I Eat Therefore I Am

Okra

2009-11-29T20:54:00.002+11:00

159 Camberwell Rd
Hawthorn East 3123 Vic
Ph: (03) 9813 1623

Before watching the movie Moon (an excellent sci-fi film), John and I decided to have a quick meal at Okra. I thought Okra was supposed to be a Thai restaurant, but it seemed more like a Malaysian restaurant than a Thai one.

We ordered the Loh Bak entree, Massaman Beef Curry, Beef Rendang and Roti to share. The Loh Bak is something I've eaten a lot of, as Vietnamese cuisine has a similar thing. It's basically a pork spring roll where the skin is beancurd skin rather than pastry. It's very nice and served with a sweet sauce and some fried beancurd. The Beef Rendang is spicy and not too bad. The Massaman Beef Curry was lacking a bit in flavour.

The rest of the menu looked like a strang mish-mash of various cuisines. It seems to inhabit both Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai food. The other dishes on the menu didn't look too appealing to me, although my work mate Joe says that he goes there a lot and that it's good. From what we ate that night, which wasn't too much, it was ok, but nothing special. And for the prices that they are charging, I would expect more. They're aiming for a fine dining type atmosphere but I don't think the food really works.

The service was very good, seeing as we were the only customers at the time. The restaurant filled up throughout the night but service was still good. The restaurant itself is a bit strange as it's a long space that makes it feel a bit closed in. However, we got the best table (in my opinion) right next to the window and got a good view of the whole restaurant.

I probably wouldn't go back as I've had similar food for cheaper, and reading the menu didn't really get me excited.

Overall Rating: 12/20, Food was ok but a bit too expensive for what it was, simple food.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Ajisen Ramen

2009-11-29T20:29:00.002+11:00

130 Bourke St, Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9662 1100

Enthusiasm is very contagious. So when I read Dan from Tummy Rumbles articles about how good ramen is, especially the ones in Japan, and his constant pursuit for the best ramen in Melbourne, it got me really interested in ramen too. I order ramen at any Japanese restaurant that has them. But usually, those aren't even proper ramen, more like instant noodles. One recommendation from Dan that does authentic ramen is Ramen Ya. I really love the ramen there, so rich in flavour. So when Dan recommended Ajisen Ramen, I just had to go and try it.

The Australian branch of Ajisen Ramen doesn't have a website, but the Ajisen Ramen Singaporean website seems to offer a similar menu with a few extra dishes.

The restaurant looks like your typical Asian cafe with low undressed tables and stools. At the time that we went, it was fairly full, with most of the diners young student types of Asian descent (it's so PC now that you can't call people Asian on Crime Stoppers, but they're of Asian descent, so funny).

We pulled up a table and got some Japanese beer whilst perusing the menu. There is indeed a lot of options, and I wanted to try everything. In the end, Dennis and I both decided to try the Ajisen ramen (which is basically a charshu ramen) and Kevin went for the Tonkatsu ramen. We also got some Takoyaki and Tataki to share.

The takoyaki and tataki were actually both very good. My ramen was very good. It had a nice rich full flavour, the pork was soft and tender and the noodles were just right. I would definitely come back for the food. It's all tasty and at a good price. I actually prefer the Ramen Ya ramen, but these are also good and different in flavour.

However, as Dan had noted, there is indeed a smell wafting through the restaurant. We were seated near the toilets and the smell hit me immediately. I have an ultra strong sense of smell and it really assaulted me. Kevin also smelt it but Dennis didn't seem to. The smell is definitely that of pipes. It's not about the toilets but the pipes. I could also smell the toilet spray that they used to try and mask the pipes. It sort of works at times but then at other times I could smell the stink. Once the food arrived, I didn't smell it as much, but it was always there in the background.

Apart from the smell, the place has quite a nice feel and the service was fairly prompt. The prices are very good and I would come back to eat, albeit possibly sitting further from the toilets.

Overall Rating: 13/20, Good ramen at good prices. The stink from the water pipes may annoy you.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Pig And Whistle - Geocaching Pit Stop

2009-11-29T19:52:00.003+11:00

365 Purves Road, Main Ridge
Cape Schanck
Ph: (03) 5989 6130

My work mate Steve is a dedicated Geocacher. Geocaching is the activity of using a GPS to find hidden geocaches (usually a small box with a few items to swap and a logbook). I asked him to take me on one of his adventures as I was intrigued about it and also wanted to visit some new places, which is the ultimate goal of geoacaching. We decided to go to Cape Schanck, with our other work mate John and Steve's son Tim also coming along.

We went to a few places, such as the Two Bays track and the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. The views were glorious, and the caches weren't too hard to find. The first one took a bit of finding, but after a while we got the hang of where to look.

It was quite exciting to find a cache. Even though it's only a small lunch box with useless things, it was a sense of finding it that was the thrill. I kept one of the little toys inside as a momento.

Look how excited I was at finding a cache.

Of course, geocaching makes one very hungry, so we had to stop for lunch. We stopped at the Pig and Whistle, a small tavern style place. The tavern is decorated in the traditional English style with beer paraphenalia hung all over the room.

I had the Crumbed Lamb Cutlet, which was nothing special. It tasted like what you could get at a million different pubs, but when you're hungry, it tastes really good.

The Sticky Date Pudding was good as well, albeit a bit sweet.

So, if you feel like exploring some unknown beautiful areas in Victoria, why don't you give geocaching a go. And when you've worked up your appetite, stop somewhere nice for a delicious meal.

Attica

2009-11-22T18:15:00.005+11:00

74 Glen Eira Road
Ripponlea 3185 Victoria
Ph: (03) 9530 0111

For a work dinner, I suggested that we go to Attica. Much has been said and written about Attica of late. I guess when you're doing such innovative and delicious food such as what Ben Shewry is doing, word will get around. Before going to the dinner, I did my research. Firstly, I read the article in The Age. That had me salivating already and my expectations were extremely high. Obviously, I looked up blogs as well to get some more views. You can read about Attica at Melbourne Foodie, Eating Melbourne, Melbourne Gastronome, Taste Buds Galore, Tomato and Doublecooked just to name a few.

Since we had a booking of more than 8, we had to do the degustation or a parred down menu with fewer options. I don't like being forced to do the degustation or a reduced menu for a large group booking but I guess it's fair enough since it is extremely hard to coordinate so many dishes all at once. We chose to go with the reduced menu, which had three options in each category as opposed to six. Thankfully, all the dishes I wanted to try were in the reduced menu.

Not wanting to be late, we left work promptly and got there a bit early. So we walked the street to waste a bit of time and stood around waiting. Jordan, Hien and Esther happened to be standing around and I snapped a photo of them. All dressed in black, they looked like a three piece blues band posing for an album cover.

Here is the work team mid dinner, waiting for dessert.

The amuse bouche consisted of spring garlic that the staff had picked themselves from somewhere around the restaurant. The appetisers consisted of olives, organic almonds, salsa and house made butter. Seriously, I think this is the best butter I've tasted at any restaurant around Melbourne.

Jordan and I agreed to share our dishes so that we could taste more of the food. The first entree was "Snow crab". I didn't try this, but was told it was very nice.

Jordan got the "A simple dish of potato cooked in the earth it was grown". The whole menu is written in such simple terms, a change from the usual complex menus that are seen around other top Melbourne restaurants. The wait staff do explain the dish when it arrives, such is the modern fashion that one must know every single ingredient in a dish and how it was cooked. This dish consisted of a potato that was cooked for 8 hours. I thought the potato did taste good, and did indeed have an earthy flavour. The texture too was very nice, with the accompaniments enhancing it. However, unlike The Age article, I wasn't totally rapturous. It tasted like a well boiled potato at the end of the day.

