Eat Like Ushi

Over the Christmas period, my brother was really keen to try a new brunch spot called Archie's. The first time we tried it was closed. Hmm. We ended up at Addict. The second time we tried, he was convinced it would be open - "it says so on the website". It was closed. We ended up at Arcadia.

This third time (without my brother) I walked down Gertrude Street and coincidentally saw it open for business and ready to try. I was hoping the name was a tribute to Archie comics (Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead etc.) but I fear not.

The menu looks to have a few different items to most cafes I see these days. This is always a good sign.

- Huevos sucios (dirty eggs) (with tater tots, jalapeno spiked Monterrey Jack, avocado and tomatillo salsa, black beans, fried eggs, chipotle mayo) $17.5 - for some reason I missed the words tater tots and ordered hash browns as well. The potato overload was delicious with crisp outsides and lots of flavour (both taste identical btw). The rest of the items were fine, although I couldn't really taste any jalapeno, spiciness or cheese. As a carb person, I would've liked it (and I thought it was going to) come with bread;
- Dark chocolate, raspberry smoothie $9 - a very nice rendition, not quite as fantastic as Cupping Room's cherry version, but still hit the spot.

There's a few more dishes I'd like to savour here - crispy poached eggs with kimchi & enoki or Godmother chilli scrambled eggs in particular. I'll be back.

05-2016

During a late afternoon stroll along Gertrude Street, I was peckish. There was a dinner coming up so at 4:30pm not only did I feel like something small, most places would be closed by then.

Luckily Archie's was serving and I suppose I recognise the All Day reference since I didn't know they also stay open through to dinner. My great first impression a few months back was reinforced along this visit.

The same dark chocolate and raspberry smoothie washed down an excellent croissant they filled with gruyere cheese and really flavoursome ham ($9.5). Salad of roasted cauliflower, salted zucchini, golden raisins, mint, quinoa and tahini ($16.5) was also a great combination of textures and flavours with tangy sumac spice to layer it.

I didn't get to try so many of the dishes I wanted from last visit so this was just a brief boost to keep my interest up.

I was there at the start. That's what the hipsters say apparently. Well considering I lived above the cafe there aren't many who can say they were there before me. Before the crowds. Before the next door area opened. Before the staff changed over (however many times). All the way back in 2009 when my housemate said "the cafe downstairs is actually quite good" and I'd then stop in for a meal after night shifts (I'd usually hold off passing by Proud Mary, Fatto Mano, Arcadia, Birdman and De Clieu but succumb by the time I got home.

Does anyone remember the blonde guy with curly hair who kept a pen behind his ear?

In any case, over the past few years away, I think I'd noticed the standard wasn't as good. Perhaps the menu hadn't progressed whilst so many other new cafes had come. They still served the best chai latte full of ginger flavour but the food was less inventive.

During mid-2015 I found myself returning there. Eggs in Hell (grilled polenta, spicy chorizo ragu, poached eggs, fior de latte & basil) $19.5 was a nice new dish with clean flavours, nice chorizo sauce and polenta serving as the new bread. It was good and may have reigned in a new chapter.

Fast forward to January, when an unexpected visit to Melbourne left me needing a pick-me-up breakfast and another new dish caught my eye - Chilli Scrambled Eggs (fried chilli & soybean scrambled eggs on toast, pickled shiitake mushrooms, crispy shallots, chilli oil, fresh coriander & pork belly) $23. Now this dish is sensational - strongly flavoured oils, salt and chilli rolling together and complemented by coriander. The pork belly is crisp, tender and full of flavour. I had it twice within a week on two separate visits to Melbourne and both were memorable. Considering the dish is relatively Asian inspired, I'm not sure how the bacon option would go.

I'd only order this dish if you like strong flavour - I've heard it may be too potent for others with more sensitive palates.

Welcome back Three Bags Full.

As I progressively and slowly eat my way through each of Melbourne's ramen places (it's harder than you think when you don't live in the same city).

One of the more interesting things I'd read was the yuzu tonkotsu which I haven't heard of previously, and the bright green eye-catching broth.

