December 8, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Nepal Dining Room

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

November 26, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Elyros

We didn’t get a chance to visit the island of Crete during our time in Greece. However, being able to enjoy some Cretan cuisine at Elyros back in Melbourne was a pretty awesome experience! We already get excited by new flavours with dishes we’ve never had before. To be spoilt by a whole new cuisine, I felt like a kid at a candy store.

“How did you find this place?” – this is a question which we get asked a lot. Well the answer to this question for Elyros was random Google restaurant searches, along with some cross checking on Zomato. As a matter of fact, this is how we find most of the restaurants we go to, because we like to try different places out. Elyros caught our attention with their menu and reasonable prices. We rocked up and I was shocked to see how nice the place was. We don’t generally look up pictures of the inside, so I found myself severely under dressed again! I felt as though my black runners were discreet, so I puffed out my chest, and walked to the table confidently like they were leather shoes. Fake it till you make it!

The white walls, big windows and chandeliers gives the restaurant an understated yet elegant look. It has a strong Greek flair without having to resort to scattering photos of Greece all over the place. I certainly didn’t feel like I was in Melbourne during the whole time I dined at Elyros.

With the help of the friendly waiting staff, we finally agreed on the 4 course set menu for $63. Please bear it mind that this is a mid week special, and the prices may vary on the weekend. This set menu even came with alcohol too! You get either a French sparkling, Semillon from Hunter Valley, Greek red, or a beer. Something for all alcoholic preferences, it was very well thought out. The first two courses consisted of multiple dishes, which would be too much to list here. Picking our favourite dishes was a difficult task as they were all so tasty! The Fava – yellow split pea puree, capers & shallots was just to die for. Throw out everything with what you think a pea puree should taste like, this one is totally different. There was nothing artificial with the sweetness of this puree, the capers and shallots give it an interesting twist. This dish singlehandedly upped my carb intake for the night because I couldn’t stop dipping the bread in it!

Kalitsounia – traditional Cretan cheese pies was also a hit. Little fluffy pillows of cheesy goodness. The cheese was light and piping hot, burnt the roof of my mouth from eating this, but so worth it. The lamb was exceptional, slow cooked for at least 12hrs, it was soft and juicy.

The fish was cooked to perfection, and it was complimented with black garlic. The only previous interactions I’ve had with black garlic was seeing them at the supermarket and marking them as too expensive to buy. I never would have expected it to be used with fish. Did it work? You bet it did! It accentuated the sweetness of the fish and I thoroughly enjoyed it. By the time we had finished our 3rd course, we were well and truly stuffed! Dessert was overkill. I remembered it to be nice, but no more recollection after that. I was way too full and my taste buds had shut down.

Upon doing some research before writing this review, I learnt that Elyros was actually a one hatted restaurant. Without knowing this prior to visiting them, I had already thought their price to food quality ratio was tough to beat. We were also treated with the utmost respect from the waiting staff at Elyros. Being totally new to Cretan cuisine, we naturally asked a lot of questions. The waiting staff here always answered with a smile on their faces, and we were never made to feel as though we were a hassle. I found them warm and personable, total opposite of the snobby service you may find at other hatted restaurants. Do pay Elyros a visit if you haven’t been, I’m sure you’ll have a magical experience!

Elyros
Approx $65 AUD per person
Address: 871 Burke Road, Camberwell VIC 3124
Phone: +61 3 9882 8877
Website: elyros.com.au

November 6, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Calia

Hey everyone! It feels like it’s been loooong time since we’ve published a post. We’ve been super busy travelling, working on other projects and then studying for my final exam ever! Now that’s done, we’re back into the swing of things such as our love for food.

Calia has been a place that we have wanted AND have attempted to get in to try for a while now. Located at Emporium Melbourne in the CBD, the Japanese menu has been designed by Michelin star chef Francisco Javier Araya. The reviews for this place has been high and the photos of the dishes looked amazing so we were dying to check it out. Attached to the dining area is also a retail concept space which stocks and showcases high quality, luxury food and food related products.

However they are only open until 7.30 pm from Saturday to Wednesday and 9.30 pm from Thursday to Friday, and they don’t take bookings. Therefore you really just have to show up and try your luck at putting your name on the wait list. They take your number down and text you when it’s ready. However there are no guarantees you’ll get in because like us when we first tried, if it reaches almost closing time then you’ve missed out for the night. Their dining area is not huge either so the only tip we have is to get there as early as possible.

On this joyous night we decided to get there at 5.30 pm, and lo and behold, we were seated within about 20 minutes! We were so excited! While we were waiting we just browsed around in their retail store which had items ranging from wine, cured meats and truffle slices to tea pots, whiskey glasses and honey dippers.

Once we were seated we perused the menu and realised we pretty much wanted to try almost everything because it all sounded amazing! After some time though we narrowed it down. From the grazing menu we ordered the Alaskan king crab claw baked in miso mayonnaise, Unami fries, raw scallops dressed in wasabi ponzu sauce, baked scallops (cause we just had to try both versions!), and ox tongue with yakitori sauce.