I got the "Smoked trout broth, crackling, basil seeds, fresh smoke". Indeed there was smoke, which was displayed at the table by the waitress. Then, the broth was poured over the dish, and you got a visual, aural and olfactory sensation, all preparing the brain for the oral sensation to come. And it was a sensation to behold. I can see why this was named dish of the year. The broth was so clear in flavour and just infused the trout. The pork crackling really works in the dish as well.

For mains, there was "Kingfish, squid, almond". The dish looks so simple, and according to the others, it tasted really good.

The "Pork loin, morcilla, wild fennel pollen" was a lovely dish. I really liked the way the pork was cooked. Usually I'm not a fan of pork, but this was moist and tender. The black pudding was quite strong in flavour but I liked it. The apple sauce helped cut the flavours.

I got the "Lamb, spice, date, walnut". The lamb was done two ways, a roast medallion of lamb, which was good, and a confit of lamb with Morroccan spices, which was excellent. The date sauce again helped cut the spiciness of the spices.

So far, the meal had been good. But you all know I love desserts, and was awaiting the Terroir that I had read so much about. A quarter of the table went for the "Aged buffalo milk cheese, distilled red wine, walnut", which they thought was quite strange.

Another quarter went for the special, which was a Peach dessert. My memory fails me so I don't know what else was in it.

Half the table though, went for the "Terroir", which was mind blowingly good. The mixture of sweet and savoury and the texture combos really get your mind searching to try and pinpoint the flavours. There was beetroot, limes, berries sitting above some creme fraiche. I liked the chewy bits of fruit mixed with crunchy bits of something and the occasional savoury tones. I like to echo others by saying that this should have won The Good Food Guide dish of the year.

Service was what you would expect at a top restaurant, excellent. The service staff were efficient and also relaxed. They were slightly less attentive than the Vue de Monde staff, who I still rank as number one in Melbourne.

The ambience in the restaurant is very good. Surprisingly, it was a lot noiser than I thought it would be. The decor is very relaxing and the room is divided up nicely so that you don't feel like you have no space, but neither do you feel like you're isolated.

OVerall, the food was excellent, but lacked that extra little wow factor on some dishes that would make this a perfect dining experience. However, it is still right up there in regards to dining locations in Melbourne.

Overall Rating: 18/20, Excellent food and service. The Terroir is a must try.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Aya Japanese Restaurant

2009-11-22T17:28:00.002+11:00

1193 High Street
Armadale 3143 Victoria
Ph: (03)9822 9571

I love Japanese food, so am constantly on the search for good Japanese restaurants. A flick through the Entertainment Book came up with Aya Japanese Restaurant.

Aya is located inconspicuously on High Street in Armadale. Upon entering the restaurant, it feels slightly and disjointed. The high booth seating creates physical and mental barriers between diners. It's good if you like some privacy, bad since it detracts from the ambience of the restaurant.

We are seated in the very corner area just inside the glass shop front. It's was a cramped spot, but the restaurant is small and I didn't mind that. The little touches of art made it all a very nice space. The only annoying part was a small water fountain that buzzed the whole night due to the pump.

For entrees, we decide on Agedashi Tofu, Tofu Salad, Gyu Tataki and Nasu Dengaku. The Agedashi Tofu was very good, with the tofu crisp and with a good sweet soy sauce. The Tofu Salad was not bad too, with the vegetables providing nice crunch. But regular readers know tofu isn't my thing, so I was looking forward to the Gyu Tataki. Besides sashimi, tataki is my next favourite thing at Japanese restaurants. This tataki was presented really beautifully, but strangely, it wasn't very good. With tataki, obviously the beef is key, and this was nice beef, but the sauce plays a really big part too. This sauce was just sour, and didn't have any hints of savoury and sweet. Finally, the Nasu Dengaku, looked a bit, ummmm, interesting. The roasted pieces of eggplants were actually quite tough and held together really stubbornly by the miso paste. It wasn't particularly to my liking as I would have preferred it to be softer.

The Sushi and Sashimi platters were really excellent. There was a large variety of fish, all very fresh. I would definitely come back just for the sushi and sashimi.

The mains were Tempura, Eye Fillet Beef and Teriyaki Chicken. Surpringsly, the Tempura prawns and vegetables were very good. The coating was nice and light and kept the flavours fresh. The eye fillet beef was tender with a good sauce. Finally, the teriyaki chicken was surprisingly good too. The chicken was grilled to give a nice flamed tasted, and the teriyaki sauce not overly sickeningly sweet.

The desserts consisted of a Plum Wine Jelly (not shown), Sticky Date Pudding and Blueberry Cheesecake. The plum wine jelly tasted exactly as you would think. The sticky date pudding (traditional Japanese?) was good but a tad too sweet. The blueberry cheesecake though, was insanely divine and had me going back for more and more.

Service was serviceable. All requests were fulfilled, but at times they were almost too polite and made us nervous.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the food. I was suprised at how good most things were. There was nothing innovative, but the regular Japanese dishes were done well. In terms of price, the food is not excessively expensive either. I think this will be another Japanese restaurant that I will frequent often.

Overall Rating: 15/20, The sushi and sashimi is very good.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Beast On A Block At The Point Albert Park

2009-10-18T17:50:00.004+11:00

Aquatic Drive, Albert Park Lake
Albert Park 3206, Victoria
Ph: (03) 9682 5566

I had tried to book a table at The Point Albert Park twice, but each time was thwarted by my own lack of organisation and booking too late. Whilst doing my usual research on a restaurant before making a booking, I found that Executive Chef at the Point, scott Pickett, aka Scotty, had a food blog. I did what an self respecting food blogger would do, I emailed Scotty to ask to meet him and talk with him. I didn't hear anything back, and didn't think much more of it.

Can you imagine my surprise then, when 8 months down the track, I get an invite from The Point to attend a Beast on a Block bloggers event. I was ecstatic about the invite and accepted it.

I arrived a little early so took in the views of the beautiful Albert Park. A refreshing cool breeze was blowing across the lakes and the swans were strolling around.

When I finally entered the restaurant, I bumped into fellow food bloggers Neil and Elliot. We all went upstairs and met up with Jackie, Ed, Jess, and Cam Smith from RRR. Sarah and Claire arrived a little later. Sarah, Jess and Claire have already blogged about the night here, here and here.

The man of the moment, Scott, then came out to meet us and give us a bried introduction on what would happen that night. He also spoke with us about what blogging meant to him and why he did it. He even remembered my email. He said that at the time, he thought what an arrogant upstart I was asking to meet him, but look at the situation now and how things changed. In Scott's own mind, he had embraced blogging and saw it as a way to get honest reviews both about his own restaurant as well as the food industry as a whole.

The theme for the night was to see a whole beast broken down into the various cuts, hence the name Beast on a Block. That beast in question was a spring lamb. Before that happened though, Scott took us for a tour around the restaurant. It was an amazing eye opener for me to see how things really operated out back. The kitchen was a lot smaller than I thought. The only commercial kitchens you get to see are at restaurants that want you to see them, and they are made really big for dramatic effect, like at Rockpool.

We got a tour of the downstairs area where stocks are made each day and prep work done on the ingredients for dishes. The freezer housed many fine specimens of meat, ready to be served to customers.

The "Glory Cabinet", as Scott called it, is kept at its spectacular best by Frank the maitre d'. The cabinet houses various cuts of meats, both raw and cured ones. Scott even makes his own sausages.

Once the tour finished, we sat down in the picturesque restaurant overlooking Albert Park lake. Use of floor to ceiling glass windows made sure the spectacular view is not wasted. It really sets a beautiful mood and you can't help but feel good already even before the food arrives.

While Scott started cutting up a 7 week old lamb into the various cuts, we continued sipping on good wine and had some natural oysters. I was really amazed at how easily Scott cut the lamb into the various cuts. It really would take years of practise to identify where each cut was and get maximum amounts out of the good cuts.