It was a quiet weekday lunch just before Christmas and I plonked myself in a corner at the front counter to keep nicely in my own solitude. I'd mention the multitude of customisations offered but you can clearly see it in the photo.

The yuzu tonkotsu broth is different and excellent (what the hell happened to my photo??? - now replaced with a later eggless version with pork belly instead). There's a distinctive spicy pepper with a touch of citrus. It's quite delicious. The broth was reasonably thick, but I'd need to order the baseline tonkotsu to directly compare it to Bone Daddies. The chashu is nice, soft and not overly fatty. What's more impressive is the free serve of extra noodles if you want it - just to ensure you are as full as possible. The extra serve is delivered when requested and piping hot to even warm up the broth again slightly.

Of the places in Melbourne tried thusfar, Hakate Gensuke is my favourite standard tonkotsu but that could well be only because I haven't tried it at Ikkoryu. The yuzu version could well be my overall favourite. I still want to try their original tonkotsu (set the standard), black garlic (because I always crush extra raw garlic into my tonkotsu) and spicy tobanjan (always reminds me of Iron Chef Chen Kenichi) so I'm going to have to be social and go with other people so I don't miss out.

05-2016

I went back one evening to try the black garlic. It reaffirmed the quality of broth, decent noodles and meat and overall satisfaction. The black garlic has a deep savoury flavour as compared to the yuzu that is spicy and tart. I can't say which one I like better, but overall probably I'd give the slight edge to the yuzu.

Whilst waiting for my car to be serviced, I noticed conveniently the location of nearby Goodberry's. I hadn't been there before but a friend had been raving about the incredible frozen custards they served and how it was a must try before leaving Canberra.

Noticing them in the Entertainment Book, I proceeded to order two of them. All for myself.

I ordered chocolate custard with cheesecake and also vanilla custard with cookie dough.

Sure it was a hot day but there was no way a non-sweet tooth like myself could (just after lunch at Malaysian Chapter especially) finish two let alone one. It was sugar overload. It was an unfortunate day for wastage but at least I've tried it and know that I really just prefer good quality gelato (eg. Frugii) with no additives. I think the days of Cold Rock or concretes from Shake Shack and the such are behind me. Part of growing older...

It's cheap, it looks like a diner and it's open every day in an area that at least has decent parking during the evenings. What more could you ask for? There is flavour (which I'm sure is partially assisted by MSG), lots to pick from, and takeaway containers when you aren't able to finish the meal.

On this occasion I had the Mapo tofu on rice, spicy eggplant with noodles, Shanghai fried pork dumplings and steamed vegetarian dumplings. Enjoy them with vinegar and chilli sauce and you'll be satisfied.

The food isn't as good or flavoursome as Red Chilli Sichuan, but that's another meal in another setting for another price tier.

Looking at the Zomato reviews around Footscray, I didn't expect to find such a highly rated hotel. By hotel, it infers pub, and good pub is hard to find, great pub food is rare. Considering it was the day of the Lunar New Year festival (which I had attended for lunch), I didn't feel like going back as the food there didn't inspire me (other than the banana fritter which was excellent). The reviews seemed to summarise the food as vegan/vegetarian Mexican. Interesting and relatively healthy?

Walking into the Rev, I saw several band members leaving carrying their instruments. Unfortunately I'd missed the live music which seems to be in the mid and late afternoon.

There's a solid selection of chilli sauces, of which the MHS chipotle & cayenne was my favourite, followed by the smoke jalapeno. There's also the widely found El Yucateco red and green versions but I find them a bit too spicy for my enjoyment.

- Street Style Corn (chargrilled corn on the cob with creamy dressing, the Rev's spice mix & lime) $6 - nice juicy and slightly charred corn with a paprika spicing. I think I still prefer the excessive coatings from Mamasita or my own homemade Thomasina Miers-inspired version, but this was very good;
- Nudist Burrito (spinach, tomato & red onion salad dressed with chilli & lime with housemade mock "pork", served with guacamole, salsa, pepitas, crunchy tortilla strips & chipotle lime mayo) $18 - I was reminded why a non-vegetarian would ever eat mock pork instead of the real thing. There was effort put into making it look pulled but the texture and flavour was clearly vegetable and did not appeal to me. The tortilla strips were very nice though;
- Smoky Tofu Quesadilla (in a flour tortilla with refried pinto beans, cheese, corn salsa, spinach & homemade BBQ sauce, served with salad & the Rev's spicy fries) $16 - I don't quite remember what the tofu burrito at Trippy Taco was like, but this was quite excellent. The tofu wasn't very "smoky" at all, but the overall flavour of the quesadilla with good particularly topped with chipotle & cayenne sauce. The fries were hot and crisp with a strong smokey paprika coating. The salad of the day had radish, charred corn, Spanish onion and greens which complemented really well.

This meal enforced a few things for me - there's good quality vegetarian in Footscray that isn't African, I shouldn't waste my own meals on mock meat when the real thing (or tofu) is available, I'll definitely be coming back especially considering how close and away from central Footscray hustle it is.

Next time I would order anything I haven't tried yet with the exception of mock meat. The list include empanadas, mesquite fried chicken, nachos, fish or pork belly tacos, beef burrito or Mexican beef pizza (I wonder how hot the Napalm Chili Napoli sauce is). I'll also try to catch some live music although I'm unsure if it will really be my taste...

02-2016

Tuesday night is taco night at The Rev. It seemed like a great idea to avoid cooking for an evening. The place was bustling with everyone ordering their tacos and drinking cheap cans of beer.

I'm not sure if the Tuesday tacos are specifically different to usual, but they didn't have the ones I was most looking forward to - beer battered fish, tofu or slow cooked beef. Nonetheless there were 4 decent ones listed on this evening. My favourites were the mixed bean and pulled pork. I thought the chicken was ok but thought the sweet potato was very plain. Of course the MHS chipotle & cayenne lifted all the tacos but the mixed bean and pulled pork had the best overall tastes.

Once again the fries were very tasty and a good snack for contrast.

This could become a regular Tuesday event for me.

At the Victoria Street Lunar New Year festival last weekend, one of the foods on offer that caught my eye were burgers. This was for 3 reasons - almost all the rest of the food places are Asian, they had black bun sliders on offer, and they gave out samples of their quite tasty housemade onion rings. On the day I had one onion ring, but didn't have the stomach space to try the burgers.

It seemed that on one of my last Victoria Street trips for a while that I'd try this burger place to see how it stood in the world/Melbourne. I also wanted to know what was added to create a black bun (I thought I read charcoal but that can't be right...)

Pistachio icecream/gelato is my favourite and my benchmark for taste in all gelato places in the world. I was really excited to see a pistachio shake available and expected it to be essentially pistachio gelato blended with milk and hopefully some crushed or whole roasted pistachios in there. Unfortunately the shake tasted like vanilla with minimal nut flavour (and that's me trying to convince myself it was there). I wonder if they forgot what flavour I ordered (my receipt says pistachio) or if it really is that subtle...

- Housemade Onion Rings with On It Sauce $6.90 - seemingly grilled then fried in thick crisp batter and really quite nice. Sauce was a tangy, mildly spicy sriracha mayo to me. It was probably a bit too much batter for 1;
- Blackbeard (soft shell crab, sriracha, slaw, coriander, tangy hero sauce, black bun) $13.90 - quite a small crab with a reasonably creamy body but legs that were very hard, crunchy and seemingly well overfried. The black bun itself didn't really seem to taste of anything much, certainly nothing special.

I think I made a mistake of ordering the Blackbeard considering there aren't many soft shell crabs that impress me these days (especially when they are in burgers or buns/baos), and I limited my selection just wanting to try the black bun (ordering something just because it looks cool is also not the best idea). The onion rings were fine but too much for me. The lack of pistachio flavour in the shake means I wouldn't order it again, as disappointing as that is.

I'd still go back once more to try what I think would suit my tastes better: the Classic (to check their baseline) or Popping Jalapeno Patty burgers with fries and a different shake (green tea, chai tea or even macadamia).

02-2016

Armed with the knowledge of my previous post, I found myself back at On It. The noisy roadworks along Victoria Street made the entire area devoid of customers but noisier than ever.  Luckily it was partially drowned out by the ambient music, which reminded me of early 2000s Next Blue with Jay-Z, Beyonce and Shaggy amongst others.

