A Few of My Favourite Things !

The City of Yarra has forced the closure of Wildflour, reports this week’s Espresso section in Epicure, as the premise had permission to operate as a cafe but not a bakery. Pardon my ignorance, but WHAT is the difference?!

One of a handful of artisanal bakers in Melbourne, Wildflour had set tongues wagging about how good their bread was. I found out about them during a visit to Simon Johnson’s Fitzroy store where they were serving it to taste olive oils with. The bread impressed us so much that we had to ask the source. Unfortunately, we may never actually get to try their other baked goods if they don’t find a place soon. Call Tony Rees on 0404 729 458 if you can help.

I’d better hotfoot it down to Noisette in case the local council decide to close that down too…

I think I laksa you too. I’m talking about the new Allen Woo venture located right opposite Horoki and down the alley from Longrain.

We had started with a few after-work Pisco Sours and a Caipirinha at The Mill then needed to grab a bite somewhere. We settled on the newly opened restaurant on its second night - if we could get in. Surprisingly, they were barely half full at 8:00pm and we were seated at a table immediately.

The decor is very, very sparse…so much so that you could hardly term it as decor - basic table and chairs on a concrete floor with a famous Chinese poem painted on by the Taiwanese chef, a lick of red paint on the walls and pillars - that was it. Cold and draughty so bring a jacket, especially if you are wearing a dress.

We ordered and asked for all the food to come out together but the service was fairly slow given the small number of diners. I supposed it was only their second night though. We started with the Ipoh Laksa (made with hor fun noodles) with slices of char siu, chicken and prawns. Deliciously coconutty soup that had a decent kick.

Next, the ‘popular’ dry chicken curry on bright yellow hokkien noodles which turned out to not be as hot as the laksa although we were given a chilli warning by the waiter. A little like a rendang but slightly too salty.

Oddly, the oyster shooters came out after the noodle dishes tasting a little ‘fishy’ although the dressing was okay. Not our favourite.

My pick of the night was the calamari, cucumber noodle and jelly fish salad. Quite a tiny bowl of salad but it had a lovely smokiness with the calamari cooked to perfection.

We enquired about dessert only to be told that there was only one on the menu tonight, dumplings in a ginger soup. Fortunately, a certain food critic was seated at the table next to us and we managed to overhear the waiter describe three desserts to them including the black sticky rice and kueh dadar.

Although not something that I would normally order, the sticky black rice was fantastic and worth ordering again.

We joked that they may be serving the ‘Ron & Sue’ version (you have to frequent Asian grovcery stores to understand this one) but fortunately the kueh dadar came out warm, straight from the pan. They didn’t have the usual green crepe skins and they were sitting in a puddle of cognac sauce - very unusual indeed and suitable for the very sweet-toothed.

The prices were quite decent with our meal totaling $56. I’ll give them a couple of weeks to settle in before coming back armed with a warm jacket.

Laksa Me

Shop 1, Liverpool St

Melbourne 3000

Update: John Leathlean reviewed this place in the Epicure, The Age on 29 May 2007.

Finally, the bakery that we have been eagerly awaiting since reading about it some months ago opened last Friday. It’s hidden in a laneway (as with everything good in Melbourne) off the section of Little Collins St between Queen & Elizabeth St. They had a soft opening with the cafe and are planning to expand into the back section with a casual-style restaurant later on.

At the moment, there is a selection of baguette sandwiches, pies and salads to choose from for lunch, or you can take one of their sourdough loaves away. We went with a chicken cooked in white wine pie and it was to-die-for.

Sweet pastries are also available, and one of the best spots to have your coffee, in my opinion, is the standing bar.

I’m waiting for them to go full steam ahead and keeping my fingers crossed that there will be many more varieties of bread in the future. In the meantime though, I couldn’t resist purchasing one of their chocolate and fruit loaves (price varies depending on size). I nibbled on this all the way back to the office. I mean, it’s carbs and chocolate all-in-one!

Melbourne has been showing off with wonderfully mild weather - low 20s with blue skies - and I’ve been enjoying it fully. On Saturday morning, we walked along the Yarra River from Fed Sq to Prahran Market. The Giant Sky Wheel, the largest travelling ferris wheel in Australia, was erected in Birrarung Mar a couple of weeks ago. I spotted it on the way to the footy last week just prior to the opening and managed to get a closer look this morning. We have already had two failed feris wheel proposals for the rooftop of Crown Casino and Sandridge Bridge so I guess this will do us until plans for the Southern Star Observation Wheel comes to fruition.

These are the Federation Bells and it plays compositions from seven contemporary Australian composers at set times each day. I have only heard the 39 bell structure chime once and it sounded very discordant but maybe that’s due to the way it has been tuned.

The view from Morrell Bridge.

Before entering Prahran Market, we stopped by at Fujimart for some Japanese groceries and crockery. Having come back from Japan a couple of weeks ago where I had Mentaiko Spaghetti for the first time, I was delighted to find the spicy cod roe in the freezers here.

We finally managed to make it to the market where we picked up all our pizza topping ingredients.

We als got a few things at the organic shop just at the entrance of the market but these tomatoes absolutely floored me. Are they meant to be any different from sun dried tomatoes or is the renaming meant to rejuvenate interest?

How do you spell spelt?

Of course, we had to stop by at the Essential Ingredient where I lustfully flicked through the pages of Ferran Adria’s book, gasping in amazement at the incredible photos and creations.

We ended the perfect morning with tea, cheese and bread in the courtyard.