The Alaskan king crab claw was a bit disappointing as it was dry and had no crab flavour at all. I think they relied heavily on the very strong miso mayonnaise. It was probably our least favourite dish of the night. The Unami fries were absolutely amazing! They were crunchy and flavoured with seaweed and the perfect spices. We couldn’t stop eating them! The raw scallops were SO fresh and their light dressing ensured the scallops itself were the hero of the dish. This was one of my favourite dishes of the night and I took my time savouring it. The baked scallops were also delicious and the creamy mayo sauce they baked it in was perfectly balanced in flavours.

What surprised us the most however was the ox tongue. When it came out we were wondering if it was really ox tongue or whether it was actually beef as they were presented on skewers as thick square shaped pieces. I guess we were envisioning thin slices of meat being ox tongue. But oh my gosh they were ox tongue and they were so soft! The meat literally melted in our mouths. They were SO good! The best ox tongue we’ve ever had! We also enjoyed it with this special green matcha beer they recommended which went down really well.

For the mains we ordered the marbled Sukiyaki bowl which had premium Marble 9+ wagyu slices with a 63 degrees egg and rice. This dish was SO tasty! The wagyu was so soft and flavoured perfectly, a spoonful of the wagyu, the rice and the egg was heaven. We also ordered the Ochazuke Samon which had grilled sustainably caught Tasmanian salmon with a dashi tea broth. The tea broth was lovely however the salmon was a bit dry. We recently had a similar dish with the tea broth in the U.S which was better.

With dessert we ordered the chocolate lava cake which oozed of warm matcha ganache. This dessert was to die for and we loved that strong bitterness of the dark chocolate. Really yummy dessert. We were also given a complimentary dessert which was their newly created crepes filled with the loveliest yuzu flavoured cream. It was really good and I would definitely order that again.

The service was good and there were a lot of staff to attend to their diners. Food came out super quick. We did struggle a bit in communicating with one of the staff because his English wasn’t that good, but other than that they were really friendly and accommodating. The prices for high quality food such as this are also VERY reasonable.

Overall it was a great experience and we’re really glad we got the opportunity to try their food.

Calia
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: Shop 8, Level 3/287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9662 1688
Website: calia.com.au

July 29, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Rare Hare and the Jackalope experience

A couple weekends ago we visited Rare Hare, a restaurant out in Mornington Peninsula, which is part of a fairly brand new establishment called Jackalope.

Jackalope is a unique one stop shop getaway which includes a luxury art hotel, a vineyard and wine tasting cellar, a fancy cocktail lounge called Flaggerooot, a fine dining restaurant called Doot Doot Doot and a more casual style restaurant called Rare Hare. You literally don’t need to go anywhere else and could spend the whole day here. Or even stay there the night if you want to!

Anyway on that day our focus was Rare Hare because we had heard good things about it. Now Jackalope has only been around since April this year so it is VERY new and yet the word was already out there about how amazing the place was. In fact the day after we visited, it was featured on TV on Postcards.

Rare Hare only takes bookings for groups of 8 or more so we decided to show up at 2 PM on a Saturday afternoon for a late lunch. The restaurant was still buzzing! We were told it would be about an hour wait and I provided my mobile number so they could text me once our table was ready. This gave us time to explore the grounds. First stop? Straight to the wine cellar of course for some wine tasting!

The wine cellar entrance is attached to the restaurant and so after we put our name down on the waiting list we walked straight through the door into a huge open warehouse space with an abundance of wine barrels from floor to ceiling lined up against the walls and perimeter of the warehouse. It was quite a sight! Outdoor heaters were set up in the warehouse for warmth near the wine tasting table. Staff there were very friendly and chatty. And surprisingly all the wines were quite good! We’re not Chardonnay drinkers and almost passed on tasting it but the friendly staff convinced us to give it a go, and guess what? It was so good we ended up buying a bottle! We also purchased a Shiraz and a Brut to take home and was very pleasantly surprised with the quality of the wines.

With still time on our hands we then went to check out their cocktail lounge which is located just inside the Jackalope hotel. As soon as we entered we were like wow! This is a glamorous cocktail lounge you would probably normally experience in the city but not out in Mornington Peninsula! We seated ourselves at the bar which had a lovely marble finish and ordered a couple of cocktails. Behind the bar there was an abundance of colourful bottles of liquor. They also had a bar food menu so we decided to order the truffle mac and cheese croquettes, which were AMAZING. The batter was so crispy and the filling oozed of delicious goodness.

It was not long after I got a text advising us our table was available so off we went to Rare Hare. It was still packed when we were seated and handed the menus. Everything on the menu looked great. We started off with their pacific oysters and got half a dozen with a migonette sauce. We enjoyed it with their lovely 2012 Wllow Creek Vineyard Brut which went really well with it. The oysters so fresh! In fact they were so good we ended up ordering another half a dozen! We also ordered some cured meats and the cured trout with horseradish creme which were both delicate, fresh and delicious.

