Juno & May, Camberwell (by invitation) by Obelix

Juno & May provides an Asian inspired twist to Modern Australian cuisine.  Their food is centred around sharing plates combining great value with fulfilling meal and a slice of something new.  I also love the back story to Juno & May. The original Juno and May were dairy cows from owner/chef, Henry Honer's youth. Growing up in a large family on a cattle farm in the 1970s, Henry and his siblings sorely lacked a TV. His brother convinced his dad to buy two dairy cows which they would milk before and after school daily to save the family enough money in milk to afford a TV. Along came Juno and May.

In the spirit of sharing delicious food in convivial surrounds, M and I ordered a few dishes to share.  We started with two entrees from the specials...first, seared scallops in the shell on a base of pureed cauliflower and apple nam jim.  The contrasting flavours and textures were sublime.  The scallop was perfect with the creamy puree and the nam jim gave it a tangy finish.




The second entree was a duck and shiitake mushroom spring roll with hoisin dipping sauce.  That was delicious but what stole the show was the fragrant salad it came with.  I detected mint and a sweet and tangy dressing which was so refreshing.


The mains were just as fresh and exciting.  We saw that the Gado Gado was popular among the other diners so decided to jump on board as well.  It was a modern take on a traditional Gado Gado with a poach egg replacing the boiled ones and a medley of winter vegs such as brussel sprouts, brocolini and squash included in the slathering of peanut sauce.  I really liked the idea of using roti bread as the foundation to the Gado Gado as it gave one the ideal vessel to ferry the sauce into the gob.  I could understand why it was a popular dish among the punters.

We also tried one of the seafood mains on the specials board.  This was a snapper fillet atop a bed of rice noodles with chunks of crab meat tossed throughout.  It was flavoured with young coconut, chilli, lime and pickled cucumbers.  So yummy and reminiscent of South East Asia. As if it wasn't seafood-y enough, there were prawn wantons swimming around as well.  This was an abundant dish.

By this stage we were happily replete and was going to call it a night.  However we noticed that there were people arriving just for desserts only. Hmm... it got us thinking...the desserts must be good...it would be remiss of us not to try....


I could not get this brioche bread and butter pudding dish out of my head, the following day at work.  I was day dreaming about it.  The brioche pudding was delightfully warm and a hint of citrus.  It was surrounded by lovely vanilla ice cream speckled with vanilla seeds and a panna cotta that was just melt-in-the-mouth.


In direct contrast was the light Eton mess made with summer fruits.  So pretty.

For those of you not familiar with Camberwell junction, Juno & May is in the space formerly occupied by Cafe Moravia. They have done a remarkable job renovating the space and the parking at the rear is so handy.

Verdict

We loved it.

Overall

Juno & May combines fresh quality food and good value.  It's a great place to catch up with family and friends.  The service is attentive without being intrusive.  They have a six courses for $50 on the menu and I'm keen to give that a go on my next visit.

Find it at

Juno & May
662 Burke Road
Camberwell Vic 3124
Phone: 8840 8006