Giant Sky Wheel
Birrarung Marr - Lower Terrace
Adjacent to Federation Sqaure, along Yarra River
Melbourne 3000

Prahran Market
163 Commercial Road,
South Yarra 3141

I went past the recently expanded Haighs store in the Block Arcade yesterday afternoon, thinking that I would pick up some of their solid milk chocolate eggs. There was a long line in front of both registers, quite a few empty shelves and no milk eggs. Guess I was a little too late.

I wandered over to the slightly less hectic Koko Black shop. They are selling Easter Bunnies starting at $35, so if you really want a treat…

Thanks to Matt for getting my photo editor back on track too!

I think we have just had some of the best noodles in town!

At Noodle Kingdom, of which there are two branches, they make all the noodles in-house. If you visit the one on Russell St, you can watch the chef ‘hand-pulling’ the noodles to order, dunking them in the rapidly boiling water to cook just before serving. We also saw some traditional noodle pieces getting made, the chef pinching the dough off and flicking them straight into the vat of water.

A. and I pored over the menu for some time trying to decide what to order. As always, the spicy minced pork noodles looked tempting but with the help of the waitress we decided to try the spicy pork and vegetable stirfried noodles and the traditional lanzhou beef soup noodles for something different.

The stirfried noodles were beautifully done - perfectly al dente, full of wok-flavour and erring on the dry rather than oily side. There were onions and capsicum pieces resting alongside the pork, all flavoured with chilli oil. You could tell the noodles were handmade, without that perfect equal thickness of each strand. This made our meal even more enjoyable because of the difference in texture.

The soup noodles were also quite exceptional. The beef stock was even more flavoursome than Vietnamese pho stock and the roast beef sufficiently salty to satisfy A’s tastebuds. The beef to noodle ratio would be a little higher but we’re going to use the leftover noodles for another dish later on in the week.

Two thumbs up from me!!!

Noodle Kingdom

175 Russell St, Melbourne 3000
(03) 9654 2828

51 Main St, Box Hill 3128
(03) 9899 3133

There are so many events on this weekend that one hardly knows how to spend one’s time - the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, the Antipodes Festival, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, the 12th FINA World Championships. As much as I love the latter two, I couldn’t go past the International Flour Festival that took place this weekend as part of the food festival.

The YUZU catering company does some really inventive and tasty food. We had the seafood okonomiyaki to kick off our afternoon and a side dish of sun balls (behind the prawns), which are like arancini with an asian kick - rice, shitakes, sesame seeds.

Next up, a ‘Paesan’ pizza from Pizza Farro who specialise in spelt pizza bases which are lighter in texture and great for wheat-intolerant pizza lovers.

I have never been a big fan of Mexican food but assumed that I hadn’t tried any authentic yet. Los Amates claims to be ‘the place where Mexicans come to eat’ however their Sopes didn’t do much to win me over. The handmade case is slightly sour in flavour and the refried bean, salsa and cheese topping tasteless. Is it just that my tastebuds are not tuned into Mexican food or is there a place someone can recommend me that would awaken them?

Alaysa Turkish Restaurant had a yummy looking stand filled with boreks and thick fluffy-based pizzas.

I had been craving naan and curry for some weeks now so it was fortuitous that Tandoori Den Camberwell was there. We shared a combination platter which had a scoop of each curry (butter chicken, dhall, vegetable, beef vindaloo), 2 samosas, rice and a piece of naan. Butter chicken is still my favourite but their beef vindaloo was up there too.

AMES had a stand that was selling curries and stews the like of which I had never come across. Unfortunately, we had had our fill and couldn’t try all these out

It was a great day overall but I can’t understand why there was pretty much only one stall representing each cuisine when Melbourne has some of the most amazing restaurants around. If it’s okay to have several bread stalls, then why not two or three Japanese food stands or more than one stall making roti. Surely there would not be too much overlap? Maybe that’s something to consider for next year…

On Saturday morning, we wandered across Carlton Gardens to Brunswick St in search of some coffee. that’s how we stumbled upon Mario’s, which we now know is a bit of an institution having been on Brunswick St for over 20 years.

The french toast was made with a multigrain bread, which gave it an unusual crunch, and served with real maple syrup. We also had bacon on the side to off-set the sweetness of the maple syrup.

The prices are really reasonable here and they do a fantastic cofffee.

Mario’s Cafe: 303 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 3065

In the name of research, I have also sampled cocktail buns from the Box Hill bakeries. The round one on the left is from Cakeworld and the skinny one on the right from the Carrington Cake shop.

As you can see, the Cakeworld one resembles the Montague Bleue in shape and size but with a little more glaze and sesame seeds. The taste however is almost exactly like the Maxim offering - not too rich but lots of dessicated coconut. I felt that the Maxim version was probably a little softer and fluffier though.

The Carrington cocktail bun is preferred by Thanh however they must have been having an off day. The bread is quite dark and the taste leans towards being slightly burnt. The bun itself is quite dry and almost stale tasting however the filling itself is pretty decent. It reminds me of the Montague Bleue filling as it was quite buttery, however it did not taste salty at all.

What’s the verdict?

Personally, I would still go with Maxims in Melbourne or Montague Bleue in Sydney. Of course, someone else may like to weigh in on this as well…

Look at those fat Queensland prawns! They were very simply immersed in a brothy congee made with mixed grains and chicken stock until just cooked.

We also picked up some ‘Tabletop Grapes’ dried sultanas, crockery and teatowels from Portugal and a ‘Cowpat‘ fruit loaf that smells of chocolate and is stuffed full of figs, juicy sultanas and almonds. Gotta love a name like that!