For mains we ordered the kingfish, rare venison, chargrilled squid and beef cheeks to share. There isn’t even any point in describing each dish because every single dish was faultless. The presentation of the dishes were beautiful and the flavours were spot on. They really focused on highlighting their fresh produce and we were really impressed with the quality of their food. We also got the meringue which had lemon verbena, fennel seed custard and rhubarb for dessert which was also spectacular. What more can we say? We are super happy that we found this gem and we’ll definitely be back for more of their amazing food.

We ended up finishing the great day by sitting on their comfortable chairs outside with a final glass of sparkly (tea for Davin as he was driving), watching the sunset before we headed home. It was a perfect day.

Rare Hare
Approx $60 AUD per person
Address: 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926
Phone: +61 3 5931 2501
Website: rarehare.com.au

June 25, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Stocked Food Store

It was one of those weekends again where we thought we would go check out a new cafe in Toorak however it happened to be closed on that day so we walked along Toorak Rd and came across the Stocked Food Store. The delicious and healthy looking salads in their window certainly got our attention and so we walked right in without hesitation!

The place was buzzing! It is not a huge space so when you walk in, it is quite narrow, particularly as there are generally lots of people coming in and getting takeaway. On one side there is the deli which serves up a variety of gourmet cheeses, meats, dips, salads, soups and other pre-made meals on display which you can take home such as fish pies, quiches, lasagnes, salmon patties, meatballs, cauliflower cheese – the variety feels endless! All their food is freshly made in their store and there is an abundance of healthy dishes. On the other side, shelving covers the whole wall and is filled with jars of other goodies, crackers and all other packaged items.

Right at the end of the narrow store is just one communal table in which you can eat in. We’ve done this twice now and have always managed to get a couple of seats as most people pop in to buy takeaway and leave. On this occasion Davin ordered the salmon with a broccoli and green bean salad and I ordered the salmon pattie with a salad to eat in. Both dishes were delicious and were quite generous portions! I’ve also had their quiche and potato salad which was good too.

Because the food was so good we then decided to get some takeaway for dinner so we got the chicken and vegetable soup, a fish pie which was made with fresh prawns, salmon and rockling, the cauliflower cheese, one of their gourmet salads, some cold meats and this beautiful hard cheese washed in a balsamic vinegar. I also got a lemon tart – yes they do dessert and have a range of options too! The food was divine! It made having dinner at home just as good (if not, even better in some cases) as dining out. In fact all we could think about after the lunch was having dinner at home! If the store was closer to home we would definitely be popping in more often to grab food on our lazy days. You could even host a dinner party easily by ordering their pre-made dishes. Prices are more on the expensive end however you are paying for quality and fresh produce.

Highly recommend if you’re in the area to check out this food store. We’ll definitely be back!

Stocked Food Store
Approx $30 AUD per person
Address: 549 Malvern Rd, Toorak, Melbourne VIC 3144
Phone: +61 3 9826 3333

June 8, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

New Shanghai

My aunty had raved on about New Shanghai for a while, saying that they make the best dumplings in Melbourne. Huge call, and I’ve been really wanting to try them out to see what the fuss was all about. Problem is that we hardly ever go to Emporium in the CBD, so on this rare occasion we were there, we wasted no time in checking them out.

We got to New Shanghai with an hour till closing time, therefore only waited around 10 minutes for a table. I have heard from other people that it’s not uncommon to wait over 30-45 minutes for a table, so keep this in mind if you’re hungry! A person put our names on their list and allocated a number to us. I kinda feel sorry for the take away place next to New Shanghai, because everyone seemed to be using their chairs to sit down and wait without buying anything (we’re guilty also). The restaurant itself looks very Chinese, sending a strong message that they do not do fusion foods. Message received loud and clear, time to bring on the dumplings!

It’s criminal to not start off with the classic Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork dumplings). This is the signature dumpling where all the dumpling places are rated on, a make or break dish. The Xiao Long Bao here was fabulous. The skin was thin and soft, but fully capable of holding the beautiful soup inside. With the correct chopstick technique, you shouldn’t spill a drop. I would recommend grabbing the dumpling more towards the top, where there’s more rigidity as the middle part can be quite delicate. The soup had great natural sweetness and hits you with a burst of flavour! The pork mix inside was soft and bouncy, maintaining good texture. Could not fault the Xiao Long Bao, it’s as good as any I’ve had in the past!

My personal favourite was the prawn wontons with peanut-sesame sauce and chilli oil. The prawn filling was fresh, and the peanut-sesame sauce was outstanding. It was as though they mixed smooth peanut butter through the sauce, and the peanut taste hits the back of the palette after every bite! I loved it, and will certainly be getting this dish every time. We ordered some other dishes such as the drunken chicken, pan fried crab meat & pork dumplings, and the crab meat Xiao Long Bao. They were all high quality dishes and I guarantee that you won’t leave disappointed.