The actual meal for the night was presented with just the core ingredients. Our task was to try and identify the full list of ingredients in each dish. We got to take turns out back to see the dish being plated up. Again, it was really great to see the chefs plate up in a very controlled and organised manner. I asked Frank whether Scott was calm or quite fiery in the kitchen, and Frank said he was a very calm cook.

The first course was simply entitled King Salmon. That simple dish was actually a Confit of king salmon with potage parmentier and three different types of eggs. I loved this dish, with the soft salmon confit at 70 degrees falling apart and blending with the salty caviar and potato soup. Finally, when you got to the bottom, you got a surprise with the goats curd.

The next dish entitle Chicken, was actually Carmelised stuffed chicken wing, pumpkin gnocchi, emulsion of potato and black truffle. I've always loved chicken wings, but this dish took it to another level. The chicken wing was luscious and smooth.

Our dish of Marron was a Butter poached marron, foie gras parfait, brioche crumbs and sauternes reduction. The marron was very sweet and worked really nicely with the apple jelly. The parfait was incredibly rich and just oiled your mouth completely, making you lick your lips again and again.

Between the marron and the next dish, there was a break from the food where we all talked about various food topics. One issue that came up was about George Calombaris' dislike of food bloggers. He raised the issue that we provide unfair assessments and that we have no knowledge of food. Neil has written a response, which I think provides all the answers George needs. For the record, I think it's not about who shouts the loudest, it's about who makes the most sense. Readers will make their own assessment of whether they think something a blogger writes is fair or not.

Neil and I also spoke to the sommelier Arnaud, who was matching our wines to the food all night. It was really interesting to hear Arnauds views on wines and how to enjoy them, as well as what you get for your money. I learnt a lot about wines in that 20 minutes and have some further research to do (hehehe as in try a few recommended brands and types).

Finally, we came to the theme of the night, lamb. And let me tell you, what a dish of lamb it was. Numerous cuts of the spring lamb were used to create a masterpiece. This was definitely my favourite dish of the night. Each element presented a different taste and texture. Sarah's done an annotated photo of the dish to give you a full run down. The lamb was so tender and sweet that I could have easily eaten a second serving of this dish.

A Pre Dessert palate cleanser of Vodka and cranberry jelly with lemon and blood orange granita was indeed very refreshing. The basil foam actually worked.

Desserts were of two varieties. I got the Valrhona chocolate and chestnut tortellini, coffee ice cream and tonka bean foam. As a lover of chocolate, I loved this dish. The ice cream worked really well with the tortellini. My favourite part though was the caramelised pear beneath the tortellini, as those went amazingly well with the ice cream. I sneaked a taste of the alternate dessert from Sarah of Caramelised pineapple crumble, coconut cream and anise myrtle. It too was a beautiful dessert, refreshing, rich and moreish.

The night ended when Scott joined us for desserts and talked to us about his working background, his inspirations, how he feels about food blogging and his take on what he wants to do with the restaurant. His enthusiasm was utterly infectious, and him talking to us was the highlight of the night I think. I can always eat a meal at a top restaurant whenever I want, but how often do you get insights into the industry from a top chef.

Thanh: You look a lot more handsome in real life than on your blog Scott.

Scott: You look better in real life too.

Thanh: Let's both pose for a beautiful photo.

Note, that conversation above was purely fictional. I just wanted to annotate these rather amusing photos.

A similar meal to the one we had is currently available at The Point. Do yourself a favour and get a taste of the spring lamb before it's gone. It is one of the best lamb you will taste.

Finally, a massive massive thanks to Scott, Frank, Arnaud and the team at The Point for making the night happen and inviting me for a great meal and some wonderful insights.

I dined courtesy of The Point and Executive Chef Scott Pickett.

Almazett

2009-10-18T16:24:00.003+11:00

210 Balaclava Rd
Caulfield North 3161, Victoria
Ph: (03) 9509 8959

Almazett is a Lebanese restaurant located out in the 'burbs. Like many other Lebanese restaurants, it's almost a stereotype of itself. Not that it's particularly bad, but it's not particularly good or memorable either. They all meld into this oneness. Let me continue and get back to this issue at the end.

The restaurant itself has a really comforting feel. I liked the clean feel of the place, with everything still looking new rather than old like many other Lebanese restaurants.

The menu had all the usual culprits there, and as usual, we go for the banquet as it seems to be the best value for money. Even the waiter was pushing us that way, probably since it'll be easy for them to cook exactly the same dishes. The dips and salad was surpringsly bad. Usually, the dips are amazingly good, but these ones lacked flavour and were too sour.

The falafel was quite good, but the highlight of the whole night were a couple of entrees of meats and cheese wrapped in filo pastry. These were so delicious and I would eat them until full.

The mains consisted of chicken wings, sausages, kebabs, beans and rice. All were ok but didn't really stand out.

For desserts, we got the usual Mahalabieh, Baklava and Turkish Delight. To my delight, the mahalabieh was better than usual, but still not something I would order. To my further delight, the baklava was actually good, as was the Turkish Delight.

Service was good, and our waiter was accomadating to our constant request for water. For some unknown reason, we were a thirsty bunch.

To the issue of stereotyping of restaurants, it's a shame that most restaurants feel like they need to do exactly the same as other restaurants doing that cuisine. It becomes really boring and bland. At Almazett, they don't do it any worse, but neither do they do it any better. Elements are better, but not all elements. Nothing sets them apart, except maybe the location depending on where you live. Are diners expecting the same of these places or do they do it simply because it's safe and easy. I'm not sure what the answer is, but when you have the same belly dancer doing the rounds of the Lebanese restaurants in Melbourne, I think that isn't a good thing. Surely, the chefs all have some recipes that is unique to them that they could share with us and therefore have a point of difference?

To end, here is Daniel and Jordan looking like a boy band just for laughs. We also ran an experiment that I suggested, that holding your car remote to your head and using your head as an antennae would strengthen the signal. Obviously, the experiment wasn't fully controlled, but I maintain that initial results show that using your head as an amplifier does seem plausible. Go and try it the next time you're outside a Lebanese restaurant.

Overall Rating: 13/20, Good value for money, with food and service ok.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Hwaro BBQ - Part 2

2009-10-18T15:50:00.003+11:00

562 Little Bourke St
Melbourne 3000, Victoria
Ph:(03) 9642 5696

I was thinking of how I hadn't been to Hwaro BBQ for a while, and when I saw Mellie's post about it, I decided to organise a meal there. Little would I know that when it rains, it pours. Because in the space of seven days, I would end up eating there twice, not that I'm complaining as they do the best Korean BBQ in Melbourne I reckon.

What's the secret to their BBQ, nothing magical, just quality ingredients and the use of a real coal BBQ. Easy, but so effective.

The banchan here are pretty good too. I think they do the best kimchi of all the Korean restaurants I have tried. I haven't tried every Korean restaurant in Melbourne, so maybe there is better out there. However, I really love their kimchi and probably go through 4-5 of those little dishes by myself.

We always order an assortment of meats. They're all really good, but my personal favourites are the Beef Ribs, Spicy Pork and Beef Bulgogi. They also do some mean entrees like the seafood pancake.

The service here is both excellent and occasionally frustrating. Usually it's excellent. They are very attentive and help you cook and cut up all the meat. This is great especially but can be a bit strange at first as you're not used to it. But if you keep talking and not let it worry you, you'll really love just having the food ready to go when you want to eat. The frustrating part is that the staff really do speak very little English and occasionally it's very hard when you are asking questions such as "do you know whether the pork we ordered is coming or if it's been forgotten". But that is a small quibble compared to all the other great aspects of this place.

