The Month of April

I have to say that after March it has been a very quiet month. However there has been a few exceptional breakfast mornings and an evening of gastronomic highs in a very very cheap Chinese restaurant in the city.

Firstly the local news. New in Sky is Wee Jeanie!

Wee Jeanie - 50 Anderson St Yarraville - 9687 7187

Opened for approximately a month now I was lucky enough to have brekkie there in the first week of opening. Running Completely different to Iain and Claires Cornershop, Wee Jeanie is more a quick stop with a quick coffee and bite to eat, rather than the lets hangout atmosphere of the cornershop.

I had the delicious Welsh Rarebit, which had just the right bite. The breakfast menu is limited with simple and fast options. So tempted was I to sit and try more of the display I had to drag myself away. In the display is a variety of delicious looking quiches, salads, cakes and slices. A great courtyard out the back with a common table looking over the yarraville station provides a different view than the regular in SKY.

I also had breakfast at the cornershop this month and I tried the delicious black rice, rhubarb, strawberry, yoghurt and palm sugar. Served like a breakfast trifle I can only say it was delectable and I think it should be at Wee Jeanie as well.

Lunch today was at the newly opened Cafe Advei(sorry if the spelling is incorrect) in Gamon St. This was only opened two weeks ago and is being run by a Yarraville Family. You may have noticed the blue Mediterranean tiling on the outside, the paper on the windows and the blue doors. I was very excited when the doors were opened and was finally able to sit down and eat there. They do have a breakfast menu, which looks delicious and I will go back to try it, but today was about lunch. As you walk in there is a display counter, with middle eastern looking salads, felafels and other delights. We seated ourselves straight away and were presented with a menu almost immediately. The lunch menu consisted mainly of the displayed items, but also a number a yummy sounding wraps and foccacia's. My guest and I decided to share a felafel plate, which came with 3 felafels with hummus and our choice of 3 salads. We chose the lentil, the silverbeet and couscous and the mediterranean. Everything was so scrumptious. We also shared a zuchhini pancake which was also nice but a little too salty.

The mood of the cafe was one of a new venture. It was obvious that these people were a bit green, but they are on the right path. They need some proper signage on the windows, as it is hard to see the name of the cafe from a distance, they need some heating, cos although today was not very cold, it was cold in there and they need credit card facilities.

I do wish them luck and success. If all the food is as good as what I had today then I think they will make it.

A Seddon Food Crawl.

One friday night went like this!

1. Sabrosso's- French Champagne

2. Seddon wine bar - more French Champagne but this time with the most perfect parmigianno reggiano on one board and a delicious duck liver pate with sour dough from the Sour dough kitchen across the road on another board.

3. Tin Pan Alley - in Victoria St, just down from the Sourdough Kitchen. Pizza and Pinot Noir.Heavenly Pizza's.

4. Sabrosso's - More red wine and Dessert. Dessert was of course, churros with chocolate sauce. There were other dishes on the plate but you will have to forgive me because by that stage at least 5 hours had passed since that first glass of champers, and things were becoming a blur.

Highly recommend this evening out but do warn that the next morning could be fogggy.

Lastly I would like to share my discovery of the Shanghai Noodle house in Tattersals Lane in China Town, Melbourne.

We were trying for Camy Shanghai Dumpling and Noodle House but the line was so long we just walked into the next restaurant that we could see with a free table. Not very often do you walk out feeling you have just won the lotto.

We had so much food, too much, because we didn't realise how big the serves would be. Every dish that we ordered was undeniably superb. Dumplings, not a measly 4 per serve but 12, and so fresh. The noodle soups , the other dishes we ate I don't even know the names of, because really you just point and order and hope for the best.
The English language is not well practiced in this restaurant so don't be surprised if what you thought you ordered hasn't arrived, it probably won't, but whatever does comes I promise you will be delicious. There are a few details to overlook, such as a bit of grubbiness, no selling of alcohol(byo is allowed), and no credit card facilities.

We paid $72 for 4 of us and we could have ordered half. Just Amazing!

Melbourne Food Festival

I get very excited in March when the announcement of the Melbourne food and wine festival is made. I download the program and start planning. I'll do this lunch with this friend and I'll do this lunch with that friend and with the family, we can attend this event. Perhaps with my husband I'll go here and the list goes on. Any excuses to try as many express lunches in 10 days as possible as well attending other events. I've chosen 3 events to discuss that stand out. Libertine 500Victoria st Nth Melbourne 3051 9329 5228 I've heard about Libertine for along time and was very excited that they were included in the express lunch. Express lunches are 2 courses with a glass of wine and a coffee or cup of tea. For this you pay $35. (that's right!). On being seated the lovely waitress(not sure if she was the owner or not(Zoe Ladyman, a local Yaravillian, I hear) did not waist any time in giving us our menus and asking us what wine we would like. She also explained for an extra 10 dollars we could have 3 courses. And of course I straight away went yes that's for me. The Ambience in Libertine, is just lovely. It feels very French and old world. My entree was a cuttlefish salad with turtle beans and mint which was devine. It presented like a freshly bloomed flower and tasted light and sublime. For Mains again I had the fish - John Dory which was probably the best cooked piece of fish that I have ever had. Served on beautiful potato cooked in too much butter. Dessert was a plum and berry struesal served with Pistachio ice-cream. The service was brilliant with the waitress being more attentive to our needs than you would have thought possible. Overall Libertine has left a flavour in my mouth that I long to readdress, soon, please, someone take me there. The Healsville Hotel - The Cider Festival What a great family event! For $20 an adult and $5 a child this is an afternoon that I would encourage all to attend. This event is about cider tasting and although cider is obviously for adults the Healsville hotel made sure that our children were entertained whilst we attended the serious business of tasting. There were four stalls of tasting. I can remember three, Kellybrook, Punt Road and Coldstream Brewery. Now I mainly booked this event because my husband and one of his pals love cider. They also make batches of it now and again which they try to get me to taste. I have to say in the past I have not been too fond of cider. Well this was the turning point. I tried the Apple ciders, I tried the Sparkling Ciders and I tried the Pear Ciders. My fav being Pear. Delicious! For our $20 we got to do the tasting then we got to choose one stubby of cider and we also got a roast pork roll. The roast pork was delicious(from a spit) and I will not complain too much because as you can see for my 20 I'm already getting quite a good deal, but please, a little bit of butter on the roll or some apple sauce or chutney or even some gravy please. I would have paid extra just for that roll to be moist. Whilst eating and drinking cider our children were entertained by a clown and we listened to a lovely jazz band. Overall a brilliant afternoon! Stokehouse Schmoke house! What a disaster! Oh Lordy an example of what not to do during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. For a start the Express Lunch was downstairs, not upstairs where it should have been. Secondly whilst they were offering the Express Lunch they were still trying to do their normal menu in the bistro. We were seated on a shabby chipped table. On seating my male guest asked for a beer. We then waited and waited. In the meantime we were given the menu, which was dissapointing and uninspiring. We ordered our food as well as the wine component from the menu - then the beer came. We waited and waited and waited. We asked the waitress where our wine was and she said that she couldn't find any glasses, they may have run out. Oh! Eventually the head waitress came and bought us our wine and apologised saying that she would give us a second glass of wine free of charge. Eventually the entree's arrived for two of us and the waitress also bought out the main course for our 3rd guest. So Wrong! Do you know that the entree was so unimpressive I can't even remember what it was. We also received our second glass of wine at this point. Whilst we were waiting a waitress was carrying two plates of pizza. She tilted one plate and lost control and some of the pizza brushed on another customers shoulder. She regained control of the plate and turned around and served the pizza to the other table who had been watching. It was hilarious because she should not have served it, it was like a scene out of Faulty Towers. Again we waited and waited and waited. Lordy it's 3.30, our booking was at 1.30, our entree had been served 3/4 of an hour ago, we were starving and by the looks of things we weren't going to get anything else. So we walked! Yes that's right we got up and walked right out without paying without being stopped. That felt so good! I have never experienced such bedlam at such a supposed high profile restaurant. NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!! Just drove past Delizia and it is no longer there. Tin Pan Alley Is?? All that googling reveals is that it may be Italian cuisine with wood fired pizza's. How will Touks feel about the Pizza? Corner shop owners are not far off from opening 2nd cafe in their budding empire.Wee Jeanie's is the name and don't we love it. Very Exciting, can't wait for the opening! FYI How much do you love your cheese? Australia is one of the only countries left leaving a ban on unpasterised cheese or raw milk cheese. This is apparently to protect cheese eaters from harmful pathogens(germs). Raw milk cheese is said to have more flavour and health benefits according to some cheesemakers. Australian cheesemakers would like the ban to be lifted so that they can practice the tradional artisan way of using raw milk for cheese making. The variety of cheeses that benefit from this practice range from soft brie's and camembert's to firmer cheeses such as manchego and gruyere. Let's rally behind our local cheesemakers and support this ancient and natural process.

FYI

The Next Craze - Bugs!

Yes! Apparently bugs are extremely good for you and they are going to be promoted as the next best thing. It's not that much of a jump really if you think of Moreton Bay Bugs or Balmain Bugs. These Bugs, the giant water bug, crickets or your average grasshopper apparently are full of protein, nearly the same as ground beef. They are environmentally friendly,they can be farmed more cheaply and on less land. They are already a part of a diet for amongst others Bear Grilles and our own aborigines.

Would you eat Insects as an appetiser? MMM!

auction rooms

Auction Rooms
103-107 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051
(03) 9326 7749


On my second visit to the Auction Rooms I was very excited. First time round I had the baked eggs, and they were delicious. So in the car trip over I was having a difficult time wondering whether I should have those eggs again or whether I should have the pork Knuckle sandwich(This breakfast was about lunch time) or should I have muesli and then a sweet treat. Ah decisions, decisions decisions. In the end The baked eggs were no longer on the menu and because I wanted to review I decided to stick with the breakfast menu. The breakfast menu is not for your average bacon and eggs Jo, it is quite sophisticated with many ingredients in one dish. I like that if it works.
I decided on Coriander felafel and poached eggs on grilled flat bread with a cumin and mint yoghurt, tabouli, dukkah and a tahinin dressing.(See what I mean). Unfortunately this did not work for me. Why, because this was not cooked with sophistication. So disappointingly the eggs were hard, this dish was really in need of runny eggs due to the tabouli being really dry . Couldn't taste the tahini dressing. The dish had quite a nice nutty flavour but could have had twice as much cumin and mint dressing. It had potential but didn't come close to realising it.
I get very upset when I find it difficult to choose off a great menu and then end up with that.

I like the atmosphere here! It is a beautiful brick building with exposed wood, lights made from construction piping, great music and of course the smell of freshly roasted coffee. It's also very busy which creates that buzz that one likes to feel in groovy cafes.
They Roast their own under the name Small Batch and even I Might be tempted to try a coffee here one day. Not really, I love my tea. Talking of which although I loved the way they served the Chai, it was undrinkable. So strong and luke warm. YUK!

The service was poor at our table, the girl who served us seemed to be in La La land. I never received the rhubarb crumble tart I ordered, could not be bothered chasing it up cos I felt the whole experience was a bit laxidaisical.

Not worth leaving SKY for!

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.