A Gastronomical Voyage in Melbourne

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Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:53:44 GMT

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KAZMIC

Headline - Chewing the fat

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:36:28 GMT

I am always fasinated by any information I can get about Wagyu. In the beginning of this year I downloaded the history of Wagyu from the Blackmore Wagyu Farm website. Very interest. Apparently, Blackmore makes the best grade wagyu in Australia (Marble Score of 9+) today and the herd are breed right here in Alexandra, Victoria. I wonder if they are open to visitors....

The Age Epicure Article Chewing the fat by Richard Cornish March 20, 2007

Courtesy of theage.com.au

Taiwanese Egg Pancakes for Breakfast

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 04:17:15 GMT

Every year when I go to Taipei, a visit to the local breakfast stall near my Grandparents house in Ximending is essential at least once. There, we usually get a few scorching sweetened soya bean milk in large paper cups or in clear plastic bags to go, Chinese Fried Doughnut sticks (YouTiao) and fried egg pancakes, all made fresh to order. I've gotten my husband hook on these local delicacy as well that he reminds me if we are close to the end of our trip in Taipei and we haven't gone to the stall yet.

In Melbourne, you can get these in Taiwanese cuisine cafes but they are not the same... somehow the Taiwanese ones are more fluffy and floury. I've watched them cook it a few times, and I believe the fluffiness comes from adding a little surplus egg mixture into the pan while the pancake is cooking.

My version is not as authentic as they make the thin pastry from scratch. I use the widely available plain roti bread from Asian grocery stores. The important thing here is to take the roti bread out of the fridge about 30minute earlier so that they soften. Also unfold them to get as thin a roti slice as you possibly can so you're getting more egg than pancake per serve.

Once you have prepared the roti, dip the slices into your egg mix (I used two eggs in this instance). Let it soak for about 10 sec and make sure that the whole of the roti bread is soaked with egg mix. For pan-frying and for Asian cuisine I usually use peanut oil for flavour.

After you've placed the egg pancakes on the pan, add a little egg mixture on time. Preferrably more evenly than I have!

End result - fluffy Taiwanese egg pancakes! Usually you should have this with thick soya sauce, but I didn't have any so I had it with Maggi Seasoning, which is just as good. I wished I had a nice cold soya bean milk drink too! Oh well.. two additional items for the grocery list.

Dinner @ Tea House - Punt Hill Apartments

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:06:37 GMT

Neatly disguised inside Punt Hill Apartments

Beef Brisket with White Radish, Ginger in a Clear Broth

Baby Spinach Stir-Fried in Chilli and XO Sauce

Salt and Pepper Calamari with Deep Fried Spinach

All great dishes...

Ratings

Food: Fantastic Cantonese Cuisine, similar to Flower Drum quality

Top Dish: Salt and Pepper Calamari with Deep Fried Spinach

Atmosphere: Elegant and cozy

Service: Speedy service with knowledgable staff who can all make recommendations.

Booking: Recommended but not essential

Kenzan Decades of Memories

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:51:18 GMT

…Seeing how fast one can drive down the spiraling passage to the Regency car park in Mum’s e-Class

… green and white summer school uniform against the high sushi bench chairs

… practicing my limited Japanese with the always smiling and energetic sushi chefs, including Daisuke

… piping hot tempura prawns that burn the roof of your mouth if you’re not careful

… toro sashimi flown (and probably hand carried) from Japan

... Mum treating us to Japanese bento after high school for lunch

Over two decades, my family and I have frequented Kenzan Japanese Restaurant for many afternoons and evenings. Many things have changed but the soul of Kenzan never changes. It is a small world…. One of the lovely onejian that worked there is now one of our dear friend’s partner…. What a small world….Many of the chefs have moved on to better and greater things… and you could say that they have trained a lot of chefs who bring such a greater variety and depth of Japanese food to Melbourne… There weren’t many authentic Japanese restaurants back in the day… but there was Kenzan (and Suntory of course).

Changing of time, changing of ownership, but the food remain authentic and of the highest quality.

Our usual meal consists of a combination of starters and mains… rarely do we get to order many of the mains as the starters and entree dishes are exceptional. We always order from the Special menu first and supplement it with the normal dishes in the a la carte menu. All this time, the a la carte menu has not changed but the Special Menu has becoming noticeably adventurous. Of course, there are dishes that we always order, such as the stuffed fried mushrooms, sashimi and sushi moriawase, the tempura moriawase and what our dad likes to call “chicken nuggets” – tori karaage. Depending on the season and our collective appetite, we might add to the bill, agedashi tofu, grilled fish, chawa mushi, pipi soup, and nabeyaki udon.