Atmosphere here is really good, with people chatting away happily while busily eating their meals with their hands. I'm pleased that the standards both in service and food has not slipped since when I first ate here near the opening of the restaurant. Prices have also stayed pretty much the same. This restaurant is definitely the place to eat Korean BBQ.

Overall Rating: 15/20, Excellent Korean BBQ.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

il Solito Posto

2009-10-18T15:28:00.002+11:00

113 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000, Victoria
Ph: (03) 9654 4466

il Solito Posto is one of those restaurants that you would never see unless you knew it was there. It's hidden off a side street and since the restaurant is situated below street level, you only catch a glimpse of the upper ceiling.

Walking into the restaurant, you instantly get a sense of warmth both from the temperature but also the way the room is lit and furnished. I usually hate dark restaurant, but I think in this case it is acceptable as I felt warmth from the use of lighting. I still preferred they lit the room a tad more. We decided to dine in the main restaurant as opposed to the bistro.

Deciding to skip entrees, we each order mains that caught our eye. I was extremely silly and ordered the Pork Rib. I don't really like pork, and the only time I like it is when it's gelatinous pork belly roasted. I was under the assumption that this dish was like that, but instead was a simple pan fried pork. The sauce was rather bland and I didn't like the rosemary flavour on it.

Kim Anh got the Veal Shanks. I expected this dish to be sensational but again lacked flavour. The risotto wasn't very good and again was bland.

Tori's choice of the Eye Fillet was the best decision. The red wine jus had flavour and worked well with the simply cooked steak. The steak was still a tad overdone.

We ordered desserts to share. We got the Italian donuts, Tiramisu and Chocolate Gnocchi. All the desserts were plated up so beautifully, but on the whole were rather disappointingly bad. The Italian donuts were stale donuts served with a trio of berries. The tiramisu flavours were dominated by the cream.

The Chocolate Gnocchi sounded really interesting but instead we were served three tiny chocolate blobs that tasted of bad chocolate. The baci ice cream served with the gnocchi was sensational and one of the best ice creams I've tasted. I'd eat a whole bowl of that for dessert.

The service was friendly and warm. Our American waiter was very funny and made us feel very comfortable. The atmosphere was fairly muted. My theory is that dark restaurant just naturally cause people to be quieter and more inhibited. I don't like that, as much as I despise not being able to see my dining companions or the menu. Hence, the atmosphere wasn't as good as it could be.

The menu is quite simplistic, but the food is not done well. For such high prices that they are charging (mains in the higher $30), I would expect much better. However, what we got was simplistic dishes that lacked flavour. None of the dessert were any good at all.

Overall Rating: 10/20, A nice warm feel but food a total letdown.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Captain America's Hamburger Heaven

2009-10-18T15:05:00.002+11:00

38 Forest Rd
Ferntree Gully 3156, Victoria
Ph: (03) 9758 0711

When you go to Captain America's Hamburger Heaven, it's blantantly clear what to expect. Captain America's is located way out in the middle of nowhere along a small strip of shops in Ferntree Gully. However, it's reputation is strong enough to entice people out there to eat.

When you step inside, you're greeted by the classical diner type fitout that you see in American movies. There's memorabilia strewn all over the walls. There's also lots of clever puns written all over the ceiling which will keep you amused and with a sore neck after a while.

The menu, predictably, is dominated by a variety of hamburgers. They also have their famous Big Heavenly Burger, which is a 1 kilo burger with 600g of chips that you have to eat in the fastest time to get it free. It is indeed a whopping big burger, as a couple of guys in the next table ordered it. They did not manage to finish them.

We start off with some Buffalo ("I didn't know buffalo had wings" - Jessica Simpson) wings and Shrimp. The buffalo wings had a good taste while the shrimp was the bland tasteless stuff of the 80s served with a seafood sauce. Ah, how retro.

We all go for a variety of different burgers, which were just a variation of a few ingredients and sauces. I wanted to try the Captain America's Celebrated Heavenly Burger. All burgers came with a choice of chips or salad. Obviously, I chose chips.

Look how patriotic my burger was, so many flags. Taste wise, the burger was ok. The patty was good quality meat and the ingredients were all pretty good. However, it lacked that hit of flavour that you want. The patty wasn't smokey enough. The bacon could have been more crisp to give a texture contrast. The egg could be cooked a bit less. The pickles didn't have a big enough kick. The cheese didn't melt enough, the buns were a bit bland and not very crunchy. Finally, the sauce holding it all together didn't really excite the taste buds. The burgers at Grill'd are much better and cheaper too.

Finally, for dessert, I had to try the Key Lime Pie. I keep hearing about this American tv shows, and just had to see what it was about. It turned out to be a cheesecake type thing with meringue on top. It was insanely sweet but I rather liked it. I wouldn't be eating too often, but it did have a nice lime flavour.

The service was acceptable. At times our requests were misunderstood but quickly rectified. The atmosphere is very retro just from the fitout and the booth seating. The booth seating meant you were quite isolated from surrounding tables, which can be good if you want privacy. I enjoy a more open restaurant and to hear the vibes.

I don't think I would specifically drive out to Captain America's for a burger as the burgers aren't spectacular enough to justify it. They are acceptable burgers but maybe they need a modern update to reinvigorate the place in terms of taste and style. Or maybe that is their attraction, that nothing changes. Vlado's in Richmond have thrived on being the same for 30 years. Who knows.

Overall Rating: 12/20, A nice retro feel with acceptable tasting burgers.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Hellenic Republic - Part 2

2009-10-02T23:15:00.002+10:00

434 Lygon St
Brunswick East 3057
Phone: (03) 9381 1222

I have been to Hellenic Republic for a lunch and it was so good that I wanted to go back and try more food. I went there to dinner with my Greek friend, to get his opinions on the place.

It was so busy that we were only able to snag a seat at the counter. Whilst others might not like this, I loved it. It afforded me the best view in the house of the whole restaurant as well as the kitchen. I even spotted Aaron from Masterchef working in the kitchen that night.

Last time, I tried and loved the Manouri cheese. My friend suggested a hard cheese this time. I forget which one it is, I think this is the Lathotyri. He said he used to eat this cheese on the Greek island where he lived and it brought him right back. It was a hard cheese with an extremely strong taste. I didn't mind it but didn't love it like the manouri cheese.

The Sausages tasted like a bratwurst and were really good. The lamb chops were amazing. The grilled flavour over the coals really made them taste extra special. I never knew lamb chops could taste so good.

Finally, dessert was a stunning Bugatsa. The semolina custard was so smooth and creamy. And the filo pastry, mmm, mmm, mmm. It was baked to perfection and crispy and light. The cinnamon and icing sugar topped off one of the best custard desserts I've tasted.

Service was very good, as we were sitting right at the counter so it was extremely easy to get the waiters attention. The ambience in the room was a wonderful buzzing vibe. People were laughing and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Overall Rating: 16/20, Excellent food and I love the ambience.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Nachos Cantina

2009-10-02T22:59:00.002+10:00

1650 Dandenong Road
Ph: (03) 9544 9841

Nachos Cantina is strangely located on the side of Princes Highway. I think there's actually a motel next to it. The interior is a corny mix of decorations that should represent Mexico in a comedy show. It's all brightly coloured and strange.

When we see the menu, we all immediately want buffalo wings, made famous by Jessica "do buffalos have wings" Simpson. The wings taste good and we all gobble them up quickly.

The menu is laid out in such a confusing manner that it's hard to tell what is what. I finally decide on the Fajitas. They defintely arrive sizzling as advertised. The meat is quite tender but lacks a bit of flavour. When eaten with the tortilla and other condiments, it's quite good.

Mai and Kim Anh order the Mixed Plate containing a bit of everything. They both thought it was quite good.

