Eat Like Ushi

Even after importing my 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain from the USA, I haven't had a chance to use it. The amount of effort involved in obtaining the meats and the wood, and the time to compile the beast for 16 hours of close observation is something I can't dedicate to at the moment. Nonetheless the day will come when I use my Pitt Cue Co recipe book and try and recreate the magic I miss.

In the meantime, Melbourne has sprung a heap of smoked BBQ places to try and fill that previous void. Le Bon Ton had been on my list for a while, and so considering the unusual location in the dark backstreets of Collingwood, it seemed a much easier option than heading into the city to brave the cold, masses and queues.

- Crab cakes (Gulf style with streaky bacon, bell peppers, onion, celery & Old Bay aioli) $16.5 - remarkably fishy rather than crabby. Quite expensive for 2 pieces given that;
- Chili Cheese Fries (traditional Texas-style beef & bean chili with sharp cheddar sauce on crispy fries) $16.5 - nice thick cut fries topped with a good quality beef chili. Not really hot at all but good flavour;
- Fried Chicken Southern style (buttermilk soaked tenders with cracked pepper white gravy) $16 - decent chicken tenderness but the coating was much too salty to be enjoyable;
- “Shrimp & Grits” (grilled Tiger prawns with cheddar grits, smoked tomato bisque & spring onion) $17 - decent prawns
- Brisket (1/2 lb) (grain-fed Riverina Angus beef) $22 - disappointingly not tender and dry;
- Pork (1/2 lb) (Otway Ranges pork shoulder) $19 - surprisingly good and moist tender meat with nice flavour. I'm not usually one for pulled pork but this was an excellent one;
- Tangy coleslaw With cabbage, carrot & onion $8.5;
- Le Bon Ton Pickles (house mix of radish, gherkin, carrot, baby onion & jalapeño) $7.5.

Next time I would order pulled pork (or pulled pork sandwich) and chilli cheese fries. The other dishes were just too average (and on the expensive side). In the meantime I'd prefer to try other places (such as Meatmaiden) first, but Le Bon Ton at least has the bonus of being away from the masses meaning easy parking and unlikely long waits.

Living in Abbotsford and still searching for a tonkotsu to match Bone Daddies means I eventually had to try this one. For years I had walked past the bright white sign "Ramen & Craft Beer" and assumed the people sitting inside drinking beers to all hours of night weren't there for the ramen. One late lunch seemed the time to visit.

First impressions from the menu - it is expensive. Really quite expensive. I wasn't interested in the shio (salt) as I've never liked the sound of it. I don't tend to like miso either as I feel it masks the tonkotsu. That left the shoyu (soy) which also had the added bonus of added pork fat from Japan. This was the recommended from the staff so it seemed a good choice, albeit for $22!!

The soup tastes quite good. Nice and reasonable flavour, however much thinner than I like, especially with the added pork fat. The noodles themselves are excellent, thick with some chew and adequately being coated by the broth. The cha siu was sliced thinly with quite a bit of fat to remove.

Overall the dish was satisfying, however it's difficult to call it value for money. I'd go back with other people for socialising, some drinks and perhaps to try a different and cheaper ramen.

I'd read that one of the best souvlakis in Melbourne was in my old backyard - Templestowe Village. In fact, the most famous (Jimmy Grants) and infamous (Stalactites) are written on pieces of paper on the wall in Kota and how people should forget about those two.

I ordered the Kota Special - lamb, chips, tomato, lettuce, Spanish onion, mayo mustard. The meat is good quality, minimally fatty and nice flavour. I particularly like the thick bread flavoured and oiled which houses the ingredients.

I read that the standard serve of chips isn't very big. I don't know what they are talking about - it's very large and I only finished a third.

I'll come back for souvlaki and to try the namesake charcoal chicken. They also have a few delicious looking salads to choose for balance.

Conveniently located down the road underneath the Hive complex at the corner of Nicholson Street and Victoria Street, Seoul Soul was a very welcome addition to the area several moons ago. Up until this point the only Korean on the strip was a BBQ place closer to North Richmond train station. Now there is Seoul Soul, a new one down the road called Arisoo, and a branch of Chimac that never seems to be open whenever I go past.

Seoul Soul is a small corridor of a place, with decorative BBQ grills and fans (for what purpose I'm not sure but the Japanese/Korean mindset of lifelike roleplay seems to be it).

There's a full house generally during weekday lunchtime, but the late afternoon is a much more pleasant time to sit and eat.

