Eat Like Ushi

Back in 2012 at Miami's Ultra Music Festival, Madonna took to the stage during Avicii's set. "How many people in this crowd have seen Molly?" Although she tried to cover her actions by explaining she was referring to the song, it was quite obvious she was talking about this place in Canberra but decided in the end the best course was to keep it hidden.

Molly is difficult to find to the point that the website only gives coordinates (-35° 16' 46.45" S - 149° 7' 35.23" E). To anyone I've ever seen stumbling around town or clubs all over the world looking for Molly, look up those coordinates on Google maps.

This place oozes cool. From the single wooden door with the light globe sitting above it and no sign, walking down the steps feels (what is probably) similar to entering an underground brothel - excitement, trepidation and wonder as to what you'll find around the corner. Luckily what greets you is a classic moodlit bar, the classiest dressing bartenders all skilled to design your cocktail, a piano (although I'm yet to see someone play it) and charcuterie cut to order.

I'm waiting to come on an evening when there is live music and that would complete the excellent experience.

My first trip to Rum Bar last August was the first night out of drinking I'd had in Canberra. Perhaps it was this euphoria and the nice selection of drinks (did not have any food that time) that drove my opinion of this place. In particular the sensational Hot Buttered Rum was a dessert drink of dreams - sweet, warm, soothing, satisfying - and I couldn't help but tell people about it.

When the Facebook page announced a new food menu and a 2-for-1 Tuesday special, there was no better reason to return. I was sad to find the Hot Buttered Rum was only a winter concoction and that they didn't have the equipment to recreate it that evening. Location along the foreshore is as good as it gets in Canberra, and the interior decor is much better than the opposition drinking places in the area.

The drinks on this occasion were much less exciting than previously - it may have been partly due to the high cost of these cocktails (as expected in any higher end bar) but also they seemed relatively weak with the pouring shot glasses not being adequately filled, but I'd recently been to Molly where prices are the same but the drink excitement is better.

- Mini lamb kebab (served with hummus, tabouli, yogurt & harissa)
- Spicy fried school prawns served with aioli
- Flank steak served with potato & horseradish foam, poached egg & potato crisps
- Cheese fondue with grilled seasonal vegetables
- Pork Belly with pumpkin, walnuts & ricotta salata
- Salted cod fish fingers, garlic cream, mint, peas & smoked beetroot
- Octopus with almond gazpacho, olives, compressed cucumber & tomatoes

The food itself was fine without being special. Pork Belly was particularly nice. Overall I think the food prices are quite high given the serving sizes if paying full price. On this evening it did seem to take a very long time to cook (ie. 30mins for the starter and another 30-60 for the remaining), but I assume that was due to one cook and lots of guests taking advantage of the 2-for-1.

I think I'd only come back under two circumstances - Tuesday for 2-for-1 food items with a side drink or in winter if the Hot Buttered Rum makes a return.

One of the things I enjoyed about living in Abbotsford was that after a string of night shifts, I could walk home down Gertrude Street and reward myself with an excellent breakfast at any one of the brilliant cafes - De Clieu, Arcadia, Birdman, takeaway bread from Fatto a Mano, Proud Mary (a short detour) or as close to home as it got at Three Bags Full.

Three Bags Full in particular won me over as all the places serve similarly good and priced food, but they particularly have the gingery chai latte (from Phoenix chai syrup) that slightly burns the throat and makes me feel alive. I haven't had that flavour anywhere else in the world in a chai. I recently discovered a reasonably close cafe along the Kingston foreshore that may soon replace my Melbourne equivalents. Local Press isn't close enough to be overly convenient, but I think it's better than the closer local option of Penny University.

Let's start with the chai - served in a teapot with a warmer jumper, steeped with whole spices and easily avoiding the sweet syrup crap taste that most places have. My only preference would be if it was served with a strainer to prevent floaties in the cup. But I can work around that if the drink is good. Local Press is (probably) alluding to the refreshing juices in jars and there are also smoothies with chia seeds and other super ingredients.

