words and pictures about food
Some photos:
I was the guest of Nuffnang and Collins Kitchen.
Last week, the good folk at nuffnang worked with the generous people at the Grand Hyatt put on an event for Melbourne foodbloggers. I was lucky enough to score an invitation (although it still feels a bit funny to think of myself as a bona fide foodblogger).
After a quick drink in the adjoining RU-CO bar – which is a hidden gem for those of us who prefer a bar on Friday evenings that isn’t fully packed, and you can almost always find a seat – we were given a tour of the kitchen from which we were about to sample food by Chef Jason Camillo.
The Hyatt’s Collins Kitchen restaurant is powered by an open kitchen, roughly broken up into five specialty stations. There’s a sushi and sashimi section, where all the fish looked amazingly fresh, and the sushi chef adeptly worked his craft as we were told about the restaurant’s ethic of sourcing, wherever possible, local produce. Everyone got rather excited when the fresh wasabi from Tasmania was spotted. Apparently it’ll only set you back $180 a kilo!
Next, there were grill and deli sections, the grill with an impressive ‘crustacean bowl’, and the deli with a good array of cured meats – to be honest, I got a little distracted by the sushi chef working and fell behind the group at this point in the tour. Hence I have no pictures of the meats, and just a quick snap of some yabbies.
Everyone was excited to sample the freshly grated wasabi, to the point where impromptu fusion occurred on the plate – the liverwurst from the antipasto was adventurously paired with the fresh wasabi, with pleasing results!
The roast duck was beautifully succulent, and the skin was remarkably crisp, though I found it a touch on the salty side. I really like to taste the gaminess of duck when I eat it. The roast pork was again perfectly cooked, though the crackling was a little chewy, and not quite crunchy enough on the slice I had. The soya chicken was stunning. Beautifully tender, and a nicely balanced soy marinade which had just penetrated the unbelievably thin chicken skin – this was a quality chook! I was a little disappointed with the choy sum and fried rice, both were a bit pedestrian, and suffered from too much oil. The rice was interesting in that it was a medium grain, instead of the usual long grain jasmine rice.
Next up was a grilled fruits de mer (seafood) platter, and a gargantuan grilled porterhouse for two (weighing in at 900gm on the bone). Luckily this was being shared between five of us. These came with a inspired side of sauteed mushrooms with hazelnuts, wilted broccolini and a deliciously creamy potato mash.
The porterhouse was beautifully juicy, though leaning on the medium-rare edge for me (I prefer my steak blue-rare). It came with a choice of green peppercorn sauce or a red wine jus. The peppercorn sauce was better, in my opinion.
Props must be given to Adrian of Food Rehab for ‘taking one for the team’ and polishing off the desserts after everyone had tasted to their satisfaction.
Penny from Jeroxie
Joyce from Jetsetting Joyce
Suzanne from EssJay Eats
Adrian from Food Rehab
Melissa and Danny from Tummy Rumbles
Maria from The Gourmet Challenge
Shellie from Iron Chef Shellie
Agnes from Off the Spork
Sarah from Sarah Cooks
Thanh from I Eat Therefore I Am
Neil from At My Table
There were more, but I didn’t get to meet everyone, and I don’t have everybody’s blog URLs. *sadface*
I recently met up at Vi’em Cafe with a couple of ex-expat friends whom I’d met in Viet Nam. I suggested the place because I’d been introduced to its existence by Joyce through her search for the best rice paper rolls in Victoria St. I’d been there once myself, and the rice paper rolls were indeed great, and the bun thit nuong was pretty good too! That, and I took the waitress’ laughter at my attempts to speak Vietnamese as a challenge to come back.
We started off with the obligatory rice paper rolls with grilled pork (I forgot to photograph them!) which were, again, wonderful. Still-warm slices of grilled, fatty pork, wrapped in fresh goodness.
For mains, we shared more grilled pork (because we obviously hadn’t had enough) and the soft-shelled crab (we went the pepper and salt option). Both dishes were tasty, if a little over-salted, and between three of us, we could barely finish them (with rice, of course).
122 Bourke St (cnr Market Lane)
Phone: 9663 2788
While I must confess I am more than sated by my ramen experience at Ramen Ya, in the interests of being thorough, and of my belly, I continue to try more Japanese restaurants which serve ramen. On the recommendation of my soon-to-be brother-in-law, I tried Ito Japanese Noodle Cafe. He lived in Japan for a year, so I figure he would know something about Japanese food. It’s funny, but I find it hard to shake the memory of that place being a 50s style American Diner, even though Ito has been there for at least 5 years.
