Hako

310 Flinders La
Melbourne 3000
VIC Phone: (03) 9620 1881
Website: www.hako.com.au

This week I had lunch with 3 of my friends who I hadn't seen in a while, Chantel, Patches and Madeline. Chantel told me she felt like eating Japanese food, so we decided to go to Hako. I believe Hako has now become the default catch up lunch destination for Chantel and I.

I really like the simplicity of the decor.

Cumulus Inc

45 Flinders La
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 1445
Website: www.cumulusinc.com.au

I had actually planned to come to Cumulus Inc a week ago, but instead my friends decided that they wanted to have some Vietnamese rolls from Collingwood instead. Although Cumulus has been around for a while now, I had never gone... even with my friend Tofu constantly raving about it!

Shira Nui

247 Springvale Rd
Glen Waverley 3150 VIC Phone: (03) 9886 7755

A few weeks ago Chloe had asked everyone in our group if we wanted to dine at Shira Nui together. Out of the 10+ people in our circle of friends, it ended up that only 4 of us went. Too bad for the others really, it really was worth the 35 minute drive down to Glen Waverly! (Yeah I know I shouldn't complain, country restaurants are even further away!)

So I picked up Kaelyn on the way and we made our way down to The Glen. So what did we learn tonight... we learnt that we should never trust Chloes directions. We walked a block around The Glen looking for Shira Nui according to what Chloe had told us, only to find the restaurant a few steps from where we had initially parked. Thanks Chloe!

Portello Rosso

15 Warburton La
Melbourne 3000 VIC Phone: (03) 9602 2273
Website: www.portellorosso.com.au

After seeing Claire's Portello Rosso review at Melbourne Gastronome, I just had to go. Especially to try out the chocolate pudding that she raved about!

Upon arrival, I can already sense that I'm going to like this place. The atmosphere of the joint is very laid back and the waiters are very down to earth and friendly. We opted for a seat upstairs.

Copenhagen, Denmark - Kong Hans Kælder

Vingaardsstræde 6 DK-1070
Copenhagen (Sjaelland) Denmark
Phone: +45 3311 6868
Website: www.konghans.dk

So, the first night in Denmark I was really excited, because I was told that we were going to a one star Michelin Restaurant. We ended up outside the entrance of Kong Hans Kælder.

Cookie

252 Swanston St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9663 7660
Website: www.cookie.net.au

Last week I was reading Tomatom's where I stumbled upon his post about Anthony Bourdain's - No Reservations episode in Melbourne, Australia. First off... I love to watch Anthony Bourdain's show, he's a darn funny guy and he'll just give it to you straight. So I didn't waste any time to watch the episode, heck I watched it like 3 or 4 times that night!

Since watching the episode, I have piled up on restaurants for my to go to list. First on my list was Dainty Sichuan. I personally do not really understand my tolerance level as of yet for spicy food. But after seeing Bourdain and Tam dive into those dishes of what it appeared to be a 90% dried peppers, I myself was salivating. As Tam said, "This is what you call sexy food". So I quickly organised for my friends and I to go there on Thursday. However, just as lunch time was about to strike, I received a call from my friend telling me that Dainty Sichuan had relocated to Toorak Road. Yes... can you imagine my reaction? "NOOOO WHAT!? You're kidding me! NO WAY! Oh my god." Yes, I have now learnt my lesson... do more research before you go out to eat!

So there we were, 8 of us standing on Swanston Street outside China Town, wondering what we were to eat instead. I know you're all probably thinking, it's not that hard to just find some place to eat. But keep in mind, everyone has different budgets, time constraints, like to eat different things and sometimes its just hard to find a place that will take 8 people for lunch without reservation in the city. Especially if the place is known for good food. We decided we'd just go for dumplings because we were just too hungry to think, but on the way I saw Cookie and immediately went upstairs to see if there were any spots for the 8 of us. Luckily, there were!

Upon arrival, my friends didn't waste anytime to get some beer. One of them even had 3 beers during the entire meal. I guess if you're at Cookie, why not?

Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Corner

H.C. Andersens Boulevard 1
1553 København, Denmark
Phone: +45 3391 4545
Website: Restaurant Copenhagen Corner

During the break I went on holidays to Europe with my family and I have to admit, Copenhagen was probably my favourite destination. The architecture around Copenhagen especially is just so beautiful. And did you know that a lot of the Royal European families are somehow branched out from the Danish Royal line? The things you learn when you travel!

Anyway, moving on to food. First stop, Restaurant Copenhagen Corner! The venue was very spacious and had a touch of simple elegance. (Is that even a term? I think I just made it up)

The Alchemist Bar & Cafe

361 Brunswick St
Fitzroy 3065 VIC
Phone: (03) 9419 8250
Website: thealchemistbar.com.au

On Saturday night I went to The Alchemist to attend a Welcome Back party for a friend of mine who has been overseas for god knows how long. To be honest I even lost track of where in the world he was, point is he's back!

