Reviewing reviews

How good is a review? How long after it is written is a review relevant? Each time I review or blog about a cafe/restaurant, what does it mean to you when your palate is completely different to mine. Or We could share very similiar tastes in food and you follow my blog and agree with what I have written, but what if the night you go into a cafe I have blogged about and unbeknowst to you it is the Chef's day off and you have a temp cooking for you. I have decided that I will test this theory this year and do some follow-up reviewing.

I will start with a Vietamese restaurant that was given a few lines in the Age last year. It wasn't a rating review but because it was in Footscray and close to me I thought I would like to try it. My favorite in Footscray is Huy Huy and I do feel guilty when I eat anywhere else. Trying other restaurants also makes me realise how consistently good Huy Huy is.

Star Restaurant
149 Nicolson St Footscray - 9687 3555

The restaurant is in the Footscray Mall, not what you would call the most inviting place. The mall has a reputation and I find it hard to see it improving in the near future. There's no doubt it has potential but so far no one in the council or in the traders association has been able to reach it.
When I walked into the Star Restaurant it was empty. It is a very old building and actually a great space for a restaurant. There was a table of Vietnamese people, they were not customers they were just hanging out there. There are booths which I quite like and myself and guests sat down. It took a while for the waitress to move from her buddies and serve us. There was a man behind the bar who did not register that we were in the restaurant. The waitress spoke very little English. It was very difficult to order.

There is a very big menu and not cheap! We ordered the Vietamese Chicken salad, salt and pepper calamari, beef and vegetables. We asked for fried rice and the waitress said they didn't do fried rice, it was not on the menu as a separate dish. Whether there were language problems, I'm not sure but I did think that fried rice was universal language. The same with wonton soup. Okay! MMMMMmmmm I started to worry. Was this restaurant just trying to be a bit different and a notch above the rest by not having common vietnamese menu items or did they just not want to do them for us. It was quite weird, oh they did do steamed rice!
The chicken salad was dreadful! It should have been listed as chiken skin salad, not of the yummy crispy variety, but of the boiled chicken skin variety. It is making my skin crawl as I write about it. Very little chicken, some carrot and coriander and a nice dressing. All for $16.00! Did I feel ripped off, cannot tell you how much! This scarred the rest of the meal for me. The other two dishes were fine. The whole cost of the meal with a couple of soft drinks was $65.
They didn't take credit card so we pooled all our cash and we were out of there as quick as possible. My overall feeling is that they didn't really want us as customers and did absolutely nothing to make us want to come back.

To be fair to the original reviewer, we did not eat what they ate, however even if all the food had been fine the atmosphere was dead and the quality was no way near that of Huy Huy!

The Gold Leaf
Level 1, 10-11 Star Circus
Waterfront City Shopping Centre
Harbour Town, Docklands - 9670- 1128

Now to a much more positive experience. Again I read about this in the Age and again this was not rated but just listed as a great place for Yum Cha!
Great is not the right word, Sensational would describe this experience for a lazy sunday afternoon. It did not start off well, we had a booking for 1.30 and it was very difficult to get seated. It is a huge restaurant and it was full and people were spilling out the front door and lining up. They have 2 sittings and this was the second one and obviously it was difficult as people weren't finishing as they should at the end of their sitting. The other difficulty was the maitre d had no logical system to seat people. We watched and learnt as people pushed their way to the front, pointed at their name in the reservation book and then were seated. It took us 15 minutes to learn that this was how you got seated.
Once we were seated(in very low but extremely comfortable chairs)it began. The service was excellent. Drinks were ordered and came straight away. An extremely well priced wine list was very satisfying to read.

And then came the food! Yum Cha is a tradition of drinking Chinese Tea and eating small portions of food. The small portions of food come around on trolleys in bamboo steam baskets. It was great fun looking and working out what was what(limited English for the waiting staff was a common problem) and then trying your choice. Yum Cha is mostly Dim Sum(it literally means a 'bit of Heart' but is actually lots of steamed or fried dumplings) but there are other choices, such as pork belly, which was so sublimely cooked, pickled fish and chicken feet(confession, I am a wuss and had no desire to try the chicken feet). There is lots and lots of different kinds of pork and prawn dumplings and they are all delicious. The springrolls were extroadinary, the best I have ever had! Once you have had enough savoury there is also sweet yum cha, which looks so bright and colourful, this is also a must. I have to admit , I ate and ate and ate until the custard filled doughtnuts(which I highly recommend) said to me how will you fit us in!
When we asked for the bill we were all a bit concerned because we had no idea how much this was going to cost. The way they charge for each dish is with a cross in a box on an ongoing order sheet left at your table. There were about three different sections obviously falling into cost categories. So imagine our surprise when the bill came back at $40 a head. That included one bottle of wine and soft drinks. Amazing, considering I was so full I didn't need to eat for days after! If you are looking for a nice way to spend a sunday afternoon I couldn't recommend anything better.

Duchess Of Spotswood

January 2011.

: 87 Hudsons Rd, Spotswood, 3015 Phone (03) 9391 6016

What a great way to start the year off with a visit to the Duchess! My timing could not have been better as I believe the new menu had just been introduced. Last year this little cafe blew me away so the expectations were pretty high. Veering away from the tradional bacon and eggs Duchess has stepped up and is showing Melbourne how breakfast can be. I particulary like how each menu item is named and would love to know how the titles come about.

I had Stormin' Normin(now if you google this it comes up with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the famous American general, is this dish named after him?). Did I like the dish, mmmmm it was okay. Griddled(American for Flat Grilled)Ham with fried egg, heirloom tomato salad and sour dough toast. I thought the tomatoes would pack a punch but no such luck, very ordinary tomatoes which sort of let the dish down.
Other dishes include a homemade museli bar, an omelette with yabbies(one of my guests said it was sensational), house smoked salmon with potato pancake and poached eggs. There is the tradional full English Breakfast, black pudding included if you don't want to be adventurous. You can also create your own breakfast with eggs done any which way and the sides which are a notch above the rest. It was interesting to watch 2 rather hefty gentleman sitting at the end of the table(share table)dissect their breakfast. You could tell that they were not happy with the size of their breakfast and they were looking at it with a certain amount of curiosity as well as disappointment. They are not big breakfasts at Duchess, they do have a premium price tag attached so in a working class suburb this is bound to happen. I like the size of the breakies, I don't want to start the day overeating, but for a guy, I get it. As far as the premium price tag goes, I do believe they deserve to charge that much as they are serving premium products. Consistently sensational are the gingerbread cup cakes. Can't leave without one!



My Chai was luke warm as were the coffees served to my guests. Disappointing! I love the way they serve their tea hear and the chai was lovely spice wise.

Although not a perfect score, I can't wait for my next visit, I would love to try the Lancashire Hash among other dishes.

2010

Another year gone by. I know I have been slack, I can not believe that one month has passed since I last posted.In fact I cannot believe that a new year is about to start. However, I have not been idle in the past month, of course I have been out and about and I will try to sum up my culinary month of December.

WEEK ONE

The month started off dining at The Bank in Yarraville Village. I am not sure of how many people are aware of this but The Bank do quite a good meal. I have eaten here a few times over the last few years and each meal was lovely. Most locals tiss at the mention of The Bank but I Tiss back because I think it is a business that deserves a bit more support. They have specials on weeknights, some incorporating a movie at the Sun Theatre which is just across the road. Give it a go! Let me know if you think otherwise.

The next night I was off to The Middle Park Hotel to Paul Wilson's Gastropub. Paul Wilson took over the kitchens approximately one year ago and has been a consultant on their menu. It's a great pub and set up really well with booths with teles for sports fanatics. When we walked in our dinner guests were not in the dining room yet so the waiter suggested a drink at the bar. He was extremely accommodating and ordered our drinks for us and found a bar table for us. The service was excellent for the rest of the evening. The Food, mmmmmm extremely meaty and pricy. Would I go back, probably not for the dining room but a bar meal yes. The bar meal has Pauls hotly talked about Scotch Eggs on the menu, apparently they are delicous. That's what I would like to try next.

