Eat Like Ushi

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.

I remember the surprise at the quality of food and drink at one of Melbourne's best cafes when I came here out of convenience back in December 2009. Back then it appeared out of convenience as I had just moved into the area. After the expanding reputation, the long waits for tables on weekend brunches and the easy opportunity to eat here at off-peak times, I've been back probably more than any other eatery in the world.

Much of the draw is the exceptional Soy Chai Latte which has set the benchmark for me all over the world. Sweet, milky and a strong hit of ginger. I've never been to India so I'm not sure how the original tastes, but this is how it should.

On this particular occasion we opted for the French Toast and Pumpkin Fritters. French Toast was crusty with sweet soft core. I'm not one for French Toast generally but this was clearly better than the average.

I wasn't a fan of the Pumpkin Fritters honestly. They had a chewy texture and tasted a little bland. Not the best option here but not enough for me to forget all the memorable dishes in the past.

Next time I would order the Chai Latte for comfort and wash it down with any of the delicious Porridge, Roasted Mushrooms on Toast, Lamb Open Sandwich all of which have been my staples for the past few years. Enjoy the cosy cafe and strangely elegant atmosphere.

Gertrude Street is perfect for strolling and shopping in a more bohemian part of Melbourne. De Clieu is the pick in the area for coffee and breakfast cafes.

Seven Seeds coffee is pure and strong - just what you want. Soy Chai Latte is thick and frothy with a nice ginger accent.

The signature breakfast I came back for is the Pork Belly on Roti. A thick slab of juicy pork sits on top of a rather atypical roti. Not particularly flaky, with crispy edges but the area underlying the pork was rendered soggy. Perhaps serving them separately would work better. Nonetheless the flavour keeps me returning.

Since poached eggs are typically overcooked in London, I had to get my Melbourne fix. A simple Poached Eggs on Quinoa & Seed Sourdough (with warm tomato chutney) reminded me how great eggs and bread can be. The sourdough toast is fantastic. The poached eggs (one slightly overcooked, one perfectly runny) soaked yolk into the toast. Wonderful. The tomato chutney was warm and simple - adequate but unnecessary in my opinion.

Next time I would order the chai or coffee - depending upon what your inclination is. Poached Eggs will keep you satisfied. For something more unique, The Pork Belly on Roti is a good selection but try requesting the roti to be separate or to the side.

The long drive from Melbourne to Wilson's Promontory passes through a few small towns. Leongatha is about 45mins from Wilson's Prom and serves as a good town to stop for a cafe breakfast/brunch/lunch and also pick up supplies from Safeway (aka Woolworths), Baker's Delight and a local butcher all within the same plaza.

In looking for food, we found only one cafe that looked similar to the Melbourne cafes that sets our high standards.

This place is relatively expensive, perhaps transport costs of ingredients is higher in these areas. They also claim 98% of food ingredients are prepared on the premises. We had two mains, a side of fries, a smoothie, a juice and a coffee for $50. The lunch menu is basically divided into headings - salad, pasta, soup etc each of which seems to change daily.

- Yellow Curry of Chicken - curry was a touch dilute perhaps but still good;
- Fried Calamari - very tasty and well salted calamari. The outside was not particularly crispy, but the flavour made up for that;
- Fries - thick potatoes hand cut and fried with skin on. Relatively crisp outside, soft inside;
- Mixed Banana/Berry Smoothie - very very thick heavy smoothie with a hint of cinnamon and perhaps honey. Just the way I make them at home - like a meal on its own;
- Juice

Next time I would order the Fries and Mixed Smoothie again. Pick whatever you like from the lunch specials (breakfast menu is fixed).

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.

After brunch at Chez Dre, my inadvertent initial stumble into Bibelot and visual delight of chocolates and sparkling desserts meant I needed to look again. The gelato/sorbet list is extensive and each flavour individually reads like a special from any other place. I'm not a huge dessert person generally but I was told the small cakes here were better than Zumbo, Burch & Purchese etc. and so since in the area (and probably wouldn't be again for a while) I bought up large for takeaway.

