Fountains Restaurant, Box Hill

Quite a while ago I stumbled upon Fountains Restaurant in Box Hill. It is a training restaurant for the hospitality students in Box Hill TAFE. It is more difficult to get a reservation to this restaurant than to one of the fine dining restaurants around. The restaurant operates on a term basis which means there are the weeks where it is closed for term breaks. Also, the price is very attractive. For $24 pp, dinner consists of a 3 course meal plus coffee, tea or hot chocolate with sweets. Therefore, even though I knew about this restaurant a while back, I only managed to get a reservation two weeks ago.

Although the chefs and waiting staff are entirely students (with one or two supervisors), the food was more than decent for the value and the service was professional.

My entree - Par boned grilled quail on celeriac remoulade with verjus dressing and celeriac crisps. The star of the entrees. The quail was FANTASTIC! Perfectly cooked, it was tender and tasty. The celeriac remoulade was beautiful. Sweet strips of celeriac with a mayo based sauce - I love anything creamy and mayo. Gaz liked the celeriac crisps but I thought they were ordinary. It resembles sweet potato keropok.

Gaz's entree - Green pea and smoked ham hock soup with ham mousse filled profiteroles. The profiteroles caught my attention. A savoury profiterole? Very unique...

My main - Herb crusted salmon fillet, two potato gratin and freshly tossed side salad. I didn't take a picture of the salad - so picture a garden salad in your mind. The herb crust didn't taste like anything but the salmon was perfectly cooked. The potato gratin didn't tickle my fancy - it was layers of potatoes and sweet potatoes in butter. After a while I became a little jelak.

Gaz's main - Pan roasted 'High Country' pork cutlet charcutiere with semolina gnocchi, slow cooked red cabbage and apple. The best main between the two. We enjoyed this dish a lot. Pork cutlets are not easy to cook, care needs to be taken to cook them just right so that it is no longer pink in the middle but not tough on the outside. The student chef who prepared this dish deserves a pat on the back for getting this right. The red cabbage was sweet and goes well with the other ingredients on the plate.

My dessert - Chocolate caramel tart with Frangelico cream and hazelnut praline shards. I don't have much to say, I didn't eat much of this. It was very rich and filling, plus I don't like sweets that much.

Gaz's dessert - Steamed mandarin and brandy syrup sponge pudding with lemon sherbet marshmallow. Gaz really liked this pudding because it was light. Just perfect for us who is so full by now. I liked the lemon sherbet marshmallow although Gaz thought it was a little too sour. I ate it with the mint leaves provided and it was just right. Very refreshing for the palate.


To finish off the glutton in us, the restaurant provided a choice of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. I ordered a mocha while Gaz ordered a hot chocolate. Both came with a little chocolate tart on the side which I didn't picture. Overall, I was impressed by the dishes and the quality of service. When I first entered the restaurant, flashes of Hell's Kitchen episodes appeared in my mind. I thought I would have to wait for 1 hour just to get to entree while the student cooks laboured under a hellish instructor wielding a whip. None of that happened. We got our food in good time, and a window to the kitchen showed all the student cooks with their clean and neat white garb working in an orderly fashion.

We will most likely return to the restaurant next term to sample their new menu, that is, if I can get a reservation.