The food is beautifully presented and complements the waterside view (not the best but I'll take it) and general people watching:

- Green Breaky Plate (za'tar coated hard boiled eggs with kale & almonds, avo, asparagus, quinoa tabouleh, fetta & dill yoghurt with smoked salmon) - healthy combination of textures (various seeds & nuts, feta, quinoa, salmon, asparagus, yoghurt...) and flavours including an excellent kale which I don't normally think highly of.

I went back the next month for lunch (woke up too late for breakfast). The dishes are still vibrant and flavoursome and only mildly more expensive:

- Smoked Trout & Quinoa Patty (with green apple, fennel & radish slaw, coriander, candied walnuts, kiwi-yoghurt dressing & sriracha chilli sauce);
- Grasslands' Free-Range Rare Pesto Beef (on Italian-style salad with marinated bocconcini, basil & heirloom tomatoes).

There's plenty of options to try for next time.

03-2015

A late Sunday lunch on a sunny afternoon was as pleasant as can be. The people types ranged from young families with energetic kids, a small mob of Chinese uni students, some early-20s attractive females in tight gym gear and some older couples wearing sunnies.

- Kingfish Sashimi (with pickled ginger, wasabi peas, wasabi mayo, avocado, roasted black sesame, nori sheets & grapefruit) - as usual the vibrant presentation mixing colours and ingredients was matched by the flavours and 6-or-so textures. I have to admit for $24, 5 slices of kingfish seemed a little thrifty but they were excellent quality and complemented best by the small Hershey's shaped wasabi mayo (Kewpie perhaps?). Rocket and firm rice salad added additional elements and made the dish more filling.

This was washed down lovingly with the usual berry & chia seed smoothie. Then it was off to the the gym.

04-2015

Easter Sunday - busy considering it was a Sunday at the best cafe around Kingston and similarly quiet given it was Easter and many were out of town. There was luckily no wait for seats at the communal table, nor were there any shortage of bike shorts and lycra. The beards were less frequent than usual which was great.

Round 2 of chai was served in another cosy teapot with warmer. There are 2.5 cups for the $4.50 (+50c for soy) which makes it an incredible bargain, especially given it's the only drinkable chai I've come across in Canberra. There is a mild sweetness (which can be enhanced at the table by sugar, including coconut sugar ie. palm sugar), a touch of ginger (I'd prefer more but it's acceptable) and is satisfying.

Juice of the day was a pineapple, beetroot, ginger concoction.

- Green Breaky Plate (za'tar coated hard boiled eggs with kale & almonds, avo, asparagus, quinoa tabouleh, fetta & dill yoghurt with ocean trout);
- Green Pea Pancake (with poached eggs, macerated avo, corn salsa, fetta, chilli jam & mint garnish) - another presentation spectacle matched by textures (pea pancake with very mild intrinsic flavour, tomato/peas/corn, smoked salmon, fine feta) and an occasional unexpected chilli after-burn mixed with poached eggs and avocado.

Still my favourite local cafe.

The first time I went to Cupping Room the wait ended up being too long for my stomach to handle. It was an impromptu visit after arriving at the airport that resulted in the second visit in the early afternoon and an immediate seat. Our waitress was a lovely lady whose accent I'm still trying to place - an unusual European or South American perhaps? Maybe I'll ask next time.

The coffee is proudly Ona's and I'm told it's good. I like how the menu espouses the quality of their "local real chai infused with Bonsoy" and I intend to try it one day, as few places make chai lattes with soy which certainly complements the flavour much more than cow's milk. However the barrier to this on both occasions has been this - Dark Chocolate, Cherry & Coconut King Shake. Imagine a cherry ripe blended, chilled and topped with additional desiccated coconut. It is as brilliant as it sounds and a sure fire menu item on my future imaginary cafe.

