Taj Palace - An Institution

We are lucky in S.K.Y. to live right next door to Footscray.

Now I know other Melburnians may make jokes about Footscray, but what they don’t know is that Footscray has some of the best restaurants in Melbourne.

If you look in cheap eats this year there are almost a dozen entries. Not all suburbs can boast this! What is amazing is that it is a combination of Melbourne’s latest migrant groups that fill this suburb with such delectable choices. Indian, Vietnamese and Ethiopian.

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Tonight we focus on an Indian restaurant – The Taj Palace! It is an institution! It has been in Footscray for 22 years and we have been visiting it for the past 10.

(228 Nicholson St Footscray VIC 3011(03) 9687 1020)

I’m not sure how we knew to go but it’s one of those local legends that just gets passed around. I love the chef with the curly moustache, who waves when you walk in. I use to wonder how he knew us but then I realised he waves at everyone. A great gesture. A good way to make your customers feel special. Apart from noticing the chef you can’t help notice the pink tablecloths. They remind me of a wedding I went to years ago. MMMMMmmmmmmmm. Really though, what we go there for is the feed. Yummo! Bhaji, Butter chicken, tandoori mushrooms, naan bread, plain, garlic or paneer, rogan josh, vindaloo, I’ll stop now because I can tell that you are drooling. If you haven’t been there before, get yourself down there, it is great Indian food.

Monica

Well, well Mon, I am very impressed - you loved everything about the Taj Palace, not that it doesn't deserve it. Do you really mean to say that you couldn't find ONE thing to suggest? Maybe you are just more mellow after a few wines! For a fabulous, reasonably priced dinner in modest surroundings the Taj is definitely the place to go, they also do kick arse take-away.

Rachael

Seddon Deadly Sins -

Walking in to SDS this time was a bit of 'WOW, it’s changed.'

Yes folks they have redecorated and I like it!

Lots of wood and lots of workspace for the boys. A fantastic new cake fridge with a great display of cakes. Fantastic improvements. As usual Simon and the boys were hard at work. They really give you good service, very attentive, I also like that.

One of my pet hates is having finished my breakfast, and my first cup of tea, and then not being offered another cup of tea. Often R and I sit and sit and wait and wait. And eventually one of us will go and order it. We shouldn’t have to go, they should be coming to us! And at SDS they come to you. Excellent!

That’s all the good news and now the not so good.

As I said in my first review I think the food is fine, but sadly this time round I was far from impressed. I had the muesli, at $7.50, this is quite a bargain compared to other muesli dishes in SKY. Unfortunately it was not really worth $7.50. It just wasn’t up to scratch. The actual muesli itself was okay but it was topped with fresh fruit.

Another pet hate is fruit cut up too early. If I order fresh fruit I want it cut to order. Do you know what happens if you cut fruit too early before serving it, it goes brown. Yes, you can stop it from going brown by adding lemon juice but you can still tell it was cut earlier (or at least I can, I am pretty fussy though). At Seddon Deadly Sins on that day I was served uneven chunks of browned fruit on top of the muesli, it just put me off .

Sorry Boys, you need to do better than that! Most other cafes in Sky are serving poached, baked or compote of fruit. Perhaps you should consider this if you don’t have time to cut up fruit to order.

Monica

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Jeepers Monica!!! Talk about a fruit Nazi! Glad you've never been to my place for brekky - I think I'd just hand you the fruit, a good sharp knife and make you do it yourself! I'm thinking maybe you need to order something less healthy in the first place - I had a chocolate and fruit muffin, delicious, probably highly fattening, and bloody good.

By the way everyone - I have been silent too long! I have decided it's time to add my 2 cents worth for those of us who aren't foodies, don't really care if our fruit is fresh or poached and like desserts for breakfast! So watch out Monica - I'm here to pig out on pancakes, and shout you down when I think you're being harsh. (Mind you I tend to agree with you 90 per cent of the time but that's no fun!)

Cafe looks fabulous boys - well done.

Rachael

Feedback from Feedback!

Mmmm Mmmmm! I love Feedback! So unassuming! So delicious! Cold mornings call for wholesome nurturing food and who better to deliver. A bowl of toasted muesli was what I felt like, and I got the deluxe of all muesli’s. At $8 a bowl there is no better value for money. Beautifully toasted muesli, tossed with dried fruits and nuts, with a dob of yoghurt and the piece de resistance, a half baked pear on top. No other words to describe this breakfast dish, except divine.

Rachel had a muffin which she thought was divine, heaps of fruity goodness and big and fat. I know in my last post on feedback I said I would try the muffin, but really I could not fit it in. Funnily my teacup set from the early nineties showed up as the tea cups our tea was poured into. (I’m not sure about that though as I did give them away because I didn’t like them anymore, so it’s all a bit weird. Or is it Karma?)

Overall the breakfast experience at Feedback is still one of the best in SKY especially in the food department. It is very laid back, unpretentious and seriously casual, maybe, a bit like me. Or Not?

Monica.

You definitely missed out not having the muffin - fantastic! In the interests of our readers I think you should have gone the extra mile and fitted one in. You owe it to your readership Mon. Soft, that's what you are!

Rachael.