Eat Like Ushi

I've only heard of Maidstone previously when I met a girl who lived there. This was all the way back in 1998 and the only reasons I remember this (and her name) is because she was exceptionally cute and we happened to be in the same Chemistry class at The School for Excellence. Sadly that was the only time I saw her but life moves on 18 years later.

With great enthusiasm I found myself heading to this mysterious suburb in search of a South American restaurant. It's located on a small strip of shops and there is nothing else there to go for (in the evenings at least). The hosts are from El Salvador (I think I recall) and the food seems to represent the Central and South American continent. The mural photos on the walls are particularly interesting to look at and make a trip to South America the highest travel priority (as it has been for a few years).

My favourite a Latin drink in horchata started things off. After trying it first in the Mission districts of San Francisco (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/poc-chuc-san-francisco-10-2011) and then the mothership of Valencia (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/horchateria-de-santa-catalina-valencia-10-2013). I imagine this one was made with rice milk and cinnamon (although I've read El Salvador use morro seeds, whatever they are) and less likely the tigernuts that I saw in Valencia. In any case the drink is nice, refreshing and not syrupy at all. There is a bit of textural grit to it (which I don't mind) suggesting perhaps it is ground seeds? The guava smoothie was also very nice and seemed freshly made also and not poured from some bottle. It wasn't overly sweet either which is always good.

- Platanos Fritos (madura plantains served with refried beans & sour cream) $8.5 - London introduced me to fried plantains at the Saturday Upmarket in Shoreditch and since then I've wanted them every opportunity I get. Although quite expensive for the amount of actual plantain, they were delicious and sweet. The beans and sour cream are unnecessary in my mind and just detract from the main star;
- Parrillada Pa'Dos (sizzling plate of asado beef with chicken ribs, spanish chorizo, prawns, quail & vegetables served with chimichurri salad) $40 - a big plate of meat which could've used extra chimichurri given the volume. In order of favourites, the beef asado was an exceptional cut of 2 beef shortribs, tender, flavoured and outstanding. The chicken wings were similarly nicely seasoned and grilled. The prawns, quail and two little chorizos were all ok but not nearly as memorable as the other two (particularly the rib).

I got a $2 side of tortillas which made it more fun to eat the meat in a wrapped form.

There's a few dishes that sound good for next time. I'd probably lean towards a main with the beef shortribs (if available, the Guanacos Carne Asada seems closest but not the same) or the chicken (porcion de pollo).

There aren't many places who serve "modern Malaysian" cuisine, but Blue Chillies has been doing it for years. I stumbled across here with my parents probably around 2001 with my last meal there somewhere between 2007-2009. Although the years have gone by and the owners have changed hands (the floor and management staff may be the same), I still fondly remember the duck in this beautiful sweet and tangy sauce. If Longrain's deep fried pork hock in soy caramel sauce has an equal, this could be it.

With great anticipation I ended up back here on a quiet evening. Lo and behold the duck still exists and lots of other dishes sound fantastic too.

- Black Pepper Soft Shell Crab (with ground peppercorn sauce and aromatic curry leaves) $15 - a reasonable starter although the sauce had a better flavour than the intrinsic crab flavour (both a good sauce and an underpowered crab);
- Pork Ribs (wok roasted and caramelised with chilli jam) $36 - the ribs were huge for pork but the meat texture was quite firm and chewy and the sauce not deep and caramel enough. An expensive dish and one I don't think I'd get again;
- Salt & Pepper Okra (coated in a light rice flour batter and wok swirled with garlic, chilli and spices) $19 - the vegetable dish was made more palatable by frying into a soft slightly crisp batter. The seasoning was nice overall but I could've used a touch more salt and chilli in it;
- Thrice Cooked Duck (served in a sauce of wild ginger flower, lemongrass, chilli and lime juice) $30 - the final dish brought out was as dreamy as I remember. I'm not sure what thrice ways the duck is cooked, but I'd guess steamed, roasted then fried. The combination of textures with excellent duck flavour and then the incredible sauce to top it off makes it wonderful. Nothing has changed in years and for this dish nothing needs to.

Next time I would order the thrice cooked duck every single time. I'd complement it with duck rendang (if not considered duck overload), or a fish dish (barramundi or crispy fried snapper) and try the spicy eggplant as the vegetable option.

My bao journey continues. From Momofuku to Yum Bun then throughout London, Europe, Bali and back in Canberra and Melbourne. Wonderbao (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/wonderbao-melbourne-10-2012) has been the posterchild for bao in Melbourne and with its benefits and limitations, some new contenders is always welcome.

For some reason the place is only open Sunday-Wednesday. I'm not sure the rationale behind this but I would've thought since it's located in a bar that Thurs-Sat would be more prime but perhaps everyone goes to the city and not Footscray on those days.

