Eat Like Ushi

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.

Over Easter I was grateful some restaurants remained open with normal working hours. On this Good Friday (obviously also a public holiday) I was even more impressed that some like Chong Co were still accepting the Entertainment Card (as it is their option to do so).

Chong Co hadn't appealed overly to me. Although it nearly always seems busy, the location is good and the aromas are nice, there was something about it that didn't feel right. I'm not sure what it is - maybe it's similar to when I'm overseas and feel the aura of a tourist trap. Perhaps it is because I'd heard so much about Morks, which is the upmarket modern Thai version a few shops down (that I still haven't tried yet).

After being seated, the menu seemed a little concerning. For traditional Thai food the prices were very high, even for Canberra. Pad Thai $19 and Laksa $23? Wow.

A Chong Co Colada of pineapple juice, coconut milk and grenadine was reasonable but nothing special. It separated when left during the meal.

- Tom Khar Gai $12.90 - my basic Thai staple that I judge all restaurants upon. The soup was quite thin and didn't have a lot of coconut flavour and the chicken wasn't particularly tender. It did have a nice firm sour lime edge that I liked;
- Roasted Duck Red Curry $25.90 - similarly the curry itself wasn't very thick or strong. The duck was pretty good and the pieces of lychees and pineapple added a contrasting sweetness. Adding this to the coconut rice transformed it (see below);
- Soft Shell Crab in Tamarind Sauce $29.90 - a very large amount of soft shell crab (about 4 altogether) which meant good value, although the crabs themselves weren't as flavoured as I like. The batter was a little heavy. Most of all the tamarind sauce was incredibly powerful and the saltiness made it difficult to eat without a lot of rice. The sauce drenching also meant a good portion of the crab didn't remain crispy.

The coconut rice ($4.50pp) was one of the most intense I've eaten. It was much more similar to coconut glutinous rice dessert in flavour and meant it couldn't be eaten alone. When mixed with the soup of tom kha or the sauces of red curry or tamarind, it turned into something more edible and quite delicious. It was like eating normal jasmine rice and adding a strong coconut-based Thai sauce (which I find more normal).

I think the overall balance of price and quality means I wouldn't eat here without the Entertainment discount. It isn't bad as such and your meal will be adequate, but I think there are better things to have for the full price.

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.

Modern Asian tapas is all the rage at the moment. Every new Melbourne place seems to be a variation on this type and the market is soon saturated (probably Sydney too but I don't know it as well). From Chin Chin (which I haven't eaten at due to the reputation of wait time & price:satisfaction ratio not being so high), to the excellent TA #1 Rock Papr Scrs and my growing list of Uncle and Northern Light and the rest, the question is really a matter of which Asian each restaurant is trying to reinvent.

Canberra recently acquired two Japanese versions - Lilotang and Akiba. After walking past the electric glow of Akiba a few weeks back, this was the first of them to try.

The drinks menu has a nice offering of cocktails. Akiba Pop are housemade soft drinks which can be "boomed" with a shot of alcohol. Both the pineapple, coconut & chilli (with Appleton VX dark rum) and sour cherry & vanilla (with Martell VS Cognac) had a nice complement of alcohol and sweetness, with my preferred being the sour 

- Soba Noodle Salad (with bamboo shoots, yellow bean, sweet & sour) $12 - a delicious refreshing dish to open with. Herbs, chilli, citrus combining extremely well;
- Soft Shell Crab Bun (with pickled baby gem, creamy ponzu) $9 each - the bun itself is terrible. You can see in the picture how dry it is such that the corners are torn and not malleable. The crab is tasty but could be more generous. Not good value for money;
- Korean Sticky Lamb Ribs (with sumac) $14 - when in doubt, go for ribs. Tender fatty meat, a slightly sweet and chilli charred coating. Not as good as the Bone Daddies' pork ribs, but it'll do me for now;
- Snapper (with jalapeno, yuzu, honey) $14 - very very strange combination. Snapper sashimi is one of my favourites and a more expensive cut usually due to a good biting texture, but the yuzu, jalapeno (tasted too similar to green capsicum) and single leaf of coriander didn't work;
- Japanese Fried Chicken (with lemon braised onions, parmesan) "supercharged" with mayonnaise & Sriracha $20 - thicker heavier coating than your typical kara-age and the pieces of meat much smaller and thinner also. This results in less juicy but more flavoursome from the fry and pick up of cheese and sauces;
- Black Angus Sirloin (with chipotle butter, zuni pickled onion) $28 - very tender and rare beef with very mild chipotle smatterings and onions. It was a nice dish, but felt a little disjointed with flavours and too expensive for what you get;
- Beef Short Rib (with tamarind caramel, Thai basil) $22 - the last dish was the one that excited me the most. Rib, caramel, Thai basil - the combination speaks for itself. A beautifully tender piece of meat that tore so easily and would mop up a sweet mildly tangy sauce. I needed rice for this to allow it to linger longer.