- Ham Hock, Corn & Potato Fritters (with two poached eggs, 'cuppers hot sauce' & a cress & alfalfa salad);
- Cascara Cured Salmon (with horseradish cream, cress, rye & curroway crutons, pickled fennel, beetroot jelly & a poached egg);
- Asian Honey-Glazed Pork Ribs (with purple slaw & lime) - meaty chewy ribs (rather than bone-slipping) with a reasonable glaze;
- special I can't quite remember with crumbed fish, potatoes and vibrant pickled vegetables.

The food is good, the drinks are great. I'll be back for the King Shake and a side serving of food.

I've previously only eaten in Fyshwick (the real Fyshwick area not the Sunday market) once - it was a surprisingly excellent breakfast at Ona Coffee House. On this occasion I was in the area to grab some padlocks from Bunnings and thought it was a good opportunity to find a quick lunch.

Located conveniently directly across from Ona is Elaine's. It's essentially a small cafe that looks like a milk bar/fish 'n' chip shop. They advertise award winning pies and thankfully the judges knew what they were talking about.

On two occasions I've visited and sampled Pepper Shepherds, (award winning) Beef Stroganoff, the giant vegetable pastie and a sausage roll. The specialty pies (Shepherds or not) seem to have a varying thickness of mash potato on top, a delicious crispy melted cheese coating, and some soft pastry lining the sides. Fillings can be chunky or smooth beef with the relevant pepper, stroganoff or other flavours within. Equally good is the sausage roll with the smoothest mince filling that slides down the throat. Possibly even better compared with the typical competitors is the pastie with a thin crisp pastry enclosing small vegetable chunks held together by mash potato.

The quality is all there as is the flavours. Excellent for a quick meal or takeaway for later in a park or at work.

Ebenezer Place seems to be the current trendy area for Adelaide's coffee and breakfast needs. At 745am, my first target was East End Providore (Urbanspoon 95%) which seems to be one of the newer ones and for that reason (or maybe it's also just plain good) the coolest of the lot. However considering the place didn't open until 8am, the ensuing 10minutes allowed me to read about it - that there is a limited menu (especially for breakfast) and some of the great ratings relate more to the providore/deli side of things. In any case it was more of a time factor that led me elsewhere on this occasion.

Wandering less than a minute in either direction or across the road gives the options of Sad Cafe (91%), Hey Jupiter (84%) and Nano (90%). Sad Cafe wasn't yet open (although already had 3 people waiting outside) and Nano was better rated than Hey Jupiter and seemed to be the oldest institution of the lot making the decision for me.

Clientele was a mixed combination of beards, suits and bike shorts with some random Italian phrases being thrown around too (presumably because the owners are Aussie-Italian). The menu reflects this and it largely Italian bread/pizza based with a slightly disappointing lack of fresher options (only saw one with yoghurt and fruit). In any case the Incarozza caught my eye (holy bread sauteed with egg, crispy pancetta, mozzarella, napoletana sugo) as interesting. It was a quite delicious thick serve of bread seemingly panfried on both sides embedded with fried egg. The topping had (not very crisp) pancetta, some melted cheese and a lovely tomato sugo and a few basil leaves (would definitely have appreciated more). It was reasonably heavy for early breakfast but a satisfying start to the morning.

Given the air was bordering on 30C, ice coffee was a welcome treat. Unlike the typical liquid versions with a token scoop of icecream, this was more of a blended smoothie incorporating coffee, icecream and (probably) ice into a thick smooth whip. It was great.

Next time I would order for lunch and test out some other bread/pizza options. I think for breakfast I'd try one of the other 3 places for something a bit lighter.

Over my last three trips to Adelaide, I've slowly starred more and more places on Google maps to remind myself of things worth trying. The list (admittedly) tends to be Asian focussed. So far the list entails Ricky's Kitchen (for chicken rice) or Warong (for Indo-Malaya laksa) or the nearby non-Asian United Latino Cocina (Mexican, fish tacos) which I discovered are sadly all only lunch options. Then there is Chinatown's Ying Chow (for duck and some kind of beans dish) or Concubine (other Chinese) which were a little too far away to walk to. Lastly near the Royal Adelaide Hospital is Golden Boy (modern Thai) which has a great sounding menu and I was very close to ending up in, but strangely only has average reviews (due to flavours, serving size, price).