Henry goes for the Enchillada I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Again, he thinks it's not too bad.

For desserts, we get a Death By Chocolate, a Flan de Queso and a Sticky Date Pudding. Let me report that all three were crazy sweet and not good.

Finally, look, is that Kim Anh orPamela Anderson in her ugg boots. It's hard to tell. But for the record, ugg boots are not a fashion item.

Overall Rating: 12/20, Food was ok but dessert was too sweet.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Red Spice Road

2009-10-02T22:00:00.002+10:00

27 McKillop St
Melbourne 3000
Ph: (03) 9603 1601

Renee Zellweger was had at hello, I was had at the food here I believe is similar to that of Longrain, but I believe is a hell of a lot more tasty. Those were the words written by Adski that made me want to go to Red Spice Road, since I think the food at Longrain is sensational.

This review of Red Spice Road is actually from two visits there. Yep, that's how much I wanted to love it. But my verdict, like Cindy's verdict, is mixed. Cindy's done a lot more research and linked to many other bloggers reviews so go check out her post.

The interior of the restaurant, I think, is stunning. It's got such a great design, really drawing your eye down the length of the room to the stunning centre chandelier and paintings at the back wall. Usually, I hate dark restaurants and I still think the room could use a bit more lighting, but it does have a very cool feel about it.

There's been many suggestions from people that these paintings are either done by Poh from Masterchef, or are actually of her. I don't really know about both. Nonetheless, the paintings are rather risque and dramatic.

We ordered a number of cocktails but as raved about by Adski and Cindy, the Chi Chi drink made from caramelised pineapple was stunning. I drank two, as did most of the table.

The Oysters were flavoured with lime, spring onion, salmon caviar and were a zingy mouthfull of flavour.

A dish of Red Curry Duck was ok but not really that great. The duck wasn't roasted as much as I wanted, but the sauce was good. The Beef Cheeks tasted quite bland and boring. They tasted of a dominating saltiness and not much else.

A Wagyu Beef Stir Fried Noodles was extremely disappointing. The noodles were all floopy and lacked that "wok breath" that you get at Asian restaurants. The dish was only half eaten by the six of us. The Pork Belly was the best dish of the night, but still wasn't great. I liked the actually belly part, but the accompanying flavours didn't cause it to zing, instead being both overly salty and sweet at the same time.

A dish of Tofu with Mushrooms was again a real let down. Even a quick stir fry of those two ingredients can be a great dish, but the items were soggy and flavourless. The Barramundi in broth again lacked any flavour and tasted like it had been boiled in water.

On my second visit, I tried the Pork Belly again and once again, it was just overly salty and sweet. I also tried the Calamari Salad. This was major disappoint to the extreme. The calamari was all floppy and soggy and the whole salad was just sour sour sour.

A Seafood in Broth dish lacked flavour, because the ingredients were not of a high quality. Having eaten prawns, scallops and fish my whole life, I know when it's fresh. The tiny scallops were so small and of the frozen variety. Prawns were soaked to be firm but no flavour.

Well, so far the savoury dishes have been a massive let down, so how can the review be mixed. Well, desserts were absolutely amazing. A dish of lychee donuts was inspired. Why hasn't anyone ever stuffed fruit (not jam, but fruit) inside a donut. It was served with a chilli sauce that gave it a nice kick.

The tropical fruit plate was again magic. I absolutely love my tropical fruits and they rarely appear on any dessert menus in restaurant. Even if they appear, it's in the form of mangos only. But in this dessert platter, there was a stunning passionfruit brulee (I love brulees and this twist was great), a mangosteen trifle (yummy yum yum), kaffir lime granita (really refreshing) and a stunning mango ice cream atop black sticky rice.

The last dessert of Baked Apple and Dragon Fruit was a great flavour combo. I love that slightly weird fragrant flavour of the dragon fruit and how it paired with the sweet baked apple. The puffed rice, peanut praline and cinnamon ice cream all worked to further enhance the dessert.

Service was efficient and straight forward. There was no unnecessary chit chat as they went about their work. The ambience in the room had a lounge bar feel to it, not being rowdy but was getting quite loud. We had to shout at each other across the tables to be heard. As great as the tables looked, they weren't too functional in the sense that they are too wide and it's hard to engage with your friends across the table.

So, in conclusion, I would definitely say the food here comes nowhere near Longrain in my opinion. While all the dishes at Longrain was a beautiful blend of flavours that made my taste buds jump about, all the dishes here were bland and one dimensional in flavour. The desserts and cocktails/mocktails, were brilliant, and I would come back just for them next time.

Overall Rating: 13/20, Desserts and cocktails sensational, come just to eat dessert and have a drink. Food unfortunately not so good for the price.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Butcher's Grill

2009-10-02T21:38:00.002+10:00

141 Bourke St
Melbourne 3000
Ph: (03) 9639 1222

Butcher's Grill has one restaurant strangely located on Bourke Street. Even when you intentionally look for it, it's hard to find. The front facade is quite small and doesn't look like a restaurant.

Once you step inside though, you feel like you're transported to a Victorian era building. The furnishings are extremely classical and feel very opulent. The restaurant did have a slightly stale smell like when you don't air a room.

Once seated at the very grand table, we ordered drinks. We were quite early and the room was basically empty, but that didn't mean that we could get the waiters attention. It strange when that happens.

We decided on the two mixed platters of meat and seafood to share. The meat platter consisted of a variety of sausages, lamb, chicken and beef cuts. It was all quite good, but nothing particularly leapt out at you.

The seafood platter consisted of oysters kilpatrick, calamari, scallops, fish fillets and garlic prawns. I liked the oysters and scallops best. Again, everything was quite good, but the seafood wasn't exceptionally fresh or memorable.

There wasn't much of an ambience to speak of in there, with hardly any customers. It was strangely quiet for a Friday night. I like the dining room and decorations, but the table we were seated at for six was big enough to sit 12 and made talking hard without raising one's voice.

The service was very patchy. I don't know if they restaurant is aiming to be high end dining or not. Like the menu, the service was a mish mash of occasionally being attentive when they kept asking how the food was, to not bothering to pour our waters or being hard to flag down when trying to order second rounds of drinks.

We decided to forgo the desserts and head to Nobu in Crown for desserts instead. The chocolate bento box was desirably decadant and moist (where my Nigella fans at, I copied that phrase from her). It was a winning combination of chocolatey goodness and green tea freshness.

The dessert platter was very nice and consisted of an interesting mixture of small bites. There was quite a number of Asian type desserts like sesame cream, green tea sponge, coconut ice cream etc all mixed together to give some tasty desserts.

Overall Rating: 12/20, The food was quite good with service a bit mixed.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Choukette

2009-10-02T21:25:00.002+10:00

318 Sydney Road
Brunswick 3056
Ph: 03 9380 8680

I heard about Choukette when they were mentioned on a travel show one Saturday. I love French pastries so decided to mark it down to try. I'm glad I did because the pastries are delicious. I tried the chocolate croissant and a summer berry sponge type cake. Both were delicious, with the croissant being a highlight. The coffee was also really nice.

The photos below show some of the many treats they had on display that day. Everything is baked fresh on the premises. They even had some mini macarons selling, which I didn't try.

I Went To Costco And Survived... Just

2009-08-23T18:03:00.003+10:00

"I Went To Costco And Survived" - that should be made into a t-shirt I think.

As you may have heard, Costco has recently opened it's first store in Australia. The media buzz surrounding the opening of the store was phenomenal. I must that admit that at first I didn't care too much but by the time it actually opened, I too was caught up in the hype. As has been written in countless articles, Costco is a US bulk retailer that sell a variety of products. It has single-handedly brought the masses to the previously derelict Docklands area. Who'da thunk it that a US store could do what hundreds of millions of development couldn't do and bring people of all sex, race and religion flocking to one location. I guess the message that Costco shouts out loud and proud is "WE ARE THE CHEAPEST".

It is true that Costco are cheap, but as Duncan has written, will it actually save you money? Before you can even begin to buy anything, you need to sign up for a membership of $60/year. There already is an outlay that you need to recoup.

My experience of it on Saturday was chaotic to say the least. Getting there is a bit of a travel as I live in the south eastern suburbs. But to get a car park was pure hell. I assumed all the traffic was for the footy match at Etihad Stadium, but I was to be proved entirely wrong. Again, who'da thunk it that so many people would turn up.

Once we did get inside, my head started to hurt immediately. The foul smell of pizzas and hot dogs from the food court hung in the air, just to make you feel even worse. It was sensory overload as the shelves were stacked so high it could have been a factory. Everything was oversized, from the trolleys to the products. Now I know how it feels to be a person of unusually short stature (ok I mean a dwarf) in the normal world.

If I take away all the frenzied people and chaos, would Costco actually be somewhere I would shop? I would say, yes but extremely infrequently. It would be more like if I happen to be in the area, I might drop in, but not as a purposeful trip. The mere fact that you need to buy in such large quantities makes it unviable I think. Unless you're Octomum and have eight children to feed, I can't seem this style of buying working well for most families.

Let me take some examples. The alcohol that was supposedly cheap (the newspaper picked a bottle of Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon 06 as an example) didn't really turn out to be cheap. I'm partial to a nice drink so go to Dan Murphy's regularly and look at the prices. Costco is no cheaper and obviously has a much smaller range.

The denim jeans, which were my main reason for wanting to go, turned out to be old styles and in very extreme sizes (very small in this case). The rest of the clothing range was outdated off items that you wouldn't really buy.

I didn't get round to looking at the electronics, but again, unless the one you wanted just happened to be there, the choice is limited and you would be better off going to a normal store and bargaining for the price.

I concentrated mainly on the food items as that's my interests. The usual brands of snack food that we are used to were there, but who can seriously consume a whole box of Tim Tams or Snickers bars. My favourite chocolate Lindt balls were cheap, but a saving of about $1 for a 150g equivalent pack is not worth buying a kilo. I love Chupa Chups as much as anyone and will consume on average one a day, but 1000 of them for $189, how will I ever get through that.

The deli department had a range of pre-packed cured meats as well as items like this huge pizza. A 1.4 kg pizza is extremely large and as Duncan wrote, would hardly fit into your oven. There was a glass windowed area showing all the pizzas and other similar items being made on the spot, so possibly it is of decent quality.

The bakery area smelt quite nice to be honest, with the smell of cakes wafting about. However, looking at the products just reminded me of the hideous creations that I love to read about on Cake Wrecks blog. How would you like a 1 kg Tiramisu, or maybe three loaves of butter cakes take your fancy, or better still, 24 of the largest cupcakes you've ever seen all clinically wrapped in plastic for your easier convenience. To top it off, all the baked goods has used by dates that were only 5 days away. Unless you got a birthday party for those octuplets, it's going to be hard to consume so much cake (I would try but they just look unappetising).

As Duncan noted, the cheeses and butters did look good. I was temped to get some Victorian Goats cheese and some Lescure butter. Again, the large quantity would be a problem and I would have to purposefully eat those items more, thereby counterbalancing the saving as I would consume more than I normally would. Cheeses were sold in blocks of 1 kg, cream cheeses 2 kg, caviar by the half dozen jars, white anchovies in 1 kg tubs and the list goes on.

The meats and seafood section looked like that from a supermarket, supersized. Care for 3 kg packs of rib eye steaks? How about a couple of kilos of lamb, or maybe a whole salmon takes your fancy. I think you get the point by now. You gotta buy a lot at once. Otherwise, the selection does look quite decent and there is a saving.

The fruit and veg section was a sparse selection of items. The strawberries smelt really sweet, and I would normally buy a kilo at once, but I would have to transport them in a hot car a fair distance home. Other fruit and veg were sold in fairly generous quantities, but nothing as shocking as the other items in the store.

Well, I guess that sums up most departments in Costco. Despite my headache getting worse and worse the longer I stayed there, people were queueing up for miles to pay for their massive trolleys of items. I'm not sure if their mentality is more "since we're here and paid our membership, we might as well make it worth it" or "we use this in these quanities anyway so this is great". I can only guess and I think it would be more of earlier than the latter.

I shall not be going back to Costco too soon as its currently too crazy for me, and the membership and savings does not justify buying such excessive quantities. However, it may work for some families and they may genuinely cut down their food bills.

Have you been to Costco? What do you think about it? Will you be shopping there regularly?

Macaron Masterclass - Part 2

2009-08-01T15:54:00.002+10:00

Before the explosion of the TV phenomenon Masterchef and the macarons from Adriano Zumbo, there was Master Markham.

Melbourne's food bloggers had first tasted the macaron masterpieces that Duncan had made as far back at 2007. They were a sensation and produced a buzz around the Melbourne food blog scene for quit a while. I was one of those caught up in the wave and was lucky enough to have Duncan teach me personally how to make them in our first Macaron Masterclass. Yes, I had coined that word before Masterchef, so that's my claim to fame. :-)

Duncan was kind enough to once again do another Macaron Masterclass. This time, Sarah, Sandra and myself were present. This time, we upped the ante and decided to do more flavours. Initially, we had thought of doing 4, but luckily we dropped it down to three. Otherwise we would have thrown in the towel I suspect as it finished quite late into the night. Sarah has written a great summary of the day, so I won't bother repeating it all.

We used Duncan's own recipe as the base for our macaron shells.

Everyone took their stations and got into it.

The piped shells. I've discovered I still have very far to go with my piping skills. These perfect beauties were by Duncan.

The baked shells, all glossy with their feets, waiting to be filled.

Sandra filling shells while "quality checking" them at the same time.

As for the flavours, we finally settled on:

* Coffee shells with White Chocolate Ganache - rose coloured shells
* Violet shells with violet gelatin set cream (I insisted that we must do violet) - green coloured shells
* Mandarin shells with mandarin gelatin set cream - purple coloured shells

Look how beautiful they turned out.

I suggested that we switch the colours of the shell from what you would normally expect, just to provide a disconnect with the flavour and the colour, providing another sensation when you ate it since you are expecting something else. I think it worked out well.

I love the violet the best, that's no secret. I wasn't so sure about the other two flavours though. I thought the coffee and white chocolate combination would be rather boring. I didn't like when we first made it, but after two days, I was loving the coffee flavour. I wasn't sure about the mandarin flavour either, as usually mandarins don't have a strong flavour. However, again, the mandarin ones worked a treat. The mandarin flavour really shone through.

After a few days, the gelatin set creams didn't hold as well as the ganache. The shells got a bit soggy and melded with the filling. Although this made them look terrible, the flavours were amazing. Next time, the filling sneed to be stiffer to hold the moisture in and not melt the shells.

It was a lot of fun making the macarons and thanks to sarah and Sandra for the lunch and to Master Markham for again imparting his knowledge of the beauty (and beast, it's so damn hard to make a perfect macaron, trust me, I've tried and failed miserably) that is the elusive macaron. I haven't tasted Adriano Zumbo's macarons, but I doubt they could get much better than the Markham violet macaron.

Hellenic Republic

2009-08-01T15:36:00.003+10:00

434 Lygon St
Brunswick East 3057
Phone: (03) 9381 1222

If you haven't been living under a rock, you would have probably been caught up in the TV phenomenon that was Masterchef, yeah? one of the judges was George Calombaris, yeah? He owns a restaurant called Hellenic Republic, yeah? I wanted to go there, yeah? So I booked in for a lunch session, yeah? Such was the popularity that I could only get a 2pm sitting, yeah? Not to worry, that won't faze this food lover, yeah?

