Gaylord Indian Restaurant

We were invited to this prestigious looking Indian restaurant on a breezy Melbourne night. Prestigious is hardly a word I’ve used to describe any Indian restaurant before, as none of the Indian restaurants in Clayton look remotely close to this. The interior made me feel like royalty, speaking of which are in complete shambles atm, but not here at Gaylords! I was so immersed in the place that I forgot to take pics, feel free to use your imagination, or a quick Google search will get you there.

Helen couldn’t make it with me on this particular night, she was partying it up at a hens party. Luckily I had an extremely keen +1. It was his first time at a food invite event, and I was really concerned he would not enjoy it. I felt this pressure I had never felt before, it was a lot more stressful than taking the photos and writing this blog post! I was so happy and relieved to hear that he loved the whole experience, and couldn’t wait for me to take him again! 

We started off with an impressive looking entree called Pani Puri (Crisp fried balls stuffed with potatoes, chickpeas and sweet and spicy tangy sauce). I had never seen this dish in my life and was fascinated by this magical green potion! The idea is to pour this sauce into the crisp balls and eat it in one go. It was delicious – loved it! As soon as the ball collapsed in my mouth, the explosion of flavours from the sauce was intense. I could picture this sauce being a great shot chaser, I suggested to the owner that he may want to consider putting a shot of vodka or something in the fried ball, he laughed and said that he considered it already. Guess great minds think alike!

Pani Puri – Crisp fried balls stuffed with potatoes, chickpeas and sweet and spicy tangy sauce

The Beetroot Tikki was advertised as a croquette, but felt more like a pancake to me. It was interesting but I was expecting it to be crispier. The peppercorn chicken tikka was more of what I was used to from other Indian places. This one was top notch, perfect flavours and the peppercorn was a nice touch.

Beetroot Tikki – Beetroot croquette with ginger, avocado salsa served with mint sauce
Peppercorn Chicken Tikka – Chicken marinated in house spice and grilled tandoor

Now onto our unanimous favourite dish of the night, the Methi Marg (Tender pan-seared free range chicken with curried fenugreek). I do not know what fenugreek is, tried to Google it and it’s a herb. Well that’s good enough for me! Putting tender on the menu is brave, it had to deliver, and it sure did. This was one of the softest pieces of chicken I’ve had, with a huge hit of herby flavours. The vegetable dumplings were also really special with the sweet centre. It had prunes, sultanas, and cashews for a bit of texture. I can’t remember the last time I ate prunes, 2020 is full of surprises.

I have to be honest and say that I wasn’t looking forward to dessert. Indian desserts are generally too sweet for me, along with traditional Greek or Turkish desserts. I was shocked to find that this was not the case at all with the Gajrella (Caramelised carrot pudding, pistachio & cashew nuts). I’m a fairly recent carrot convert, and hated carrots throughout my whole childhood. Maybe it’s the fact that I couldn’t taste the carrot, but this dessert was really enjoyable. Reminded me of a carrot yoghurt dessert I had in Greece years ago. 

Gajrella – Caramelised carrot pudding, pistachio & cashew nuts

All in all, a fantastic night with great food. Huge thanks to Gaylord Indian Restaurant for their hospitality. Their aim was to take us through an Indian food journey, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. If anything, we found the restaurant a bit difficult to find. A huge tip for you guys is to look for the hotel car park, and the entrance is through there. With our stomachs full of food, and a smile on our faces, my +1 and I decided to take a leisurely stroll around Southbank afterwards. The perfect ending to his first food invite event.


Gaylord Indian Restaurant
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: 33 Spencer Street, Docklands VIC 3008
Phone: +61 3 9663 3980

Gaylord Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato




Miss Korea Kitchen 288

We were recently invited to dine at Miss Korea Kitchen 288 in Nunawading, which offers an all you can eat buffet for $19.80 per person. Yes, you did hear right. It is less than $20 bucks per person for ALL YOU CAN EAT! Where can you go for all you can eat for that price tag these days?

Upon arrival at 7:30 on a Saturday, it was absolutely packed! There was a queue that snaked right outside. When we got there, the guy who greeted us told us said it was really hectic and he had a table for us in mind but it was completely packed so we waited a bit until a table became available. While we waited, we noticed how big the actual restaurant was. It was a very open and large space and every table was pretty much occupied. The buffet area was a long table to the left of the restaurant and because it was so busy, I think there was a struggle to keep up with topping up the food!