In the end it came down to well rated dumplings place called Mandoo. I must admit I don't think I've ever had Korean dumplings, even in Seoul. My staple Korean dishes in Australia tend to be bibimbap and the occasional BBQ. Given the reviews and very high ratings, my curiosity and dumpling-cravings drew me in. Funnily enough just down the road looks like another reasonable Vietnamese-based place called Sit Lo which has the widespread open baos and pho as their specialty. Maybe next time.

Openly on display inside Mandoo is a large number of stacked metal steamers with the large parcels being assembled on a small bench in front. I positioned myself directly in front to watch the skilled action. The namesake dumplings come in two varieties - steamed or fried. From vast experience, I know that steamed are usually the basics and the marker of true greatness whereas my palate prefers the flavour and texture of fried. Luckily since all the servings are in 8, there is an option for half-half for $1 extra.

I ordered steamed kimchi mandoo (for the difference), fried pork mandoo (because fried pork is always the best flavoured) and beef bibimbap to wash it all down. They asked it I was ordering for 2. No, just 1. I smiled.

One of the reviews on Urbanspoon opined the mandoo themselves have little intrinsic flavour and it is the dipping sauce that brings it to life. I have to agree. Firstly the dumplings are huge (compared with typical Chinese or Japanese) each one being having a rounded diameter of 4-5cm. The steamed skins are thin and not too gelatinous which is fine but also means once you bite or dip, the large size is difficult to hold together and the filling comes out. The fried version on the other hand holds much better as expected. Kimchi filling was very very mild compared to usual kimchi vegetables. The pork filling wasn't very seasoned either but was fine. The dipping sauce of vinegar, chilli, sesame gave the dumplings a huge kick of flavour and intensity.

Bibimbap was a well sized bowl of steamed rice, lots of vegetable combinations, flavoursome beef and an excellent gochujang sauce with a perfect amount of chilli. One disappointment was my hope of serving or cooking in a stone pot with the bottom rice becoming crisp and burnt. This is my favourite textural element of bibimbap but didn't detract from the other nice flavours and textures. It also came with a small bowl of nice fish-konbu soup that would otherwise serve the base of their menu udon dish.

Next time I would order the fried chicken mandoo (to see what if they had more intrinsic flavour than the pork) and try either the udon or mandoo dumpling soup. For a one dish dinner, the bibimbap was more satisfying to me than the fried pork mandoo. But ideally try both and prepare to package a bit for takeaway.

After a tasty meal at Mandoo, I meandered back towards the Royal Adelaide Hospital (where I was staying). The scenic walk by the river in the evening heat of 34C was peaceful and a good way to settle the food load. After reaching my destination, part of me decided to continue walking through the streets nearby. Even though I'd like to think this was in order to get a bit more exercise and scope out a breakfast destination for a couple of days later, I'm realistic enough to know I also had a craving for ice-cream.

Not knowing anywhere specifically that had dessert (other than Steven ter Horst chocolatier which looks very nice but more expensive than I was willing to spend on myself), I was lucky to come across Cocolat. It's quite a large cafe and I would have treated it like a typical average Italian gelato place (ie. likely looked but ignored) if it wasn't for the sign that said "Australian Grand Dairy Awards - Back to Back Champion".

Looking on the website now, they won in 2011 for hazelnut-choc royale and 2012 for pistachio. Inside the store itself I only saw the award for the ferrero-roche (which the girl told me was the hazelnut-choc royale). I tried the pistachio as I simply do at every place, but even though the flavour was reasonable and mild, the intense green colour put me off slightly (NB. I like my pistachio dark green or brown).

Nonetheless I had a double scoop cup for $6.50 with hazelnut-choc royale and coconut. The lovely petite red-haired girl serving was in an ecstatic mood and gave me two enormous scoops. Even by her own admission she was feeling generous that day, which ended up being way too much for me alone but I appreciated her enthusiasm.