I love how the exterior of the restaurant looks, like a beautiful gift box waiting to be opened. As you open the two layers of doors (why don't more restaurants do this, it stops the cold winding blowing right into the restaurant), you are greeted by a much larger space that expected. The eye is drawn all the way down the length of the space, seeing all the diners as well as the chefs doing their work at the open kitchen.

I went to lunch with my friend Nelly, here she is. Notice anything about the photo? No, it's not that the light behind Nelly makes her look angelic, see the far left corner. Who's that bald man with a striped cardigan on?

Yep, it's none other than the man of the moment himself, George Calombaris. He was sitting at the next table eating lunch with his friends I presume. Not wanting to seem like a total chef groupie, I didn't go over to talk to him, instead choosing to take paparazzi type photos for 5 minutes of him. See how normal I am hehe.

After the initial excitement of seeing George at the next table (either he loves his own restaurants food or he's a cheapskate eating for free, you decide), we ordered our meals. My Greek friend had recommended the Manouri cheese, which we got. This cheese was amazing. The texture was a smooth velvety feel, but it was the creaminess and beautiful flavour that got us both going "mmmmmm" a lot. It tasted great without the fig and olive paste, but did go well with the paste too.

Our plate of Cured Meats consisted of Lamb, Pork and Beef and were all very good.

The Grilled Calamari was sensational, cooked to perfection and still tender. Just a drizzle of lemon completed a great dish.

Finally, the chips were great too. I wonder if these were the chips George demonstrated on Masterchef. They were crunchy and soft inside, perfect.

I love the communal dining feel with huge long tables of people eating and being merry. This restaurant is great for a huge group as the menu is tailored around sharing. I was so envious of all the dishes coming out to other tables, but there was only two of us and we struggled to finish all the food. I couldn't even fit in dessert *gasp*, and all my friends know that I order off the menu from dessert backwards to entrees. It'll just give me an excuse to go back and try the desserts.

Service was very friendly and efficient. The wait staff all seemed happy and that makes you happy as well.

Overall Rating: 16/20, Excellent food and I absolutely love the ambience.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Ramen-Ya

2009-08-01T15:25:00.002+10:00

Shop 25G Postal Lane, GPO
350 Bourke Street
Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9654 5838

Due to reading about Dan's obsession with Ramen, I too have become obsessed with Ramen. I'm trying Ramen at every Japanese restaurant I go to when it's available. It's all rubbish though, taste more like two minute noodels. Haven't never been to Japan to try the real stuff, I don't know what it should be like. When Dan claimed that Ramen-Ya did pretty good ramen, I was there.

I've been to Ramen-Ya twice now and I really like the Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen. The broth is rich and full of flavour. And the pork is soft and full of flavour. The condiments in the egg, pickled ginger, spring onions, pickled radish and seaweed all combine to make it even better. I also tried the Gyoza, which too were very good. They were more like a Har Gow that you have at Yum Cha rather than the usual Gyoza, but was very nice.

Adrian, who has been to Japan, said the ramen was good, but obviously not as good as in Japan. He would go back to Ramen-Ya to eat the ramen though, so that's a good validation.

The Vegie Bar

2009-08-01T15:00:00.002+10:00

378 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy
Ph: (03) 9417 6935

I'm not really into vegetarian food, so when Paul wanted to go The Vegie Bar for his birthday dinner, I wasn't excatly enthusiastic. But after eating there, I would definitely go back.

The Vegie Bar is located on Brunswick Street amongst a vast variety of restaurants. It's neon signs outside is very 80's and daggy, but it does give it a point of difference. When we walked inside, we were greeted by a large cavernous room buzzing with people. We had to get into a queue to get a table since we hadn't booked. The waitress informed us there would be a short wait and if we wanted to sit at the bar out the back and wait. We said that was ok and went out back and had some bubblies while waiting. The wait wasn't too long and a waiter dressed in a kilt came and led us to our table upstairs.

Me and Paul sitting out at a table in the court yard bar.

Jo and Phuong in matching black jackets waiting for Kin to bring back the champagne.

The upstairs table are a bit quieter and give a great view onto the main downstairs tables. As usual, we all picked a dish to share. For entrees we got Falafel and Fried Chick Peas. Those weren't that good and my spirits were dropping further, anticipating having to eat more vegetarian food.

But the best was yet to come. For mains we got a Mushroom Risotto, A Chick Pea Stew, A Cajun Curry and a Pizza with Caramelised Onion and Cheese.

The Pizza was sensational. A crispy based housed sweet caramelised onion, offset by some acidity in lemon juice. The smooth cheese blended well with the rest of the ingredients and finally some rocket gave a bit of a kick. The Chicke Pea Stew and Cajun Curry were also very hearty and I only found myself mildly missing the meat. However, the star of the savoury dishes was the Mushroom Risotto. The semi-signature dish of Mushroom and Truffle Risotto at Vue de Monde is still the best risotto I've tasted, but this one was in the same ball park, big praise indeed.

I thought it couldn't get better, but when my beloved desserts came out, they blew my mind. Here again was simplicity at its best. The Baked Berry Cheesecake had beautiful fresh berries sitting atop a wonderfully creamy cheesecake (which wasn't coying) with a thin buttery base. The other dessert of a Sticky Date Pudding (yes, we chose it because of Masterchef) was even better. The fluffy sticky date pudding had a good strong date flavour without being sickeningly sweet and dense. And the butterscotch sauce was a great combination.

Service was good, only one drink too a couple of requests to obtain. The ambience is a very nice relaxing mood, with happy people eating and talking. I was totally surprised by the food, all good freshly made food. If all vegetarian food can be made to taste this good, I'd still be a meat eater, but I would eat vegetables a lot more.

Final note, they did do vegan and gluten free dishes.

Overall Rating: 15/20, Some very good vegetarian dishes and fantastic desserts.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Long Room

2009-08-01T14:50:00.002+10:00

162 - 168 Collins Street
Melbourne CBD
Ph: (03) 9663 7226

Long Room is not a restaurant, but instead a bar that serves a few finger foods.

We dropped by after work on Friday for some drinks. Here is Kidman looking beautiful in her eye catching red coat.

Kevin and Kidman in between drinks.

Even the elusive camera shy Dennis was caught in a photo with myself staring off somewhere.

I even bumped into my friend from uni Suroor, who I hadn't seen in ages. Red must be the in colour this season.

Finally, we got the tapas platter, which consisted of various pastries and meat. It was surprisingly good and a large serving.

Long Room is a nicely fitted bar with a more refined feel, great for drinks with friends after work or a meal.

Thai Taste - Part 2

2009-08-01T14:38:00.002+10:00

92-94 Johnston Street
Collingwood 3066 Vic
Ph: 9495 6694

As I wrote previously, Thai Taste is becoming one of my favourite cheap Thai restaurants.

A group of us went there for a catch-up dinner. See how everyone is leaning away from Jacky, his deodorant smell was very strong haha. Only joking.

Each of us picked a dish and as usual turned out to be way too much food. We went for Tom Yum soups to start and although they look extremely fiery and like they could blow the roof off your mouth, they weren't that spicy and were very good.

Dishes like Soft Shell Crab, Papaya Salad, Red Curry Duck and Pad Thai are all very good. I just love the Papaya Salad with it's ultra hot sauce.

The Pork Hock always looks so intimidating, a huge chunk slapped in front of you. It was its usual gelatinous oily texture that just makes you want more.

The Whole Fried Barramundi with Appleslaw is addictively delicious. I'm not a fan of fish but I could eat this whole thing by myself.

My rating from last time still holds true and it's a fantastic restaurant serving delicious Thai food at a great price.

