Eat Like Ushi

I didn't expect to eat Korean in Geelong. It was only through the recommendation of a work colleague that I tried - what would they know about Korean food? Anyway on a Monday where most of Geelong's dining closes down, Donco was pumping and full of a variety of diners enjoying themselves. The smells of food filled the kitchen. I could see regulars or VIPs being looked after with a few complementary dishes from the chef. Maybe I'll get there one day.

Modern Korean tapas is something I've probably only tried at Bistro K and less so Chimac.

- Tofu Kimchi Ball (with mushroom, coriander, caramelised ginger sauce) $10 - crispy balls of tofu with a much less tangy and tart kimchi and more savoury. Unusual and nice;
- Silky Tofu in sweet soy broth (with shimeji mushrooms, crunch noodles, shichimi) $12 - a lovely warming bowl of flavoursome agedashi tofu filled with mushrooms and noodles. It was topped with angel hair chilli. I couldn't detect much shichimi but it didn't need it (and I didn't bother to ask for it);
- Chilli deep fried calamari (with pomegranate dressing on seasonal leaves & roast capsicum mayo) $13 - nice dish balancing sweet, salty and tangy;
- Grilled Barramundi (with roasted pumpkin, gochujang sauce & yuzu kimchi) $31 - a good slab of well cooked fish, served on soft soft pumpkin and a minimally spicy gochujang cream sauce.

The steamed rice was unfortunately terrible. Thick and congealed and gluggy. The staff and food was otherwise lovely so I didn't complain, but it certainly did merit one.

I'll happily return next time to try other dishes, such as bibimbap or bo ssam. The food, flavour and atmosphere were fantastic.

There's a few dinner spots in Geelong on my list. Igni or Tulip will probably be reserved for a special occasion and the others are much more casual (Zigfrid's and Telegraph Hotel). Jack & Jill was one I wanted to try from my last trip, so I was surprised to call on a Monday night at 730pm to find they had closed their kitchen. Hmm.

Luckily a few nights later, business was more steady including what seemed like regulars and the concept of small dishes served together equating into a meal eventuated. It is a little expensive for a main, but I suppose you are getting 3 or 4 tapas on a plate.

Plate 1
- Grilled scallop served with cauliflower puree, crumb of bacon & peas
- Pumpkin risotto cake with red onion jam & soft blue cheese
- Steamed Japanese egg custard with tempura teriyaki chicken & a spring onion salad - I expected a chawanmushi, so was a little confused.

Plate 2
- Middle Eastern spiced lamb scotch egg with lemon & garlic yoghurt & pomegranate molasses - a good egg with lovely yogurt, although they definitely forgot the molasses;
- Southern fried quail with green beans, sweet corn, pickles & maple bacon - a crisp piece of quail with reasonably tender meat;
- Prawn & mussel chowder with leek & prawn dumplings - mild broth with 2 large dumplings full of prawn meat;
- Duck & wild mushroom terrine, orange & sweet potato puree with crispy rice paper - a warm terrine with more mushroom flavour than duck.

Dessert of miniature cones of passion fruit, Turkish delight, raspberry and burnt caramel & pear were fine but nothing exciting. The gelato are bought and not house made.

The food is quite nice and I like the concept although I still do think it's a bit expensive for the quality. There's plenty of choices to suit the plate to your desires considering the menu spans many cuisines, though I'd probably prefer the flavours at a specialty place for each individual cuisine.

I do like Belle's Hot Chicken - quite a lot (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/belles-hot-chicken-melbourne-02-2016). I've frequented the Brunswick Street establishment and recently discovered the Windsor branch. I was delighted to find Geelong had it's own version (although I'm not sure why they changed the name).

The premise is the same - chicken in a tray with a side. There are a few little differences such as the fries are not Old Bay (ie. there is no spice mix) and some of the cuts and specials are different too. Maybe it's catered toward a Geelong taste that I'm not familiar with.

A special entree of chicken skins was essentially crisp flattened battered skin with a sweet sauce on top. It was ok but nothing special, and after one skin it was probably enough.

The dark meat chicken is fresh and has a crisp coating as I expect. The spice mix here seems to be saltier and less spiced than Belle's. The Fish Sandwich is fish coated in the same spice mix topped with too much mustard which clearly overpowers the fish and spice mix. I thought the sandwich part would mean a burger, rather than served on a slice of white bread (which would make the other one a dark meat sandwich).

Overall the meal was fine but I couldn't help but feel disappointed expecting the full Belle's flavour extravaganza. I'll await my return to the mothership. Next time in the area I'd probably try Pistol Pete's Food n Blues.

After spending a few weekdays in Geelong, it was time to drive back to Melbourne. On a rainy miserable Friday morning, there weren't too many enticing cafe options. For some reason I thought there were loads in Geelong West from my look many months ago, but seemingly not the case. I did like Freckleduck but wasn't interested in driving into the city. On the magical Pakington Street, the best option looked to be Warren & Hutch. Unfortunately walking to the front and seeing newspaper boarding up the front didn't bode well. Although the Geelong Fine Foods across the road was nice to wander through.

Three Little Figs, King of the Castle and 63 Degrees seemed ok but the menus not overly interesting. Whilst aimlessly meandering, Secret Society showed up. I hadn't heard of it and finding out it is 4 months old is probably why there isn't much online for it.

It's a nice modern but cosy environment, full of natural light and a small speaker in the corner playing music that only those immediately around will hear. The Shai Chai was a quite nice served in a pot with a small side of soy on request. The food menu is quite basic.

- Corn & Haloumi Fritters $15 (with house-cured freshwater trout, 2 poached eggs & a petite rocket & Balsamic salad) - a small serve of fritters with corn expertly sliced off a cob, indiscernible haloumi but some very good fat slices of smoked trout;
- Herbivore Plate with 2 poached eggs $17 - oven roasted tomato, garlic sauteed spinach, some quality fat house beans, avocado and a little tub of mushrooms soaking in a butter based sauce. The Irrewarra sourdough was plain white but quite good.

The breakfast was nice and there were a few lunch specials for later in the day. I wouldn't mind going back but I'd probably be keen to try the other competitors in the area first.

There's a lot of good sounding cafes in Geelong. I think it's doubtful that I'll get to most of them but from what I've read a lot seem to be in West Geelong (such as the awarded King of the Castle). Since I was based in the central area I looked a little closer and came across a funky sounding Freckleduck (the others being Cafe Go and Launch Espresso).

It was surprisingly quiet at 745am on a Monday morning - maybe I expected more business people to be queuing for their morning coffees. Then again maybe they all don't work that early. In any case I like the ad of 3000 coffees educating a girl in the 3rd world for a year. 3000 coffees seems a lot so I wonder how many they sell per day to achieve this.

Hopefully my morning The Ducks Nuts smoothie $8 (with taste hints of each element of banana, peanut butter, honey and almond milk (and less so cacao) will also assist the cause. It's a sweet drink with texture similar to thick milk. It's nice but I'd probably try either their chai boy chai latte or the Bluebird smoothie next time.

- Confit Garlic & Cheddar Polenta (with honey roasted pumpkin, pickled pumpkin, kale chips, chorizo crumbs, smoked cheddar, poached egg, chilli oil) $18 - a colourful dish with slightly plain but smooth polenta, lovely pumpkin contrasted by the pickled raw slivers, very strong cheddar and bits of textural chorizo and kale. I couldn't detect any chilli;
- FD Bacon & Eggs (with jalapeno corn bread waffle, maple baked bacon, creamed corn & poached eggs) $16.5 - the waffle was nice and quite moist for corn bread although no jalapeno and the creamed corn and eggs were nice. The star was the very thick cuts of bacon, more tender than ever and with a sweet maple flavour. It wasn't the potent cured bomb of Pialligo Estate bacon, but excellent for its own properties. Some of the best I've had.

There's a good number of things to try next time if I get the chance - beetroot & mint rosti, lamb shoulder, Korean dog and the drinks. I'll have to get a side of maple bacon with any of them also.

I had booked accommodation in the central area of Geelong. What I didn't realise before this was that most of the cafes and restaurants seem to be in West Geelong and I was too lazy to drive.

After a walk to Eastern beach and along the harbour side, I had two options for dinner. One was Jack & Jill whose mini-course mains sound great but unfortunately they were fully booked this Valentine's Day. My fallback option was There There however I didn't realise until going in that they stopped serving meal food and are now a bar with snacks only (albeit decent sounding ones like wings, bao and sliders).

The lack of other reputed options in the area lead to a zomato search which showed up Shiraaz nearby. I must admit it's an odd name for an Indian restaurant especially one where the menu seems quite standard in terms of offerings. If a place was "innovative" I would expect something similar to Varq (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/varq-delhi-01-2015).

The inside was filled with reddy-pink Helium balloons and tables adorned with roses for the occasion. I like how the menus state approximately how hot the dishes are, to prevent unexpected lack or over heat. Mango lassi was sweet but not syrupy which was great - next time I'll probably ask for less sugar or to at least withhold the rose syrup that is added.

- Veg Mix Platter $18.5 - 2 very green but fresh-tasting paneer tikka, an outstanding extra crispy piping hot samosa with chunky spiced potato filling, a reasonably tasty aloo tikki potato patty and 2 extra juicy mushrooms coated in Tandoori paste;
- Garlic Naan $3.5 each - nice and chewy, reasonable size and some chunks of garlic. I'd prefer extra extra garlic personally;
- Okra Bhindi Masala $14 - a dry dish with some heat and savoury spice;
- Prawn Curry $18.5 - a delicious tomato based spiced curry which by its appearance I expected to be sweet but pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. 6 quality prawns were found;
- Lamb Biryani $15 - the rice was tasty but very mildly spiced. The lamb was very tender and didn't seem spiced at all. It was nice but I prefer heavier flavour (maybe that's just my memories from Needoo).

Although the menu didn't seem particularly different, the dishes were all good and cooked very well. It was definitely some of the better versions of classic Indian food that I've had and satisfying. The prices are reasonable also. There's other naan, icecreams, handi lamb and bhutwaa beef for me to try next time.