March 25, 2018May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Shyun Ramen

Down the street from Shyun, there’s their sister restaurant Shyun Ramen. It’s small and inconspicuous, but Matcha lovers will no doubt be drawn in by their lit up Matcha sign. As well as serving ramen (which is what their name implies) they have a wide selection of Matcha iced lattes. More on this later… first let’s talk about the parking! Trying to find parking on Koornang Road can be a difficult task to say the least, going up and down with a car right up your a** can be pretty stressful times. I’ve personally had more success with the carpark at Shepparson Avenue, but people are catching on, so I’ve had to park further down Neerim Road these days. I’m revealing all my parking spots, please be nice and leave a spot for me!

Walking into Shyun Ramen is like a trip down memory lane as it looks similar to a lot of restaurants in Japan. All the tables are squashed on the left and the kitchen is on the right, because real estate in Carnegie is expensive yo! Don’t expect any personal space here as it’s literally shoulder to shoulder. A guy asked to sit next to us, but when another table was available, he quickly slipped away like a ninja! Nothing fancy here… wooden tables and coloured stools. Be prepared to listen into other people’s conversations and vice versa. I didn’t mind this though because it spells bang for buck food, and it turned out to be great value indeed.

We started off with the wagyu beef tataki as our entree. It was seared on the outside and rare on the inside. We would have preferred it more rare, but I think most people would prefer it like this, gotta cater to the crowd! Great acidity, yet the sauce was still pleasant without being too intrusive. It’s probably one of the better beef tatakis we’ve had as of late, great start to our dining here.

I had the classic pork ramen with a shoyu based pork broth, the benchmark where ramens are rated on. Helen got a Tokyo ramen which is pretty much like my pork ramen except it comes with a light soy based broth. I enjoyed both the soup bases, the soy based one was more punchy in flavour, whereas the pork broth was richer and lubricated my lips after each slurp. Yes you heard right… slurp it up people, it’s the proper way to eat ramen! We both unanimously agreed that the pork broth was better, but we may pick the soy based to mix it up every now and then. The noodles weren’t overcooked and the corn had good texture to it. I’m not sure if it’s fresh off the cob, but I suspect it may be a higher quality packet corn. I thoroughly enjoyed my ramen, but there is one bone I have to pick with Shyun Ramen… why was there only one piece of pork!?! I’m a growing man! At least give me another piece for old time’s sake. The pictures on the menu shows two piece of pork… did we get scammed? I’m a little emotional because the pork tasted pretty damn good.

We finished off with some Matcha goodness. The decision as to what to get was tough because they have a huge range of iced Matcha lattes. You can have one with red bean, green tea softee with strawberry, cream with strawberry and chocolate syrup, etc. There’s about 12 varieties to choose from. Helen went for a classic iced Matcha with cream latte. She asked me if I wanted to share, but I aint no fool! I got myself a nice green tea softee, which is a soft serve. It wasn’t too sweet and had that tinge of bitterness I was looking for… perfect.

Apart from only getting one piece of pork I’ve enjoyed everything about Shyun Ramen. Everything was very tasty and decent value. To give you an idea, our beef tataki was $7.90 and our ramens were $11.90 each (add $5.50 for a drink and 3 gyozas). My green tea softee was $2.50. A very affordable weekday eating place which doesn’t blow the bank balance. I have an inkling feeling that we may become regulars here…

Shyun Ramen
Approx $20 AUD per person
Address: 73 Koornang Rd, Carnegie VIC 3163
Phone: +61 3 8394 5971
Website: shyunramenbar.com.au

October 8, 2015May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Spilt Milk

We discovered Spilt Milk a few weeks ago and ever since then I have been dying to go back. Located in Carnegie, Melbourne, it is a very small and cute cafe with small wooden furnishings and open windows that you can sit along and people watch while you enjoy some food and a coffee. We arrived around 2:00 pm for a very late lunch so was able to sit down straight away. Staff were very friendly and handed us the menus for our perusal which consisted of menu items named after animals. We immediately noticed the price which was a lot cheaper than other good brunch/lunch places which is always a plus.

Because of my love for potatoes, I instantly zeroed in on the Rhino which was a baked jacket potato with chicken (you can also opt for tuna), avocado, corn, sour cream, chives, truffle salt and chilli jam on the side. It was delicious! It felt like a very gourmet version of a spud but all the ingredients went so well together. I tried really hard not to scoff my dish too quickly as I wanted to savour every bite. Davin ordered the Salmon which had smoked salmon, smashed avocado, fetta, capers, red onion, dill, olive oil and lemon on toasted light rye. His dish was also very nice too and the ingredients were very fresh. We both agreed however that the Rhino was the highlight. I allowed Davin to have an extra bite of mine because I could tell he was longing for mine after the first bite. I also ordered a latte which was also quite nice and the temperature was perfect. Staff were also very friendly and efficient and were happy for a chat. They also asked us how the food was and made sure we were happy with everything when we were paying for the bill. Overall it was a very cute cafe with great quality food and prices were very reasonable. Definitey drop by if you are ever in the area, I may even see you there!

Spilt Milk
Approx $20 AUD per person
288 Neerim Rd, Carnegie VIC 3163
Phone:+61 3 9571 8880

September 19, 2015May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Mrs Kim’s Grill

Last weekend we were hungry but we were feeling too lazy to travel far for a good feed. So while we were driving aimlessly and naturally heading towards the city, we suddenly thought of the travel cooking show we watched earlier on South Korea and had a sudden urge for Korean food. So we turned off into Carnegie knowing there would be a few options there. Mrs Kim’s Grill stood out as a bright modern place amongst the other restaurants so we were naturally drawn to it. I discovered that it had only opened in 2013 by a Korean migrant who has been using traditional methods of marinating meat and who has been wanting to share her traditional food with everyone. She started off marinating meats for events and BBQs and when she gained a loyal, regular stream of customers, decided to open her own restaurant.

The interior was also furnished with modern decor and it looked really clean and spacious inside. We were seated upstairs and handed nice modern looking menus to peruse. The first thought that popped to mind was that prices were quite reasonable for Korean BBQ compared to others we’ve been to, particularly in the CBD. They have the a la carte menu where you can pick from a range of Mrs Kim’s marinated meats, or you can also choose from their set menu options where you pick the meat of your liking and it is served with a salad, soup of the day, butter vegie parcel and rice. Each set menu is $39 and is for 2 people. We settled on the Moo set which consisted of the marinated Gaibi beef ribs (350g) and skirt steak (250g). We also ordered an extra serving of the chilli marinated chicken (200g). Of course we can’t forget the unlimited complimentary side dishes that always comes with Korean food.

The staff were very efficient, fast and friendly. They brought out the BBQ equipment and cuts of meat pretty fast and started cooking and cutting the meats for us. The side dishes particularly the kim chi was quite good and the rice was super moist. But the highlight was of course the meats. The meats were so nicely flavoured and SOFT! They practically melted in my mouth. I was quite impressed with the quality of the food and overall service. Not to mention the reasonable price for the quality that was served. I also like the story behind the opening of this restaurant so we’ll definitely be back when we have another craving for Korean!