Eat Like Ushi

The first meal of the year was going to be on Gertrude Street. Actually the intention was Archie's as my brother was convinced it would be open - according to his internet searching. However for the second time within 2 weeks, he was sadly disappointed by their closed doors. No matter, the beauty of Gertrude Street is the multitude of cafes and brunches to pick from.

I've always thought Arcadia to be not as good as the nearby De Clieu or slightly further Proud Mary and Three Bags Full. I'm not sure why this was - maybe I preferred the food and drink at the other two, maybe those places were always more difficult to get seats in, maybe I just like the food options better there as being more creative. I think it's better than my last visit to Birdman Eating (around 2010).

- Corn fritter stack with fennel, caper & cherry tomato salad, smashed avocado, poached eggs, habanero chilli lime mayo & smoked salmon $20.9
- Panfried rosemary & garlic mash potato cake with spinach, bacon, poached eggs & sweet bell pepper pesto $20.9

Like always the meals were fine but I wasn't overwhelmed. Keep in mind that thinking other places are better is far from saying Arcadia is bad - on the contrary it is good and the dishes will always be fine but I still prefer the others.

One late evening just before Christmas I was wondering around Victoria Street by myself looking for dinner. I ended up being distracted by some friends coincidentally there and so by the time I tried to eat dinner it was already 9pm. I sought out Jinda Thai (it was closed for the holidays), Arisoo (closed already), Seoul Soul (about to close) and walked past a few slightly open Vietnamese and Laotian places all on the verge of shutting down. Hmmm. The options were limited. I hadn't been to Jaidee Thai before but it was still serving, small enough to be cute and not mass producing food, and seemed like I could get some peace in there.

- Som Tum Thai Bpuu (papaya salad with Thai pickled crabs) $11
- Guay-Tiew Jaidee (rice noodle in beef stock with tender beef) $8.5

The food was very nice. The beef noodle soup was a bargain for the price and although not as complex in terms of spices and herbs, a comparable alternative to the pho surrounding the area. The papaya salad was medium spice - much too hot for me and I reaffirmed my previous dislike of crabs in the salad as being crunchy bits of shell and not palatable. Next time I would get mild or no chilli at all in the dishes.

A few weeks later I found myself having dinner there again this time in a more controlled time fashion. For the second time over the holiday period I tried Jinda Thai only to realise they were (still) closed. The decision came between my old favourite ISpicy 2 (although not having eaten there since 2011) and Jaidee. My dining companion hadn't tried Jaidee before and so it was set.

- Crying Tiger (chargrilled marinated beef with pepper & garlic sauce) $14.9 - a bit of a letdown with reasonably tender beef but not much flavour. The sauce was fine but nothing that special to me;
- Pua Toa Fu Makhru (stirfried beancurd, eggplant, garlic, chilli, basil) $13.9
- Steamed Barramundi (with garlic & chilli in spicy lemon sauce) $26.9 - I usually get whole fried fish at Thai restaurants (since I don't like deepfrying at home) but opted for a healthier version this time. It was a nicely cooked fish, not dry and with good sauce to complement the coconut rice.

Milk tea was a fluorescent bright drink quite sweet but not sickeningly so.

Overall I prefer the meal dishes at Jinda Thai or ISpicy 2 and would opt for their next time. However I'd definitely go back for the cheap beef noodle soup.

I was in the mood for laksa but enroute to Chef Lagenda was begrudgingly dissuaded into a recommended homestyle Korean place in Kensington. I actually like Korean dining and so in order to make up for laksa, there had to be a strong flavoured soup dish (usually chilli-based) or my other staple of chilli rice cakes. I didn't see tteokbokki on the menu but at least there was bibimbap, spicy seafood soup and if necessary japchae to select from.

The introductory snacks were much more unsual than the typical kimchi and pickle vegies. They served slivers of potato, egg wrapped in egg and some vegetables. I wouldn't have minded some kimchi though actually.

- Gyoja $6.9 - little dumplings (gyoza?) very well fried and crisp on all sides. The vegie filling was plain but enhanced well by the vinegar;
- Bibimbab with tofu $17.5 - the elements were nice but the sauce wasn't strong enough for me. I like the deep intense flavour of gochujang and add a lot of it. Also despite being served in a hot pot, it wasn't hot enough to sear and crisp the rice base which is an essential part of the dish in my opinion;
- Spicy seafood tofu soup $19.5 - moderate flavour tasty soup with nice pieces of prawn, calamari and tofu with enoki mushrooms. Served still bubbling and steaming with rice. Great dish.

Other customers seemed to be regulars with conversations of familiarity between them and the staff. A lot of people about seemed to be about to get married. The food was good with some limitations as mentioned and seemed a bit expensive for Korean food in Melbourne (my other comparator being Victoria Street). But it's good to support wonderfully friendly small businesses doing their best to feed people well.

After leaving I noticed another Korean place around the corner (Frying Colours) touting their fried chicken. I'll have to try that next time.

After brunch at Chez Dre, my inadvertent initial stumble into Bibelot and visual delight of chocolates and sparkling desserts meant I needed to look again. The gelato/sorbet list is extensive and each flavour individually reads like a special from any other place. I'm not a huge dessert person generally but I was told the small cakes here were better than Zumbo, Burch & Purchese etc. and so since in the area (and probably wouldn't be again for a while) I bought up large for takeaway.

1L gelato for $19.5 and 3 flavours started off. There's so many to pick from that although I wanted to taste a few, I knew it would take too long. I've had to leave the mandarin & yuzu, strawberry & lemon myrtle, amrood (since found out is guava) pineapple & chilli chocolate, coconut & pandan for another time.

Pistacchio gelato was mildly sweet, quite nutty and boosted by whole roasted pistacchios - excellent overall. Pear & ginger gelato was mild with intermittent chunks of crystallised ginger - unusual and great. Coconut & cherry chocolate sorbet was a mix of flavour with coconut being the most prominent - it was good but overwhelmed by the other two.

The beautiful gourmandise board $27 samples most of the cakes on display. The favourite two were the hazelnut-praline crunch (strong chocolate with crunching popping texture of the base) and the much lighter and softer manga, yuzu & coconut. Life with Bibelot and green tea dome were similarly light but very mild in flavour, and the other four chocolate options didn't wow me. The rose-raspberry macaron was very sweet (as expected) and a little too much for me.

I know what I'll be getting next time.

It's extremely rare I venture to South Melbourne. The last time was when I bought a cheap Scoopon gym membership for a few weeks and the only places I visited in the area were Andrew's (defeats the purpose of going the gym perhaps) and the market.

On this occasion it was enroute and I had time to spare. A quick look found the ridiculously well rated Chez Dre - I can't remember why the name sounded familiar. Maybe it was so highly rated a cafe that I intended to go sometime. Perhaps it's the same name as somewhere I've been overseas. Not sure. In any case the entrance at the end of a little alley is slightly hidden and went into Bibelot first by accident. On a Thursday late morning the place was quite full inside and outside.

There's some great sounding menu options and I had trouble deciding between the grilled sardines and pork belly. My waitress said the choice was difficult but each was completely different - either breakfast or lunch. After a pressured 15 seconds of indecision I opted for lunch.

- Confit Pork Belly (with pickled pear & chive salad, crispy pig ears, apple & vanilla puree) $23 - a very nice slab of pork belly (natural flavour, not too fatty, quite tender meat) served with the crispiest skin I could imagine. The ear slivers add a little smoky touch and firm texture and the salad is the cold and light contrast;
- Prana chai with soy - real spices served in a pot. Mildly sweet and a good amount of cardamom. Not bad.

I liked the lunch but maybe being 1115am I intrinsically felt like I was missing out on carbohydrates. It could've been related to my seat next to the counter with all the breads on display and reading the information card about their sourdough. I satisfied that craving by taking home a 1.5kg round michette loaf for my next morning's breakfast - a soft, strongly wheaty brown colour bread.

Next time I would order grilled sardines or spiced lamb jaffle for breakfast, lamb goujons for lunch and a smoothie or iced coffee.

I'd read about the meats at Dang Van Quyen. It was reaffirmation that the lovely hostess at the hotel independently recommended it for dinner. It was a late afternoon start and progressed into a prolonged night dinner.

The nem is expertly handed on the grill and is surprisingly a much less intense colour than what I'm used to seeing around Melbourne. Nonetheless the pork is delicious and self-wrapped in fresh rice paper with herbs, vegetables and fried rice paper.

The star was probably the chewy flattened pork which had a much more intense colour and flavour. After initially eating it in a noodle dish, the second ordering had to be on its own and also served in kebab cubes with salad.

The long walk back to the hotel was well needed under the relaxing sky and even included a walk past a small night food market (although much too full to get anything).

There's an alluring (or overwhelming) aroma of barbecued meats wafting in the streets of Hanoi. They entice you and make it difficult to escape unfed.

The trouble is that there's so many places to choose from, then it becomes a matter of sticking to principles - which ones are full (with locals), the food looks good, the food smells great. After much deliberation and walking back and forth, Nam Tung was chosen for the large seating area filled with bums (both local and foreign) and the food envy in my eyes.

All the dishes advertised on the sign were tried - well-cooked beef steak with (soft squishy) fries, delicious roasted birds and flavoursome tender pork ribs. You can't go too wrong for flavour with fish sauce-marinated barbecued meats.

On my list to visit was Nola Cafe. Unfortunately after eating so much I couldn't order any food there (most of the menu is Western and you can get cheaper local food outside). However in the interest of visiting my marked places and because in the night time the glowing red sign and moonlit atmosphere was so lovely and peaceful from the balconies, I'm glad I went in and had tea and a fruit shake.

Shilin night market is Taipei's largest and most famous. I spent a good 2 hours wandering back and forth, absorbing the smells and atmosphere, and trying to figure out what to eat.

Without much background into Taiwan's or the market's specialties, I settled on an oyster omelette, oyster noodles and aiyu jelly drink.

After eating all this I found some enormous fried chicken (schnitzel) for sale and a long queue. This triggered my interested and I wrestled for about 30mins deciding if I could stomach one. In the end my greed didn't win and I left with only the visual memory of it. In hindsight I should've taken advantage of the opportunity (as I've since discovered the chicken is probably the most well known food there) but I may as well save it for if I ever go back to Taiwan.

I hadn't done any research into Taipei eating other than the food markets. I expected that since I had a few tourist things to visit, there'd be something along the way I could find. My day's agenda was to visit Taipei 101 and the 91st floor observatory.

It may have been a small copout to eat in a food court, but the beef noodles being advertised seemed a good idea to warm up my body.

After eating it was time to find the observatory and see Taipei from the heights. It was quite chilly outside so as the sun set I enjoys the views through the windows and spend a good few hours passing time.