- Seafood Pancake $7 - chewy, slightly crispy, not bad;
- Sweet Soy Tofu Dorirak $10 - a fantastic complete meal of entree fried pastry, salad and rice with main all in a large steamer-type bowl;
- Beef Bibimbap $13 - carrot, zucchini, alfalfa sprouts, bean shoots, noodles, mushrooms, beef and rice topped with a fried egg in a stone pot. The egg could be a bit more runny or raw even (as I prefer) and the rice eventually develops some bottom crust but I wouldn't mind more of it. In any case it's a good collection and adding a load of gochujang makes it satisfying.

The meal was finished by black soy milk (from an imported Korean bottle). I hadn't tried this before and it was a nice complex twist on the usual soy milk with a black sesame edge. Very nice indeed.

It's Easter. With Easter comes chocolate. Whilst the usual classic thing is small solid or large hollow milk chocolate eggs, the first world has gourmeted up to no end, and chocolate is one of those things. I am partial to visiting gourmet chocolatiers especially around Italy and Belgium and I do get excited by discovering a remarkable dark chocolate. Sometimes the cost is quite incredible - I mailed an item from Yuzu back to Australia for Easter once (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/yuzu-by-nicholas-vanaise-ghent-02-2012) and my favourite dark chocolates have been from Yarra Valley in Victoria, Pierre Marconlini in Belgium, and two small local places, one in Bruges and one in Alba.

Burch & Purchese seems to specialise also in decorative pieces which are nice for occasions. I saw a very cute egg with a little chicken in it. Unfortunately my tactic of going on Sunday to make ease of parking and crowds proved unfruitful, as the store was mass raided on Saturday.

Nonetheless I settled for a chocolate bear, with bits of milk, dark and white. I'll wait for the weekend to try it.

Conveniently whilst brunching alone at Pillar of Salt, I read the Herald-Sun for the first time in a long time. One of the sections of the food liftout highlighted their best hot cross buns in Melbourne. Tivoli Road Bakery scored 1st place with a resounding 19/20. Far from it being the most reliable source, I happened to see I was going to be in the area soon to visit Burch & Purchese. It seemed a good reason to visit and buy some expensive buns.

Thusfar I'd only bought those from Woolworths, which believe it or not, had won a gold medal at the Sydney Fine Food show 2014. Considering you can get 6 for $3.50, it's a huge change from these gourmet places. At Tivoli, they are $3.80 each or 6 for $20. Feeling generous I decided upon the half dozen to share with family.

The buns look lovely and rounded with a shiny glaze on top. What characterises them is the beautiful smooth bun texture, which is dotted with the usual dried sultanas that provide sweetness. The bread bits themselves are not sweet which stops it from being sickly or overpowering. Every now and then you get some orange peel that makes them different to the usual buns.

Fine for a treat and well liked by the other 5 who ate them. Are they worth 5x the price? Maybe once per year.

The explosion of food places in Melbourne means that I'll never catch up. Living away means that each opportunity I have to come back involves a brief read online of where is new and subsequently where all the queues are. There used to be nothing (I can think of) along Church Street other than furniture stores, but now Pillar of Salt, Kong, and a few other eateries have opened up in the area.

Pillar of Salt was on my way to Burch & Purchese. I thought to myself as I drive past, if I find parking and the queue isn't large, I'll swing in for breakfast. Even though it was 1030am on a Sunday, I couldn't envisage a time where I found Church Street busy. How different it is now. There were 10 pairs of people ahead of me on the door list, but it was only a 15min wait in the end. By the time I left at 12pm, there were even more people waiting outside. They had a pineapple and chilli iced tea (very sharp chilli taste without much heat, minimal pineapple) for those braving the wait.

- Superfood Smoothie (banana, blueberries, cacao nibs, coyo yoghurt, chia seed, shaved coconut, rice malt syrup & almond milk) $10 - an excellent jug with the great sweet flavours of yoghurt, banana and berries interspersed with sharp crunchy of cacao, a soft crunch of coconut (when drinking it from the lip, as it doesn't fit up the straw) and small crackles of chia. An expensive drink, but full of good ingredients;
- New Orleans Pinto Bean Jambalaya & Twice-Cooked Sticky Pork Belly (with poached egg, housemade toasted cornbread topped with Monterey Jack cheese) $21 - nice hearty thick soup/thin stew of beans, corn and carrots. My poached egg was unfortunately overcooked (only a small amount of liquid) and the extra $4.5 for a very thin slice of pork belly was a little much. The sticky quality of the pork belly is somewhat lost in the soup. The cornbread is actually excellent and has some spice within it. It's a nice meal but I think overpriced.

