April 23, 2019 by Helen Le

Oyster Bar & Grill

We were at Crown for a few nights over the Easter break and decided to check out Oyster Bar & Grill, a more casual yet sophisticated dining area located in a corner area of The Atlantic. The main reason for this visit of course was for the $2 oysters! Yes, you heard! Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday they do $2 oysters until sold out. When we caught wind of this, we knew we had to be there. It reminded of us when we were in New York and downing $1 USD oysters during happy hour. Ahh memories…

Anyway, we ended up going back there TWICE during our stay because the oysters were THAT good! They were so fresh and delicious. They weren’t too big and came with a lovely shallot vinaigrette which I of course drowned the oysters in because I can’t get enough of it. Davin probably ate half a dozen and I had about a dozen to myself because I love oysters that much.

We also ordered a crab toast which consisted of hand picked spanner crab and avocado cream. It was delicious and again the crab was super fresh.

As a main we ordered the King Prawn Spaghetti to share, the dish was cooked to perfection. The pasta was al dente, the prawns were fresh and the sauce was well flavoured with chilli, garlic, lemon and parsley.

Overall, the food was of very high quality. The restaurant itself had a great ambience with a classy feel to it and the staff were very friendly and efficient. The only thing I’ll note is that there was a bit of confusion at the end when we paid our bill. Firstly, our Crown membership card didn’t seem to work so the guy that took our payment told us we needed to take our bill to the Crown Rewards front desk so that they could add the reward points onto our card. He also told us that we couldn’t obtain free parking because The Atlantic was not a Crown restaurant (we were advised that if you dined and spent $50 or more at a Crown restaurant that you get free parking). That was fine for us.

So we took our bill to the Crowns Reward desk and they told us that the restaurant should have provided us with a manual adjustment form so that they could add the points onto our card and that we SHOULD have got free parking for dining there. They were kind enough to add the free parking to our card but we had to walk back to the restaurant to ask for the manual adjustment form to get our points. We ended up speaking to someone else at the restaurant who dealt with it for us. We saw him talk to the original guy we spoke to who seemed to shake his head like he didn’t even remember us. Oh well, other than that it was a great dining experience.

Oyster Bar & Grill
Approx $65 AUD per person
Address: 8 Whiteman St, Southbank VIC 3006
Phone: +61 3 9698 8888
Website: http://theatlantic.com.au/eat/oyster-bar-grill

January 10, 2019 by Helen Le

The Fish & Burger Co.

We were recently invited to the VIP launch dinner at The Fish & Burger Co. in Doncaster. The restaurant was rocking when we arrived and it was very modern and spacious with plenty of tables and chairs.

We were provided with a range of different dishes to try which included the beef, chicken and prawn sliders, mac and cheese croquettes, nacho waffle fries, chilli cheese fries, crispy fried chicken, grilled calamari and salads.

The sliders were delicious and so easily scoffable! The chicken sliders were particularly good as the chicken was crumbed with a nice slaw and ranch sauce.

We also loved the mac and cheese croquettes. They came out piping hot, crispy on the outside and oozing of the lovely mac and cheese components on the inside.

The chilli cheese fries were also nice and full of flavour. It had large chunks of jalapenos and spring onion throughout and the chips also came out fresh and crispy. The nacho waffle fries were a bit too soft and doughy for us so we much preferred the fries.

Our least favourite dish was probably the fried chicken as it was quite salty. It had a sweet and spicy marinade with sesame seeds, spring onion and a chilli mayo sauce. However all we could taste was the salt.

There are a range of salads to choose from and we had the quinoa, pumpkin and pomegranate salad and the kale and roasted sesame salad which are both good options if you are looking for something a bit healthier.

We were also invited to try their mains which included burgers and seafood plates however we were too full after trying their smaller dishes so we moved straight onto dessert!

Right at the front of the restaurant and as soon as you enter, there is a gelato and shake bar for those with a sweet tooth. I ended up getting the expresso gelato in a cup and Davin ordered the lemon sorbet in a cup. The gelatos were nice but probably a bit sweeter than the gelatos we’re used to. Having said that we are not the biggest sweet tooths so some may love that it’s sweeter. Overall if you’re looking for a cool place to hang out and enjoy some burgers, seafood and gelato, check it out!

The Fish & Burger Co.
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: 1001 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster East VIC 3109
Phone: +61 3 9842 1011
Website: thefishandburgerco.com

December 21, 2018 by Helen Le

Belleville

We were recently invited to Belleville, a restaurant and bar located in a rustic warehouse type building near Chinatown. Think dim lights, chandeliers, scuffed walls and floors, loud music and a DJ to create a casual vibe.

Davin and I started off with a couple of drinks and I ordered a dry martini with olives, and Davin ordered a glass of the Champagne Collette.

For starters we ordered the duck ham with taleggio cream, pickled black berry and sour dough crips. We’ve never had duck ham before but the texture and flavours were nice. Davin thought it was probably on the salty side. We also got the chargrilled calamari with ‘ndjuda, cavalo nero and mussels. This was a really nice dish and the seafood was fresh.

With mains we decided to order the Tasmanian salmon with cauliflower, golden raisins and citrus beurre blanc, and their famous rotisserie free range chicken with jus and miso butter. The salmon was nice and cooked well. The rotisserie free range chicken however was a bit of a let down. The chicken skin was on the salty side and tasted more like one of those charcoal chickens you could get from a takeaway shop. It didn’t stand out for us.

We also ordered sides with our mains and got the rotisserie sweet potato with creme fraiche, aged gouda and chives. This was delicious! It came out piping hot and we loved it. We also loved the chargrilled greens with citrus butter and pecorino. It was so flavoured and the greens had a lovely crunch to it.

Overall, Belleville has a great vibe for if you want to have a couple of drinks and food with a bunch of friends in a casual setting.

Belleville
Approx $45 AUD per person
Address: 1 Globe Alley, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9663 4041
Website: belleville-melbourne.com

November 25, 2018 by Helen Le

Matilda 159 Domain

For those of you that know me, you will know that Scott Pickett’s Saint Crispin restaurant has been one of my favourite restaurants for a long time. It’s one of those restaurants that I normally recommend when people ask me where they can get a taste of some quality food with great ambience, that’s not too ridiculously expensive.

So saying I was excited was a real understatement when I found out that Davin had booked for us to dine at Scott’s newest restaurant, Matilda 159 for my birthday. Located in South Yarra, where Saint Crispin is more upscale, this particular restaurant has a focus on food cooked over open fire and hot coals providing a more casual and feeling of comfort.

We were seated at the lovely bar where we could watch the bartender work away on mixing cocktails and drinks. We ordered some red wine and perused the menu. Everything looked amazing on the menu and I wanted to try it all! But we finally settled on a few starters which included some oysters with bone marrow crust, a salmon roe tartlet with bonito cream and the ox tongue with horseradish and sauce gribiche. Not surprisingly, every dish was assembled together with so much precision and care. They were beautiful dishes visually and tasted even better!

We also ordered the kangaroo tartare and dressed spanner crab with prawn butter and flat bread. The tartare was really good, but the spanner crab was the true highlight. It was so deliciously soft, juicy and buttery. We couldn’t get enough of it and felt like we needed one each!

For mains, we ordered the whole tiger flathead with fennel and squid ink, and the Rangers Valley wagyu bavette 7+ with burnt carrot and wattleseed. We also ordered some broccolini with aged cheddar and marble potatoes cooked in hay for side dishes. We couldn’t really fault any of the dishes. They were perfect in flavour and presentation. The fish was cooked well and wasn’t dry, the beef had just the right pinkness inside. All the carefully chosen ingredients to complement the mains went so well together.

Finally for dessert, we could not resist ordering their popular Pink Lady apple tarte tatin with smoked vanilla bean because it was all we could smell throughout the night! It was the most amazing, sweet and buttery pastry smell that kept wafting by us every time someone would walk by to serve this dessert. And when it was finally placed in front of us, it did not disappoint! The pastry was so crispy and light. The sweetness of the apples and the smoked vanilla bean made each bite heaven!

Overall we had such a great experience. From the food and ambience, to the service. It was amazing and we will definitely be back!

Matilda 159 Domain
Approx $80 AUD per person
Address: 159 Domain Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: +61 3 9089 6668
Website: matilda159.com

November 9, 2018 by Helen Le

@ The Catch Carnegie

We were recently invited to @ The Catch Carnegie, a fish and chip shop which has a small dining area for customers to dine in if they don’t want to take away. Upon arriving, we were warmly greeted by all the workers and seated straight away by Nick in the lovely and casual dining space. Nick set down the menus for us to peruse and gave us a bit of a background regarding their business which is family owned, and focused on fish and chips with some modern touches.

We started off with some fish cakes. Now firstly, let me say that I am generally not a fish cakes type of person. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to eat anything and everything. But I’ve never thought, ‘hey I feel like some fish cakes’. They’re not my favourite thing and I’ve never come across any that have really wowed me. But this perception of fish cakes all changed when I tried theirs. They have two varieties, an Asian inspired one, and the Greek style fish cakes. We were able to try both varieties and they were so delicious! The fish cakes were so nice and crispy on the outside, and full of wonderful flavours on the inside. Best fish cakes I’ve ever had! Yes, big call. But true. They also came with homemade dipping sauces that went so well with them. I’ve now converted into a fish cakes person.

The first main we got was the Hook which came with a fish of the day, potato cakes, dim sim, chips and salad. On this occasion we got a lovely NZ Whiting for the fish which was cooked perfectly. The batter was light and crispy, and the fish itself was fresh and plentiful inside the batter. Their thick cut chips were top quality, and their potato cakes were amazing! Again the batter was so crispy on the outside, yet so fluffy and full of potatoes on the inside. So good! It came with a tasty Caesar salad and their homemade aioli sauce.

We also got the Bowler burger, which had a fried fish of the day, lettuce, coleslaw and homemade aioli. The fish in the burger was also just as fresh and the quantity so generous! All the components of the burger went well together and it was so filling.

Overall, we couldn’t fault the food. Everything placed in front of us was fresh, tasty and top quality food. However not only was the food good, but the service was also fantastic there. Every person that walked into their shop received a warm welcoming from all the workers behind the counter. And when Nick spoke to us so passionately about their family business, and how they just love to have fun, talk to customers, and also give to the community, it really showed in their food and service. Highly recommend if you’re ever in the area!

@ The Catch Carnegie
Approx $20 AUD per person
Address: 158 Koornang Rd, Carnegie VIC 3163
Phone: +61 3 9569 0888

June 28, 2018 by Davin Lee

Pinchy’s @ HWKR

Pinchy’s is a fairly new addition to the growing family of food stalls at HWKR. There was one menu item in particular which caught our eyes – the ‘Maine to Melbourne’ lobster roll! Besides the fact that I have trust issues with anyone who’s able to turn down a lobster roll, the word ‘Maine’ means a lot to us. Firstly, as we had discovered from our US trip, Maine lobsters has some of the sweetest and tastiest meat, I prefer it over our local crayfish. Secondly, our cat Sky may be a Maine Coon! There’s a bit of confusion here because he was only listed as a domestic tabby, but everyone that has seen him is certain that he’s a Maine Coon. We’ve compared him to heaps of Maine Coon youtube videos and the resemblance is uncanny. Well anyway, that’s enough cat talk for the day, it’s time for some food talk!

The lobster roll was served on a distressed chopping board – very hipster indeed. It’s accompanied by some cucumber, chips and ornamental lettuce. I’m a self confessed chip addict, and naturally went for the chips first. I usually have to finish all the chips before I move onto other foods. In this particular instance, I was not able to do this because the chips were SALTY! Someone had got a bit overly excited with the salt in the kitchen… I was forced to hit each chip on the side of the bowl to get the excess salt off. I learnt this move off a friend who was health conscious yet loved KFC. She would knock the salt off the chips and dab the chicken with tissue to remove the oil. It’s was the weirdest sight ever! I was not proud of my chip move, but I considered it a necessity for this particular instance.

The lobster in the lobster roll was undoubtedly fresh and had the sweetness which I was looking for. I really enjoyed the lobster itself, but felt as though the whole lobster roll itself could have been better. I had no objections with the bread itself. Apart from the size of the roll being undersized, it was the flavouring of the lobster which was a let down. From my first couple of bites, I could only taste butter and not much else. I was used to the mayonnaise lightly coating the lobster pieces, rounded off by the chives in the background. As it turns out, all the mayonnaise was piled on near the base of the roll! I ended up with a mouthful of mayonnaise and it was a little overwhelming. It’s an interesting strategy, and I had never had a lobster roll where the mayonnaise was dissected like this before. Frugal is probably the best word to describe the quantity. For $22, I felt as though the roll could have been bigger, as it was by far the smallest lobster roll I’ve had.

We also ordered some crab tacos. When I think of tacos, I was expecting something bigger. These tacos were puny and I was able to put the whole taco in my mouth with real estate to spare! Bear in mind, these tacos costs $14 so that’s $7 a pop. There was nothing special about the flavour, if anything it tasted a bit bland. The avocado mousse and tomato salsa was insufficient in giving the tacos the flavour hit which it so desperately needed.

All in all, I found that the prices did not justify the quantity or the taste of the food. Could this be a case of lobster roll snobbiness? Maybe, maybe not. I can only judge and compare with the lobster rolls I’ve had in the past, and this one misses the mark. For anyone who hasn’t tried Maine lobsters, I would still encourage you to try Pinchy’s out because the lobster itself is of high quality. As a whole, it’s hard to pass on my recommendation.

P.S. We were invited by HWKR and given a $50 allowance to spend at any of their food stalls. I have tried my best to be unbiased towards the price/quantity of the food at Pinchy’s. All my opinions are based on the assumption that if we were to pay for the food out of our own pockets.

Pinchy’s @ HWKR
Approx $30 AUD per person
Address: 137 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: +61 3 9018 7135

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018 by Helen Le

Mussel Pot

Lately we’ve been really loving Prahran Market so have been dropping by quite often on the weekends. There are a number of reasons why we go so often. It is our go to for high quality rump cap steaks! However another key reason is that it’s one of the few markets that is open until 5PM. And those of us who know us well, know we love our sleep in!

Anyway we’ve walked by the Mussel Pot van a couple of times with keen interest to try them out, however unfortunately they can sell out pretty quickly and have tended to miss out… until this glorious day we will speak of now! One recent chilly but lovely Saturday, after we had a quick bite to eat for lunch, we tentatively walked up to the Mussel Pot van to see if they still had mussels. And to our delight we could still see the friendly workers cooking some mussels away!

So we quickly surveyed the menu board showing a list of different ways we could have these lovely live fresh mussels direct from the farm. Davin’s colleague has raved about this place before and told us to go for the mussels steamed in chilli, coconut, tomato, cream and parsley. Now my first thought was that this was an interesting combination of ingredients, a mussel broth I have not come across before. So I was keen to try it out! We ordered a serving of that to share.

When our order was ready, the friendly lady handed over our mussels in a plastic bowl, placed inside a plastic bag, conveniently for us to discard our shells. We excitedly unwrapped the plastic bag to be hit with these lovely aromas of coconut, tomato and chilli. It smelt magnificent. We also instantly noticed how generous they were in the portion. The mussels were stacked up high above the level of the bowl with a couple of pieces of bread on top.

We took our first bite of the mussels submerged in the lovely broth and were completely blown away! The mussels were so plump and juicy. They were also cooked to perfection, certainly not overcooked. The flavours of the broth went so well with the mussels. It was a spectacular dish. We have to admit, we’ve had plenty of mussels in Belgium, but these were super special. We have not stopped thinking about them since and will certainly be back to eat more of these juicy plump mussels the next time we’re at Prahran Market, which will be very soon!

Mussel Pot
Approx $13 AUD per person
Address: Prahran Market, 163 Commercial Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: +61 417 050 617
Website: www.prahranmarket.com.au/trader/the-mussel-pot

January 18, 2018May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Tommy Ruff Fishbar – Mordialloc

Tommy Ruff Fishbar had always been a favourite of ours, and recently my family and I have started eating at their Mordialloc location. They’re located on the busy strip in Mordialloc, and it’s always buzzing here. Even though there’s a lot of car parking available, you may have to occasionally camp for a bit in order to get a spot. Turning off on the smaller side streets, parking is plentiful and generally not too hard to find a spot. The best thing is that the parking is FREE! Considering they’re putting meters everywhere these days, really can’t complain.

Going inside they’ve pretty much kept the same theme from their Elsternwick restaurant. They are really busy here most of the time and the place always feels alive. Whilst this is the case, it’s never too noisy to talk amongst ourselves. They also have an outdoor sitting area available if there’s no tables inside. I rarely opt to eat outside because of the damn flies! However it’s not bad eating outside at Tommy Ruff, I don’t find myself swinging my arms like a mad man.

My dad loves his seafood, but have always complained that he can cook it for a lot cheaper at home. Valid argument I’d say, because eating seafood outside is so damn expensive! The fact that he keeps coming back to Tommy Ruff, shows that these guys are great bang for buck. The staple dishes to get here are the chef’s platter for 2+ and the seafood chowder. We’ve started venturing out to some of their other great dishes. The salmon with soba noodles, Poké bowl and the blue swimmer crab are some of the new dishes we’ve added to our order these days. As usual, all the seafood is fresh and cooked perfectly. I love how the chef platter constantly changes depending on what seafood is available. An example of Tommy Ruff working with their fresh produce and tailoring their platters accordingly.

The service here is fantastic, the waiting staff are on the ball and nothing is too difficult for them. They’re always cheery and smiling with zero attitude, It’s a pleasant place to be eating in. So next time you’re around the area, pay these guys a visit. You can even take away some fish and chips and enjoy it at the beach!

Tommy Ruff Fishbar
Approx $35 AUD per person
Address: 574A Main Street, Mordialloc VIC 3195
Phone: +61 3 9580 2525

May 28, 2016May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Miss Katie’s Crab Shack

With all the glorious food that’s available in Melbourne, one thing we haven’t come across much is a place that does good crab! Given Miss Katie’s Crab Shack specialises in these lovely creatures we had to try it out.

Miss Katie’s is located within the Rochester Hotel in Fitzroy. A large red neon sign in the shape of a crab is attached to the building, a clue to point you in the right direction. You have to walk through the main pub to find yet another crab sign and the entrance to the restaurant. The interior is the usual industrial brick, concrete and wooden feel we’ve been seeing a lot in cafes and restaurants. The lights inside are dim to reflect the casual late night feed we were about to get into. Definitely don’t worry about dressing up because you’re there to get your hands dirty!

To start off with we ordered some of the oysters with mignonette and horseradish which were fresh and good. We loved the horseradish kick! We also got some glazed chicken ribs which were also quite nice. But onto the star of the show… the crab!

The menu lets you ‘build your own boil’ and every boil comes with cob corn, spicy kransky, chat potatoes and a 300g – 400g organic Australian blue swimmer crab. We added an extra blue swimmer crab as Davin and I were certainly not sharing! We also got king prawns, surf clams, mussels and some freshly baked corn bread. It came out looking amazing and it tasted pretty amazing too! You just dig in and go for it! Oh and we can’t forget to mention the delicious salad that we also got which had watermelon, jalapeno, radish salad, goats curd and mint. It was so refreshing, the combination of the goats curd and sweetness of the watermelon was brilliant.

Overall it was a great experience, we ordered a couple of cocktails to go with our food and it was a good night! A great place to take some of your family and friends for a casual, good feed!

Miss Katie’s Crab Shack
Approx $60 AUD per person
Address: 202 Johnston St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Phone:+61 3 9419 0166

December 15, 2015May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Tommy Ruff Fish Bar

Finding a good fish and chips joint can be hard especially if you’re looking for something different and not the usual deep fried stuff that most offer. However we were recently pleasantly surprised when we came across a place that not only avoided frying all their produce, but cooked and presented it more naturally with almost a certain respect.

Tommy Ruff, located in Elsternwick (there is also one in Mordialloc) is owned by John Stamoulis and Helen Stamoulis who has been specialising in gourmet fish and chips for quite a while. Just to give you a bit of background, John’s father, Ipocrates Stamoulis was born on the island of Samos, in the Aegean sea and after migrating to Australia in the 1950s he worked in the seafood industry and then took ownership of his first fish and chips shop in 1969. Inspired by his father, John decided to enter the fish and chips business himself but with a gourmet twist and emphasis on displaying the beautiful produce he has to offer. He has since changed the traditional fish and chips view to a focus on flavour, health and quality produce.

The restaurant itself has a modern, casual and bright beach, fun feel to it with sea decorations wherever possible from fishing nets and fishing rods scattered along the walls, to newspaper clippings made into wallpaper – even the water jug was a large ceramic fish with its mouth as the opening for water!

Continuing with the nautical theme, the menus are available on the table and are blue themed, offering quite a variety of different seafood dishes to choose from. Having been a few times now we have tried a number of dishes so lets talk about them!

We have had the seafood chowder a couple of times now as a starter which consists of fish, prawns and mussels with warmly toasted bread for dipping. It also has a potato like consistency offering it a bit of thickness expected in a chowder. It is quite a large serving but quite hearty and tasty so you’ll easily gobble it all up!

Tommy’s tacos (fish or prawns), which come with Mexican salsa and slaw is also very nice with fresh tasting ingredients and also good for a starter. We have also ordered the vinaigrette oysters which I thoroughly enjoyed – their special vinaigrette sauce has the perfect tang and gets you ready for the mains!

I highly recommend the Chef’s seafood platter if you’re not sure what to order because the huge platter offers a bit of everything for a first timer. It includes the Tommy’s tacos, oysters, about 3 different grilled fishes, prawns, scallops, calamari and chips. The seafood is mostly grilled and not fried which is what we love about it and the produce is fresh! It is also not over flavoured with too much seasoning or sauces, allowing you to really taste the natural freshness of the seafood. However it is definitely not plain tasting either so I think the flavours have been balanced well.

I was also a big fan of the salmon burger which consisted of a lovely grilled salmon fillet with salad, lemon and dill sauce. With such simple, fresh ingredients, allowing the combination of natural flavours, it was a really enjoyable burger! I can’t also forget to mention the chips as they were of real high quality, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

If you’re not too hungry for the seafood platter, you can also order one of their many grilled fish combos with chips and salad or rice and salad.

Overall, if you’re looking for something different from the usual fish and chips you are used to, do check out Tommy Ruff as they offer high quality seafood, presented very nicely. For the top quality produce and presentation, the prices are also very reasonable!

Tommy Ruff Fish Bar
Approx $30 AUD per person

(does not include the Chef’s seafood platter for 2 which is $72)
Website: http://www.tommyruff.com.au/
Address: 1/3 Carre St, Elsternwick VIC 3185
Phone:+61 3 9077 8815

October 21, 2015May 6, 2018 by Helen Le

Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul

When we were in Seoul, one of our top to-do things was to try out their famous live dancing octopus at the Noryangjin Fish Market, oh and of course their super fresh seafood! Before travelling to South Korea, we had on many occasions watched people experience eating these wiggly octopuses on YouTube and discussed at lengths what we would do if we ever had the opportunity to try it. I remember seeing in the video clips the tentacles wrapping around the chopsticks while people would pop them in their mouths and quickly chew and swallow. Well our time finally arrived!

Noryangjin Fish Market is easily accessible and located right next to Noryangjin Station. You can get there by taking the Metro line one and exiting at exit 1 at the station, then walk under the bridge and follow the crowd, they’ll take you straight there. The coolest thing about it is that it is open 24 hours! The fish market is located in a massive open-air warehouse and there are just endless stalls of the freshest seafood for you to choose from. Also, because it’s a wholesale fish market, prices are considerably a lot cheaper than supermarkets too.

So after our amazement and awe of how many stalls of fresh seafood there was, we started exploring and getting lost in the huge warehouse. Almost everything was still alive and swimming or wiggling around so you are guaranteed that what you are getting is fresh. You can also bargain and haggle with the vendors for the right price and it was just fun watching people haggle. But we finally decided we wanted in on the action, so we ended up picking up the freshest king crab, assortment of sashimi and octopus.

The next best part about this market is that once you’ve purchased your items, there are many restaurants dotted around the warehouse which you can take your bag of fresh seafood to and they will cook you the most AMAZING feast! Yes you heard right! These restaurants around the warehouse are there just to cook the food that you buy. With a small fee of about $5 – $10 AUD, they’ll cook you up a storm and also serve your seafood with their side dishes like kimchi and rice. You can also buy beer and soju to go with your meal. The king crab, which is what the market is famous for, was simply steamed, just showing of its sweet and succulent flavour. They will also make you a crab flavoured fried rice served in the crab shell which was so delicious!

Now onto the octopus. It has been a long standing tradition and is quite common in South Korea. As I’ve mentioned before, it is served really fresh! As soon as you hand it over to the staff at the restaurant, they will chop up the octopuses live and serve it on a plate still wiggling around. They give you a bowl of sesame oil and salt like sauce to dip the octopus in. Just by touching them with your chopsticks, you’ll cause a ripple of movement and wiggling around LONG after they’ve been chopped up. I have to say, it took a bit of courage to finally pop one of them into my mouth (and probably after Davin had already tried one and confirmed that he was still fine) but I finally did it, chewed really fast and got it down as fast as I could. The verdict? It was quite chewy and there wasn’t much flavour to it. I wouldn’t say it was delicious but I think it is something you just have to try if you’re ever there.

Overall the Noryangjin Fish Market is a place you must visit and experience if you’re ever in Seoul because you may not come across anything just like it. If I’m ever in Seoul again, I will definitely be back. My mouth is just watering now thinking about the delicious seafood feast I had there.

Noryangjin Fish Market
Approx 33,000 KRW / $40 AUD per person
688 Nodeul-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Phone: +82 2-814-2211

September 12, 2015May 6, 2018 by Davin Lee

Seafood delight in Venice

Venice is a city well known for it’s seafood, but with over 1000 restaurants, it’s clearly a land mine for tourists hoping to find a good seafood meal. Apart from the obvious places offering ‘turista menus’, there are a lot of other places which present themselves as offering the finest Venetian foods. A lot of these restaurants lure vulnerable tourists in, whilst offering food that’s below par.

I was determined to not be another statistic and did research on finding an excellent seafood restaurant in Venice. My research led me to this beautiful, cosy, 9 table restaurant called Osteria alle Testiere. This seafood restaurant is highly regarded in numerous articles, rated highly on Trip Advisor and also feature in the Michelin guide. Sounds like a winning combination to me! We wandered in for a late lunch, hoping to not have to wait. A beautiful aroma of fresh seafood welcomed us. The atmosphere looked casual yet classy at the same time. The restaurant was full and bustling, we couldn’t wait to join in on the action and taste the food. We were warmly greeted by Luca Di Vita, owner of Osteria alle Testiere. He said we wouldn’t have to wait long, and that a table would be available soon. True to his words, 10 minutes later we were seated and extremely excited.

The menu was a seafood lover’s dream! We wanted nearly everything on the menu and was in a real predicament on deciding what to get and whether we would be able to finish the food. We finally decided to order the sword fish carpaccio, steamed spider crab, spaghetti with ‘bevarasse’ clams, prawns in sweet & sour ‘busara’ style, scallops with orange and cervere leeks, and mussels ‘cassopipa’ style. Now the first thing I’d like to mention is the seafood was FRESH. Apparently the dishes are designed around the fresh daily seafood. We ordered a really dry and crisp local Tuscany white to enjoy with our seafood.

I really loved all the dishes and couldn’t fault anything about them. The dishes were clean tasting and simplistic. I’m a firm believer that with good seafood dishes, the chef should allow for the seafood to shine and allow it’s natural flavours come through. I find that a lot of chefs try to do too much with seafood, whereas I feel as though the seasoning should only compliment and play a supporting role with the dish. Osteria alle Testiere has achieved this perfectly, with every dish I am tasting the freshness of the seafood without any overpowering flavours. The sword fish carpaccio had the perfect acidity, the sweetness of the steamed spider crab came through, perfectly cooked al dente spaghetti flavoured by the natural saltiness from the clams, and the sweet & sour ‘busara’ sauce with the prawns were just to die for. I was a bit skeptical with this sweet and sour sauce because I automatically think of the Chinese version, which can really take over the dish. This busara sauce was really light and allowed me to fully appreciate the prawns.

Mussels "cassopipa"style & Scallops with orange and Cervere leeks — Mussels “cassopipa”style & Scallops with orange and Cervere leaks

We finished off with their homemade panna cotta for dessert. We tried to savour every bite as this was honestly the best panna cotta we’ve ever had! It tasted so milky and creamy, other panna cotta we have had just taste sweet. The texture was the real highlight of this dessert though, it was so wobbly that I was quite surprised it could even hold it’s own weight. I had never seen one made this well before. The lemon sauce and fresh berries that came with it just topped it all off! I was actually a little depressed after eating the panna cotta, as I was quite convinced that I may never experience a one this good ever again.

Overall, I absolutely loved every moment at Osteria alle Testiere. Luca was extremely friendly and provided a personable service. His recommendations on the wine, food and portions were spot on. The highlight was definitely the seafood though. I would say that this was probably the best seafood meal I’ve ever had. Now one thing I would say is that the price is certainly not the cheapest, and it makes for quite an expensive lunch. It would always be nicer to come for dinner but it’s extremely hard to get a booking. I thought the price was worth it, because dining at Osteria alle Testiere was one of my most memorable food experiences on our trip.

Osteria alle Testiere
Approx €70 EUR per person
Calle Del Mondo Novo Castello 5801
30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Phone: +390415227220
Website: http://www.osterialletestiere.it/Testiere/Welcome.html

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