All the waiting staff were quick and highly alert. They were always looking around to see if any customers needed anything, it never takes long to get their attention. The service is efficient but not personable, as they will not go out of their way to ask you how your day’s been. We also experienced the vintage Asian style of stacking the chairs around us before closing time. We’re not too fussed about this, but if this is something that bothers you, then you may have to come earlier and not so close to closing time.

All in all, we enjoyed our experience at New Shanghai and would highly recommend them to anyone after some top quality dumplings! Are they the best in Melbourne? Well I’d have to say they are right up there! We’ll need to make a visit to our other dumpling favourite again in order to come to a true conclusion. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the other place, therefore we need to refresh our taste buds. We will write a review after the visit. As it stands right now, New Shanghai is certainly right up there in our top 2 in Melbourne!

New Shanghai
Approx $50 AUD per person
Address: Emporium Melbourne, Level 3, 287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9994 9386

May 15, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Paris Go

Well it’s definitely been a while, so we’re sorry it’s taken this long to write up another post. With work, study and all these other side projects, we have been busy bees! Anyway, you all should know by know how much I LOVE French cuisine. So of course I had to write up on yet another French restaurant we recently came across.

Paris Go is located amongst other great restaurants on Rathdowne Street, Carlton. However the high ratings and reviews on Zomato did make this restaurant stand out just a tad so we had to check it out.

Upon entering, you see white tablecloths, white wooden banisters and white walls. The walls however are complemented with artfully, colourful framed French posters, paintings and mirrors which I kind of wanted for our house. A mixture of wooden chairs and French velvet button chairs are scattered throughout the restaurant.

Now right here, I have to say how super friendly and fantastic the staff were. From the moment we arrived until we left, they were nothing but attentive, switched on, accommodating and friendly. Kudos to them for providing such awesome customer service throughout our experience.

But of course onto the important part: the food. We started off with my favourite, oysters! They were served three ways: natural, baked in cheese, and natural with a yummy green, possibly garlic type sauce. They were fresh and delicious! We then ordered the King George whiting dumpling in a prawn sauce which was something we’ve never had before and was very interesting! They were fluffy and the sauce was full of prawn flavour. We also couldn’t say no to the steak tartare which had a special dash of cognac. The flavours of this steak tartare was perfect. Sometimes you come across steak tartare which are more on the plain side. However this one was packed with flavours without it being too flavoured, if that makes sense! Our final entree was the fresh steamed southern Tasmanian mussels in a champagne sauce and oh my gosh, these were also super fresh and flavoured really well too. We were impressed. So far so good!

Ok so you’re probably wondering, how can we possibly fit in mains after ordering FOUR entrees? Because we decided to share everything we decided to only order one main in addition to the four entrees. This ended up being the 250g eye fillet with bearnaise sauce and the staff were very lovely to split the steak in half and serve it on two individual plates so that we got our own steak and sauce. It also came with french fries which we shared. The steak was cooked rare, just how we liked it and the bearnaise sauce was really nice. Oh and we also ordered a lovely bottle of French red to go with the food: Cotes Du Rhone, 2012.

Although we were pretty full, we couldn’t help but have a peek at the dessert menu. Being a total sucker for lemon type desserts, I quickly zeroed in on the caramelised lemon tart so it was settled pretty quickly. The tart had just the right amount of tang with dollop of cream. We gobbled that up quite efficiently too.

Overall it was a fantastic experience and I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for some traditional French food. Lots of ticks to great food and fantastic service!

Paris Go
Approx $70 AUD per person
Website: parisgo.com.au
Address: 116 Rathdowne St, Carlton, VIC 3053
Phone: +61 3 9347 7507

March 28, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Saint.Urban

Saint.Urban are brought to us by the same team as Punch Lane. To say that we had high expectations of Saint.Urban is an understatement, because Punch Lane has served us high quality food consistently for years. Sometimes we forget what a difficult task it is for a restaurant to maintain food standards of high quality, yet able to constantly change their menu. Punch Lane is a restaurant who has achieved this, and we can honestly say that we’ve never had a bad dish there. As we have found out, Saint.Urban has kept with this trend.

Located on bustling Swan Street in Richmond, Saint.Urban is on the quieter end. However this did not help us much on a Saturday night, as we couldn’t find any parking and found ourselves parked 600 metres away from the restaurant. Not a big deal for us as a bit of cardio couldn’t hurt, but you should be mindful if you’re someone who leaves the house at the last minute.

As soon as I walked in, I instantly fell in love with the decor of the restaurant. The use of arches were prominent throughout the restaurant. It was used from their menu specials board to their windows. Speaking of which, I sat in awe as I watched how the windows opened up! Each arch has the ability to open up to let air in, I have never seen this design before, it was beautiful. Raw exposed concrete walls provide the perfect backdrop.