Pork belly is the mainstay for bao but these guys do it differently. Instead of the usual hoisin, sriracha and spring onion, there's seems pulled and tastes strongly of soy-heavy masterstock. The beef brisket could be more tender and had a touch of Chinese medicinal flavour to it - luckily the chimichong sauce (whatever that is) brings an excellent tangy fresh element to it and nearly makes that dish.

I've been told the fish (in particular) and the chicken are the best ones so I'll have to try those next time. My favourites have always been the standard pork belly followed by duck (forget about soft shell crab) so I was a bit disappointed that these standards aren't there (but maybe that's to avoid the label of simply copying others).

The bread itself is lovely, big and soft and no complaints there. The bottom is much much hotter than the top (whatever that means).

I was in the mood for a nice souvlaki or doner kebab. The memories of Yarralumla Pide House were lingering and making me salivate. I was working night shift so needed something relatively quick. A search of Footscray came across an extraordinarily highly rated Footscray's Best Kebab House (no fooling you in the name) but I didn't have the time to walk. Instead I found a South Melbourne store that was semi enroute with a drive.

Turkish Kebabs (aka Kebabs on Clarendon) was well rated and even on a Friday night the streets were quiet and parking was exceptionally easy.

For some reason I succumbed into ordering the iskender, which had some nice chicken and lamb from the spit, very good pieces of Turkish bread underneath, and topped with yoghurt and tomato sauce (my preference is for garlic/tzatziki and chilli). It took about 20mins to make (which they informed me at the start) and I thought for the price of $17.5 it came with salad and dips and things but unfortunately it didn't classify as a meal, so got a $4.5 of tabbouleh on the side. It was ok, full of parsley, but seemed to lack a bit of zing and zip.

For $22 it was a solid meal but just seemed too highly priced. I think I would've enjoyed a standard $10 doner in Turkish bread with long strands of meat mixed with garlic and chilli sauce.

During the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival this year there was a dedicated event to icecream. Messina and others represented the local market and the international act was Big Gay Ice Cream from NYC. Other than the attention grabbing name, the high regard (and cookbook) made it an attractive deal.

The signature dish from these guys during the MFWF was the Tim Tam Slam. Although they only setup shop for a few days, the Tim Tam Slam was still available to order freshly made on any day.

I did go on one of the non-official days and delightfully ordered this special. What I received was a pretty disappointing result. The icecream felt topped or mixed with cream and really didn't have much in the way of vanilla flavour let alone any visible beans. The standard Australian Tim Tam had been crushed underneath and plunked on top to make it special. Seriously if this is the best the USA can do in terms of icecream or gelato, there is a long way to go.

You can argue a few things here - they didn't serve it themselves (who knows how it was bastardised and ruined in their absence), the soft serve is different texturally to icecream and so I'm critiquing a different product here (yes soft serve is what 20 years ago McDonald's used to do for 30c and most of us have matured from that flavour, mush texture and price point). But if you're going to give your brandname and reputation to a product, it should be good. And sadly this was really ordinary.

(I know this isn't strictly a NYC branch issue but again, see last point.)

For comparisons, my last few years included: 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelato-trail-italy-07-2012, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/dooleys-the-ice-cream-tub-apollo-bay-02-2016, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bibelot-melbourne-03-2016, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/pel-gelato-and-sorbetto-hobart-01-2016, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/frugii-dessert-laboratory-canberra-12-2015, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/cow-and-moon-sydney-05-2015, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelato-secrets-ubud-12-2014, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/amorino-gelato-lisbon-10-2013, 
http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/gelataria-sincelo-porto-10-2013.

Allow me to describe just how excited I was to read about Tahina Bar for my upcoming visit to Northcote. It isn't an area I frequent often at all and choosing between here and Wild Yak Tibetan was easier than I thought.

Israeli cooking - there's only one name that comes to find for that which is Yotam Ottolenghi. For some reason the "foodies" and vegetarians I know in Melbourne have never heard of him. It's time to educate yourselves. Owning his cookbooks (Ottolenghi, Plenty, Plenty More, Jerusalem and Nopi), watching his mediterranean feast TV show and going to his restaurants (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ottolenghi-london-10-2013) makes me a bit of a fan.

I had read about Tahina's Israeli roots and excellent falafels. My second interest in Middle Eastern cuisine stemming from the incredible fresh hot falafels crushed in pita for 50cents in Jordan, to the discovery of a restaurant which spawned my favourite outdoor eatery in London (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/yalla-yalla-london-02-2013-03-2013-05-2013-10-2013) and then to trying to find a replacement in Canberra (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/habibiz-canberra-09-2015).

Tahina Bar seems like a takeaway place that happens to have bar seating and a few outdoor tables. There's two main specials - shakshuka and falafel. They serve a variety of these too which keeps things interesting as well as some other dishes and hipster smoothies (I'm not sure if there's an Israeli connection or just appeal for the local market).

- Red Shakshuka (poached eggs in tomatoes, herbs & spices with Israeli salad, spicy green salad, pickled cabbage, hummus, tahini & pita bread) $15 - savoury tomato base like sugo which was good but I didn't feel went well with pita. Maybe it's all the baked egg dishes (eg. cazuela) with sourdough that I'm used to;
- Falafel Salad (3 green parsley, coriander & mint + 3 red pepper & chilli falafels, with hummus, Israeli salad, spicy green salad, pickled cabbage, tahini, parsley & za'atar spice) $14.5 - I preferred the mild spice & chilli of the red falafels more than the green. The soft creamy falafel textures crushed well into the pita although I prefer the outsides much thicker and crispier which adds a huge textural contrast. Nonetheless this dish was delicious and the pita sandwiches were fantastic.

I ordered the $2 extra for pita and hummus with the falafel salad. I wonder if that stacked with the pita & hummus that comes with the shakshuka or if I paid extra for nothing. In any case the 4 pitas was enough for 2 people and 2 mains but it would be good to know.

Chocolate Wendy's Frosty (banana, cacao, cacao nibs, maple syrup, Himalayan sea salt, coconut milk, ice) $10 was a beautiful thick drink of dark chocolate. I'd happily have this again but the Monte Carlo and Purple Protein Boost also sound enticing.

I'd wanted to try Dandelion for years now (since 2011) however my Vietnamese dining companions refused - modern Vietnamese isn't something they wanted to try. They are the biggest offenders when it comes to "this is not good/authentic because it isn't my mum's" type comments and to me shows I can't trust their opinions (as wonderful friends they may be) when it comes to eating Vietnamese food.

I suppose I never pushed it because the reviews seemed to be very mixed (ranging from 50-70% on various websites) which I couldn't account for simply being those impossible to impress types.

However many years later the opportunity came now back in Melbourne and able to visit at part of the Food & Wine Festival express lunch. $40 for 2 courses and a glass of wine (or in my case double happiness flower tea) meant a cheap way of testing the flavours and skills. I'm sure with several years of one chef hat awards, it couldn't be as bad as the unhappy reviewers. The menu wasn't released in advance so I was hopeful it would feature some of the regular and known dishes.

Unfortunately none of the express menu were from regular dishes (previous specials perhaps?) or maybe just testing something new.

- Ocean soup of prawns, squid, crab, snow mushrooms & coriander crest - reminiscent of shark fin, the crab threads created the base of the soup. Two good prawns and squid rounded out the seafood in this nice savoury soup with reasonable flavour strength;
- King brown mushrooms & cherry tomatoes in creamy coconut sauce & silken tofu - I honestly picked this as the thought of 2 rice paper rolls seemed too standard an entree to order from such a place. I was rewarded by a lovely dish of excellent individual elements (particularly the tofu) put together with a coconut sauce that married the dish together tasting similar to a delicious not-soupy tom kha;
- Twice-cooked gravy beef salad & banana blossom with green pepper dressing & peanuts - the beef was fine but not as tender as I hoped but the dressing was perfectly balanced and the fragrance of this was most palpable. Unusually the salad had celery which I found a little surprising but complemented the dressing flavours;
- Roasted quail stuffed with water chestnut, lotus seed, goji berries & shiitake mushroom - sauce tasted similar to a Malaysian medicinal soup my mum makes (but this version was less medicinal and more savoury). The quail seemed like the meat has been removed, blended with other ingredients then stuffed back in. The result was a smooth minced filling that bulged out and could be used to absorb the sauce;
- Ginger & lemongrass creme brulee with lychee & papaya fruit salad - I dreamt of Red Lantern's kaffir lime creme brulee when I ordered this. Although not quite as memorable, this was an excellent version with strong ginger and lemongrass flavour coming through. The texture was much grainier than the usual smooth creme (intentional or not I don't know) but I didn't mind. Because of the heating torch the top was warm and became colder eating the way down. The fruit also included dragon fruit and was sprinkled with some kind of green sugar(?).

The table next to me ordered the salmon skewers which were huge and looked fantastic alongside the salad. I'd opt for that main next time (as should future express lunch diners - however knowing Zomato this review will never get published in time for that).

Overall the food quality and flavour was excellent. It may seem expensive for Vietnamese food ($26 Wagyu beef pho and $22 banh xeo for example) but I'm still intending to give the full menu a try sometime.

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.