Taipei, Taiwan - 筌壽司 Allsusi

Near No.29-1 Da-dong Street
Da-an District
Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Phone: +886 2 2771 1856
Website: allsusi.com.tw

During my visit in Taiwan, a friend of mine had been kind enough to take me to this sushi joint near Breeze Centre. I was pretty excited considering my friend was a regular at Kenzan when he was living in Melbourne. When I say regular, I mean like... go there every day, know the chefs personally, go sing karaoke with them and gets happy birthday calls even when he's overseas. He had told me that he finally found a few joints around Taipei which made good sushi, so how could I not be eager to try it out?

I'm going to tell you straight out now that I have no idea what fish is what. All I know is they were good. Dam good. Your eyes can do the rest of the work!

Taipei, Taiwan - 圓鼎 YuanDing Teppanyaki

1F
No. 28. JingZhou Street
Jhongshan DistrictTaipei City, Taiwan 104
Phone: +886 2 2563 5010

I realise it has been a while since I last updated the blog. I have collected many photos of food and what not to update the blog with from my trip to Taiwan and Europe over the past few weeks! So I'll be doing as much as I can over the next few days.

University just started for me and this year is really full on in comparison to any other of my previous years of education. So I'm doing my best to keep this blog up to date.

For people who love their food, Taiwan is a must go. I really mean it. YuanDing Teppanyaki is staple for me on my visits to Taiwan. The menu comes in set courses, however you can also go a la carte. Obviously the sets are more of a bargain! There are many different types of sets, the one we usually order include prawns but I can't eat prawns so I opted for another fish dish.

Svago's

285 High St
Kew 3101 VIC
Phone: (03) 9855 0505
Website: www.svago.com.au

It's actually been a while since I last updated this blog. Had been busy finishing up examinations, and I'm already overseas now! But before I left, I had to meet up with my high school friends. One of them had gone to Italy for half a year as exchange and once she got back she was always complaining that she couldn't have things like Gelati anymore in Melbourne because it paled in comparison to what she had over there. So I had been wanting to take her Svago's for some time, since she really craved for real Italian.

I will start off now by saying. A lot of the photos did not come out. And it is too embarrassing to put up photos as blurry them. The restaurant is pretty dark so you need to hold the camera REALLY still for it not to be blurry... it didn't help having my friend hurrying me up seeing as she wanted to eat. I know what you're going to think when you see the photos.. this is a good photo!? Yeah well, you don't know how bad the other ones were! So these are good enough.
At Svago's the way the menu works is that you order dishes to share. So the main menu is split into 2 sections; entree and sized dishes. We ended up ordering 3 entrees, 3 mains and 3 desserts in total between the 3 of us.

ENTREES

Attica

74 Glen Eira Rd
Ripponlea 3185 VIC
Phone: (03) 9530 0111
Website: www.attica.com.au

On the weekend I took my cousin Aurelie to Attica as a Graduation gift, since I'm all out of ideas on what to get her, and what I know she wants is slightly out of budget. Being from a family like mine, you seem to be born with expensive taste. A blessing and a curse at the same time.

When I had told Aurelie of my plans to take her to Attica, she gladly offered to take photos of the food with her much more professional SLR camera. So the photos in this post are brought to you by Aurelie! You can really tell the difference in the photos from that of an SLR and a typical digital camera.

My cousin recently started her own blog La Maison Nuage, I highly recommend you check it out. She's quite the writer, much more eloquent than I am in speech. She also made a post here on our visit to Attica.

Jacques Reymond

78 Williams Rd
Prahran 3181 VIC
Phone: (03) 9525 2178
Website: www.jacquesreymond.com.au

On Thursday I had dinner with my parents at Jacques Reymond. My dad had originally asked me if we should dine at Vue de Monde, however I opted for something a little more classic.

Let me start off by saying that, Jacques Reymond comes with guest parking behind the restaurant, so you don't need to spend your time trying to find some parking on the street. (Yes we parked on the street)

Tiamo's Restaurant & Bistro

303 Lygon St
Carlton 3053 VIC Phone: (03) 9347 5759

Amazon decided we were going to eat lunch on Lygon this Tuesday seeing she had an exam at REB later that arvo. She had heard good things about Tiamo, and so we were eager to try it out.

Next to Tiamo is Tiamo 2, we originally tried going into Tiamo 2 but they couldn't seat the 7 of us since there had already been reservations made by a large group. We even spotted Red Symons eating there!

Japan - Nagoya: Sakai

２丁目８ ２３大須

中区Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
(Near Osu Kannon Station)

I'm currently counting down the days till my holidays begin, and I thought it would be a good idea to look back at some wonderful meals I've had overseas.