Well as for the food, it was exceptional! I’d say it more than exceeded our expectations. The Wagyu bresaola had some of the most intense beef flavours I’ve ever experienced from Wagyu beef. It was also a generous serving for the price. The sheep haloumi with peppered beetroot compote was a brave dish, but boy did they pull it off! Who knew beetroot and cheese could taste so good, the texture and sweetness of the beetroot blended seamlessly with the haloumi. The beetroot also served it’s purpose of taking away the gamey edge of the sheep haloumi. The mains dishes, confit duck and snapper were equally satisfying. Neither were overcooked, and the honeyed pear looked stunning on the plate, well played Saint.Urban!

Saint.Urban has firmly planted themselves as one of the best culinary eateries in Richmond. Over 20 yrs of experience at Punch Lane has been carried over to Saint.Urban, and the results speak for themselves. Two thumbs up from me, and I can’t wait to go back!

Saint.Urban
Approx $45 AUD per person
Website: sainturban.com.au
Address: 213 Swan St, Richmond VIC 3121
Phone: +61 3 8456 0933

February 11, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Sakura Kaiten Sushi

So a friend of mine is currently over in Japan having the time of her life skiing and eating, sending me pics of her eating adventures (at my request), which of course made me really miss all the amazing food over there. I thought that it was timely then that our next blog post was on a Japanese dining experience in Melbourne!

If you’re looking for a good sushi train restaurant with top quality produce in Melbourne, then Sakura Kaiten Sushi is one to check out. It’s been on our very long ‘to try’ list for quite some time and finally we did it. The outcome? Why didn’t we try this place earlier?!

Not to be confused with their sister restaurant Sakura Kaiten II which is located on Lonsdale St, the Sakura Kaiten Sushi we visited is located on Little Collins St, CBD and is the higher rated out of the two. It is a fairly small and intimate place so if you’re like us and don’t want to spend too much time waiting in the queue outside, call up and make a booking. We didn’t think that they took bookings but were pleasantly surprised when we called and they allowed us to reserve two seats.

Now let’s get straight into the food. Just like most other sushi train restaurants, there are different coloured plates of glorious food that slowly travel by you for your choosing. Each colour represents a price (i.e. orange plates are $2.80, pink plates are $3.80 etc.). But of course being the piglets that we are, Davin and I never take notice of that and more look out for what looks good, generally taking plates off the conveyer belt as fast as they are topping it up. Okay maybe that’s an exaggeration but you know what I mean!

The quality of the produce was the closest reminder of Japan for us. The seafood was definitely fresh and we gobbled up more sashimi and nigiri than we probably should have. It would be too much to list every plate we tried but one of the highlights included the super tuna belly nigiri. Oh my gosh the tuna belly literally brought us back to Tokyo when we were just ordering plates and plates of the nice pink super fatty tuna nigiri over there because it was so good. Well this tuna belly nigiri for Melbourne standards was pretty damn good and pretty close to Japan! The tuna literally melted in our mouths and we could taste the fattiness of it on our lips. Of course we couldn’t stick to just one plate and took a few more plates for our feasting.

We also really liked the salmon cream cheese roll, the octopus salad, salmon with lobster salad sakura flower, scallop nigiri, grilled salmon nigiri, grilled yellow tail nigiri, calamari nigiri, tsubugai nigiri, salmon belly sashimi, only to name a few! Even their deep fried oysters and chill prawn dumplings were top notch. We were so full by the time we walked out but was very satisfied with the food. Highly recommend if you are craving a taste of Japanese!

Sakura Kaiten Sushi
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: 61 Little Collins St, Melbourne CBD, VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9663 0898

January 28, 2017May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Pelikan Société

Pelikan Société is an awesome cafe located at Hastings, Mornington Peninsula. We initially set out to visit a winery in the Mornington Peninsula, but a quick Google search and we were drawn to Pelikan Société instead. I initially had two concerns about this place, the spelling of the name and the fact I had no idea where Hastings was! After visiting twice, I still can’t figure out these two things. We were drawn to the menu, and the pictures of this cafe looked great online. We punched the address into Google maps and off we went.

We parked in the car park and the scenery was pretty amazing. Clear blue water with small boats parked along the pier. There were people fishing along on the bridge also, with decent success. I don’t consider myself an outdoorsy person, but there was something very calming about this place.

Pelikan Société had massive windows from top to bottom which allowed us to enjoy this view whilst inside. The cafe was filled with natural light and as a result, the wooden furniture was glowing! It had a really comfortable and relaxing colour theme inside, I particularly liked the contrast with the different coloured chairs. The acoustic panels which they have installed on their ceiling, helped immensely with preventing echoing. We’ve been to a lot of places without the acoustic panels, and it can be really hard to talk without having to yell over one another.

I’ve always had a keen interest with the specials menu of any eatery. The specials allow the chefs to experiment with new dishes and to use great seasonal produce, which I wholeheartedly support. We were rewarded with an exceptional mussels dish from Pelikan Société! A true highlight for any seafood lover, and one of the best I’ve had. The use of royal gala apples with a cider reduction accentuated the natural sweetness of the mussels. The fresh herbs also balanced out the creaminess of the sauce. This sauce would go well with any seafood dish. The mussels itself were not only fresh, but was also cooked perfectly, still plump and juicy. It’s a shame that we won’t get to eat this dish next time.