Salmon belly, a new recommendation recently received by one of the sushi chef, is definitely going to be a staple addition to the bill, especially if toro is not available. Out of all the sushi and sashimi, this one is the one to fight with the other patrons for. As soon as you sit down, you should ask the waiter/waitress whether there is toro or salmon belly available…. before they are all gone.

Ratings

Food: Quality authentic Japanese food

Top Dish: Salmon belly sushi

Atmosphere: Homey

Service: Generally okay especially the drinks maestro. It used to be better when turnover was lower.

Booking: Recommended (especially for the sushi bar) but not essential

Kenzan Japanese Restaurant

Collins Place

45 Collins Street

Melbourne 3000

Tel: 03 9654 8933

Tomatom Blog Mention

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:40:40 GMT

Thanks Ed for mention "A Gastronomical Voyage in Melbourne" in the "Reasons Why Melbuorne is the Top Food Blogging City in the Southern Hemisphere". The world is so small....

Trackback: Tomatom

Ito Japanese Noodle Cafe

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:26:03 GMT

Ito is our usual restaurant of choice when we're catching up with Joel, Rumi, Kevin and Priscilla. Yesterday was no exception. However, we forgot the fact that Kevin was now working in the suburbs without a car, so he had to catch a train back into the city. Oh boy did he complain about the walk.... But that's another story.

For dinner, Ito is usually crowded with students and families whom have made their home in the city. Surprisingly, it wasn't that full yesterday and we had the whole of the back upper floor to ourselves.

First off – drinks! I love their variety of drinks ranging from frothy iced macha, Grape Calpico, to Tsunami – a sparkling lycee sake cocktail. For entree, we ordered a large plate of sashimi. This time it was better, more variety, more radish, and seemingly fresher produce. There was tuna, mackerel, squid, octopus, and prawns for the eagerly awaiting bellies. Each of us also ordered our own mains, which were the standard Japanese fare. The standout dishes were the Nabeyaki Udon – a traditional winter dish of prawn, chicken, vegetables and egg with udon noodles in a dashi clear soup, served in a iron hot pot; and the Tempura Soba – Mixed tempura accompanied by cold soba noodles. The tempura was crunchy and buttery and the light batter made the seafood and vegetables taste so good. Unfortunately, my Salmon Foil Bake (Salmon fillet and with onions, tomatos, lemon and carrots wrapped in foil and grilled in its own juice, served with a green salad with ponzu sauce) was not as flavoursome as I had hoped. It would have been better if it was baked in dashi or stock. However, it has given me an idea to try to replicate the dish and improve it at home.

Oh my goodness, I just remember that we forgot to have dessert there! Oh well… my friends' children were a bit tired so we had to leave…Ito’s variety of dessert is extensive. They have the simple Macha ice-cream that any decent Japanese restaurant should serve, but they also have the Ogura ice cream (vanilla ice cream with red bean paste), black sesame ice cream, ice platter (which is a sample selection of the ice creams) and the delicious Mitsumame (with mixed fruits, green tea ice cream and red bean paste) – this is my favourite.

Mind you, the service is not great, and you tend to have to wave down the speeding waiters and waitresses but the food is not bad for the price. You could happily have a three-course meal for $30 J And don’t forget to order your Tsunami!

Trackbacks:

Your Restaurants

Ito Japanese Noodle Café Melbourne

122 Bourke St, Melbourne, 3000

Telephone: (03) 9663 2788

Website: http://www.itocafe.com.au/

Tipbits: They own GoGo Sushi on Swanston Street too… The sushi at this sushi train restaurant isn’t bad and it’s a healthy fast eat and run type of place. Last order 9p.m.

Thai Food Festival 2007

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:20:28 GMT

THAI CULTURE AND FOOD FESTIVAL 2007
The 4th Annual Thai Culture & Food Festival is being held on Sunday 18th March 2007 at Federation Square. The event will begin at 10am with a traditional blessing with Monks from local Temples followed by the Thai drum parade through the CBD to Federation Square. The opening ceremony will be held at noon with dignitaries from Thailand and Australia.

Enjoy live performances on the stage all day and taste a range of Thai delicacies on the River Terrace.

For full program details, visit www.thaifestvic.com.au.

Venue: Square, Swanston Street & River Terrace
Date: Sunday 18th March
Time: 10am to 9pm
Ticketing: Free Entry
Visit: www.thaifestvic.com.au

Hainanese Chicken Rice & Chicken Vegie Soup

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:20:03 GMT

Mucking Around Part II

I was craving for hainanese chicken rice... but I don't like the ones served in the restaurants because I actually don't like to eat chicken still on its bones and skin on. I bought a bottle of hainanese chicken rice mix just for this purpose. The mix is for adding to raw rice and water in a conventional rice cooker... It will give the rice a oily ginger and chicken flavour. I found the mixture a bit salt so I reduced the quantity to add in my rice...