- Popping Jalapeno burger (popping jalapeno beef patty, American cheese, red onion, lettuce, coriander, hero sauce, hit me hot sauce) $13.90 - this burger was infinitely more enjoyable than Blackbeard. The bun was soft and lightly grilled for additional texture and the other flavours came together well including the nice tang of jalapenos. The sauce wasn't particularly hot, but that's ok by me. I'm not sure what a "popping jalapeno" patty is - it was essentially a thin beef patty with sliced jalapenos and held together by a blanket of melted cheese. The patty isn't particularly thick which goes against the modern trend of fatter medium-rare patties;
- Garlic & Basil Fries $3.90 - really good fries with crunchy outsides and hot centres seasoned with what I assume is salt, garlic oil and crispy flakes of fresh basil;
- Small Green Tea Shake $4.90 - definite green tea flavour made a big difference over the pistachio disappointment. It was reasonably thick and sweet enough.

Looking at the remaining menu items, today's meal would probably be my choice for next time. I'm curious about the smashed patty and fried chicken burger though. I think I'm happy to forego testing other milkshake flavours.

I was really tempted to make a booking at Aloft. It was relatively new and recommended/anticipated in a few online readings. The location at the end of a pier and the Asian-inspired menu appealed, but it seemed to not have much in the way of one thing I was looking for - Tasmanian seafood.

Looking for specialty seafood restaurants in Hobart was surprisingly difficult. Other than a few Chinese restaurants, a load of fish and chips and Mako fresh fish store, not much really showed up. Drunken Admiral was recommended to me by the hairdresser at Just Cuts (of all places) and I'm glad she did, because I was at a loss up until that point.

The reviews were a bit mixed, but generally positive and the menu was enticing. Unfortunately I called to make a booking and was told they had nothing available that night. Damn. The default was going to be Fish Frenzy down by the pier but enroute walking down Elizabeth Street, I called again just to make sure. They had two seats at the bar for walk-ins, but it couldn't be reserved. After arriving 10mins later the bar seats had been taken, but a table had become free - the condition was it had to be vacated in 45mins.

I couldn't quite work out why the 45min limit. When the time was up and we departed at 2045, there were a heap of vacant tables all throughout the back seating area. Maybe they had a large number of tables being filled at 9pm but surely that wouldn't be usual, even for a Saturday night...

- Fish Market Chowder $15.9 - very creamy and rich rendition, one of my favourites probably only behind that from Boudin in San Francisco;
- Sydney to Hobart $116 - chilled Queensland tiger prawns (quite nice and sweet), freshly shucked oysters (beautiful, large and creamy like all I had in Hobart), fresh mussels (decent size and flavour), smoked Southern ocean trout (mildly smoked), chilled marinated peninsula octopus (quite soft and not chewy), with a fisherman's selection of fried scallops, prawns, squid, fish of the day (overall decent with the scallops being the best) & shoestring fries (quite good but served unsalted). Served with caper mayo, cocktail sauce, lemon wedges;

It was a lot of food and certainly too much for 2 people to eat within 45mins.

The food quality was overall very good (as you'd expect for a seafood place attempting to utilise local produce). I guess when the ingredients are that good, you don't need to do a lot with it. 

Next time I would order quite happily some different a la carte options first confirming which were local: more Southern Tasmanian oysters natural and dressed up, fried scallops, chipotle calamari, or the Admiral's Fresh Fish Pot.

I've always grown up taught that high-end Cantonese food is a waste of money considering you can get much cheaper and basically as good. I suppose the major difference tends to be the setting, the service and otherwise the quality ingredients. I haven't been to Flower Drum despite the accolades, even since it had the dip and was reinstated recently again near the top by AGFG.

My dining experiences in London showed me that high-end Chinese may be worth it. I never made it to Hakkasan (as noone I knew would do the £120 per head banquets with me) but the exceptional two meals at HKK (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hkk-london-04-2013) made me understand a potential difference between standard and fine.