I do think the kitchen is overwhelmed for the number of patrons it receives. My food didn't take long (and I didn't have to forcibly socialise like all the other pairings), but I could see some disgruntled people having waiting 30+mins for food, which is much longer than the time it takes for them to finish their token coffee. My smoothie took 5 minutes. My meal took 22 minutes. I was happily reading a newspaper, using my phone and enjoying the atmosphere. If you aren't happy to wait, go somewhere else, go at a different time, or go with people you are happy to talk to (or go alone).

Next time I would order the 15th Century Cilbir Eggs with Sujuk Sausage ($20) or Kimchi, Corn & Sweet Potato Fritters with Poached Egg ($21). The prices are a little high to be honest. A poached egg should be standard with fritters in my opinion. But none of this will stop people from coming, from queueing, from waiting, and from complaining.

After my recent musings about all things burger (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/brodburger-canberra-2014) it was time to try a new Melbourne contender. I had been assured it would be a good experience and the name left an impression of hopefully ending up in a carpark somewhere with a van dishing out unhealthily delicious offerings. To my surprise I ended up some stairs (which reminded me of the identical trek upwards into Mamasita) and into a American diner-style booth.

The food menu looked very promising with nothing but burgers served as a main. I did feel a little ominous reading at the top of the menu that the burgers are cooked medium, but the combinations seemed extremely promising - ingredients such as chilly cheese kransky, truffles, croquettes, Russian black tomato caught my eye.

- Francis Underwood (premium Aussie beef pattie, American cheddar cheese, tomato, butter, lettuce, potato mac & cheese croquette, special burger sauce & American mustard on a lightly toasted brioche bun) - a very large burger with a medium-cooked patty (probably be better rare or medium-rare), a soft molten croquette (probably be better with a nice fried crispy outside) and slightly thick bread that is a little dry. The burger is pretty decent overall and hits a spot.

I sampled one fry (forgot to order my own) and it was a thick straight cut chip with slight crisp and pretty good internal texture.

This was washed down with one of their Spiked Milkshakes - Seared Marshmallow (as they had run out of Kinder Surprise), Frangelico, Baileys which is quite expensive for $21. It ended up tasting much like a very mildly alcoholic Kahlua chocolate milkshake. Not too bad but quite overpriced I think. Especially without the Kinder Surprise.

Next time I would order any of The Chunk, Atomic or Jiro to try some other variety of burger. I'd remember to add a side of chips and probably just wash it down with water (why aren't there any non-alcoholic, reasonably priced milkshakes on the menu?)

Finding somewhere open and available to eat near Flemington on Boxing Day dinner was proving to be a last minute debacle. There's the standard (however good quality) options of Chef Lagenda, Laksa King and I Love Dumplings but the day needed a slight change to the cheap heavy Asian flavours in the area. A search on Urbanspoon uncovered Little Africa with its ridiculous 96% rating. A quick phone call confirmed they somehow still had dining vacancy and it was set.

The menu makes it easy to order - individual stew or the vegetarian or meat/seafood combinations of the day. Chai with kamman tasted like a tea with heavy cardamom infusion. I had to add half tsp of sugar for my own palate.

Of the vegetable dishes, my particular favourites were the tumtummo (split lentils stewed in a thick but mild sauce with seasoning) and exceptional fool (fava beans, cooked until tender mashed then mixed with ghee butter and seasoning, lemon juice & cumin topped with green chilli, onions and tomato). The meat and fish curries were also good, particularly the lamb zighini (cubes of lamb slowly cooked in a rich berbere sauce with mixed spices and clarified butter).

Injera had the right mild amount of sour tang which to me is essential in this cuisine. Although I was a little disappointed that an extra injera was listed at $1 each both online and inhouse (which is the retail price in Melbourne - visit Racecourse Road) whereas in the end they told me it was now $2. Not a big deal but unexpected in the end.

It has been a while since I had Ethiopian food last in either Footscray, Flemington, Collingwood or Nairobi. Although slightly more expensive I'd happily come back.

Next time I would order the combination of the day again. Even though I have my favourites, it's the variety of 6 that keeps the meal more interesting.