You can get this and similar products from any good Asian groceries.

Following roughly the recipe on the back of the bottle, I used the pressure cooker to cook my Lilydale organic chicken breasts in.. It took less than 10 minute and the meat was falling about. I then soaked the chicken in cold boiled water.

I mixed 1 part sesame oil to 3 part sauce sauce together and added some cropped spring onion as the sauce to add to the chicken pieces. Experiment with the sauce to taste. Break up the cooled chicken into bite-size pieces... pour the sauce over and serve it with the rice I had it for lunch the next day.

Then what to do with the filtered chicken soup??

I cropped up one onion, two carrots, and two potatoes.

Soaked a few dried shitake mushrooms and put the soup and all the vegetables back into the pressure cooker to make a chicken and vegie soup... When it's boiled and the vegies are all soft. Add salt to taste...

My Impromptu Chicken and Vegetable Soup.. look at the chicken oil Yum!

Mucking Around

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 04:50:40 GMT

I've been doing a bit of this and that these few weeks.... Mainly stressing about a dinner party in Hampton last Sunday. I was in charge of the dessert, and I decided to use the pannacotta and crostoli recipes from Maurizio Terzini: Something Italian. The pannacotta recipe is not easy as I found out.... My first attempt, without any proper measurement and not all the ingredients... came out too creamy and little stiffer than I wanted. I even wasted cream because I whipped it too hard with a hand beater and turned the cream to butter... I had to send M out for another tub. Likewise, the crostoli had a bitter lemony taste to it.... Armed with the right ingredients, I was suppose to prepare the dessert on Saturday ready for Sunday but had been so busy doing other things that I remembered at 12am Sunday that I needed to make the pannacotta for it to set properly in time!

So in my pajamas, I made the pannacotta...while waiting for the pannacotta mixture to cool, I hand-whipped the cream.... I think this is really the only way to whip cream.. it takes a lot of effort but the result is worth it - smooth soft cream at just the right consistency. I actually changed the recipe a little - decreasing the sugar, adding one 1/2 more vanilla sticks and instead of 8 gelatine leaves I used 7. I also put the Bortylis in the cooking part rather than at the end. I read an article in Epicure today about the Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato 2006... I might make a pannacotta with lots of that... as it sounds delicious... "A naughty pale pink with sweet grapey, apple flavours, seductively presents as a subtle, low 6.4% alcohol, mouth tingling, crown sealed fizz. Drink this summer when young and fresh. Yummy with strawberries and ice cream or just to sip on around the pool."

OH yes, the pannacotta and crostoli were a success... (I served chilled thin slices of riped mangoes with it) even after a multi-course dinner they was a refreshing dessert and helped us slow the absorption of some very delicious red wine that night. Anna and Dave made fantastic side dishs and slow cook mains... My favourite was the roast duck where the meat just fell off the bones and melted in your mouth. Second was the dumplings modified from a recipe from Harumi Kurihara: Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking... Of course third was the pannacotta!

Here is the official menu from Sunday:

*We didn't make the linguine because we decided that there was too much food already.

No pictures from the night, sorry... we ate everything too quickly...

Latin American Festival - 11 March 07

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:51:49 GMT

LET'S TANGO TO SAMBA AND SALSA TO BAMBA - LATIN AMERICAN FESTIVAL

Immerse yourself in the ancient cultural traditions of Latin America. Get to know the art and handicrafts, experience hundreds of years of tradition and skills.

Participate in free dance workshops for the whole family. Learn the origin of tango and samba. Try some capoheira (Brazilian martial arts). Encounter the festivities of Peru.

The Let's Tango to Samba and Salsa to Bamba Festival is a celebration of Latin American dances and traditions. Come along for a great day with something to suit everyone!

Program:

10.00am	Opening with music by Rosamel Burgos
10.15am	A journey through Latin American dances
11.30am	Salsa workshop with the Cuban Salsa Academy
12.15pm	Hat Dance workshop with Fiesta Mexico
12.45pm	Cueca workshop with Grupo Raices
1.15pm	Capoheira workshop with Afro Brazil Capoheira
2.00pm	A journey through Latin American dances
3.00pm	Workshop with the Peruvian Folkloric Group
3.45pm	Tango workshop with Argentinian Fringe Tango
4.30pm	Samba workshop with Rio Samba
5.15pm	Let's Tango to Samba and Salsa to Bamba

Venue: BMW Edge
Date: Sunday 11th March
Time: 10am to 6pm
Ticketing: Free
Visit: www.fedsquare.com

Wedding Season 2007

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:37:40 GMT

Our weekends recently seem to be filled with activities to do with other people’s weddings. Apart from celebrations, it’s always nice to catch up with old friends and getting to know new people at these events. But one of my pet grieves is be preached at at church ceremonies… The Ministers always have a way of sneaking in a sermon or two.

The Wedding Season started off in February for us this year, with a lime and white themed modern wedding at Zinc – Federation Square. Then M went off to Singapore for the second wedding of the couple and came back with a cold…Since then there has been three engagements announced, including my sister’s.

Saturday late afternoon, the season continued with a cocktail making course at The Botanical as part of a girlfriend’s Hen’s Night. With loose guidance and written instructions, we made Bellinis, Cosmopolitans, and Mojitos. Practice makes perfect.. lucky we had canapés! It was a lot of fun, and I would recommend it for any girls’ get-together.

While we praised the oysters to our instructor, we were informed that The Botanical has an annual event called the Oyster Frenzy during Oyster Season in May. I had a look at The Botanical’s website and it’s on 28^th May this year. You pay a cover charge of $65 and it’s all you can drink for three hours and all you can eat oysters from 6:30 to 9:30pm in the Main Bar area. There is only 200 tickets… so get your hands on them quick!

The weekend ended with a warm and emotional ceremony for another couple at St John’s Church in Heidelberg followed by a Teal & Damask Rose wedding at The Dining Room, Flemington Race Course. As part of a trio, they had Persian pink fairy floss on a spoon of violet crumble ice cream for dessert. That was soo delicious, I think I will go and get some!

In between the ceremony and the reception, we conveniently popped into Leo’s to do our groceries. Don’t get to go to Leo’s very often because of their locations (Kew and Heidelberg), so every time we do it’s a treat.

I’m really excited about this week’s wedding. It’s going to be in the Dandenong Ranges… Something out of the ordinary.

8 Days in USA - January 07

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:36:12 GMT

8 days of US and we're back in Melbourne again! Where did all the time go?!?!

Los Angeles was fantastic, eventhough I didn't get to do all the things I had planned for Michael and I. But we did get to do some touristy things the first day we arrived, i.e. the Hollywood Sign, Gauman's Chinese Theatre, Avenue of The Stars, Bel Air, Beverly Hills etc.

Outside Gauman's Chinese Theatre

Outside Kodak Theatre

In Hollywood, we found one of my favourite American fast food joint - Popeye's and ate there for lunch. Dodgy people coming in and out, I was a bit scared but loved the food. In my opinion, better than KFC .

Travelling around visit the gorgeous houses of Beverly Hills and Bel Air, you can imagine what a life! It was a pleasure just to "OOhH" and "AHHH" outside their magnificent houses and beautiful cars. We saw two SLRs - can you imagine!

On Rodeo Drive, don't know how but we managed to enter Harry Winston, as it is normally by appointment. The gentlemen in there were very polite and allowed us to try whatever we wanted. I tried on a 6 carat cherry red ruby with pave diamonds around it and on the band worth USD250,000. I really didn't want to take it off... So beautiful! Lucky M took me to have dessert at Beverly Wilshire The Blvd, then I calmed down a bit.

Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Voss Norwegian Water and Dessert at The Blvd, Beverly Wilshire

We ate a lot in US. I still can't believe the serving size. Our brunch at the popular The Cheesecake Factory on Colorado Avenue, Pasadena was no exception.

Look at my latte! Brunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Old Pasadena

Vietnamese food in LA is definitely better than anything that I have tasted to date.

7 Course Vietnamese Beef Banquet

Hama Sushi in Little Tokyo

Francis Ford Coppola's Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs Champagne

6 Flags Magic Mountain was fantastic. I definitely would get the Flash Pass again, which gives you priority access to the front of the queues of rides. This allowed M to ride Tatsu (the newest ride in the park) 4 times within 30 minutes.

Tatsu - The Ride. You start and finish with your head facing the floor

Our Lunch at the Mooseburger Lodge in 6 Flags

Snacking in 6 Flags

Chiu Chou Noodle Soup (Noodles are from my Uncle's Factory)

This trip, I got to try the "Best burger in LA" - The In and Out Burger. We couldnt' believe that there was only three different burgers that they serve - Hamburger, Cheese Burger and the Double Burger. The beef patty is cooked fresh and not made from frozen beef, the french fries are real pieces of chopped potatoes that still has the skin on it. All you can drink soft drinks. I didn't have enough that I had to have it again on our last day in the US. YUMMM!!! (Apparently there are "Secret Menus" that you can order, including the Protein style burger, Animal style burger, sauce on fries etc.)

Vegas trip was surprising easy... pretty much a straight road once you hit San Bernadino Hwy. Do not bother going to any outlets but the Fashion Outlets at PRIMMS.. save your money and shop there... Do make sure that you have a full tank before you head out... As petrol at one of the petrol station on the way cost USD$4 a gallon! Highway robbery I know. But it was funny that some guy in an Audi was getting upset over the price and questioning a resting policeman whether it was legal to do that.....