Anyway, we were finally seated and up we went to scout out the food. We were impressed to see a lot of authentic Korean dishes on the buffet menu. Think bibimbap, bulgogi, kim chi, Korean fried chicken, dumplings, salads and all those lovely side dishes you would normally get at a Korean restaurant, just to name a few! They also offer seasonal seafood dishes so on this occasion we got some fresh prawns.

The verdict? The food was pretty good! All the dishes were full of flavour and the ingredients were fresh. You sometimes worry about the quality of the food when you go to all you can buffet restaurants. However this place maintained a standard. The Korean fried chicken had that nice crunch on the outside whilst it being moist on the inside. It had all these different tasty sauces to go with it. The kim chi was was flavoured well and the perfect amount of spiciness. And all the bulgogi was flavoured and tender. My favourite however was the lovely soups. I had a few bowls of their spicy seafood soup and their spicy beef soup. We would have liked to try their seaweed soup but it was all out and didn’t get topped up again.

By 8:30 PM, the desserts were already looking quite scarce. Their dessert table was supposed to have ice cream sticks, tarts, pancakes and canned peaches. We would have liked some ice cream but it was all out so we had some of their canned peaches. Dessert was probably not their strong point in terms of quality and availability.

Overall however, we really enjoyed the food and for the amazingly affordable price, the quality of the food was quite good!

Miss Korea Kitchen
Approx $20 AUD per person
Address: T50/51 Brand Smart Premium Outlet Centre, 288 Whitehorse Rd, Nunawading VIC 3131
Phone: +61 3 8806 4922
Website: misskoreakitchen.com.au

Miss Korea Kitchen 288 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sweet Evelyn Cafe

We were invited by Sweet Evelyn Cafe to dine as guests, and it turned out to be the perfect start to our weekend! They are a cute little cafe located in the hipster suburb of Brunswick. I loved the semi rustic feel of the cafe with the tin roof and huge planter boxes located just before you walk in. This feeling carried flowed through to the inside with the worn wooden floorboards, and vintage style lights. I never got the sense that they’re trying to be something they’re not, instead I got a strong message from them that says ‘this is what we are, and we welcome you’.

We generally have a quick look at the menu the a few days before to see what types of food are available. I quickly detoured from my original food choice due to a heavy night of drinking the previous night, and I didn’t feel like anything too heavy. I opted for the Acai bowl but I had a bit of trouble ordering it because I realised I’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time! I’ve always pronounced it ‘AK-KAI’ but it turns out that it’s ‘AH-SAI-EE’. Now how the hell was I supposed to know that? How embarrassing… all the other places must have not bothered to correct me.

Helen could never turn down baked eggs when it’s available on the menu, so she opted for the Shakshuka Baked Eggs which is a Middle Eastern style baked eggs with peppers, tomato and goats cheese served with sour dough bread. I was lucky enough to be offered a few spoonfuls by her and it was soooooo good! The balance of the tomato and peppers sauce was perfect, it wasn’t too sweet or sour. The eggs were still runny and the goats cheese rounded up the dish beautifully. Helen mopped up all the sauce with the sour dough bread, a valiant effort from her!

My Acai bowl was exactly what the doctor ordered. It was a giant bowl of fibre and nutrients, which was everything my body was craving for. It was also Instagram worthy, all the ingredients were separated and displayed artistically. I didn’t know how to tackle it because I didn’t want to ruin the presentation. This concern lasted for about 5 seconds before I just went for it! For a fruit lover such as myself, this was divine. The house baked granola provided a textual and temperature contrast to this dish, something I don’t get in other Acai bowls. I couldn’t fault it at all and loved it from start to finish.

We had a great experience overall and would highly recommend Sweet Evelyn Cafe to anyone looking for some daytime indulgence! Just a stone’s throw away on Fallon Street, there’s a great place called Very Edible Gardens. We walked past them, and they were happy to show us their veggie patches and chook pens. There’s something about watching food grow that makes it so comforting. Check these guys out too if you happen to visit Sweet Evelyn Cafe!

Sweet Evelyn Cafe
Approx $25 AUD per person
Address: 128 Union St, Brunswick VIC 3056
Phone: +61 3 9078 3734
Website: sweetevelyn.com.au

Sweet Evelyn Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato