Eat Like Ushi

It's interesting. American burgers are so well reputed. To be fair I do recall a surprisingly tasty burger from In & Out in San Francisco, eaten right before an enormous banquet meal at The Slanted Door. Shake Shack is supposedly the darling of NYC and the one that people rave about (other than the hidden burger joint) - I didn't get a chance to try either when I was there, basically because there were so many other food experiences I preferred (eg. Momofuku, Eleven Madison Park, lots of pizza etc). With great interest Shake Shack opened in the middle of Covent Garden in July. Covent Garden is one of my favourite places to go. I don't go for the shopping, I only go to wander through the market, to see some buskers, have drinks on a Saturday afternoon or to visit MEATmarket.

Months of hype lead to me Shake Shack on opening evening. After a solid 60min wait snaking through a line I finally got to the front. The staff were handing out Evening Standards to help keep us entertained.

- Shack Stack (cheeseburger & mushroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce) - a relatively simple tasting burger. Satisfying but not all that special;
- Stick Toffee Concrete (vanilla custard, chocolate toffee, paul a. young chocolate chunks, salted caramel sauce, malt powder) - a dessert with lots of sweet and salty powers which was quite good;
- fries - crinkle cut is different. Quite crispy exteriors, insides a bit mushy;
- Shack-Cago Dog @ Dubai airport (German all-beef hot dog, Rick's Picks Shack relish, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper, celery salt, mustard)

MEATliquor is different and better for both burgers and hot dogs. Tommi's is more comparable (with a similar type of burger) and much better. I never tried Patty & Bun but my friends rate that around MEATliquor level. Shake Shack just doesn't stack up at all. Five Guys is supposedly even worse. London burger quality has certainly taken over.

Next time I would order from MEATmarket just across the way. It's not a bad option if in Dubai airport (the only other place I've tried it) since there isn't anything similar other than McDonalds/Burger King, but it's more expensive.

Over a manly discussion about ribs (coincidentally at Porky's in Camden), my mate told me about some kind of bbq meat contest he went to in London earlier that year. Apparently for a small fee, ribs and alcohol were served at 10 different competitors, of which you were entitled to try all 10. Sounds like a great idea - I'm disappointed I missed it. His favourite was from Blue Boar, a smokehouse in a rather fancy Westminster hotel the InterContinental. It definitely wasn't the expected setting for some grimy ribs, but a birthday occasion and upmarket cocktails brought us there.

After a couple of hours sitting at the bar with a variety of £12 cocktails, we were ushered into the main dining room and their big cushy booths.

- The Blue Boar Ribs - served lovingly in a cup, they were crispy, meaty and finger-loving. More BBQ flavour than Pitt Cue Co. Not necessarily better, but different;
- Pulled Lamb Shoulder - lovely and soft although the flavour wasn't very strong. I probably liked the pickle the most on the tray.

It is a far way to go for ribs as the other dishes had trouble keeping up with them in terms of quality. Given the location (not the most convenient for a lot of people), the higher prices and such, you'd probably be better off going for ribs at Pitt (if they ever bring them back) or somewhere else. But if nicer mood and dirty food is on the cards, this place is probably the only one.

Afterwards you can wander through the hotel and see the absolutely incredible display of (what looks like) silvered toys, from X-men, Masters of the Universe, Transformers to Pixar.

Next time I would order ribs, ribs and more ribs. The main dishes were good, but everyone agreed they didn't compare to the ribs (including pulled pork, pulled lamb and the tiny serve of chicken main).

There isn't much finer dining choice around Beau Vallon (perhaps not so much around Mahe itself). When the Tripadvisor #1 coincides with being down a couple of streets from where you stay, and the old Frenchman tells you that they have the best food on the island you feel compelled to try it.

The restaurant doesn't look much during the day (it isn't open during this time). An empty carpark that looks like somewhere kids would hang out with their Commodores, a white walled building and a walkway to the entrance on the other side. But at night, the lights give it a smoother atmosphere, coupled with the fact it's on a relatively major road to and from the beach, and couples and locals wander in the barmy evening off into the darkness.

The staff are welcoming here. Reservations are necessary. The menu is noticeably more expensive and more catered to outsiders than everything else around. It's a mix of international/seafood/Creole with touches of Italian/French. One of the few times I was silly enough to forget a photo of the menu. A good amount of the seafood is local

- local fish soup SCR100
- octopus salad SCR160
- seafood platter with lobster SCR700

Everything was nice without being exceptional. You can go here for a nice date night and something different from the rest of town. Honestly there probably isn't that much around Beau Vallon to pick from if you were staying for a while without cooking facilities. I personally would prefer the market local food or buying freshly caught fish, but once in a while it's a relaxing change.

The day after returning to Melbourne from London, the first meal out was Chimac. It was sold as fusion Mexican-Korean with a fried chicken focus. That sounds alright doesn't it?

It seems the area behind Queen Vic Market has developed into a series of (mainly Korean) Asian restaurants. Maybe they've been here for a while but I'm just slow to catch up with the Korean street food movement. Maybe it's simply because I don't mind Queen Vic all that appealing, and there Wednesday evening summer markets have really ordinary festival-style food.

- Spicy Pork and Bulgogi Tacos - $15 for 2 tacos? Times are changing;
- Fried Dumpling - don't remember them to be honest. So presumably standard, not bad, not great;
- Chimac Chicken (bloody sweet and ultra crispy) - chicken is fine, the sauces are sticky and tasty. Comfort food.

It's social food. It's okay without being great. It's probably expensive for what you're getting. I think the marketing is probably capitalising on the reputation of the Kogi food truck in LA. But it's working and I wouldn't protest in coming back here.

Apparently Penny University refers to old coffee houses in London where people paid a penny for coffee. Anything London-related piques my interest these days, although London coffee is notoriously quite average (with the exception of a reputed few run by Australians). Local new cafes are always welcome, and on their second day of opening it certainly caught my attention as I walked past aimlessly.

I've been a few times and tried several things. It's great for the daytime (odd-hour employed) people who want somewhere to sit, somewhere to eat, relaxing atmosphere and to wifi their laptops.

It isn't cheap, and I'm not especially fond of Sunday, public holiday and credit card surcharges. But what can you do.

I've had coffee here once (I'm not a coffee drinker) and it was exceptionally bitter. If you ask me that usually means it's burnt, but I'm certainly not an expert. Maybe it's just a unique type of bean. The soy chai latte is average standard too (for outside Melbourne) - creamy, sweet and quite a lot of cinnamon. On the other hand, the mixed berry smoothie is great - sour yoghurt, lots of blended berries and topped with pistachios. I definitely approve.

- Cazuela (soft poached eggs, spicy harissa baked beans, greens, pistachios, dukkah, labneh) - simple dish, very tomato flavoured, nice;
- Magic Mushroom (pan tossed salad of truffled mushrooms, olive oil poached potato, baby chard, asparagus, chevre with leek & parmesan pancake) - I think too much white truffle oil is lathered across which overpowers the flavours;
- Mr Penny (breakfast burger of fluffy cheddar scrambles, streaky pialligo smoked bacon, spinach, penny's tomato salsa) - burger version of a big breakfast;
- Croissant French Toast (with caramelised banana, cinnamon, mascarpone & maple syrup) - enormous serve of heavily sweet and buttery components. It's very nice but trying to finish it is an exercise in overindulgence;
- Eggs Your Way (free-range poached) with side of Breakfast Pudding (black sticky rice, coconut, grilled mango, nut brittle) - given the supposed London connection, I thought I'd ask if they did black pudding. The waitress asked the chef who said yes, and came back with this. Miscommunication. Lesson learnt. Nonetheless the pudding is nice, not much coconut milk/flavour as you'd expect after having black sticky rice in Asian desserts. I suppose it's meant to be the healthy option.

The atmosphere is nice, the food is good (without being great) and it's somewhere local in Kingston to meet up and hangout.

Next time I would order things I haven't eaten there yet - Avo Dish or Miso-Cured Snapper for breakfast or Twice-Cooked Beef Rib for lunch. Washed down with a berry smoothie.

Burgers - all the rage. Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide seem to have picked it up the last few years. Although I don't think any have yet been able to recreate the same sense of fulfilment as London's MEATliquor and Tommi's, I'll keep trying to see if I find one.

Burgastronomy is one of Adelaide's contenders for their burger crown. It's in North Adelaide which makes it potentially a little further away from the hustle? Nonetheless I'm sure it's popular at peak drinking times.

One of the nice interior touches is the grungy cartoon/graffiti on the walls. It adds colour and I'm sure in the evenings creates a different atmosphere or focus while you line up to order. I was a bit hungry and maybe ordered more than I should. Oh well, I don't think I'll be returning to (North) Adelaide for a while...

- The Hot One (Hot) - beef, lettuce, cheese, chipotle BBQ & mayonnaise. The meat is decent quality but probably cooked a little more than I'd like. It's nice and the burger doesn't fall apart. The Hot rating is about right for me. A little chilli burn but nothing painful or that slows me down in eating;
- Sweet Potato Chips - everyone seems to comment on how inventive these are. Granted they are good, but it also made me think some of these people probably haven't been around much. Nonetheless these ones were very nice, sweet and served piping hot with a salty outside. It had some crisp to it too which is great;
- Southern Fried Chicken - succulent chicken, crispy outside, not overly salty. I liked it.

When I ordered I asked "how hot is hot?" They answered 8.5-9/10. Useless information. How does it compare to Nando's Hot? Don't know. Well that isn't useful either. Sitting down eating and realising that my hot burger was probably about the same as Nando's hot gave me the idea of an app that allows you to rate the heat of dishes around the world so you know what to order for yourself if you ever go. I still think it's a good idea (although not really money making), but I'd use it.

Next time I would order a Southern Fried Chicken burger (probably Hot Bacon Bird). The chicken was great, and the table near me where everyone had that (and the cook was a family member, so I assume he knows what's best) made me wish I had too. Otherwise the free standing chicken is good too.

After a few short evenings of work in North Adelaide, it seemed appropriate to find a reasonable breakfast before flying out. I'm not sure what the standards of things were around here (probably similar to an Australian country town I'm thinking), but regardless if people are giving a 96% (85 votes) rating on Urbanspoon, it can't be all that bad.

After a 15minute walk east, I came just in time for the 10am opening. As the first and only customer thusfar, I got first pick of tables and food. The room has some lovely cute homewares, although the only thing I picked up was a delightful birthday card that reminded me of someone in London.

- Cherry tomatoes, fresh basil + feta bruschetta - tomatoes were good, feta was good, bruschetta was good and balsamic salad nice contrast. But the basil was surprising - they used Thai basil! I've never had that before. It was such a different flavour and so unexpected. Such a simple dish, but worthy of adding to my list of things to recreate at home when I'm out of ideas.

The soy chai latte was ok. There wasn't much gingerness detected, but it was nice and the cinnamon was carefully added and not caked on like many places outside Melbourne seem to do.

There's some granola, fruits, breads, bagels and salads to pick from. The menu isn't extensive nor sound unusual, but there was a twist in my dish so you never know...

Closing in at #20 on the Canberra Times top 20 for 2013 came Red Chilli Sichuan. I haven't had a lot of Sichuan food in the past, the closest probably being Mao's in Fitzroy, which has delicious food. The top 20 list also featured Malamay which was skipped due to a higher price than preferred on this evening (and I recently found out that Malamay isn't particularly Sichuanese at all...).

There's a lot of red about the restaurant - the red sign, the red lanterns, the red seat cushions, and of course the red chilli.

- Mapo Tofu - tofu, pork mince, hot Sichuan sauce. Delicious fragrant and excellent;
- Lamb Ribs with Cumin - rich cumin flavours encrusting tender meat;
- Salt and Pepper Fried Fish - quite salty fish which was nice, but surprisingly the addition of fried corn kernels was a wonder.

Multiple topups of rice are necessary for completeness and to handle some of the numbing heat. I'll certainly be going back. There's a lot of good looking dishes on the menu here. They have live lobster, abalone and fish in tanks as a start. But when it comes to Chinese chilli cooking, I think I'm going to be a lamb rib/cumin and mapo tofu kinda-person for a while. Thanks to Beijing for starting that off for me.

09-2015

On a return trip (honestly there have been a couple in between) I ended up with the reliable mapo tofu and cumin lamb ribs again. I also added some new things to the taste explosion:

- King prawns with salted egg yolk and corn - an incredibly delicious umami-packed dish of textured prawns, crispy coating and corn and salted yolk;
- Fried soft shell crab - a large dish of juicy crab, chillis and salty fried crisp chunks.

This restaurant still remains near the top of flavoursome Chinese cuisine in Canberra. It isn't fine or fancy but it sure is satisfying.

The staff at the Underwater Centre: Dive Seychelles made daily trips to Sagittaire for lunch - a local cafeteria-style takeaway that cooks fantastic French-Creole dishes for around AUD5. The dishes vary from kari beef, spare ribs, pork and vegetables, sweet chilli chicken and an excellent but spicy fish salad. You can select one or two main dishes to be served with rice, sauce and chilli topped cabbage.

What was more fantastic was the fried banana cake. Although not available every day, the sweet soft rich heavenly taste of overripe bananas was seductive. On healthier days Sagittaire offered a baked version which was less sweet and moist, but still an adequate replacement.

You wouldn't ordinarily expect to eat pizza in Seychelles. Occasionally laziness slips through and your guard is let down.

After arriving into the accommodation at Beau Vallon, the host graciously drove us around the area to point out the roads to the beaches, shops, restaurants. With a dining area that is glorious for facing onto the beach, and also having some nice nonchalant diner-style charm, Baobab was explained to be the best pizzeria on the island and the only one having a true wood-fire pizza oven.

A late evening trek to the outdoor seating surrounded by beach, plants/trees and water on one side was surprisingly free of insects and mosquitoes. Perhaps my 50% DEET played a role, but no diners seemed bothered.

Being an island, my goal was to eat as much seafood (hopefully) local as possible. Unfortunately the limited menu only featured prawns and smoked fish as seafood items for pizza, and both were not available. Great. I instead settled for Proscuitto & Funghi SCR120 which featured some ham, a lack of detected mushrooms, and thick layer of molten cheese and tomato mix. The base had crisp edges and a soft folding core although could have used a more salt in the dough recipe.

A special of the day was Fried Calamari SCR150 which had a nice salty batter and some decent (imported) squid underneath.

Overall the meal was fine. Nothing special, but a good adequate Italian meal.

Next time I would order the Baobab Special pizza (with prawns) if available. The place is near Boat House buffet, which has a mixed review of local seafood and grilled meat dishes. If the thought of pizza won't fill your belly, try the nightly buffet instead.