Our GPS called "Never Lost" - Yeah Right / Beautiful scenery along the way

Lucky that we arrived two days before my conference started, so that we could go to a nice meal at Picasso, The Bellagio; Grand Canyon light plane tour and some gambling!

Our Light Plane / Grand Canyon / Hoover Dam

While I was working hard at the conference, M was also working at.... at the golf courses.

On the last night in Vegas, we were able to walk around the Strip and watch the Bellagio Fountain.

The Venetian / The Mirage / Vegas Traffic

Balley's Paris

Great ending to a wonderful journey.

The Age's Cheap Eats 2007 Launched Yesterday

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:15:43 GMT

I rushed out and bought a copy of the Cheap Eats 2007 after reading The Age's article - "Bargain hunter-gatherers". The editor of Cheap Eats, Nina Rousseau named 10 of the best and most innovate dishes for $15 or less, which included Horoki's Daikon salad with sashimi for $11.50 and Cookie's mussel cakes with green mango salad for $14.50. These dishes are probably not filling enough on their own and they tend to be entree size, which you would expect cost around $15. Never the less, the book has some quality recommendations, such as Horoki, Bar Lourinha, and Pellegrini's (of course). There are many that I haven't been too and am keen to try. Having to save for my honeymoon this year, I'm going to reserve my Good Food Guide 2007 for special occasions and have Cheap Eats as my bible!

Special subscriber offer: The Age subscribers can purchase this product for only $19.95).

New Food Blogs added to List

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:35:41 GMT

After devouring the latest on the Obachan's Kitchen and Balcony Garden blog, I decided to click through her large food blog list and found some gems, which I have added to my own list:

1) Bento News / Tokyo Food Page - The Tokyo Food Page is a complete guide to Japanese cuisine and eating in Japan. With great recipes, tours of Japanese markets, and tips on the best places to eat in Tokyo and Yokohama.

2) Blue Lotus - A Canadian girl eats her way around Tokyo and showcases her daily meal(s).

3) Kuidaore - Beautifully pictured and wonderful culinary creations by Joyce Lyn in Singapore.

4) Nordljus - This site is just breathtakingly beautiful. Keiko's photos of her life in UK is art. Her culinary creations are imagination.

5) Ono Kine Grindz - Detailed reviews and pictorials of mainly Hawaiian eateries.

I was so inspired by the content and format of these blogs that I decided to change the layout of mine. I tried to add a background image to my Title but found that I couldn't do it in Spaces. Oh well.

I also borrowed Maurizio Terzini's "Something Italian" from my Italian colleague today. She swears by this book. It's the only Italian cookbook that she uses. This was in preparation for a European dinner to be cooked at a friend's house early March. I am thinking of owning the dessert. I started to think about the Cafe Vue Chocolate Tart and searched for a recipe for it. I found a delicious one on Chocolate & Zucchini for Clotilde's Absolute Chocoalte Tartlets. I will attempt these on the weekend once I get hold of the tools and ingredients! However, if in the end the mains are heavy dishes, I will opt for a seasonal fruit pannacotta, using the vanilla pannacotta recipe in "Something Italian".

Kobe Jones - Californian Cuisine

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 01:18:27 GMT

The weather has been really humid and hot these past few weeks in Melbourne. Last week, a few of us had set a date to go out and dine somewhere that we’ve never been to and I suggested Kobe Jones or Rockpool.

Everyone had a look at Kobe Jone’s website and voted for Kobe Jones.

Kobe Jones is as chain of Californian Japanese fusion restaurants in Sydney, Bangkok, London and Melbourne. (Funny that they don’t have one in Los Angeles.. hmm…)

From the website, it looked to be ideally situated on the banks of Waterfront City (fancy name for an area in the Docklands) looking out to blue skies and blue waters. I thought, that it would be a great place for a hard day of work. You can feel like you are miles away.

Since booking the restaurant, a friend that I was catching up with for lunch also recommended Kobe Jones. She was going there for Valentine’s Day...

On the day, luckily we had Chris with us. Otherwise, we would have gotten lost in the Docklands. We parked in a large open air car park in Waterfront City and walked out to the boardwalk. There was a large function at The Beach Club and we found Kobe Jones right door next to it.

Arriving at the restaurant, two friends were already there spread out across the waiting couch - frowning. “They don’t have a booking for us” sarcastically declaring that “We won’t be able to get a spot”. The place was not very full… we easily got a table facing the water.

The waiters were very giggly and couldn’t really help us with any recommendations, but pointed us to The Kobe Jones Signature Dishes. We ordered mostly from that and ordered mostly entrees, two rolls and two mains. Standout dishes were the Mushroom Medley Tobanyaki (Oven Baked Assortment of Exotic Mushrooms in a Cream Sauce) and the Number One Special (Crab Salad with Avocado Wrapped in Snapper and Baked with KJ’s Cream Sauce). The Mushroom Medley Tobanyaki was everyone’s favourite, we just couldn’t get enough of it. It was creamy, juicy, sweet and flavoursome. I suspect that there was either Ponzu sauce or Balsamic vinegar in it that surprising enhanced the flavours of the mushrooms.

The dessert menu looked fantastic too, ranging from trifle, pannacotta to more traditional Japanese dishes like Yokan. We couldn’t decide, so we had the Ama Ozen (A Tray of a Sample of Each of the Desserts). The dessert tray came with a mismatch of small ceramic and glass bowls filled with colourful desserts. Resting on one of the bowls were a pair of giant chocolate chopsticks. At first I thought they were real chopsticks for us to use, odd as the desserts were mostly in cream form.

We could eat no more.. and were very satisfied after dessert.

Even better still, Kobe Jones was having a 25% off the total bill for The Entertainment Book members. So it ended up being a very reasonable and delicious meal, under the warm orange sun.

Three One Two

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:16:32 GMT

Fortunately for us, 312 was kind enough to rearrange some tables to accommodate our booking a few Thursdays back. There was just the four of us, Hoshika, Joobi, me and it was a nice light meal for Michael before he left for Singapore.

When we arrived at the unmarked restaurant, we were greeted and led upstairs to our table. All the tables were simply laid out with white linen, small ceramic candle display and in the centre a Tord Boontje deep plate, which we later found out was for our endless slices of bread.

The menus were printed on waxy brown paper with antique motives in the back. The 8 or 10 (can’t remember as none of us went for it) Degustation menu was printed on a separate piece of paper. None of us went for the Degustation, and by now, I can’t clearly remember everything that we ate. (Not much of a restaurant review – I know) However, I remember that we were given complimentary “cigars” made from a crispy paper-thin pastry filled on one end with cream cheese and on the other with olive paste. They were served to us in a Cuban cigar box. Nice touch.

I remember having the oysters from Moonlight Flat Oysterage, which was divine. The oysters came with side dishes of pickled cucumber slivers and dressings. I remember wanting more than the 6 that came. Yum!! (My photo of the side dishes looks dodgy I know, looks like I've taken it with a spy camera. Well sort of.. I took the photo with my mobile phone's camera)

I remember having the veal, which was light and flavoursome.

If you have nothing else at 312, you must have their dessert:

*Fresh white peach and champagne granite, raspberries and almond milk

*Fig caramelised pastry and chocolate ganache with Armagnac cream

*Yoghurt & cardamom cream with sylvan estate berries steeped in rose geranium syrup

*Chocolate jelly & fresh lychee with coffee oil and vanilla milk sorbet

Don’t they all sound divine?? They were. We ordered one of each and every one of them was absolutely out of this world. Maybe the one hat was for the dessert .

I bought my Tord Boontje Table Stories bowls in a design shop called Propeller in Hayes Valley, San Francisco last year and have since been looking for more of the Table Stories pieces. So I had to ask 312 staff where they got theirs. Apparently there is a few places you can get them. They got theirs from Dedece…

Three One Two

312 Drummond Street, Carlton

Tel: 03 9347 3312

Brunetti's Fighting Eviction

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:03:39 GMT

Anna sent me this article on The Age today. Brunetti's in Carlton is facing a rent increase of more than $100,000.. and they are going to court to fight the building owners... It would cost them millions if they were to move... The landlords have already advertised the building for lease!

Oh dear that’s horrible!! I'm not really a big fan of their over-sweet cakes and pastries but it is undeniable an institute after all.

Read the whole article on The Age.

RSS Feeds of All My Favourite Food Blogs

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:31:09 GMT

It’s been slow at work this week….so yesterday I had time to set up my Google RSS Reader so that I can read what’s new in my favourite food blogs everyday. There are so many great food blogs out there! I wish I had more time to cook! I know we eat out a lot, I should make a conscious effort to cook more, go to the market more and actually use the cookbooks that I continuously buy.

After reading these great food blog, I’ve been thinking about what I want out of my own blog and what messages I want to convey. Isn’t blogging nowadays about seeing the world through other’s eyes and escaping just a little to indulge in the things we love. I get it, I get it…. But is my life that interesting to record and share? I can see some people RSSing this website… will this stop them from RSSing this website in the future if I change the purpose from purely recording experience in a restaurant to more "A day in the life of..."? I guess I won’t know until I try….At the end of the day, this blog is for me…. I should make the most out of it… So here goes….

I read Tummy Rumbles yesterday after successfully set up my Google Reader and decided that I would head out to Don Don today to try the Sashi Don recommended. It's great to have a Melbourne sight to reference! The Sashi Don really is a well balanced donburi, with yummy slices of salmon, lots of vegetables, pickled cucmber, pickled ginger and shredded sweet abura-age.

The salmon was fresh and delicious, picked vegetables were great, shredded sweet aburaage surprisingly went really well with the salmon and soya sauce! My friend had the lunch bento which looked really good as well. Unfortunately, it was a hot day today and inside Don Don was hot and stuffy.. It became more bearable after I had my chilled orange juice. Looks like it’s going to be 30C tomorrow. HELP!! We got thrown out after hogging the table too long. Oops! Chit-chatting away about business opportunities and what we wanted to do with our lives, our lunchtime just passed away so quickly.

Another interesting development... Yesterday, Anna introduced me to Zingara Cucina, which is a restaurant but not a restaurant. This I have to try! The place, menu and time are not set…you just turn up and enjoy your food.. Interesting concept… Around the world, the movement is called Ghetto Gourmet or Speak Easy dining experience.

M and I have been to something similar in Hong Kong. They call them Private Kitchens. We went to Xi Yan, which is a residential apartment turned into a three-banquet-table restaurant. It doesn’t have a liquor license, so you will need to BYO. The food is really interesting, but only half of the dishes I found extraordinary. Stil it is an experience to have at least once. If I was to go to another private kitchen in Hong Kong, I want to go to Club Qing.

A Fortnight in the Life of...

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:04:33 GMT

This is not a restaurant review, unfortunately I haven’t really gone out to eat anything remarkable and/or new lately. Too much going on at the moment.. getting my health and fitness back into gear…

I came across the Dr Joshi 21 days Detox program in either the Elle or Cosmopolitan magazine, and decided that it was time to detox my body after the excessive indulgence during the Christmas and New Year Break. I thought I had better detox before the onslaught of the Chinese New Year festivities. I was 10 days into the program until last Friday when I gave up and had a sip of red wine, followed by a bottle of Domaine Chandon shared with friends by the pool on Sunday. The alcohol just went straight to my head and I suffered during Sunday dinner at The Tea House. I give up!

Saturday night we had a wonderful home made meal at M’s parents place, where we had Peking Duck, Steamed Ginger Lobster on Egg Noodles, and Abalone with Chinese broccoli. However, I didn’t eat much of it because I wasn’t that hungry. I’ve been taking this Chinese Herb capsules called “Zhen De Shou” to help me lose 5kg – 8kg… The capsules makes your mouth very dry, your mind very active even at night in the first week, lessen your hunger and sometimes you can feel your heart beat faster. So I don’t take it when I’m planning to do hardcore aerobics, like Body Combat.

My colleague recommended it to me as it was working for her and her friend. I’ve lost 2kg so far after 10 days. I don’t know if it is purely due to that or because of the detox that I started, or because of the aerobic exercise that I have started at leas twice a week. Probably a combination of all the above.

So I’ve been very careful with my eating habits lately…. Watching what I eat.. I’ve cut down on the red meats, wheat, gluten and dairy intake. It’s not too bad I’m not craving anything, except for koko black.

Weather in Melbourne has been extremely hot as well.. which makes me so tired that I don’t want to eat or move. The aerobics has also made me really tired at night and grumpy as well. Don’t be alarmed though, I am eating! Yesterday, with my cousin down from Adelaide and Dad down from Hong Kong, we had another Chinese New Year family “celebration” at eZard. I forgot that Teage eZard was in Hong Kong, otherwise I would have suggested something else. I was disappointed with my wagyu… but everyone else seemed to like their meals.

Before the meal, we wanted to order a white wine to go with our dishes, when I came across a list of Chablis wines on the wine list. Now this is not the first time that I have come across this type of wine. Strangely enough, it was through a Youtube video of Gackt (a Japanese Singer) on a Japanese TV show that I first came across it. Apparently, it is a variety of Chardonnay produced in the town of Chablis in France. Tempted to try it but at more than $50, and being not familiar with the texture and taste of this wine, I decided to have a bottle of a French Chenin Blanc instead. It was a nice light drop.

This Friday, we’re going to Westlake Chinese Restaurant in the city to have its $539 10 course Chinese New Year Banquet with a bunch of friends. We went for a simple dinner last Tuesday and thought the food was not so good… although yum-cha is always good there. Well hope dinner will be good!

Blog list: Blogs I Frequent

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:41:44 GMT

Blogs I Frequent

Custom List: For Dinner

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:23:38 GMT

For Dinner

National Golf Club Inc, The Cups Drv Cape Schanck 3939 / +61 35988 6666
Clubhouse Bistro
Crystal Jade Restaurant: 11 Waratah Pl Melbourne 3000 / +61 3 9639 2633
Northern Chinese Cuisine
Dumpling King: 572 Station Street, Box Hill/ +61 3 9890 3719
Shanghainese Restaurant
Shoya: 25 Market La Melbourne 3000/ +61 3 9650 0848
Japanese BBQ, Karaoke, Bar / Restaurant
Orita's: 34 Jackson St Toorak 3142 / 9826 2111
Modern Japanese (Fusion) Restaurant
Chillipadi
Simple, modern, south-eastern asian cafe/restaurant
Watergrill: 300 Toorak Road, South Yarra 3141 / 9827 6248
Delicious fresh seafood restaurant
A and V Lazar Charcoal Grill / 87-89 Johnston St, Fitzroy / 03-9419-2073
Great Charcoal Grill Steakhouse
Blue Fire Grill, 66 NewQuay Promenade / +61 3 9670 8008
The BlueFire Churrascaria area features huge skewers of your grilled favourites. Including: seafood, calamari, chicken, lamb, beef & pork. It's carved right at your table which creates a sensational performance for every guest.
Nyala African Restaurant 131 Brunswick St, Fitzroy / +61 3 94199128
Mixed African cuisine - Delish!
Tea House at Chinahouse, 11-17 Cohen Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000 / 039639-2526
"Best City Chinese Restaurant"
Georges Restaurant Bar Cafe : 819 Burke Rd, Camberwell / 03) 9882-8738
Wonderful Comfort Food Cafe in Camberwell
France-Soir - 11 Toorak Road, South Yarra / 9866 8569
French Brasserie / Restaurant / Bar
Grand Taipei Restaurant / Station Street Box Hill / 9898 8860
Taiwanese Restaurant in Box Hill
Libertine / 500 Victoria Street, South Melbourne / 93295228
Provincial French Cuisine - Reasonably Priced
SOS, Melbourne Central 211 La Trobe Street, Melbourne / 9654 0808
Sustainably produced and ethically harvested seafood and seasonal produce.
Pizza Napoli, 122 Russell Street, Melbourne / 9654 7127
First Pizzaria in Melbourne. My local pizzaria.
Melbourne Hwaro Korean BBQ / Ground Floor 562 Little Bourke Street (Near the corner of King Street) Melbourne 3000 / 9642 5696
Charcoal grill Korean BBQ with lots of tatami tables, reasonably priced and great atmosphere! You won't come out as smelly as you think :)
Middle Brighton Baths / 251 The Esplanade, Brighton 3186 / +613 9539 7000
Modern Australian Restaurant with a fantastic view. Great for a lazy brunch or romantic dinner.
Hako / 250 Flinders Street, enter via Degraves Street / +613 9650 0207
Great little restaurant for gourmet Japanese dishes. Only seats 15. If you book make sure you get there on time!
Tutto Bene Risotteria - M28 Midlevel, Southgate Southbank / (03) 9696 3334
fabulous Italian restaurant specialising in risottoes. Great view of the Yarra as well.
Yuzu / Stonegrill - Shop 2, Bourke Street Level The Paramount, 181 Exhibition St, Melbourne / 03 9639 3226
Japanese stone grill restaurant. Cook your own meal on a preheated stone. Reasonably priced and lots of interesting side dishes.
Bacash - 175 Domain Road, South Yarra / 03 9866 3566
Can't go wrong with the seafood at Bacash.
CHA CHINESE RESTAURANT - 323 Rathdowne Street Carlton / 9347-3322
Funky Chinese Restaurant. Great atmosphere and yummy teas!
Horoki - 19 Liverpool Street, Melbourne VIC / 9663 2227
Modern Japanese Pub. Intimate and fun.
Pellegrini's Espresso Bar - 66 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC / 9662-1885
Great coffees and traditional Italian fare.
Kura Sake Bar / 1 Malthouse Lane Melbourne VIC 3000 / +613 9654 7454
Funky Modern Japanese Izakaya in the CBD
Tempura Hajime, 60 Park Street South Melbourne / 03 9696 0051
Tempura Speciality Restaurant
Three One Two, 312 Drummond Street, Carlton / 03 9347 3312
Contemporary Cuisine in a innocently romantic ambiance
Kobe Jones Melbourne, Level 1, 119/427 Docklands Drive, Waterfront City, Docklands / 03 9329 9173
Californian Cuisine - Japanese fusion. Signature sushi rolls and entrees. Great view of the waters.
Kenzan Japanese Restaurant, Collins Place, 45 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 / +03 9654 8933
Authentic Japanese Restaurant