A Few of My Favourite Things !

Lau’s Family Kitchen is run like a yum cha restaurant – two sittings per night at 6pm and 8pm. The noise levels are much like a yum cha restaurant too but the service is infinitely more attentive. In fact, if you have been to Flower Drum you will not be surprised by the wait staff to table ratio and they really seem to care about how you are finding the meal.

We started our night off with a few of their entrees. The steamed vegetable wontons with seasonal vegetables were passable but the wonton skin should have been thinner and less chewy. The fried eggplant filled with taro paste more than made up for the sub-par wontons however. You won’t find lamb springrolls on many chinese menus and I, for one, can understand why. It reminded us more of a Middle Eastern pastry like sambousek.

Our mains were served like a banquet, dishes coming out one after another. The steamed snapper was my pick of the night. Divinely tender and light, no bones to deal with – ahhhh! This was accompanied by the stir-fried seasonal vegetables consisting of snowpeas, cloud ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy…fresh and crisp. Many chinese restaurants tend to overcook the vegetables and use too much oil but Lau’s version was perfect.

I was getting pretty full by this stage but there was still the panfried Patagonian Toothfish and Sweet Vinegared Pork Loin. The slow-growing Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean Seabass) is prone to being overfished so the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) closely manages commercial fishing to ensure its sustainability. Aside from wanting to support the protection of endangered species, this fish is tasty enough that we wouldn’t want it to disappear altogether.

We expected the pork loin to be more like a braised dish but it was more like a stir-fry served with a gravy. Too salty for my tastebuds but A. thought it was pretty good.

A huge thumbs up from us for this place. Unbeatable service, lovingly cooked food that is fresh and light, no signs of cornflour thickened sauces here – make your booking now

We stopped for breakfast at Cafe Andiamo on our way home from a long walk along the Yarra River this morning. An order for poached eggs on toast was placed with our waiter but what came out could have passed for hard boiled…

A. says that cafes which cannot cook eggs shouldn’t be serving breakfast. I suspect that Jamie would agree wholeheartedly.

Cafe Andiamo
36 Degraves St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 8060

It’s true that Saltimbocca is sometimes also written as Saltinbocca. But the way this is written, it looks like they are just going to sprinkle some salt in your mouth, ‘Roman-stye’ of course!

Salt in your mouth or jumps in the mouth, your choice!

The scene between A and myself as we are walking down Elizabeth Street towards Flinders Street Station:

A: “So how was your day?”
Me: “Busy. I’ve been working on the catering and merchandising for the office launch”
A: “I was going over the invitation list for the launch and wondered if we should send an invitation to S. & H. What do you think?”
Me: “That sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure…..BEARD PAPA!” (stopping dead in my tracks)

I didn’t quite scream those words out but I definitely said it loudly enough for A. to freeze in his tracks and wonder who was about to attack us.

Anyway, the news is that Beard Papa has opened it’s first Victoria store on Elizabeth Street, near the Flinder Street corner. It’s just a shop front actually so it’s more difficult to hear their “IRASHAIMASE!” greeting.

Get there and get one (or twelve)!

This is a lesson in not relying on my memory! We had dinner at Bala Da Dhaba a few weeks back but, of course, I didn’t get around to posting until now. The problem is that I cannot remember the names of all our dishes.

Well, we started off with the samosas, which resemble a little tribe sitting cross-legged around a campfire. They were described as ‘spicy’ on the menu but I could have handled quite a bit more spiciness. Some beautifully tender and moist chicken tikka followed.

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I haven’t been a fan of paneer in the past but we tried this one and I really enjoyed it more than I havd expected to. I suppose it was because the curry was tasty and the paneer absorbed this flavour.

The waiter recommended the special Punjabi fish masala (it had a really long name and if we could repeat it, he would have given it to us free). One of my favourites for the night – all sour and tangy, I’m salivating just thinking about it now.

I think the final dish was lamb something. Maybe someone can identify it?

All in all, a better dining experience than what we have had in the past. We’re not usually big fans of Indian food but the fish would have me going back. On second thoughts, I would probable get takeaway though because it took me at least a week to air my clothes out after that night!

Well, the Chinatown part of Russell Street seems to coming good these days! A new restaurant has just openend up a couple of doors down from Noodle Kingdom where we have been getting our fix of Traditional Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup every couple of weeks – sometimes the noodles and sometimes the soup alone.

The new place is simply named ‘Wonton House’ after the chef’s specialty so that’s what we ordered. The Hong Kong-style congee was also highly recommended. We chose the traditional pork and century egg version but there is quite an extensive list of around 12 or 15 choices.

What can we say? Excellent golden wonton dumplings floating in a tasty chicken stock. The congee was smooth, warm and comforting and they didn’t skimp on the good bits.

We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary yesterday with dinner at Comme Kitchen. Getting there 20 minutes early, we started off with drinks at the very noisy, echoey bar filled with snappily dressed young men. A sparkling and a cocktail in hand, we ordered the salt cod croquettes which only took 5 minutes before arriving. A squeeze of lemon and we cut into the crisp golden exterior to reveal the soft creamy cod and mash. Great to have with our drinks while chatting at the bar. Most groups ordered the french fries with aioli, which looked and smelled so tempting that we wanted to reach over to fork some up while heads had turned away.

Later, seated in the relaxed and smallish dining room (about 12 tables), we started with one of their specials and one off the a la carte. The vongole, crab broth, chorizo, sherry and parsley is a lovely, warming dish although I found it on the salty side (A. didn’t mind at all!). My entree however was one of the best dishes I’ve had in some time – roasted quail with 12 year old balsamic, grapes and steamed king edward potatoes. The waiter description was “…quail with 12 year old balsamic grapes…” but somehow I found it difficult to believe that the grapes were that old. Perfectly cooked quail and amazing flavour!

We selected both mains from the specials board – pan-roasted blue eye with artichoke veloute, broad beans and baby fennel and the wagyu rump with truffle mash, slippery jack & pine mushrooms – and a mixed leaf salad, apple cider dressing and toasted hazelnuts. The fish and its accompaniments were wonderful, as were the truffle mash and mushies. Would it be a terrible thing for me to admit that I’m not really into wagyu though? We’ve tried wagyu in a few different places and time and again have commented that it’s too rich and ‘meaty’ in flavour. i feel awful saying this seeing as wagyu is meant to be top of the range, but give us Black Angus anyday.

To finish, the warm quince and almond tart with vanilla ice cream. The pastry chef was kind enough to accommodate A’s request for ‘Happy Anniversary’ to be piped in chocolate across the edge, a much appreciated gesture. My spoon went to the icecream first and to my surprise, it wasn’t vanilla but honey! Did someone confuse one for the other or did they run out of the vanilla? Well, it didn’t matter to us because it was great and we were tempted to ask for more (cheeky grin!)

Highly recommended and I cannot wait to return!

Comme Kitchen

+61 3 9631 4000

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!