Hobart seemed to have a surprisingly low number of highly recommended restaurants. Me Wah has a large number of accolades - multiple top Chinese or Asian restaurant and wine list in Hobart and Australia over the years. My airbnb happened to coincidentally be down the road and after 4 days in the bush and not being able to fork out $685 for the Tasmania Seafood Seduction cruise meant I wanted to look forward to the best of Tasmania's seafood.

I limited myself to Tasmanian seafood. The option was for either lobster or the scallops and squid. What would I do...

- Jellyfish and seafood salad

I can't see the cold dish on the menu, so perhaps it was on the specials list. Unless the usual crunchy cold dish salads I'm used to, this jellyfish was so soft my teeth slid through it. I didn't understand why this was - I'm sure what I like better but I'm definitely used to the crunch texture. The scallops, prawns and vegetables came together very nicely in a mildly acidic dressing.

- South Cape Tasmanian Crayfish 2.1kg at $25/100grams 

Do the maths. Yes it was ridiculously expensive for 2 people. I wanted a 600-800gram lobster (always taught those are the sweetest flavour from Japanese restaurants) but this was their smallest. After some deliberation, I said yes. YOLO... They sold it as not being too much by splitting into 2 courses (at an extra $25 expense which they didn't tell me about). Most of the time restaurants will show you (and maybe weigh) the live beast before taking it away to the kitchen.

1st course  was sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi. Unlike previous places (eg. Shoya in Melbourne) the lobster wasn't moving on the table. The soy accentuated the lovely sweet flesh which was a little less crunchy and firm and more soft than I've had previously.

2nd course was sauteed with ginger & spring onion, Shao Xing rice wine and two serves of e-fu noodles. This was the typical Cantonese style and the flavour was standard and perhaps a touch dilute, but the difference was the huge chunks of meat in the tail and claws. The e-fu noodles were a change from the standard egg noodles (both good in their own right).

- Double Braised Tasmanian Greenlip Abalone (served whole with braised flower mushroom, steamed seasonal vegetables, ormer reduction) $95

Beautiful abalone (which looked a tiny bit small in the shell) with a soft sliding texture that was lovely. My previous abalone experiences tend to be chewier or crunchier but this was remarkably soft. The flavour accented the mushrooms to form a nice juice.

We couldn't finish the lobster so took away the de-shelled remainder with noodles. Microwaved for breakfast at least the cost was split over 2 meals. Dare I say the flavour was better and more intense the next day?

The service was nice and sometimes a little over-attentive. There's only so many times a few mls of tea need to be refilled. But I suppose that happens when two people order a $525 lobster...

Next time I would order the local seafood but not the abalone or lobster (as I can't help partially agreeing with a review I read about Tasmanian seafood restaurants - the quality of produce is so excellent that the quality of cooking doesn't need to be standout). The XO sea scallops and spicy salt Bass Strait squid would be a must. I'd possibly finish it with local fish or meat (lamb, chicken, pork, beef) or a vegetarian main (such as tofu or eggplant).

I had to write one final post for Pho Phu Quoc. After eating Vietnamese food for the past 15 years (two Vietnamese girlfriends, their parents, going to Vietnam, living off Victoria Street, eating in Springvale, watching Luke Nguyen and owning all his cookbooks...), the homestyle excellent cooking of Pho Phu Quoc always made me happy.

Since my first visit there in the old premises (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/pho-phu-quoc-canberra-09-2014) to watching the mayhem of customers in the bigger and slightly more upmarket new location, I've found my staples in an excellent 3 colour drink (usually about 5-6 colours, although I'd prefer the ice to be more finely shaved), the exceptional fish hot pot and the delicious mussels. There are many other dishes I have enjoyed (such as big juicy prawns, tofu, green papaya salad, fried rice paper rolls) there but those are my favourites.

I tried the banh xeo once (difficult for me as only served at lunch but quite good) and the pho twice (nice and warming but I prefer the soup flavour from Fyshwick market and Bistro Nguyen) and can still recommend them.

I met Sue (the lovely owner) and her mum back at my workplace in early 2014 and she always remembers me and welcomes me back. I'll come again sometime...

I've now moved onto my next Vietnamese-ville in Footscray and I hope I can find somewhere as good.