WEEK TWO

In the Next week I had lunch in Northcote at The Breakfast Club. A Groovy little cafe on St Georges rd. A very limited menu, a smart idea for a very small space. Lots of toasties to choose from as well as all the brekkie regulars. I had a mexican bean toastie which was pretty delicious. The tea cosy on the tea pot just about sent me into hysterics because it was perfect. That is the way tea should be served!

The next lunch was at the Kent Hotel in Rathdowne st North Carlton. Another Groovy little spot. Sitting outside on the pavement was a great space for catching up with some old workmates. I ordered the Nicoise Salad and it was excellent. The Tuna cooked to perfection, seared on the outside and rare in the centre. A glass of white wine in hand and I was settled in for the afternoon watching the passing trade.

WEEK THREE

Funki Monkey. New to Yarraville, I was very excited when I saw the menu for this cafe. Gozleme! Anything I read after this has disappeared from my memory. I had to have their Gozleme. I had only had it once before and that was at the Yarraville Gardens Farmers Market. It was delicious! Gozleme is a Turkish pastry that is hand made and hand rolled,filled with spinach and feta cheese,lamb, beef or other vegetable fillings. It is then sealed and pan fried. At Funki Monkey they served it with hummus, babaganoush,lemon and tzatziki. Brilliant! What's more I think it was like $12 for this huge platter that you could easily share with a girlfriend for lunch. At the end the waitress then treated us to some of their home made Turkish Delight, I couldn't have been happier. This cafe is mainly focused at mothers with young children. They have a complete playroom for toddlers with every toy a child could need plus a dvd player(not in favor of this, don't see why our kids need to watch the screen all the time). We sat on the verandah and it was a warm day and it was a wonderful spot to watch Yarravillians go by.

WEEK FOUR

Enter the Indian Influence

Breakfast over xmas saw me at the Corner Shop eating the most delicious Baked Eggs with Eggplant Kasundi. (Kasundi is a hot Indian traditional Relish) On the side, a couple of pieces of toasted ciabiatta and I was in heaven. I thought wow, this is fantastically orginal.
Fast forward a few days and I am at Grindhouse cafe in Carlisle St, Balaclava and there is that word again Kasundi, but this time it is with tomato not eggplant. This time it is being served on the side of the Breakfast Vegetarian and Egg Biryani(Indian fried rice with spices). It is also topped with a freshly cooked papadam and some raita. Again I was sent to heaven. It is fantastic to see our chefs incorporating new ideas into our breakfasts, making another's cuisine into our own. Gone are the days of just Bacon and Eggs, I'm sure in 2011 we will see some more of these inspirational enhancements to our menus. The question is who will lead and who will fall behind.

Looking Forward.

As always I have had my ear to the ground and have heard that there might be a few changes in SKY in 2011.

We know there is a new cake shop in Anderson street coming(Hurray Up)and we might also know that there is supposed to be a new Mediterraen restaurant opening in Gamon St, in the old pet shop. I have also heard that Delizia and Seddon Deadly Sins may have new owners next year. But the big scoop is that the owners of the Corner Shop are opening another cafe in Yarraville. It's in the old record shop by the railway and you can see that there has been a lot of work done on it lately. This is very exciting news for SKY. For those of you who have had difficulty getting a table at the Corner Shop you can now try at their second cafe. Although I have heard that the second shop will not be a replica of the first one and they will be concentrating on take aways.
So as you can see there is lot to look forward to in SKY in 2011. I also hope to improve on my blog with a few photos and some extra snippets and tibits of all things culinary.

Cafe Cirino

Cafe Cirino
133 Nelson Place
Williamstown

Breakfast in Willi is a pleasure at Cafe Cirino. When you walk in your senses are heightened by the true authenticity of the owners. They are Italian, you can hear it in the accents and how lovely it is. The Second hit is the smell, the smell of the coffee and although I am not a coffee drinker I love the smell of good coffee. Here they ground the beans per order and the brand being used is Coffea. The third hit is visual, the glass deli cabinet filled with fresh lovely looking ciabiattas, bruschettas, foccacias, croissants and small olive bread rolls. All looking so fresh and tempting me to go back for lunch.

The breakfast menu is very small, with a choice of a toasted sandwich, a ham and cheese croissant or a plain croissant with jam. There is also a chocolate croissant, which I had to resist as I had already ordered a classic hot chocolate (more about that later). Muesli with yogurt and fruit was also an option. As at the moment there appears to be no kitchen out the back we have one of those situations where everything is being done front of house.
Normally I have suggested that perhaps some imagination be used in situations like this but and this is a big but I don't think they need this at all because at the moment it reminds me of being in Italy where on your way to work you grab your coffee and pastry. So when in Rome................. I ordered a toasted croissant with my Italian style hot chocolate.

They have a very special selection of hot chocolate drinks from Fraus. Fraus has a cafe in Victoria st North Melbourne serving these very European blends and now wholesaling to other lucky cafes in Melbourne. Classic chocolate, Orange, Hazelnut, tirumisu, orange and coffee are just some of the 20 or so flavours on offer. This is a real hot chocolate experience, none of the tepid and watery hot chocolates some cafes give the same name. This is like drinking pure velvet , it is impossibly rich but the most delightful sensation in a hot drink.
Drinking this whilst eating a gorgeously buttery croissant was like going to heaven. At $7.70 I thought this one of the most simplistic but Delicious breakfasts I have had since being in Rome itself.
This cafe has managed to give you the feel of being in Italy,there is Italian music playing in the background, people are coming and going and the atmosphere is enticing.
So enticing it seems that they will be expanding. I noticed some work going on out the back and have confirmed that they will be opening a restaurant. How exciting, but the question is will they be able to hold on to the Little Italy feeling once it becomes a restaurant. I guess we will just have to wait and see, if they can create an Italian restaurant with the same atmosphere as their cafe I'm sure it will be one of the best restaurants in Williamstown.

QUOTE - Ferran Adria of El Bulli -

"I prefer eating to cooking!"

Did anyone see the documentary on SBS about this most Amazing Chef. He is an inspiration!

A few cake tibits!

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes! Two new shops that I have heard about.

1. Already opened(apparently in Spotswood) is a take away cup cake shop. Owned by Ariana, formerly of Try this in Yarraville. Let me know if you have been there, I haven't got there yet, but look forward to checking it out. It's across the road from the Duchess of Spotswood.
2. Coming to Yarraville a new cake shop, opening where Recoleta Boutique was. This is exciting I really hope they do something unique.

Whilst we are talking about cakes I have to let it be known that I am a huge fan. It is one of the biggest conflicts in my life. I love to Bake Cakes, I love to Eat Cakes and I love to talk about cakes, so why oh why can it not be a daily indulgence. Because my dear friends cake is the enemy of my body! If I ate Cake everyday I would resemble a Jam Roly Poly. As much as I love cake I do not want to look like one, so these days when I'm going to have cake it has to be pretty dam special.

Making a resurgence in Melbourne this year has been the 'High Tea'. The Hotel Windsor, The Park Hyatt, The Sofitel are all places where you can indulge in all sorts of cake.
Chocolat Gateax, Lemon Tarts, Upside down Cakes, Tortes, Pavlovas, Mousse Cakes, Cheese cakes, Fruit Flans, Roulades, Nut Cakes, Pastries, Muffins, Apple Pie and the Australian Piece de resistance, The Lamington!
Well, have you had enough yet, I'm drooling, my stomach is rumbling and I just wish I had something like this in my fridge, but alas, the sensible Monica doesn't have these sorts of things in her fridge. That's why I have to go out for these and that's why I chose the Hopetoun tea Rooms for my cake indulgence.

Have you been to the Block Arcade in Melbourne it is a lovely arcade to shop in and it has the Hopetoun Tea Rooms. If it's cake you want this is a great place to come and eat it. I had a piece of the latticed Cherry Pie and OH MY it was absoulutely delicious. Not to sweet and not to tart , lovely crumbly/buttery pastry. I would love to work my way through the window display. However(yes, there is almost always a however with me)the cup of tea I had with my cherry pie was the worst cup of tea I have ever, ever, ever had. I sent the first pot back thinking that they must have made a mistake, but no it came back just the same the second time around. I was in shock, Is this not the Hopetoun Tea Rooms where they serve Tea! MMMMMMmmmmmm. Mystified! And the service? Well apparently The Hopetoun Tea rooms have been undergoing some changes, where they want to lift the standards one more notch. As far as the service is concerned I just thought is was appalling, I saw a waitress(very young and inexperienced) drop some cake on the floor and ignore it, I thought she must be coming back to clean it up but she didn't. All the staff are very young and modern which does not match the tea rooms. The Hopetoun tea rooms are from a time gone by. The 1800's, and the rooms are decorated as such(orginal I'm told), this calls for respect and grace and calm, but the young staff had none of this, such a mismatch!
SO! The question is would I go back for just the cake and not bother with the tea! I'm not sure that I would. But you see the window display is JUST so enticing and if I happened to be walking by doing some shopping in the Block Arcade, then maybe, just maybe I would have to pop in for a bit of cake and a glass of water.

Nosh

Nosh

24 Hall St
Newport 3015
9391 6404


I always thought that Hall st Newport had huge potential. In a way it reminds me of Seddon quite a few years back and although I think Seddon has a way to go, Hall St, Newport is even further behind. There’s really no competition for Nosh, lucky them!

As soon as I walked in the door of Nosh I liked it. For a start it was very busy and to me that says a lot. The bar stools lined up against the window looked inviting and I mozied on over, only to discover that they are really very uncomfortable, so I relocated to one of the few tables left. Immediately the service began with a menu being given to me and my coffee order taken, or in my case my chai tea order. On the menu it says they will keep no one waiting more than 25 minutes and they didn’t, in fact the service was excellent. I ordered the brekky wrap with house beans, chilli scrambled eggs and avocado. (15.50). I’m not sure if they were “house” beans, they seemed more like “3 bean mix” to me, however as a dish I thought it was quite enjoyable(with a little bit more salt) and very generous, there was at least half an avocado in there.(I’d be a bit concerned about my food costs).

Other dishes on the menu that caught my eye were the bacon and egg roll on toasted Turkish bread with cheddar, caramelized onion, aioli and house made relish or the bircher muesli with banana and roasted rhubarb or the oat porridge with strawberries, vanilla milk, roasted almonds and golden syrup. Yum Yum Yum!! It clearly states that all the eggs are free range and sourced in Victoria. It also directs vegans or gluten challenged people to menu items.

And for the children, fantastic, a Kids food and Drinks menu. Very impressive! My kids would love it! Cocoa Pops(what a treat) or cheese and vegemite toasties (crusts cut off) or for the more sophisticated child, fresh fruit salad and yoghurt. I also liked the notice on the wall asking parents to ask the children to respect that Nosh supplies colouring in materials. (I could open a can of worms about other children’s behaviour in cafes; of course mine are always perfect.)

I had a chai latte which was served in a very disappointing cafeteria style pot but none the less a nice chai made with the spices(not the powder and sugar mix which seems to be everywhere) and served with honey,(not on a spindle but in a tube). The cost $4.30.
The coffee is Supreme and costs $3.20sm or $4.20lrge. The tea comes in loose leaf or tisanes (mmmm what is this, a new word for me, I’ll just google it.).
Tisanes are a herbal infusion or similar preparation drunk as a beverage or for its mildly medicinal effect. According to dictionary.com.(wow, don’t you just love google!)

Nosh can be very noisy, so this can be a distraction if you are trying to have a conversation with your mate. I've had friends say to me that going there in big groups is a disaster as you can only hear the person sitting next to you.

Lack of competition can breed complacency and although I wouldn't tag Nosh as complacent I would say the that the reason it is so busy is because there is no where else to go. Overall I think Nosh covers a lot of bases which would attract a wide range of customers. The service on the day I was there was excellent, the food was good with the menu tempting me to go back and the chai was good. However if they put, for instance a Duchess of spotswood next to it or the Auction Rooms(north melbourne review to come)they would lose a lot of customers.