River Kwai

by Davin Lee

It’s amazing how perceptions change over time as we broaden our food horizons. Perceptions change on the quality of the food, service and the price. From our latest experience at River Kwai, it was the latter. Helen and I had eaten here many many years ago, at a time when a $20 meal felt expensive us. Therefore it was no surprise that we had thought River Kwai was beyond pricey, especially for a restaurant located in Clayton. As it turns out, fate would bring us back here again. It felt like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders this time, because our thoughts on food prices has changed, and we were able to enjoy this restaurant for what it is!

Our vague memories of River Kwai were that they had good food, but in saying so, what we thought was good food back then could be a very different story now. Luckily the food is still top notch! We were greeted with some complimentary prawn crackers with peanut dipping sauce. Don’t be mistaken that these are your average Chinese takeaway prawn crackers, the ones they had here were next level! Huge prawn flavour explosion in the mouth with the sweetness of the peanut sauce to round it up, definitely the best I’ve had. Then it was onto the paid goods…

We started off with the beef curry puff and was not disappointed. The beef was flavoured beautifully and the pastry was loose and crispy. The chicken Tom Yum soup followed and the acidic to sweet balance was perfect. I personally could have done with more spice, but it was perfect for Helen. All hyped up from the entrees, we were eager to dive into the mains.

The mains we ordered were the prawn Pad Thai, Gang Phet Ped Yang (duck red curry) and the Pla Neung Manow (steamed whole barramundi). If you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for Pad Thai! If it’s on the menu, I’m usually getting it. This one from River Kwai was awesome! The ingredients were fresh and it wasn’t overly sweet like a lot I’ve had in the past. Just look at how fresh those bean shoots look in the photo! The duck red curry was just as good, the snow peas were still crunchy and the curry itself had great smoothness and consistency. This curry went really well with the Pad Thai, but next time I’ll get some coconut rice too to see which I prefer.

And now it’s time for the dish we were most excited about…. the steamed barramundi! Sadly all good things must come to an end.. *sigh*. Dammit! We were nearly there… I had not given 5/5 in a long time and the barramundi was the last hurdle. Unfortunately the steamed barramundi was not very good at all. The sauce was way too sweet for my liking, and the barramundi itself was not that fresh. The fish was missing that bouncy texture which fresh barramundi gives, and my suspicions were that the fish may have been frozen for too long.

Such a shame, it was almost the perfect meal. 5 great dishes out of 6 is still a ratio most restaurants can only dream of. Would we come back? You bet we will. River Kwai is easily the best Thai restaurant in the area. The crazy thing is that we felt the prices were really reasonable this time. Let this be a lesson to y’all… never eat at any restaurant where you’d be uncomfortable with the prices. This will not only affect your whole dining experience, but it can also make you not appreciate a great restaurant.

River Kwai
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: 3/1310 Centre Rd, Clayton South VIC 3169
Phone: +61 3 9545 5688
Website: riverkwai.com.au

River Kwai Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sardi

by Helen Le

Located on Church St in Hawthorn, and away from the usual area we normally frequent for brunch, Sardi is situated on a corner with colourful graffiti painted on the side of the building like a beacon shouting out to us to come inside.

Inside, the cafe is cosy with white and timber wooden themes throughout. We were seated straight away and I ordered my usual latte to start off with.

The coffee was good and perfect temperature. Davin ordered the Green Goodness smoothie which had apple, carrot, banana, spinach and kale. It was pretty delicious.

For food I ordered the chilli folded eggs with cayenne chilli, bacon, chorizo, mushrooms, parmesan and rocket salad on sourdough. I found the eggs were overcooked. I like my eggs to be quite moist still and in this case it was quite dry. The presentation of the dish was average and with the exception of the chorizo being really nice and smokey, I didn’t find the dish special in any way. In fact, it was probably something I could whip up at home.

Davin ordered the Winter Rice Bowl which had cauliflower, mung sprouts, roast pumpkin, grilled zucchini, avocado, black rice, dukkah and smoked salmon as extra. Now this was a special dish. It was presented beautifully in a huge bowl with some dressing in a little glass jar. It tasted so HEALTHY. The salmon was not salty at all and complimented the overall dish. Certainly a place to think of if you are wanting a healthy bowl of goodness.

Sardi
Approx $30 AUD per person
Address: 111 Church St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Phone: +61 3 9818 6140
Website: sardicafe.com.au

Sardi Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Unabara Lobster & Oyster Bar

by Helen Le

We were recently invited to dine at Unabara Lobster & Oyster Bar in Melbourne Central. We were interested to check it out given it’s not everyday that you get to have lobster ramen! So on a very cold and typical Melbourne wintry night, we headed to Melbourne Central in search of the restaurant. We found it pretty quickly and although there were tables outside within the centre, we were seated inside their restaurant which also happened to be Gyoza Gyoza. We were also provided with menus, both for Unabara and Gyoza Gyoza to order from. The restaurant itself is very casual. In fact when we sat down the tables were not that clean and had lots of water on it.

We started off with ordering a couple of cocktails. I ordered the Umeshu Margarita which had gold tequila, Japanese plum wine, Yuzu sake, cointreau and fresh lemon juice. Davin ordered the Tropical Yuzu Mojito which had Yuzushu, green tea, gin, pineapple juice, passion fruit mint, lime and tonic water. Both cocktails were presented nicely and were really refreshing.

For food we of course had to order the Lobster and Seafood Sapporo Miso Ramen. There was an option to order half lobster (200 – 250g) or half large lobster (500 – 600g). We asked for the half large lobster however they advised us that they were already sold out for the night so we opted for the smaller half lobster. The dish also included a grilled scallop, tiger prawn, chashu (Japanese style braised pork belly), and a 63 degree poached egg. The broth was really flavoured and you could taste the lobster and seafood flavours in it. The ramen noodles were nice and chewy. The lobster meat itself tasted a bit overcooked and rubbery. The tiger prawn and the chashu was also overcooked, however the scallop was nice. The 63 degree egg was poached perfectly.

We also ordered the grilled half lobster with Angus beef tenderloin which also came with a 63 degree poached egg, toasted buttered New England split-top bun, beer battered fries with truffle mayo, wafu salad and lobster bisque. The grilled lobster in this dish was also overcooked and rubbery, and the beef tenderloin was dry and stringy. The lobster bisque was plain and lacked the strong lobster flavours and seasoning you would expect. I guess we have been spoilt with our fair share of lobster bisques in the past, particularly when we went to Europe, so we felt like this really missed the mark. I think our favourite part of the dish was the fries and the poached egg.

For dessert we ordered a matcha parfait with cookies and chocolate. It came with a massive and fluffy cloud of fairy floss attached to it! I haven’t had fairy floss in so long and it tasted amazing, so light and airy and just the right amount of sweetness. The parfait itself had good strong matcha and chocolate flavours to it.

Overall the lobster ramen broth was probably the highlight as that was full of flavour, along with the ramen noodles. The cocktails and dessert were also very enjoyable. Seafood is such a delicate thing to cook so I think they just need to make sure it is cooked perfectly, especially if it’s going to be part of their signature dishes.

Unabara Lobster & Oyster Bar (Melbourne Central)
Approx $35 AUD per person
Address: Melbourne Central, L01/157 La Trobre St
Phone: +61 3 9922 1100
Website: unabara.com.au

Unabara Lobster & Oyster Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato