Tao’s Restaurant

Tao’s Restaurant is an Asian fusion restaurant located at Bulleen. A great suburb, but I mainly come to Bulleen when I need to fix Helen’s watch. I got her a vintage Omega many years ago, and it’s been nothing but trouble! An Omega watchmaker works from Bulleen, so you could say I know my way around the area by now. Well anyway back to Tao’s Restaurant, these guys were one of the original pioneers of Asian fusion. They were doing Asian fusion before it was cool. Unfortunately time may have caught up with them and it feels as though they’ve been left behind. Over the years, the quality of their food has been on a slow and steady decline…

Helen and I used to love coming to Tao’s on special occasions because they represented a great value to quality ratio. To this day, I still don’t think their prices are too bad, if only they had kept the same quality as the good old days. We came on a weekday which was $48pp for a set menu. It came with a starter, entree, main and even a glass of wine. Normally the price is $78 and you’d get a soup and dessert too, minus the wine. Our last experience wasn’t the best, but we thought we’d give them another chance.

The starter had always been an opportunity for Tao’s to show off their delicacies. On this occasion we got an oyster shot, an oyster in the shell with scallop trims and some Edamame beans. The oyster shot was nice, it was refreshing and a great palate cleanser. The oyster in the shell wasn’t as enjoyable. For whatever reason, there was a lot of onion in there, and that overpowered the oyster. Instead of tasting the sweetness of the oyster, I was tasting the sweetness of the onion! And the Edamame beans… what the hell happened there!?! Was this a classic case of cost cutting? I found it comical that this was presented as one of the starters!

For the entree I got the sashimi, whilst Helen got the pork belly Shabu Shabu. The sashimi was high quality, clean and fresh. The inclusion of the abalone was a pleasant surprise, I guess this made up for the pitiful Edamame beans in the starter. Helen’s pork belly on the other hand was overcooked and tough, total opposite of what you’d expect pork belly to be. My main was probably the most uninspiring of all the courses. My porterhouse came out on a hot stone, which was on a bed of rocks. Presentation was on point, but that was the only positive. I had enough sauce for two steaks, but even then the steak was extremely bland. It tasted like sauce from a packet which had been poured over an unseasoned steak. To add insult to injury, it was also very chewy, and hard to swallow.

Like a Chinese wedding banquet, they always finish off with a fried rice. This fried rice had always been consistent in the past, so I was eager to finish on a high note! To my disappointment even the fried rice was a let down this time. That full flavour, dry scallop punch was missing, hell even the salt was missing! It was closer to the end of plain rice as opposed to fried rice.

I know I’ve been a bit critical in this review, but it’s only because I know what Tao’s Restaurant was capable of in the past. It’s disappointing to them relegated to our mediocre/will not visit again category. I think there’s other similarly priced Asian fusion restaurants these days that offer better quality food, and for this reason, I am unable to pass on my recommendation.

Tao’s Restaurant
Approx $80 AUD per person
Address: 201 Bulleen Rd, Bulleen VIC 3105
Phone: +61 3 9852 0777
Website: http://silk2.org/taos/

Tao's Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Mjølner

If you’re looking for a unique dining experience in the Melbourne CBD, then look no further! Mjølner is a fairly new restaurant which offers the diner a Viking themed experience while you get to feast on succulent and juicy meats cooked on their rotisserie and deliciously thought out dishes. The restaurant has two levels with their beautiful bar downstairs and a bustling restaurant upstairs. There are plenty of historic Viking features throughout the modern restaurant such as horns, ancient looking knives, axes, and even Thor’s hammer!

On this night we dined with the lovely Bearabbit, Feed with Gusto and their partners. We started off with cocktails and a complimentary shot of amber vermouth, mead and honey – from a glass horn as the shot glass! Yes, a glass horn! We were taught to cheers and yell out “skål!” in true Viking form!

In preparation for our meal, the waitress brought out a selection of different Viking style knives. We all got to pick one to use as our cutting knife for dinner.

The menu is made for sharing so we ordered a range of dishes which included the roast bone marrow, venison loin, the free range chicken, the O’Connor’s pasture fed short ribs and the roast porchetta. We also added the roasted cauliflower and potatoes with goats cheese, cornichons and shallots as sides.

The roast bone marrow was a real highlight. It came with some bread which you could use to dip and scoop up the delicious marrow straight from the bone. After you’ve cleaned up the marrow, they offer you a whisky shot which you drink straight from the that same bone after they’ve torched it. Again another pretty special experience and it was fun to do with a group of friends!

We also loved the O’Connor’s pasture fed short ribs. The meat was so soft and flavoured. Also the brussel sprouts that went with the ribs were perfection!

The venison loin and chicken were also lovely dishes with great flavours, although the chicken was quite pricey for chicken!

The roast porchetta was also nice however for $60 we thought the portion was on the slightly smaller side.

We also ordered some beers which came out served in these huge Viking horns which was pretty cool!

For dessert we decided to order all of them except for the cheese selection. We ordered the malt parfait, bombe alaska and custard tart. All three desserts were delicious but the bombe alaska was definitely the highlight because it came with flamed mandarin liqueur, and the dish was on fire!

Overall we had an awesome time and it’s a great place to just have fun with a group of friends, and feel like you’re in a different world while feasting on some great food. The service was also fantastic. Our waitress was very attentive, efficient and informative. We highly recommend if you’re looking for a great night out with a unique experience.

Mjølner
Approx $75 AUD per person
Address: 106 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 8393 9367
Website: mjolner.com.au

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

Ton & Co

Ton & Co has only been open for a few months but they have already made a huge impact for us since we’ve discovered it so we had to tell you all about it!

Located on High St in Windsor, Ton & Co is a Japanese restaurant with a focus on pork dishes. Yes, you did hear right. PORK dishes. The uniqueness of this concept piqued our interest straight away so we had to check it out. The menu consists of a range of different pork dishes which include pork striploin, pork tenderloin, pork ribeye steak, pork ribs, pork belly, you name it! There are no beef dishes here and there was only one fish dish. So if you are going to visit this restaurant then make sure you are here because you want to eat pork and don’t expect anything else! The restaurant itself has a very spacious and modern feel with wooden tables and industrial chairs. I also noted it was kept very clean and pristine. We were welcomed warmly into the restaurant on this particular evening and efficiently provided with the menus.

We started off with some hot sake and small dishes. We ordered the ox tongue skewers and chicken thigh skewers. Both of the meat skewer dishes were flavoured to perfection and the meat was so soft. However I have to highlight how particularly ultra soft and delicious the ox tongue skewers were. They were the best ox tongue skewers we’ve ever had! Big call, I know but I have to state the facts. Thinking about that dish while I write this makes me want a serving of it right now.

For the mains, I decided to order their Signature Pork Ribeye Steak which was 400g of bone-on cured and aged pork ribeye, onion relish, sake beurre blanc and mustard. Verdict? It was the best pork steak I have ever had! I know I just made that call with the ox tongue and so it sounds crazy but I swear, it was SO good! I really don’t know how I’m ever going to have pork like that anywhere else after I’ve experienced it here. It was flavoured so well and cooked through, yet still so tender and juicy. Every bite of it with some of the onion relish and mustard was heaven. I didn’t want it to end. Sigh.

Davin ordered the only fish dish which was the poached salmon. This came with a honey miso glaze, seaweed crust, shiitake mushroom broth and sake steamed leeks. He also got a bowl of rice to go with it. The salmon was poached oh so perfectly! It’s so important to not overcook salmon and they have certainly mastered it. The seaweed crust gave each bite a lovely crunch, and the shiitake mushroom broth that went with it was so flavoured and lovely, you could just drink it on its own. It was one killer dish!

We also ordered a the Japanese potato salad to share which was really good.

So at this stage, we were really happy and thinking to ourselves that they have pretty much hit the mark on every dish they have served us. There’s only one more dish to go and that was dessert. Can they also maintain the quality? Um, yes they can! How could we ever doubt them?

We settled on sharing the Matcha cheese cake with Hojicha ice cream. It was presented beautifully and had good strong matcha flavours, yet you can still taste that it was a cheesecake. Combined with the ice cream, it was a great dish and we scoffed it up pretty quickly.

We finished up our meal very content and amazed at how good the food was at Ton & Co. Not only was the food fantastic but the service was also top notch. Staff were very friendly and efficient, and were more than happy to have a chat and see what we thought of the food. Will we be back? Hell yes! This restaurant is doing something different by shining the spotlight on pork which seems to be such an underrated dish here. We highly recommend if you are interested in trying out their spectacular dishes, particularly if you are keen for pork. It was an amazing experience.

Ton & Co
Approx $50 AUD per person
Address: 118 High St, Windsor VIC 3181
Phone: +61 3 9023 3396
Website: tonandco.com.au

Ton & Co Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

River Kwai

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

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