The Perfect Drop

January 6, 2018May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you had an awesome holiday and celebrated it just like how you wanted it. For us, we took a road trip and spent our NYE in Daylesford dining at an amazing restaurant called The Perfect Drop in our true foodie style!

As soon as we parked outside we were awed by how lovely and quaint the restaurant looked from the outside. I loved it! Inside it maintained that homey and intimate feel with a fireplace and tables scattered across a number of the rooms. The ambience was perfect.

Staff were very efficient and attentive, seating us right away and providing us with the menu. Given it was NYE, it was a set menu of 7 courses and a glass of bubbly for $125 AUD per person. We started off with a zucchini veloute with almond foam. Basically it was like a soup in a small shot glass. It was a nice start to get our appetite going.

Then came the quinoa and tomato salad in a vegetable soup with goats cheese mousse. All the flavours of this dish just bursted in our mouth and our taste buds were hyped!

The scallop carpaccio dish came next, and this was certainly one of the highlight dishes for us. The fresh scallops sat on a bed of apple, celery and vanilla salad, with a scoop of oyster icecream on top. Yes you heard it! Oyster icecream! At this point we were thinking wow this place is brave. They were pushing the limits of ingredients and we loved it. The whole dish worked. The icecream really tasted like oyster and the sweetness of the apple salad balanced out the rest of the dish. It was a fantastic dish.

The next course was the scampi with confit tomato in a bisque with red berry granita. The scampi was cooked to perfection and the tomato was so deliciously sweet. Combined with the bisque each bite was heaven. We could of have a lot more of it!

The final main was the lamb loin and shoulder with ratatouille cannelloni and crispy mash. This was also a well thought out and delicious dish. Both the lamb loin and the shoulder was cooked beautifully medium rare. But I also really enjoyed the complements of the crispy mash and the ratatouille cannelloni which was so different but worked. They were both presented like little cigars with a surprise inside.

Finally with dessert we were served a raspberry sangria with rosewater foam. This was served in a little glass and it was a nice little taster to prepare us for the main dessert.

The final dish of the night was the chocolate sphere with salted caramel and passionfruit icecream. It was to die for and presented so beautifully. The sphere was made of lovely dark chocolate with delicious fresh cream inside. The passionfruit icecream also complemented it so well. We probably ate this dish too quickly because it was so good!

Well after the final dish, we both agreed that we really couldn’t fault this place at all. The food was spectacular and every dish amazed us. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience, from the food, to the ambience, to the service. So if you’re ever in Daylesford and you want to do some fine dining, check it out!

The Perfect Drop
Approx $125 AUD per person
Address: 5 Howe St, Daylesford VIC 3460
Phone: +61 3 5348 1100
Website: theperfectdrop.com

Moroccan Soup Bar

December 22, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

We’ve been meaning to venture out to Moroccan Soup Bar for some time now as we’ve heard nothing but great things. Davin has always been a bit hesitant given it focuses on vegetarian dishes and he sure loves his meat, however I have especially been really appreciating vegetarian dishes lately so was keen!

We ended up checking it out with our dear friends who are vegetarians for dinner one night. Nestled in Fitzroy North, they only take bookings for 6 or more people so we thought we’d just see how we’d go with lining up for a table. Surprisingly for a Saturday night we got a table fairly quickly. The only thing I didn’t like was that we were told we would have to vacate the table within an hour. Understandably it was packed and bustling and there were probably other people waiting This didn’t give us much time at all, particularly as we all recently came back from our travels and wanted to catch up on everything. The food came out super quick but it felt really rushed and we felt pressured to leave too quickly.

There is only a verbal menu or alternatively you can pick from 2 banquet menus which were $25 per head or with some additional tapas, $30 per head. We were keen on the $30 banquet given Davin and I are such big eaters however the staff convinced us to try the $25 banquet first as she told us it would be plenty of food.