To my disappointment, Ito doesn’t offer tonkotsu ramen on the menu, so I had the Ito Jumbo ramen with a shoyu broth, and the twin toppings of chashu and spicy minced pork (of which I forget the name). In fact, I think I ordered it with chashu and fried chicken (kara-age) but the fact I can’t remember the name of what I did order might suggest I made the error in ordering.
The chashu lacked the essential fattiness which I desire/require in good chashu, which was disappointing, because Ito otherwise made quite a good showing. It being the jumbo bowl, I left thoroughly satisfied. While I think Ramen Ya still represents better value, Ito’s definitely a contender for Melbourne’s best ramen (so far).
4 Margaret St, Moonee Ponds
Phone: 9375 4499
I don’t go out for breakfast on weekends as much as I used to. I think living for a while in Viet Nam changed my tastes somewhat in terms of what I like to eat in the morning. I still really miss the fact I could run downstairs from my place and grab a banh mi (Vietnamese pork roll) or some xoi cuc Ha Noi (Hanoi-style sticky rice with chrysanthemum) or even a quick bowl of pho.
So when Mr N suggested we go out for breakfast last Saturday, I wasn’t sure what to get from the menu. I settled on a breakfast pizza, with salami, bacon, mushrooms and spinach. And yes, that IS indeed a poached egg with hollandaise sauce on the top. Given the hung-over state I was in, this pizza didn’t just hit the spot, it nailed it.
I chose the lamb cutlets served with garlic mash and red wine glaze, which were deliciously rare (I requested them that way, because that’s usually how I like all my red meat) though a touch on the salty side. The mash was very garlicky, but in a good way, and luckily I had mints on hand for later!
122 Peel St North Melbourne
Phone: 9329 9016
This day (my birthday lunch with the office colleagues) I had the fettucine with Italian sausage and broccoli. Based on prior experience, I knew to order the entree, and not the main. The main is seriously only for the brave-hearted and the cavernous bellied.
While it was quite busy (Friday lunchtime) and the food took some time to arrive, the pasta was wonderful. Fresh, al dente, and smothered in a tasty tomato sauce.
While I understand pasta is cheap to produce, I have to wonder how serving such mammoth plates for such low prices (the average entree pasta is $12.90) can result in a net profit!?
EDIT: We went back a couple weeks later for another colleague’s birthday lunch. Many more photos this time!
Left to right: Penne puttanesca; Spaghetti and meatballs; Tortellini con pollo e funghi
Shop 25G Melbourne GPO
Cnr Elizabeth and Lt Bourke Sts
Phone: 9654 5838
Last night, a group of ramen-o-philes (brought together by their love of noodle and twitter) descended upon Ramen Ya in the city. While the turnout was somewhat diminished by the torrential rain which had lashed the city only hours before, those of us who made it were not disappointed.
I think I can fairly safely announce that the hunt for good ramen in Melbourne is over. I will stop short of saying that it is the best, but it is certainly the best I’ve tried. I ordered the tonkotsu chashu ramen, with extra noodles, because I love my carbs, and I was feeling particularly hungies last night. When it arrived, it didn’t disappoint.
I highly recommend you all go try the ramen at Ramen Ya. For $10 a bowl, you’d be a fool not to. Oh, and they also have a loyalty card, so I’ll be heading back soon, to fill out my card and get my 10th bowl free!
980 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill
Phone: 9899 2696
It was my mother’s birthday yesterday, so the family decided to go out for dinner together. Now, being of a migrant working class come small business owner heritage, my family tends to eschew fancy expensive restaurants in favour of flavour and reasonable prices. And we’re certainly no strangers to buffets nor at-table cooking. Yet my parents were restauranteurs for over twenty years of their lives, so let’s just say they have certain standards. So when my sister suggested Korean BBQ, I was pretty sure we were on a winner. And when a little online research found Seoulia, I just knew we’d nailed it.
We arrived to find the place abuzz, but not full, with people sitting around massive boar-shaped grills, with lowered extraction fans not doing all that much to extract away the smell of grilling meats.
When we were finally finished (and stuffed) with the meat, the waiters came and removed the massive steel boar plate, to reveal that it was in fact resting on three little mini cast-iron piggies. Too cute!
The logistical details – Seoulia has two sittings per evening (each officially lasting for 1 1/2 hours, but with a two hour maximum, apparently – don’t worry, you’ll be well stuffed within an hour) and costs $26.50 per head ($29.50 on weekends, I think). You pay for everything in advance (including drinks – they have beer and soju, but I’m not sure abut wine) which felt a little funny, but I guess is generally how a buffet works. Oh, and there’s a $10 wastage fee if you don’t finish the meat you take from the buffet to your table, so don’t stock up on things in bulk, just make multiple trips. The tables were a little cramped, but the service was efficient.