Overall Rating: 15/20, Food is excellent and great value for money.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Good Food and Wine Show 2009

2009-08-01T14:17:00.002+10:00

I had first heard about the Good Food and Wine Show last year after reading it on various blogs. By the time I read about them, it was over, and I had vowed to go this year. As it turns out, I was sent some free tickets by Johanna Scott at Stellar* Conceptas Australia, thanks Johanna.

I dragged (ok I didn't really have to drag, she pounced at the invite) my food loving friend Nelly along to the show. Our mission, which we chose to accept, was to sample every single thing on offer and grab as many freebies as possible. I think we did ok, but after talking to some other friends, I feel I still have much to learn in the art of spotting freebies.

There was a lot of alcoholic things to try. I loved the Appletons Rum cocktails and Finlandia Vodka cocktail, but my favourite cocktail was definitely the Midori and Sake cocktail from the head chef from Maedaya restaurant.

There was so much going on that you get an overload of your senses. The pizza judging looked to be taken quite seriously, amongst the eating of pizza of course.

I loved the salami on offer and myself and Nelly bought some.

There were so many sweet stuff to tempt you as well.

We also went through the wine and beer area, sampling lots and lots drinks. Basically, by the end, we were both a bit tipsy. I had been to a lot of the wineries on display at the show, but I was particularly impressed with the huge selection of boutique beers being made, particularly ales. We also spotted Mark Wilson from Dancing With The Stars fame spruiking one of the wines. And for the record, that's definitely a hair-piece.

After eating and drinking our way through the show, we headed off to Steakout in Crown to have some more food. We both got steaks. My rib eye wasn't as flavourfull as I wanted, but still good.

Nelly insisted that we had to have the Ice Cream Fantasy. I like my ice cream, but this was soooooooo much. It turned out that most of the ice cream wasn't that good, but we still ate it, as you can see from the photo below.

I had a great time at Good Food and Wine Show and will definitely go back next year, brining my A-grade "grab as many freebies" game next year.

Thanh attended the Good Food and Wine show as guests of Johanna Scott and Stellar* Concepts Australia hahaha. I've always wanted to write that.

Kanzaman Lebanese Restaurant

2009-08-01T13:46:00.003+10:00

458 - 460 Bridge Rd
Richmond 3121
Ph: (03) 9429 3402

It seems that with more and more posts, I'm apologising for forgetting the dishes that I ate during that meal. It's not because I'm losing my mind, it's just that they're from so long ago that it all gets a bit fuzzier. So let me first apologise for forgetting what a lot of the dishes were.

This meal at Kanzaman was a good three months ago. Kim Anh had suggested this restaurant as it was good Lebanese food at a decent price.

We turned up to the restaurant to find the weirdest front door entrance. The covering in front of the door is bathed is harsh blue light, like those you find in public toilets in the city to stop druggies shooting up. Anyway, once inside, we were greeted by a warm hostess and warm room. Murals aligned the room and gave it a friendly vibe.

From left, we have Henry, Mai, Visal, Lawrence and Kim Anh. As the photographer, I was missing from the photo. But I'm sure regular readers of this blog have seen me splash enough photos of myself on various posts throughout this blog. I'm not adverse to some vanity.

For entrees, we got a host of dishes. There was Hommos, Baba Ghannouj, Falafel, Lahem Bi Ajeen (lamb mince in filo), Halloumi, Makanek (lamb sausages in photo below) and Fatayer (spincah in pastry in photo below).

Some of the entrees really surprised me and turned out to be my favourite dishes of the night. The dips weren't very good, but the falafel was. It was a tad overcooked on the outside but the inside was still fluffy. The sausages were good but nothing spectacular. However, the two pastries and the fried halloumi was sensational. I could have eaten all three dishes alone for my entire meal.

The dish that most caught my eye was the Sultania, which was lamb eye fillets sauteed in pomegranate mollasses. I was expecting this to be extremely interesting. It turned out the pomegranate mollasses added only a touch of acidity to the dish and not much else. It was nice, but as good as I had expected.

The other mains we got of Lamb and Chicken Kebabs, Lamb Curry and Stuffed Zuchinni were adequate, but lacked some flavour I thought. It was a bit bland for my liking. I thought the meat skewers would really pop with the grilled flavours, but didn't eventuate.

In between mains and desserts, the ubiquitous belly dancer turned up to do her routine. According to one of my friends (I forgot who said it), this belly dancer also dances at a few other Lebanese restaurants around Melbourne. For the record, I like the belly dancers, as long as they don't go on forever. She did two high energy songs and people were really getting into it and clapping along and it was fun. Any more and I think it would have gotten annoying.

Finally, desserts of Baklava, Mahalabi and Turkish Delights were a disappointment. The baklava wasn't goo, the Turkish Delight exceedingly sweet, and the Mahalabia rather bland. The desserts at Lebanese restaurants are like those at Chinese restaurants, totally a stereotype of themselves and boring, boring, boring. It's ok if they do them well, a great fried banana is heavenly, as is a wonderful baklava as I have raved on about in many other posts. But when it's stock standard stuff just brought in, it's disappointing.

The service all night was very good. Our hostess was extremely efficient and food arrived in such quick time that I wonder if it's all pre-prepared. I felt very comfortable in the restaurant and it had a good atmosphere.

Food wise, I would come back, and concentrate my eating on the entrees. Those pastries were divinely flaky and light, married beautifully with the filling. The cost of the meal was quite good, coming in around the $40 each with two bottles of wine.

Overall Rating: 14/20, I would go back as some of the entrees were a highlight.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Masterchef - Top 9 to 2, Who Will Win?

2009-07-18T17:49:00.002+10:00

Time sure flies. I was intending to blog about Masterchef as it happened but as always, the blogs got fewer and further apart as I never find time to blog. From where we left off in my last post, Tom had just been eliminated in the Top 10. From that point, more contestants left, and then came back, in a reality TV twist that we've come to expect.

Tom, Poh and Justine were lucky enough to come back. I must say that Justine's exits (both times) were a huge shock. The beauty (and drawback) of the show is that each pressure test is judged on that test alone. Past performances did not count. That led to the demise of contestants like Justine, Julie and Chris, some of the strongest consistent performers in the show. However, it also shows that you have to be at the top of your game every time and they failed to do so.

The celebrity cook-offs have been very interesting, seeing how the pros deal with the pressure. The masterclasses have been amazing. I've learnt so much from them and can see how much more food knowledge Gary and George have compared to the contestants and myself. The week in Hong Kong has been some of my favourite episodes in the whole season. Just seeing them in a different environment and having to do unfamiliar things was great.

While the pace of the show was a bit slow in the audition and Top 50 stage, it has picked up more and more. I still hate the endless recaps but the rest of the show makes up for it. They eventually phased out the part of the show where the contestants voted each other out and I loved that. Each person stayed on their own merit in th end. The lack of nastiness and constant bitching has also been a massive drawcard of the show that has seen the whole family enjoy it each night.

I still haven't warmed to host Sarah Wilson, but have grown to really like Gary and George as a combo, and in particular Matt Preston. Somebody give that man his own shows. His descriptions of food have been both insightful and hilarious at the same time. "This isn't wind, this is dragon's breath...Today we are those pirate kings and you are our pirates. We're sending you out there into the dragon's den." He has so much personality that there are Youtube videos devoted to how he eats. And lets not forget "The Cravats".

From the last post, I had picked that Poh would be a dark horse. She has made the final and relished her second chance. I would never have picked Julie would make it in a million years but she's shown herself to be a fighter. Whoever wins, I think they would both be deserving. For the record, I think that if Poh can control her mind and not get all scatter-brained, her inventiveness should see her win.

For the funniest wrap up of the show so far, go and read Helen's post.