Even though there was only 3 of us, there was still space for the interesting sounding desserts.

- Mango & Coconut Sticky Rice (with macadamia, palm sugar ice cream) $9 - a gorgeous dessert of ice cream that was surprisingly balances and not overly sweet from palm sugar, crunchy nuts for texture and flavour, mango pieces and quality glutinous rice underneath. Very very good - perhaps a jackfruit version will enamour me even more;
- Lemon Tofu Cheesecake (with ANZAC crumb, pandan jelly) $8 - the deconstructed cheesecake with tofu was fantastic. I couldn't tell it was tofu rather than/in combination with cream cheese. The crumb added a reasonable crunch which could be a good base for an actual cake, but the fluorescent aeroplane jelly looking stuff had barely any pandan flavour which was disappointing.

Overall the meal was very good and the flavour and texture combinations varied. It seemed quite expensive ($170 for 3) but could be lessened with a few educated choices.

Next time I would order the same Soba Noodle Salad, Beef Short Rib and Korean Lamb Ribs. I'd consider trying the Sweet Corn Pancake or Prawn & Chicken Dumplings. 4 oysters for $10 is very cheap even for natural oysters so that is tempting. Something raw would be nice for variety so it would have to be the Kingfish or more likely shared Salmon Belly. I'd finish with the Sticky Rice dessert also.

I'm waiting for the modern Korean tapas to come to Canberra. If you're thinking this idea is for you, look to the USA or BistroK in Melbourne.

After a gym session I ended up in Manuka looking for some lunch to add the calories back on. I originally wanted to get some good quality falafel from Kismet, but saw to my dismay it had closed in favour of a pizza place. Vaguely recalling many other places also had lunch specials, the search began wandering around and seeing what was on offer.

Neither Timmy's nor Abell's Kopitiam offered any lunch menu that I saw. Feeling like something Asian I strolled past Bambusa. I hadn't previously thought about coming here as it looked like another Western-based Chinese restaurant. But the 93% Urbanspoon intrigued me so eventually decided to try a lunch special.

It was only a one dish lunch, but the Roast Duck Laksa was quite good. The meat was tender and the thin broth had a lot of duck flavour with a touch of coconut milk added rather than a true thick creamy laksa soup. I probably would prefer a thicker decadent version with more coconut cream added but it was still very nice for a first impression.

Next time I would order a full dinner of their Modern Asian - Fluffy Duck, Yu Xiang Eggplant or King Prawns & Scallops, Mapo Tofu, Sizzling Lamb with Cumin. It's a little on the expensive side but let's see if it's worth it.

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?)

I've been frequently told how Lonsdale Street Roasters has the best coffee in Canberra, almost on par with the Melbourne equivalents. Considering I don't drink coffee and that ONA recently took out the best barista in Australia award, it wasn't the biggest enticement for me. But I knew I'd try the place eventually.

What struck me on the breakfast menu was how few options there are for food. Maybe that's a good thing or maybe I'm just used to being spoilt for choice. However I did note they advertised a BBQ for lunch so maybe that's the go for next time.

The coffee is strong and bitter. As a non-coffee person, I can't appreciate it but I'm told it is very good and the way coffee should be. Unfortunately the chai latte is an overly sweet (though not quite sickening) syrup drink that makes me sad. Luckily the food makes up for the liquid shortcomings.

- Quinoa, corn & "pico de gallo" on sourdough - the healthier, more refreshing option of the dishes with herbs, rocket, quinoa, avocado, tomatoes and corn served on sourdough;
- Sticky Pork Belly Roasters Benedict (served on housemade corn bread with dill hollandaise) with an extra of black pudding - I recently wrote about my joy in finding a breakfast place in Canberra (Me & Mrs Jones) that served black pudding. I'm delighted to say the black pudding here is outstanding - rich, porky, no metallic taste. The pork belly is great also with a caramelised coating, skin that was half crisp and half soft (prefer all crisp if possible) and thick decadent meat. Of the poached eggs, one was great and the other was moderately overcooked, but they soaked into and complemented the corn bread. I probably prefer thick grained sourdoughs but this was a reasonable alternative.

Next time I would order the same Pork Belly Roasters Benedict, more black pudding, or try the Eggs, Beans & Tortia (with black pudding of course). Otherwise I'll go later in the day and see if my BBQ cravings can be satiated. I'll save my drink for a smoothie or an iced coffee or good old Canberra tap water.