1L gelato for $19.5 and 3 flavours started off. There's so many to pick from that although I wanted to taste a few, I knew it would take too long. I've had to leave the mandarin & yuzu, strawberry & lemon myrtle, amrood (since found out is guava) pineapple & chilli chocolate, coconut & pandan for another time.

Pistacchio gelato was mildly sweet, quite nutty and boosted by whole roasted pistacchios - excellent overall. Pear & ginger gelato was mild with intermittent chunks of crystallised ginger - unusual and great. Coconut & cherry chocolate sorbet was a mix of flavour with coconut being the most prominent - it was good but overwhelmed by the other two.

The beautiful gourmandise board $27 samples most of the cakes on display. The favourite two were the hazelnut-praline crunch (strong chocolate with crunching popping texture of the base) and the much lighter and softer manga, yuzu & coconut. Life with Bibelot and green tea dome were similarly light but very mild in flavour, and the other four chocolate options didn't wow me. The rose-raspberry macaron was very sweet (as expected) and a little too much for me.

I know what I'll be getting next time.

It's extremely rare I venture to South Melbourne. The last time was when I bought a cheap Scoopon gym membership for a few weeks and the only places I visited in the area were Andrew's (defeats the purpose of going the gym perhaps) and the market.

On this occasion it was enroute and I had time to spare. A quick look found the ridiculously well rated Chez Dre - I can't remember why the name sounded familiar. Maybe it was so highly rated a cafe that I intended to go sometime. Perhaps it's the same name as somewhere I've been overseas. Not sure. In any case the entrance at the end of a little alley is slightly hidden and went into Bibelot first by accident. On a Thursday late morning the place was quite full inside and outside.

There's some great sounding menu options and I had trouble deciding between the grilled sardines and pork belly. My waitress said the choice was difficult but each was completely different - either breakfast or lunch. After a pressured 15 seconds of indecision I opted for lunch.

- Confit Pork Belly (with pickled pear & chive salad, crispy pig ears, apple & vanilla puree) $23 - a very nice slab of pork belly (natural flavour, not too fatty, quite tender meat) served with the crispiest skin I could imagine. The ear slivers add a little smoky touch and firm texture and the salad is the cold and light contrast;
- Prana chai with soy - real spices served in a pot. Mildly sweet and a good amount of cardamom. Not bad.

I liked the lunch but maybe being 1115am I intrinsically felt like I was missing out on carbohydrates. It could've been related to my seat next to the counter with all the breads on display and reading the information card about their sourdough. I satisfied that craving by taking home a 1.5kg round michette loaf for my next morning's breakfast - a soft, strongly wheaty brown colour bread.

Next time I would order grilled sardines or spiced lamb jaffle for breakfast, lamb goujons for lunch and a smoothie or iced coffee.

Forest Hill - I haven't been there for probably over 10 years. After viewing a property for sale nearby in Box Hill, it was time for lunch. Something fast - maybe noodles? I was surprised that a place called India Delights would serve excellent Malaysian noodles, but that's exactly what I found.

- Mixed plate with biryani rice $11 - extraordinary value with selections from the serving basin. I chose a mildly sweet and tender beef rendang, spicy mutton curry, eggplant masala and pumpkin curry;
- Mamak mee goreng $9.5 - a pretty good dish and satisfying;
- Combination hor fun $11 - a heap of runny egg sauce topping flat rice noodles, prawns, squid and more. Really really good version served (when requested) with green chilli in soy vinegar;
- Indian rojak $10 - really thick and tasty peanut sauce smothering fried dough (which would have been better crispier), beancurd, bean sprouts, potato, cucumber and boiled egg.

From the menu and dishes I assume the chefs are Indian ethnicity from Malaysia. I'll have to try the roti and murtabak next time as well as the fried chicken and pastries.