Eat Like Ushi

During a short weekend staying at World Square, the surrounding food places I had marked on Google maps surrounded me. As I was headed toward the Vivid cruise (which is an incredible waste of time and money), Menya was enroute. I had starred this place as somewhere to try Sydney's ramen, in addition to Ippudo, Gumshara and Ikkyu.

The setting is very simple and pays homage to the typical Japan noodle bars (minus the free hard boiled eggs and vending machines). At least they had shichimi on the tables on standby.

- Tempura Soba $12.90 (prawn tempura, kakiage tempura, shallot, fish cake & sesame seed) - quality soba with great flavour. The soup was a clear and more simply flavoured broth. Unfortunately the tempura is placed in the soup so the coating became soft very quickly;
- B addon (beef rice and gyoza) $5 - standard gyoza and unexciting beef on rice. Both were just fillers;
- Black Garlic Ramen $11.30 (black garlic oil, roasted pork, fish cake, bamboo shoots, shallot, sesame seed, dried seaweed & seasoned boiled egg) - thin hearty pork soup with excellent quality chewy noodles. The pork slices were thin. The tonkotsu soup wasn't as fatty/thick as I hoped for but full of salty flavour, and the black garlic elevated it to another level, replacing my usual practise of crushing raw garlic in;
- Takoyaki - unusually perfectly rounded spheres with a tiny amount of octopus and topped with the standard sauce, mayonnaise and fish flakes.

It was great value and pretty good overall. Next time I'd stick to the noodles and not the sides. I've read Gumshara has the thickest broth, so maybe this is the place I need to try to emulate Bone Daddies.

After recently expanding my Korean food horizons in Melbourne (the modern Bistro K, the fried chicken of Gami, and the quality basics of Arisoo and Seoul Soul), I felt like seeing what Canberra had to offer. Honestly I re-discovered for the 2nd time in a month that Urban Pantry isn't open on a Tuesday (or Monday) and so picked somewhere else in the vicinity.

In Korea, meals get served with a load of condiments. Although not the same, Tosung certainly gave more than the other Korean places I've been to in Australia. Condiments of kimchi, some kind of white soft jelly I couldn't figure out, tofu and vegetables were served.

- Yungyang Wang Galbitang $13 (beef rib soup) - delicious warming beef soup with tender meat;
- Dolsot bibimbap $13 (Mixed vegetables, beef & egg on steamed rice in hot pot) - gochujang sauce is excellent, but otherwise the individual ingredient flavours weren't too special. Also the rice was probably too wet so there was no burnt crust formed on the bottom;
- Hae Mul Ddeok Bok Ki $25 (rice cake & seafood with chilli sauce) - I was desperate for rice cakes and this $25 dish was the only one. The chilli flavour was great with nice octopus, squid and chewy rice cakes. The shellfish and prawns were a bit disappointing;
- Green tea icecream with chocolate sauce - a nice green tea possibly scooped out of a little cylindrical carton.

The food is nice and not overly expensive for general Canberra and the midst of Manuka. I'd be happy to eat there again and possibly try the charcoal BBQ they are known for.

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.

It wasn't the biggest deal until I read a few weeks later they had actually won the title of best gelato in the world at a competition in Italy for their almond affogato flavour. Considering the amount of gelato I've eaten in Italy (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelato-trail-italy-07-2012) and to a lesser degree Spain, I couldn't see when I'd next have an opportunity to visit this place and test this flavour.

Interestingly enough on the second night of Vivid in Sydney, I was walking through Martin Place looking at the light shows that were honestly not overly impressive. What interested me was the food stall booths that appeared, and then there is was - Cow & Moon. I was hoping for the famous almond affogato and to try my staple benchmark pistachio, but unfortunately the former had sold out and the latter sold their last scoop 2 persons before me.

The flavours tried on this evening - from top left to bottom right:

- Hazelnut - good quality nocciola and my substitute for pistachio when not available. The best I've had still remains in Alba, who have their own famous hazelnuts, but this was an excellent milder version;
- Salted caramel and banana - good banana taste, didn't have the saltiness that I don't particularly like;
- Popcorn - very sweet, caramelised, a little too sweet for my usual liking;
- Dark chocolate - slightly bitter deep cocoa flavour.

I was slightly disappointed that there was an occasional ice crystal, but given the booth stall outdoors I have to be a bit forgiving. What I can say is the flavours were elegant, prominent and truly world class in quality.

I look forward to the next time.

