Punch Lane

January 13, 2018May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

We have been going to Punch Lane now for quite a number of years. It’s been one of our favourite go to places and one that we always recommend to people when asked for suggestions. Nestled on Little Bourke St in the CBD, Punch Lane is the ideal restaurant for an intimate first date.

Upon entering you will step into a cosy, dim lit place with leather chairs and wooden decor. It gives you a very classy, European feel. Staff are extremely alert, efficient and friendly here so they’ll look after you straight away. But of course we come back here time and time again because of the food! The quality of each dish is top notch and they have never disappointed us. The menu does change but some highlight dishes over a number of recent visits include this amazing cured salmon, twiced baked cheese soufflé, venison tartare, pan roasted scallops and their duck! They recreate their duck dish so it’s slightly different every time we go but still so delicious!

Each dish is carefully and beautifully presented, and the flavour combinations of each dish is faultless. Nothing is ever too salty or too sweet. They offer a set menu of 5 courses where you can put yourself in their hands to feed you and give you a bit of a tour of their menu. They also have a great selection of wine and cheeses, if you can fit it in! Overall we highly recommend Punch Lane if you ever want an intimate setting for a date with fabulous food! You will definitely not be disappointed!

Punch Lane
Approx $80 AUD per person
Address: 43 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9639 4944
Website: punchlane.com.au

Old Kingdom

January 10, 2018May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

We went out with my family to try Old Kingdom at Surrey Hills. They have been a couple of times and had assured me that the Peking duck was better than our usual go to place. Now here’s the thing.. I’ve noticed that my taste buds and my family’s have had some disagreements as of late, so I was a little skeptical to say the least. A food lover approaches food with an open mind, and if these guys are as good as my family says, I will admit so.

So we drove there and the first thing I noticed was that they didn’t seem to have designated parking. After much parking sign reading, we settled on a spot on the side street. A little bit of a walk doesn’t hurt when you’re full from Peking duck. We walked in and they were a lot bigger than I had thought, they were also PACKED! Not a bad effort for a weekday. It was hustling and bustling as the sound of loud Chinese chatter fills the air. It’s an environment I’m used to and caused no discomfort for me whatsoever, however I can understand if some people can get overwhelmed.

We wasted no time to order but ran into a speed bump straight away! We wanted 4 ducks and the waitress insisted it was too much for 7 people! What is it with waiting staff doubting my eating abilities lately?!? I looked at her as if to say ‘C’mon… we got this”. I totally understand that they have our best interests at heart, but sometimes it’s just really annoying that I cannot get the food I’m asking for. We decided that we’ll just start off with 3 ducks and would have to prove her wrong later. FYI, we did have to get another duck afterwards, and we could have done 5 ducks easily!

The pancakes, onions and cucumber were pretty standard quality. Not much to elaborate on here. The duck was pretty good… it was meaty and the skin was crispy. The meat around the leg area was succulent however the meat on the other sections are a tad dry. I also didn’t feel it had as good duck flavour as my regular place. The highlight of Old Kingdom was the plum sauce! Man oh man… it was the best plum sauce I’ve ever had! You know how in team sports, there’s individuals who carry the whole team… well this plum sauce did exactly that. I was blown away, and I think my family was getting annoyed with how much I was carrying on about the sauce. The soup was full of flavour and didn’t taste like those soups which keep getting topped up with water. The noodles was also good, but the egg noodles could have been crispier.

It’s a vicious game in the Peking duck world, every component in the banquet gets assessed and scrutinised. Only the strongest make it through, and Old Kingdom are certainly one of the stronger ones in the game. I would recommend this place just for the plum sauce alone! We’ll be coming back for sure, just hope the staff recognises our faces and remembers that we eat like mini dinosaurs!

Old Kingdom
Approx $35 AUD per person
Address: 683 Canterbury Rd, Surrey Hills VIC 3127
Phone: +61 3 9898 3343

White Mojo Plus+

January 9, 2018May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

We’ve heard good things about this cafe in Glen Waverley for a while now so finally decided to check it out one weekend. Upon entering, the first thought that came to my mind was that this place was huge inside! Although there were plenty of tables, they were smart to maintain the spacious feel which I liked. The decor inside was white with pastel coloured chairs and lots of green plants, flowers and large, clear bulbs hanging from the roof, giving it a very elegant feel.

We were greeted by a friendly staff member and placed on a waiting list however was called in within a few minutes and seated fairly quickly. During those few minutes we managed to snap a some photos of their donuts and cakes in the window.

As soon as we were seated the staff member took our order of two lattes. We then perused the menu. Davin ordered the Mushroom Ragout which had seasonal mushroom, truffle oil dust, smoked almond and poached eggs on toast. This was really nice however my dish was the highlight. I ordered their award winning dish, the Double Cheese Chilli Scrambled Egg. The scrambled eggs had parmesan and chedder, smoked belly bacon, chilli mayo, toasted sweet corn and ink brioche. Oh my gosh, what a dish! The brioche bun was perfect and not overly sweet. The scrambled eggs were cooked just how I like it, still runny. With the melted cheeses and chilli mayo, they were top notch scrambled eggs. But the star of the dish was that smoked belly bacon. It was SO good! Soft, full of flavour but not too salty. It was really delicious.

So we were really pleased with the food. However when we heard the table next to us following up on their coffees we realised that we hadn’t got our coffees either! Davin had already finished his meal and I only had a couple of bites left. It was really strange for coffees to take that long. Generally you would receive the coffees before the food arrives given it was the first thing we ordered. Then we also noticed that staff were bringing out coffees to tables that didn’t order coffee! There just seemed to be a lot of confusion around he coffee orders. Anyway just when I was about to follow up on our orders they finally came around with it, after we had literally cleared our plates. The coffee turned out to be really good. Perfect temperature and decently strong. If it wasn’t for the very long wait for the coffees we would have rated this place higher. However it has to be taken into consideration.

Overall the food was really delicious, the coffee was good and staff were really friendly. If you do order coffee though, expect a bit of a wait!

White Mojo Plus+
Approx $30 AUD per person
Address: 83-85 Kingsway, Glen Waverley VIC 3150
Phone: +61 3 8522 2911
Website: www.whitemojo.com.au

Punch Lane

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