My favourite restaurant in Melbourne (and possibly anywhere in the world) is probably still Longrain. It is a little expensive to go often and with a budget in mind, it was a good idea to find something serving similar. I haven't been to the queue frenzy known as Chin Chin and I think it's unlikely I'll make it in the near future. In any case, I seem to be quite consistently informed the hype/queue/hipness doesn't translate into unique or incomparable food (albeit far from bad as such).

Rice Paper Scissors seems like a new kid on the block around the way from Longrain and Gingerboy but with a much more friendly price tag. The concept of Asian tapas lends itself to trying lots of dishes which is great. And the 5 for $55 is a steal with an added green papaya salad

- Steamed Pork Buns (with pork belly, cucumber, shallots, hoisin sauce) - slightly different interpretation with a burger-style bun that could've used more fluffiness, but otherwise the proper combination of flavours a la David Chang and Yum Bun, and a surpassing piece of roast pork crackling and all;
- BBQ Lamb Ribs (with Mekong whiskey marinade, sticky sauce) - ribs, ribs, ribs, always my favourite and this is no exception;
- Mini Vietnamese Baguette banh mi (with crispy soft shell crab, pickled vegetables, herbs, homemade pate) - soft shell crab sandwich. Simple and tasty;
- BBQ Pork Neck (marinated in black pepper, garlic, coriander root) - tender slices of pork (perhaps could have been a touch rarer) in a sweet salty sauce;
- Crispy Coconut Wafer banh xeo (with pork, prawn, bean shoot, fresh herbs) - not what I was expecting from banh xeo. The flavour of the filling was nice but the banh xeo itself was thick like a rice cake instead of wispy thin and malleable;
- Green Papaya Salad (with peanuts, long beans, chillies) - an excellent rendition with delicious balanced nuoc mam and a moderate kick of chilli. You can pay extra for prawns or meat but it isn't necessary.

Next time I would order as many dishes as possible. All range from good to great, and that's before I've even tried some other options like Thai Fried Chicken or Smoked Scallop Betel Leaf. Will definitely be back.

Add-on 12-2014

95% Urbanspoon and (the waitress this evening informed me) also Tripadvisor #1. Obviously these guys continue to do something really well. It was a choice between here and Longrain for the annual family Christmas dinner and this was the cheaper (and shorter queuing) option. Dishes not previously tried:

- Thai Fried Chicken (marinated in galangal, chilli & coriander root) - crispy, soft and served with a chilli (Sriracha?) mayonnaise;
- Thai Ceviche (lime cured kingfish salad with mint, chilli and shallots) - elegantly tangy eaten with prawn crackers;
- Duck Salad (minced duck, roasted rice, herbs & a fiery dressing served with lettuce cups) - an upmarket version of larb, mild duck flavour, intense dressing;
- Waterfall Beef Salad (with toasted ground rice, shallot, chilli, herbs & a spicy dressing) - really powerfully flavoured meat neutralised by an intensely strong dressing.

Even saved some stuffing space for dessert. To be fair I was probably much too full to enjoy these as much as they should be. And I'm not usually a dessert person:

- Ice Cream Sanga (sweet toasted buns filled with coconut sticky rice, homemade mango sorbet, crushed nuts) - don't quite remember it. Will need to try it again.
- Poached Nashi Pears (in sang som & cassia bark, with peanut crumble & pandan sorbet) - sorbet is really good and 'pandanous'. Gave me a craving for it which I found again at Il Dolce Freddo a few nights later.

As compared to the first meal here, the BBQ Lamb Ribs were once again delicious and pulled easily from the bone but with enough texture not to collapse on picking them up. The BBQ Pork Neck was much rarer (ie. better cooked) and tender - more impressive. Ordered the Green Papaya Salad both with and without prawns. Additional prawns were nice but as I thought earlier, not necessary.

The meal was once again delicious. I do wonder if a lot of the nuoc mam-style sauces are very similar (or identical) between some dishes (eg. ceviche, larb, beef salad, green papaya salad) with slight variation in the amount of chilli, lime or fish sauce. Nonetheless they are all good. I would like to see rice as an option too, just to help mop up and in some cases temper the flavours.

Next time I would order Steamed Pork Buns, BBQ Lamb Ribs, Thai Fried Chicken, Green Papaya Salad and/or Waterfall Beef Salad from what I've tried. Considering all these are meat-based, the balance would come from (untried) Betel Leaf, Tempura Prawn or a seafood special (eg. calamari).