“The Cuban” sandwich came out in a Cuban cigar box, very shnazzy! Certainly gets everyone looking and excited as it’s coming out – mobile marketing. Tastes as good as it looks, the pork belly melts in the mouth, with the dijon sauce and sweet pickles making it a very appetising sandwich indeed! Really can’t fault any of the food here, they’ve got the flavours down pat, and they should be very proud of themselves.

I highly recommend Pelikan Société for any food lover who enjoys a little day trip. You can also visit some nice wineries in the Mornington Peninsula afterwards as they are not too far away from the cafe. Water views plus vineyards all in one day? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me!

Pelikan Société
Approx $35 AUD per person
Website: pelikansociete.com.au
Address: 2 Marine Parade, Hastings, VIC 3915
Phone: +61 3 5909 8132

January 8, 2017May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

The Little French Deli

Continuing on with my love for French food, we recently visited The Little French Deli, a place I had bookmarked for quite some time and have been wanting to check out. We decided to head there one sunny day for lunch and they certainly did not disappoint!

Located along Nepean Hwy, two minutes from Bonbeach, my eyes lit up when we entered the deli area where they had delicious cheeses, cured meats, sausages and lovely dips behind the glass window to take away. We made a mental note to come back after our meal to purchase some goodies for home. The lovely staff directed us next door to the restaurant where we were seated. I loved the decor immediately. It had a really cute and cosy French charm to it.

We decided to order a sea platter which had beetroot and vodka cured salmon, salmon rillettes, devilled egg and dill crème fraîche. The rillettes, which is similar to a salmon pȃté was exceptional! We also got the charcuterie platter which had duck rillettes, serrano ham, saucisson, pate and baguette bread. This was also really yummy. We also ordered a refreshingly tasty lobster salad with watermelon, cucumber, broad beans and pea tendrils and some rosé wine to boot.

For dessert there were quite a few options to choose from but we settled on a lemon tart and a coffee eclair to share. Although the lemon tart was delicious, I have to say that the coffee eclair was the highlight. It was not too sweet at all and nothing like the normal eclairs you would get at any bakery. We were lucky to secure the last one as they were selling like hot cakes! They had other eclair flavours too such as chocolate and raspberry which had already sold out.

Overall the food was exceptional, however the only thing to mention is that the waitress who was serving us on that day was new, in fact it was her first day and so she was a little lost and we had to follow up on a few things. The other staff however were very friendly and accommodating when we followed up with them. Definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for some French!

The Little French Deli
Approx $40 AUD per person
Website: thelittlefrenchdeli.com
Address: 524 Nepean Hwy, Bonbeach VIC 3196
Phone: +61 3 9776 0855

December 22, 2016May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Rita’s Cafeteria

Rita’s Cafeteria was introduced to me as one of the places to go to for great pizza, funny enough I don’t even rate the pizza that highly. I had stopped ordering the pizza after the second trip. I found the pizzas to be quite thick crusted which I don’t prefer and although the ingredients of the toppings were special, I didn’t think they were worthy of the hype.

It was actually because of this, that I was fortunate enough to discover their main dishes! They are really tasty with a nice rustic style presentation. Prepared by a trendy hipster in the kitchen, he also uses a lot of micro greens for decoration. The menu is always changing and I love coming back to try out the new dishes on the menu. Prices range from high $20 to low $30.

Some examples which I’ve tried and loved include the pickled octopus salad, the spatchcock, caprese salad which consists of tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella, radiccio salad, and the risotto with prawn, crab, peas, lemon and marscapone. So simple and yet it tastes so good! As the menu is always changing, you’ll probably won’t get the same dishes. However, it’s great to know that you can enjoy something different every time you come back!

I really like Rita’s Cafeteria because they provide very tasty dishes, with special flavours that I can’t find anywhere else. I would highly recommend anyone to try out their main dishes, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Oh and their house red deliciously goes well with the food!

Rita’s Cafeteria
Approx $35 AUD per person
Website: ritasabbotsford.com.au
Address: 239 Johnston St, Abbotsford VIC 3067
Phone: +61 3 9419 8233

December 18, 2016May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Journeyman

It was my last day of work before the Christmas break and my work mate and I decided that we’ll treat ourselves to something good! So he’s a guy who always likes to go to the same places to eat, whilst I’m someone who loves to try new places. Guess I got my way this time =)

Journeyman was always a place that came up on my Zomato feed, and with such a high rating, I had to recommend coming here. My work mate is easily impressed with a cafe/restaurant just from the decor, so before I even looked at the menu, I had a look at some photos of Journeyman to see if it’ll fit this requirement. It looked amazing in the photos and true enough, the decor and atmosphere was even better in real life.

It had a really cool rustic industrial feel to it. The feeling I get when I walked in was warmness from the wood but also coolness from the walls and exposed vents. I like this contrast, and felt very much at home. Inside was quite spacious and we got a table straight away, although I have heard of stories where the queues can get quite long here.

I ordered the beetroot cured salmon and he ordered the Journeyman eggs benedict. The beetroot cured salmon was surprisingly very filling even though it didn’t look it. The organic quinoa was cooked well and the chilli hit was spot on. I tried a bit of his eggs benedict and it was also very tasty, however the portion was quite small and the plate was filled up with a whole lot of unnecessary greens.

We decided to get the toasted waffles to finish off. Dense – is probably the word to describe it. Whilst it looked amazing in appearance, it was a bit too dense for my liking. Definitely couldn’t have too much of it. I didn’t bother with adding maple syrup to it as it was more than sweet enough from the fruits. I don’t know… maybe I’ve been a bit of a snob since I’ve eaten waffles in Belgium, but I have not been able to find a place in Australia where they can make it crispy on the outside whilst being light and fluffy on the inside. If any of you guys know a really good waffle place, please comment and let me know!

Food was quite good at Journeyman and quite decent. If you can get past the parking struggles, it’s a lovely place to have some nice food and soak in the atmosphere. I would recommend it and would most likely come back (after trying out a whole lot of other cafes of course). Lastly we would like to wish everyone a happy and Merry Christmas! I’m sure most of you will be having your Christmas lunches / dinners and spending time with your families. We hope you have an awesome one.

Journeyman
Approx $35 AUD per person
Website: journeymancafe.com.au
Address: 169 Chapel St, Windsor VIC 3181
Phone: +61 3 9521 4884

November 6, 2016May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Chez Olivier

Okay, so there’s been a bit of a theme lately and we have to admit that there is a particular cuisine in which we have been frequenting more often than others, and that is French food! I personally have always loved French food so I have no problem with that. But it just so happened that we have been coming across some top quality restaurants in Melbourne. So without further ado we introduce Chez Olivier!

Located in Prahan, Chez Olivier is a cute little restaurant on Greville Street offering authentic French bistro food. As soon as you enter you are faced with a well equipped bar with friendly staff and small tables scattered around. We were then escorted to the back area with more tables and a fireplace. I loved the wooden decor, framed mirrors and chandeliers, giving it an intimate and romantic feel.

For starters we ordered the seafood bisque which was thick, creamy and full of seafood flavour. I’ve had a real liking to seafood bisques lately so really enjoyed this one. I also can never say no to a steak tartare when I see it on the menu so we also ordered that. It was 100g of finely chopped raw Black Angus beef with brandy sauce and the usual condiments. Mixed in with the raw egg yolk, it was delicious and seasoned well.

Davin decided to order one of the specials of the day for his main, which was the duck breast with balsamic vinegar sauce, pumpkin mash and puff potato. The duck was cooked to perfection – medium rare. Combined with the balsamic sauce and pumpkin mash, it was presented really nicely on the plate and tasted even better!

I ordered the 200g Black Angus eye fillet which was wrapped in proscuitto, with a slice of foie gras, mushroom sauce and white truffle oil served with mashed potato. It was sooo delicious! The foie gras literally just melted in my mouth. I reserved a bit for each bite of my steak. And the combination of the truffle oil and the creamy mashed potato was heaven.

There was quite a selection of dessert options after dinner, but we ended up on settling on the chocolate fondant to share which came with vanilla ice cream and strawberry coulis. The fondant was cooked well and lovely warm chocolate sauce oozed out, which is what you expect from a good chocolate fondant!

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience. The food was top quality, the ambience was great for a date night, and the staff were also very attentive and friendly. As usual we were probably the last ones there but they were more than happy to take dessert orders and there was no rush to get out. We will definitely keep this place in mind when we’re in the mood for French next time!

Chez Olivier
Approx $75 AUD per person
Website: www.chezolivier.com.au
Address: 121 Greville St, Prahran VIC 3181
Phone: +61 3 9525 2273

September 27, 2016May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Entrecôte

I’ve always said that Japanese was my favourite cuisine. The reason for this is that it is generally healthy, the flavours are clean and it’s one of very few cuisines which I could eat more than twice a week. However lately, I must be honest and say that lately French food keeps knocking on my door and challenging my favourite cuisine title! Maybe I do prefer the big bold flavours, the fancy sauces and cheesy goodness which is evident in so many of their dishes. It’s sending me a message to eat first and worry about my cholesterol later. Right now I’m a bit confused which cuisine I prefer more, but I know for a fact that Helen has already jumped over to the French ship!

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you guys to Entrecôte – Parisian Streakhouse & Bar. I initially found Entrecôte online when I was looking for a late night steak place. It kinda dropped off my radar for a while, as I was eating my way through different restaurants. We were reunited when Helen and I came across them in the Entertainment Book. Now armed with a discounted price, we weren’t going to let Entrecôte slip away again! The interesting thought I felt after dining here was that they were really selling themselves short by calling themselves a ‘Steakhouse’. It’s rare for the French to sell themselves short, as they normally do the opposite. They have always been great at marketing their products, because they supposedly make the best wines, best perfumes, best handbags, etc etc. I firmly believe that they are so much more than just a steakhouse, and stating this in their name could steer people to just their steaks. As a consequence of this, people may miss out on all the other wonderful foods on their menu, because who wouldn’t order steak at a steakhouse right!?!?

Luckily for us, we have a bigger appetite than most normal couples. We started off with easily the best dish of the night, Soufflé Gratine – Jerusalem artichoke, Gruyère & black truffle soufflé. This dish was simply mind blowing! I would dare say that this is the best soufflé I’ve ever had, sweet or savory. Great decision to use Gruyere as it’s one of the best baking cheeses of all time as it doesn’t overpower the dish at all. Texture of the soufflé was perfect and the hit of black truffle at the end was heavenly! Best of all it didn’t feel heavy at all and I reckon I could have polished 5 more of these if they were presented in front of me (okay… at $22.90 each, maybe not). It’s a must have, way too good to share, get your own if you come here.

Steak tartare was spot on. Authentic, seasoned perfectly and the steak was fresh. Speaking of which, yes the actual steak here was pretty damn good too. The colour of the herb sauce took a little getting used to, can’t say I’ve had many steaks where the sauce was that shade of green. It was also very runny, certainly tasted better than it looked. As soon as a piece a steak was moved, the sauce would ooze down and coat it straight away. The steak was Black Angus beef and had an amazing beef flavour. It was also cooked exactly how we wanted it, nice & rare. The serving was massive! Helen and I had decided that sharing one steak would be the best option next time. 3 entrees and 1 steak would allow us to have more variety as well. For $44.90, you get a steak, fries and a soft leaves salad. I felt as though this was a little on the pricey side. However I must repeat, the quantity is substantial and I doubt anyone would leave hungry. I must make a quick note – house wine was only $7 a glass! We didn’t inquire too much about the wine, it tasted great and we both ordered seconds.

Décor was more French than Camembert, loved it! I think the pictures speak for themselves. Service was relaxed and we never felt rushed. We don’t normally hang around too long after we’ve finished eating, but if you’re the opposite, then this is certainly the place to do it. Aside from the steaks which I felt was a little pricey, I really don’t have anything bad to say about Entrecôte. Rest assured, we’ll be back the next chance we get, and I recommend you guys check it out too!

Entrecôte
Approx $80 AUD per person
Website: www.entrecote.com.au
Address: 131-133 Domain Road, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: +61 3 9804 5468

August 14, 2016May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Cafe Amba

We were recently invited by Cafe Amba to come and dine at their newish cafe, opened in January this year and located literally opposite the Jam Factory in South Yarra. We loved the decor as soon as we entered. A lot of cafes these days are going for that hipster feel with the brick walls and wooden furnishings however Cafe Amba had that plus the additional touch of glamour with modern hanging lights against a mirror backdrop making it quite the feature when you walk through. It was very pretty. There is also a back room and a little courtyard however on this occasion we were seated indoors. This was fine by us as it has been pretty chilly lately in Melbourne!

We were provided with the menus with included all day breakfast (yay!) and a separate menu outlining their specials for the day. We ended up ordering most of the items on the specials which included the Open Face Chef Omelette. This had bacon, kipfler potato, chilli and chives served open with toasted Roma tomatoes. I loved that the omelette had chunky bits of the different ingredients. It was also a very generous portion. We shared the cauliflower soup served with a dash of basil pesto and toast. The soup was delicious and again the bowl was huge! I could have had it on its own as a meal.

Davin ordered the salmon and prawn linguine which also had broccoli, onion, tomato, spinach and garlic in Napoli sauce. Now this was the highlight dish for us because the linguine was cooked to perfection, the salmon and prawns were fresh and the flavour of the sauce complimented the dish so well because it was not overly seasoned but just light and delicious. It was gobbled up pretty quickly!

We also finished up with some seasonal fruit salad with natural yoghurt and honey. I got my usual latte which was good and served with the right temperature. We also ordered some fresh juices with our meals. After being served the first couple of dishes, staff asked us if we wanted to move to a larger table to fit all our dishes which was fine by us. This normally happens with most places after they realise we’ve ordered food for more than the average couple! So we moved to the back room which had a lovely feature wall of flowers and plants painted directly onto the wall to finish our meal. It was very pretty.

Overall the food was really good, the staff were very friendly and accommodating and I loved the decor of the cafe. We will definitely be back!

Cafe Amba
Approx $25 AUD per person
Website: cafeamba.com.au
Address: 497 Chapel St, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: +61 3 9827 6747

A journey of our culinary, travel and life adventures

Tag: melbourne

Nepal Dining Room

Elyros

Calia

Rare Hare and the Jackalope experience

Stocked Food Store

New Shanghai

Paris Go

Saint.Urban

Sakura Kaiten Sushi

Pelikan Société

The Little French Deli

Rita’s Cafeteria

Journeyman

Chez Olivier

Entrecôte

Cafe Amba

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