Both flavours were well blended and smooth, without any hint of ice crystals. The texture was broken up by pieces of ferrero-roche, chocolat slices and small coconut flesh. The coconut was the best version I've had (and also the favourite of the red-haired girl). I can see why the hazelnut-choc is popular but ended up being too sweet and intense for me. Nonetheless I'd happily go back again, especially if she is serving. If the flavour makers ever read this, coconut-pandan is the way to go. Hopefully next time.

There was a short 2 hour slot before having to go to the airport. This was just enough time for one more meal. Luckily taxis around Seminyak don't take too long and don't cost too much to get to most places of interest. Anantara to Potato Head only took 10mins which left plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings in an otherwise unexpected visit.

It initially feels like an odd place - taxis drive through a security area and dropoff outside some fancy looking shops. You go past more security into what looks like an enormous speckled Colosseum and wind around the impressive corridors. A series of young females greet you and ask where you'd like to go - eat side 1(Lilin - Balinese), eat side 2 (Potato Head Bistro) or fancy eating (Tappingshoes - French). I think there are additional options of the lounge areas but I'm sure you pay more for those.

Being in Bali, the choice was always going to be Lilin, and I'd read briefly about it online somewhere so the name was familiar. As you are led towards the eating area, you can't help but notice the grassy central grazing area, the umbrellas, infinity pool, ocean and horizon. It's a beautiful setting and explains the popularity, nearly all tourist crowd (Western and Asian), beach bodies and high prices. What's also surprising is the number of older patrons and families including young children.

The drinks menu has dreamy cocktails. The Mango Jerry (vanilla tequila, spice sugar, honey, lime juice, mango, orange liquer) was selected for both the picture of it in the Potato Head mug (of which I was tempted to take one away like those delinquents at Oktoberfest) and the fruity sweet elements that I like. Others enjoyed on the day were Mai Tai (light & dark rum, lime, orange curacao, almond syrup, pineapple), and a non-alcoholic Mango Lassy.

- complimentary Shrimp, grapefruit, fish sauce and coriander was a nice tangy spoonful to commence.

Entree Set of Four:
- Crispy Roasted Pork Belly (with honey chilli reduction) - tasty pieces reminiscent of Chinese style;
- Golden Prawn Ball (crispy minced prawns marinated with a selection of fresh herbs, served with sweet chilli & plum sauce)
- Catfish with Red Chilli Sambal (fried fillet of catfish served with homemade red chilli paste) - a little crumbly and not as crispy as I would have liked;
- Baby Squid in Yellow Curry (stuffed with minced pork & fresh herbs) - only a few small squid morsels, but an absolutely delicious curry sauce that I could drink or eat alone with rice.

Mains:
- Grilled Prawn (live sea prawns grilled with garlic, lemon & chilli sambal) - expected larger prawns rather than the bite-sized snack versions. In any case quite nice but could've used more seasoning and chilli;
- Asian Chilli Crab (served with fried buns) - small crab in chilli sauce. As usual I feel the effort for crab meat isn't always worth the reward. What I did like was my second experience with fried mantou buns (which I've had trouble finding since Melbourne's Mao Restaurant);
- Wok-Fried Clams (with chilli paste, kaffir lime leaf, spring onions) - potent heavy flavoured sauce with only very small (other than a few) clam meat. I like my clams big and meaty (a la Borough Market Richard Hawards);
- Kangkung Belacan
- Coconut Rice and Red Rice

The food is fine, the drinks are great, the prices are high considering the quality you can get in Bali for low costs. The setting makes it a worthwhile visit though - you're enjoying more here than just tastes. Give yourself more time than 1.5 hours and enjoy the sunset and basking warmth.

The final dinner of the trip was initially booked at Sarong - a modern pan-Asian upmarket experience rated currently at #47 in San Pellegrino Asian restaurants. Unfortunately someone had a few belly problems meaning the consensus was to cancel the booking on the day and wait until the evening to see how far from the hotel this belly would let us venture.