During the entire China trip, the only real food venue I researched was the famous Peking duck. Naturally its home is in Beijing and so I read a few online articles before settling upon a place. What struck me about Li Qun was that the setting is more discreet, amongst the hutongs of Beijing away from the crowds, and it had been recommended by a few people online including Kylie Kwong (who was probably the only Chinese-style celebrity chef I knew of back then).

On a freezing January evening, I braved the cold and dark to find this place. Armed with my Lonely Planet map and a whole lot of clothing, I eventually found the wall inscriptions showing me the way.

This quiet night had me and one other small table as guests. The host attempted in vain to communicate in Mandarin. Eventually she spoke a simple English phrase - "1 person, 1 duck". I nodded my agreement for the approximately $30 course. The ducks were hanging in a brick oven with woodfire licking their skins. One came to my table and was carved and set down alongside wraps, spring onion and hoisin sauce.

I had previously read the traditional Peking way was to eat almost exclusively skin, but this was nicely balanced between skin and tender flesh. In the end I struggled my way heroically through an entire duck before waddling out. In hindsight it was a nice experience, although I can't put any duck in front of the glorious samples from HKK in London (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hkk-london-04-2013).

In any case if I ever make it back to Beijing, I'll come here and try another place, to see how my tastes may have changed.

On a small street opposite a Punto supermarket (which stocks an enormous packet of chips) is Momus. It isn't much to look at but has reputation for pizza, pasta and risotto. For the last meal on this extraordinary Italy trip, taking things back to basics seemed like a fitting farewell.

- Risotto with black squid ink;
- Linguine allo scoglio (with seafood);
- Ravioli ai crostacei in salsa reale (shellfish ravioli with grouper, crab meat & shrimps) - very rich decadent creamy dish topped with crab roe.

After this was a pleasant walk back, a trip to the airport, and Ryanair luxury back to Stansted. Until next time Italy.

Whilst living in London I subscribed to one magazine only - The Lonely Planet. Even though I'm not a big fan of LP guidebooks (as I much prefer Rough Guide to travel with and annotated personally from internet research), the magazine is one of the best in the world for a reason. The stories, photos and travel lust it inspires is better than almost any I've seen, and more budget friendly for typical European travel (as opposed to me other favourite Travel & Leisure which is much more flashpacker or hotel style).

The LP magazine once had a short travel card for Milan where it recommended Temperanza as *the* place for risotto, with dozens of varieties, of which only a certain few will make the menu each day. It's a generalisation that north Italy is more rice based than middle and south which are more pasta based. It didn't take much convincing to trek all the way up far north-east Milan to visit here.

- Risotto ragu di cervo e porcini (deer ragout with cep mushrooms);
- Risotto calamaretti, trevisana e bacon (squids, trevisan red chicory & smoked bacon);
- Umido di cinghiale con uva passa (boar stew with raisins);
- Insalata con verdure saltate (vegetable salad withescarole, baby spinach, soy sprouts, radishes, peppers, marrows, tofu, ginger, sesame).

The risotto was perfectly cooked and the flavour combinations were different. I'm not sure I'd say they are the best risotto flavour combinations I've eaten (probably because I prefer strong seafood flavours) but the creativity is certainly there. The menu reads like a gourmet dream with dishes I didn't see anywhere else in Italy. Definitely worth a visit.

There were only two food destinations within central Milan that made it on my list. One was a relatively expensive but nice looking foodhall called Peck, and the other was a famous bakery called Luini.

This place is perfect for a snack or you can load up and turn it into a meal. It specialised in panzerotti, which are stuffed deepfried folded over pastries filled with assorted meats, vegetables and cheeses.

I opted for the fried spinach and ricotta cheese version. For the health conscious, they also have oven baked. But why skimp on flavour when on holiday?

A decent walk away down to the quieter streets of Milan's south-east takes you through the city, the trams, past a park and to All'Antica. It seems most of the recommended food places in Milan aren't in the middle of town.

The reputation here was for typical Milanese dishes and also osso buco. On this occasion they didn't have osso available, but there were plenty of other dishes to make up for it. The food is a little more expensive than your typical, and the setting is finer. I wouldn't imagine there aren't many non-Italians that come here (or to this part of town).

- Spaghetti con gamberi di Mazaza e riccio (with prawns from Mazzara & sea urchin) - wet pasta dish with a subtle flavour of sea urchin in the sauce;
- recommended simple salad of greens and fresh cherry tomatoes;
- Galletto alla diavola (cockerel in the oven with herbs) - splayed out roasted chicken;
- Cotoletta alla Milanese (Milanese cutlet breaded & fried) - tender tasty veal cutlet.

Next door is a massage place. It was tempting to go in, but after a huge meal probably not the best idea. That, and the place looks like it may be a dirty massage.