Eat Like Ushi

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.

After the first visit to Temporada for my birthday 8 months prior, Valentine's day proved to be the second occasion worthy of a visit to this restaurant. Interestingly enough it was the only restaurant I could find (that I wanted to go to) that actually had any availability that evening. Considering I made the booking on a Thursday before the Saturday, I couldn't quite understand why there was a 6pm spare table. Perhaps it was the $75 per head fixed 3-course menu that deterred a few, but this is Canberra where incomes are supposedly high and similarly dining prices are too.

The preface to the set menu was rock oysters, of which the woodgrilled variety is the one clear memory I have from the first visit. Once again they were warm, lightly smokey (lighter than I recall), with the little traces of the mild oyster liquor. The vinaigrette is more of a palate cleanser than a topping for me as I like my oysters strong and plain.

- Roasted Duck Breast (with liver parfait, caramelised whitlof, pickled cherries) - the rare duck was exceptionally flavoured and tender with a creamy and medium strength liver that can almost emulate my memories of meatfruit. Easily one of the best livers I've had. Pickled cherries cut through the heaviness and I was lucky to be granted additional bread slices (which are warm and great in themselves) to smear the parfait;
- Spanner Crab (with chilled gazpacho, heirloom tomato, tomato jelly) - I don't envy the person who had to pick out the crab meat, but I applaud their efforts. The meat was superbly sweet and delicate. It is good enough to eat alone but the various tomato varieties and textures were impressive;
- Woodfired Beef Shortrib (with smoked potato, beetroot, horseradish) - my affection for ribs continued with this tender version that sliced so easily. The potatoes were whipped smooth and had a nice strong smoke flavour that I haven't had before;
- Grilled Swordfish (with pepperonata, octopus, lemon, capers) - the fears I have of overcooked restaurant fish dissipated with the expert handling here. I'm happy to eat swordfish raw usually but this one was cooked beautifully. The octopus added a different texture and flavour;
- Chocolate Ganache (with blood plum sorbet, liquorice, pinenut brittle) - this could be the perfect dessert combination. Rich smooth dark chocolate ganache, tangy slightly sour exceptional sorbet, very mild contrasting liquorice cream and the mother of your standard peanut brittles in an expensive packed pinenut crisp. The flavours and textures were all covered. Maybe add a little chilli next time to take it even further... but it isn't necessary;
- Champagne Chiboust (with strawberry jelly, hazelnuts) - good textures here also with smooth champagne cream, crunchy nut pieces and strawberry bits that had me reminiscing slightly about the strawberry dessert at Akelare (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/akelare-san-sebastian-06-2012).

What a fantastic set course well worth the money and up to the occasion. Thanks Temporada.

It was surprising that on a Tuesday night, Chairman & Yip was full. It was lucky there were tables available, but if not Akiba nearby had available tables, music and a neon atmosphere. It made me almost realise the appeal of weekday dining - available parking, quieter streets and restaurants and not having to make advanced bookings.

Anyway it was a good opportunity to try the 3rd of the Chairman group restaurants. I have to admit that the menu interested me the least of the 3, which is why it had been left until last. Fine Cantonese cuisine is something I had only tried in London at HKK (sadly noone was willing to pay the £128+ for the Hakkasan Hanway Place signature menu) and both times were sensational lunch meals most impressively featuring a tea-smoked Peking duck.

The Chef's Tasting menu at Chairman & Yip seemed to feature most of the dishes that interested me on the menu except for the Chairman's Red Curry Chicken, so it was easy to select that as the option. Each dish is brought to the table, and with the exception of the calamari at the start and the lamb and vegetables at the end, the wait staff automatically serve it onto your plate. If it isn't serve on individual plates, I much prefer it to be on a shared central plate to pick off myself. This is only a small thing - maybe it has something to do with the better photo opportunities.

