smooth and full of flavour!
Snapper, Pumpkin, Cavolo Nero & Chestnuts – $30
When we picked the mussels, the waiter was raving on about how awesome sauce it was so we were excited when it came out. The creme fraiche and apple cider gave it a little saucy flavour which was lovely and rich with the mussels. Daddy bear absolutely smashed this and was commenting how much he loved it. Good job guys!
Mussels, Apple Cider & Creme Fraiche – $23
I’ve always wanted to try French Onion Soup so when this was part of the specials, I ordered one serving for us to share. This was super rich with caramelised onions which gave it a hint of sweetness. This was GINORMOUS for one person and I think it needed to come with a plate of bread to balance the richness of the soup. It wasn’t one of our favourite dishes and we weren’t able to finish it.
French Onion Soup – $14
Baby A loves chippies so we got a sides of pommes frites. These were triple cooked and were super duper crispy with a hint of salt and rosemary. If you love chippies, you need to get your hands on these. Even mumsy bear loved it and she’s not a chippies person at all.
Pommes Frites – $8
I overheard that the bavette was on the feed me menu so I thought I’ll get that dish too. Bavette is a flank steak which is a tad tough but more lean and easily absorbs the marinade. I wasn’t fan of the steak but daddy bear liked it. I was a fan of the pommes puree (mash potatoes) and the sauce tarragon was AMAZEBALL!!
Bavette, Pommes Puree, Sauce Tarragon – $34
Our last savoury dish, the gnocchi parisienne with silverbeet and ricotta. This was super YUMMO and the gnocchi had a cheesy and crispy outside. Baby A loved it and he finished it in no time.
Gnocchi Parisienne, Silverbeet & Ricotta – $27
Finally, dessert time! Baby A picked the spiced caramel and rum baba. So a rum baba is a small yeast cake soaked in rum and trust me, you can totally taste the rum. When you pair it up with the coconut sorbet, it was divine. Baby A and Daddy bear’s favourite dessert of the day.
Spiced Caramel & Rum Baba, Coconut & Pineapple – $15
The good ol’ traditional creme brulee. When this came out, it was GINORMOUS (as big as my face) and we got mumsy bear to crack the glazing (she smashed it with all her might….). The texture was smooth and light and mumsy bear LOVED this dessert the best. I think they could have caramelised the sugar on top a tad more so there was a more crackling break but I wasn’t too fussed.
Creme Brulee – $14
Hell of the North had a casual ambiance with very attentive and friendly staff which made sure that you had everything you needed. The food was AWESOME SAUCE and it’s a really great place for dates or even catching up with friends. It also turns into a wine bar at night but they still had a late night menu in case you were peckish. I especially loved the giant yellow door which distinguishes the eatery and this is a lovely kept hidden gem which you need to check out pronto.
135 Greeves St, Fitzroy, VIC 3060
Tel: (03) 9417 6660
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