As mentioned in the Bo & Buns post, Fat Gajah was another place I had only read up the afternoon before, and the menu of dumpling variety interested me. I can say that in all my travels and food places thusfar, I haven't experienced anywhere that has gourmet modern dumplings. As much as I appreciate the standard yum cha, Din Tai Fung and other Asian dumpling varieties, this was on another level of cool and creative. Funnily enough I didn't even realise how impressive the noodle menu was also until looking at the menu once we sat down.

The cocktail menu is equally enchanting. Red Dragon Sangria (red wine, brandy, dragon fruit, mango, strawberries, raspberries, lime, vanilla bean) is a tropical version that tastes as good as it sounds. The excellent local fruit made it particularly special. The other Fat Cocktails were nearly all designed with me in mind, and if only I had enough time and alcoholic penchant I would've gone through several.

It was a quiet time in Bali (which is great) meaning there was noone else there when we arrived. The army of chefs standing across from us waited to see what orders would get them kicking into gear.

Snacks:
- Braised Beef Short Ribs in Steamed Chinese Bun (Pickled Cucumber, Cilantro, Lettuce, Roasted Red Pepper) - not quite what I was expecting. I thought either an open gua bao or even a closed classic bao (less likely). Actually turned out to be a bao base topped with shredded beef. This made it surprisingly difficult to eat/share. I didn't feel the flavours or textures here were that good. The only dish tonight I probably wouldn't order again;
- Amazing Fat Gajah Tofu Chips (Peanut Pecel Dressing and Pickled Cucumber) - mildly seasoned tofu skins deepfried into a light thin chip, most reminiscent of a flaky corn chip. In the grand scheme of things I probably prefer potato/sweet potato chips but this is certainly different.

Dumplings:
- Spicy Beef Rendang Pot Stickers (Bird’s Eye Chili, Lemon Yogurt, Cilantro, Yellow Bell Pepper, Egg, Scallion) - a very different kind of fried dumpling, with mild chilli and yogurt sauce making it feel almost Mediterranean. The rendang flavour wasn't very strong;
- Seared Lamb Shank Lemongrass Dumplings (Grilled White Onion, Jicama and a light Lemongrass Curry) - my favourite dumplings of those tried. The meat texture was silky smooth like a blended mince and the lamb flavour stood out strong. The delicious curry sauce was a drinkable bonus;
- Steamed Black Pepper Crab Dumplings (Soy Cardamon, Green Peas)
- Steamed Beef Short Ribs Dumpling (Orange Peel, Chinese Broccoli in Soy Ginger Honey)
- Sesame Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna Squares (Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime, Chilli, Fish Sauce)

Noodles:
- Crisp Salty Egg Oyster Mushroom in Ramen Noodles (Scallion, Green Pepper, Chili Pepper, Pikled Cucumber, Chives) - surprising winner dish of the evening. I wouldn't ordinary order this, but my dad wanted it. The salted egg flavour was only very mildly coating the mushrooms, but extremely heavy stuck to the noodles. This was sensational and delicious;
- Red Snapper Bakso Balls in Squid Ink Noodles (Bok Choy, Celery, Dill, in a light Soy Fish Broth, Crisp Egg noodles) - the only soupy noodle dish with sweet savoury broth and black noodles (very very mild squid ink flavour);
- Beef Tenderloin Curried Noodles (Crisp Beef Jerky, Beef Floss, Red Chilies, Bok Choy, Chinese Cabbage, Sauteed Flat Rice) - combination of different textured and degree of flavoured beefs (the jerky being as expected the most potent);
- Spicy Soft Shell Crab Noodle (Egg Noodle, Onion, Caisin, Fennel, Scallion, Sesame Seeds)

This was a fantastic meal. With the exception of the Chinese Bun, I would order any of these again and given the success of the dishes try anything on their menu. For me the Lamb Shank dumplings and particularly Salty Egg Noodles would be what I'd have again every time. Coupled with a wonderful drink menu, this is one place I am delighted to have tried.