- Fried Calamari with spicy salt & chilli - slightly crispy, nicely fried, salty with occasional slivers of chilli;
- Light-fried King Prawns with sweet chilli vinegar sauce - medium sized prawns topped with something similar to standard honey sauce;
- Sesame crusted salmon with cinnamon infused soy - very nicely cooked salmon with a soy crust, nice thin (would have preferred thicker) rice cakes and a delicious drinkable cinnamon soy. Delicious;
- Roasted duck & shiitake mushroom pancakes - quite disappointing diced duck and mushrooms. A far cry from the great Peking ducks I've had around the world;
- Grilled field mushrooms with herb & cashew pesto - slightly out-of-place dish of a mushroom with a thick pesto on top, served with noodle pieces and continental parsley;
- Spiced eye fillet skewers with lemongrass & galangal dressing - medium-rare tender eye fillet topped with pineapple pieces and a tasty lemongrass sauce;
- Crispy lamb Shan-Tung style (with vegetables & steamed rice) - a large dish to finish with lamb (rib meat I think) tender meat with crispy edges and a strong salty soy dressing. I'd prefer a touch more sour and chilli in the masterstock-type sauce, but it was a very good dish;
- Choice of Dessert - one was a mild flavoured silky Japanese matcha creme brulee with a very thick caramelised top and wispy Persian fairy floss which was overall nice; other was an excellent cinnamon semi freddo (couldn't detect any chilli) with a firm poached pear slice and a great ginger palm syrup (couldn't detect any pandan);
- Coffee or tea - selected a hot chocolate and chamomile tea which was a pleasant civilised end of the meal.

The meal was overall nice but I did feel slightly dissatisfied from a flavour and creativity point of view until the lamb and desserts. I do think Lanterne Rooms is better, and possibly equivalent to Malamay in that some dishes were good and others not so.

Next time I would order a la carte with either calamari or try the Pan-seared Quail for entree and either salmon or lamb or try the Red Curry Chicken for main. The semi freddo is my preferred dessert also.

This is far from a restaurant and more like the back section of a house that spends all day opening oysters. After being slightly disappointed with the oysters from Wheeler's (Pambula) and Zanzibar (Merimbula) and enjoying more the selection from Eat Merimbula, I hoped this would be the best of the lot saved for last.

As you enter the garage toward the oyster section, you are surrounded by awards of medals from Sydney shows. The premium (12 for $24) are supposedly the most recent winners although the website mentions supreme and extreme grade also. It seems the older they get, the large and stronger they are.

With nowhere to eat them, I placed them on the mailbox across the street. I'm sure many people have used this a table in its time. The premium oysters are a reasonable size (I'd call them medium) and have a solid strong ocean-flavour, quite a creamy core and a slight metallic aftertaste. Overall an excellent oyster. I ended up getting some gems and cocktails for the road.

They still don't quite hit the heights of Richard Haward's for me yet, but maybe I'm coloured by their clams I remember the best.

Sunday night dining in Merimbula is more limited. I actually wanted to go to Ritzy (tapas) which I walked past the night before and was impressed by the general feel and food I saw. However given it is closed on Sundays, I looked for something where I could have more local seafood exposure. I was a little hesitant about Pier One as I figured if I really liked the sound of it (and reviews) I would have penned it in. But in the end, with not many other options than the RSL and fast food, this was the choice.

I'm glad I came here.

- Gorgonzola Tart (with pear & walnut salad) $16.50 - very mild cheese (which I prefer) presented in a tart with the salad wedges on top;
- Tempura Tasting Plate $18.50 - 2 scallops (well cooked to rare in the middle), 2 king prawns (flesh had crunch) and 3 Merimbula Lake oysters (juicy and tasty) in well seasoned (slightly salty) tempura batter with Wakame seaweed;
- Swordfish served on Thai-inspired Red Coconut Curry (with jasmine rice & tempura battered soft shell crab) $31.50 - the swordfish was overcooked unfortunately. The curry is coconut based but not red. Nonetheless it is a delicious slightly sour lime and coconut concoction that I wish there was more of. The soft shell crab is the star of this dish with exceptional flavour, meaty crab and fried crispness;
- Reef & Beef Wellington (eye fillet pieces with prawns & scallops wrapped in puff pastry topped with king prawns, served with Tuscan potatoes & drizzled with creamy Chardonnay sauce) $33.50 - usually the fillet is medium (but they tried to accommodate me with as rare as possible) and ended up a tender medium-rare. The prawns and scallops were a pleasant surprise, potatoes crisp and flavoured and the sauce was excellent to cut through the flavours. A good dish overall.

The food I had this evening was great, particularly the mains. It is reasonably expensive, but given the view and general Australia seafood prices it isn't out of place.

Next time I would order either of those two mains again (or any of the mains to be honest) but I'd probably try the calamari or baby octopus as the entree.