Boy was she right! Unfortunately given there wasn’t a written menu, we can’t go into too much detail about the ingredients of the dishes. However we can say that every dish was packed full of wholesome flavour. We started off with a plate of dips and vegetables which included yoghurt, hummus, carrots, eggplant, olives and potato. It was very yummy.

Then came the main dishes which came out sharing style. There were a number of dishes which had combinations of rice and vegetables, and a vegetable stew. Our favourite dish however was the chickpea yoghurt bake. The combination of the chickpea yoghurt with the crunchy textures within the bake made it one killer dish! It was delicious!

For dessert, a number of sweets were offered on a plate such as turkish delight and baklava, We were also given a lovely aromatic mint tea to have during our meal and turkish coffee to have with the desserts.

Overall it was a good experience. The food was very impressive and full of flavours. Staff were also very attentive. As mentioned above, a little more time would have been appreciated as an hour just felt way to rushed when you’re catching up with friends over dinner. The price was also very reasonable for the amount of food you get. So if you’re keen to try some great wholesome vegetarian food, it’s worth checking out.

Moroccan Soup Bar
Approx $25 AUD per person
Address: 183 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North VIC 3068
Phone: +61 3 9482 4240
Website: moroccansoupbar.com.au

Nepal Dining Room

December 8, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

I would imagine it’d be pretty rare for anyone to wake up craving Nepalese food. It’s not a cuisine which is at the back of our minds. However when either one of us suggest it, it’s always met with the feeling of shock and excitement. We are rewarded every time we eat Nepalese food, and this time at Nepal Dining Room, it was no exception. As a matter of fact, this may be the best Nepalese we’ve ever had!

Sometimes Helen and I enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD. Situated in Malvern East, parking was always going to be plentiful outside Nepal Dining Room. Equipped with a bottle of Peter Lehman Shiraz (BYO), it was the start of a chilled and relaxing night. The decor here was clean, modern and contemporary. All the paintings and wall hangings embedded themselves beautifully on the concrete walls. The use of wooden furniture and Edison lights added a warm feel to the restaurant. The sound absorption panels on the roof stopped any echoing from entering our conversation. Overall it’s a well designed layout which would make anyone feel really comfortable.

The whole experience wouldn’t be complete without some tasty food, and they were certainly on point with all their dishes. We started with the tapas platter as we wanted to try a bit of everything. This was the perfect starter as it was appetizing but not too filling. I enjoyed everything on this platter! My favourite dish was the Pork Belly Choila. It was a grilled pork belly marinated with garlic, ginger, onion, coriander and a touch of lime. I’m quite convinced that no bad dish can be made with these lovely ingredients. I loved how the charred flavour comes through, then the marinade tones it down.

We followed this up with an eggplant and pumpkin curry, goat curry, garlic bokchoy, pulaw rice and aloo roti. Both curries tasted amazing! No matter if you’re a vegetarian or meat eater, these guys have got you covered. I’m personally the latter and am finding a new appreciation for vegetarian dishes. Considering the fact that eggplant and pumpkin were not my favourite veggies growing up, they have won me over with this curry! The flavours were bold and flavoursome, loved it. We also enjoyed the aloo roti, as it had a layer of fluffy potato inside. It also had great texture as the outside was not soggy at all. In hindsight, we probably ordered too much carbs and could have done without the rice as we were stuffed! Oh I almost forgot to mention, for you chilli lovers out there, don’t forget to get a serve of the chilli chutney. It was so good that we ordered some takeaway for our parents.

I could not fault anything about Nepal Dining Room, everything was perfect! The only regret we have was not finding it sooner. We’ve already made another booking to take Helen’s parents here to eat and I cannot wait! Check this place out guys, because we could all do with some more Nepalese food in our lives.

Nepal Dining Room
Approx $35 AUD per person
Address: 156 Waverley Road, Malvern East VIC 3145
Phone: +61 3 9569 3358
Website: nepaldiningroom.com.au

The Perfect Drop

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Moroccan Soup Bar

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Nepal Dining Room

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