If you're wondering why the address of the restaurant is in Japanese, it's because I haven't been able to find out what it is in English due to my lack of Japanese and Google skills. I did try though! If you copy and paste the address directly to Google Map it works.
So, Japan, Japan, where to begin? Within the past 3 or 4 years, I've gone there at least once a year - Tokyo, Osaka & Nagoya to name the main destinations. Which city had the most memorable meals? Nagoya is definitely the front runner in my books. This is mostly due to the fact that we have an awesome family friend in Nagoya who's always willing to take us around to the nicest restaurants there.

One of the must go to places on his list includes Sakai, a restaurant that specialises in top of the line Matsusaka Beef. I have only made 2 trips down to Nagoya, yet I've eaten at the restaurant 3 times already - believe me, it's freaking good. (I'm sure the photos will make you understand)

Blueprint - Bar, Eatery & Kitchen

222-224 Pelham St
Carlton 3053 Vic
Phone: (03) 9347 3691
Website: blueprintcatering.com.au
Yesterday my friend and I went and bought some food at Blueprint for lunch. And guess what I had! Yes it was "the roll with ham in it, which looks kind of like the salmon one" that I mentioned in my previous post about Blueprint. I believe it is called Novona... I really should have written it down somewhere!

Laksa King

Shop 3
320 Racecourse Rd
Flemington 3031 VIC
Phone: (03) 9372 6383

For someone who isn't fond of coconut in their meal, I have to say I've been eating all the wrong cuisines. This all comes down to the fact that I have many friends who really enjoy their Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian food.

So last night my friends decided to go to Laksa King to get their much needed dose of Laksa. I know what you're thinking, I can't believe I agreed to go either.

Amazon actually made a reservation before we headed down to the place, you start to understand why when you arrive... the place is pretty packed for a Thursday night, and supposedly it's like this every day! Not only is it full inside the place, but there's also quite a number of people waiting outside for takeaway.


I had a hard time deciding what to have, I even asked the waiter what he would recommend off the menu that didn't consist of any coconut. Because I couldn't make up my mind, I decided that I would order after my friends got their meals so I would be able to try a bit to see which one I'd prefer.

Chicken Satay (4 skewers) $6.80
We ordered two plates of these, they were pretty good - the chicken was still quite tender and moist.

Seafood Fried Crispy Noodle - Combination of seafood, veggies topped with gravy $11.80
I don't think I've mentioned anywhere on my blog yet that I'm allergic to crustaceans, I did however try a bit of the noodles and it was quite enjoyable. (Tasted pretty shrimpy, obviously)

Curry Laksa - Mixed noodle with shrimp, fishcake & chicken $8.50

The mixed noodles consist of hokkien mie and rice vermicelli, personally I preferred the rice vermicelli over the hokkien mie. According to my friends, Laksa King has the best Laksa's in Melbourne.

Hainanese Chicken Rice - Chicken steamed to perfection served with chicken rice & soup $8.50
This is the dish which Charlotte ordered, she thought the sauce for the chicken was a bit too salty but thought the rice was quite nice. Charlotte doesn't eat much spicy food, so Amazon VERY happily obliged to finish the chilli sauce for her. You could tell she really enjoyed it.

Nasi Lemak Special (beef) - A unique combination rice dish served with pickled anchovies, egg, peanut & a choice of curry chicken or beef $9.20 (My friend just told me this is usually called Rendang)

After trying a bit of each dish, I thought that the Nasi Lemak Special was probably the nicest out of all the dishes, however I decided to go with the Laksa since the place was obviously known for their Laksa's. For someone who doesn't enjoy coconut in their meal, I did manage to finish the whole thing bar the broth. I didn't drink any of the broth because although MSG is supposed to make things taste better, it makes me dizzy and VERY thirsty. I found the Laksa to be okay, not something I'd really crave for or want to order again.

Next time I go back though I'm definitely going for the Nasi Lemak Special instead.

Price: The mains can range from $8.50 to $16.80 depending on what you order. A noticed that most of the people in there ordered Laksa's though which are priced between $8.50 to $10.50.

Overall Score - Casual Dining: 14/20

• Food: 4/5
• Range of Choice: 4/5
  
• Value for money: 4/5
• Venue: 1/5
  

NOTE: you go to Laksa King for their range of authentic Malaysian food at affordable prices, not the venue. They do not skimp on the portions. If you order seafood you get your worth of seafood.

I asked Amazon what she would rate Laksa King out of 20, and she said 18. She loves her Malaysian food, so I'm sure she knows more about it. Although all my friends enjoy eating at Laksa King, they thought she may have been a bit generous.

Whilst I was browsing around for other reviews on Laksa King, I stumbled upon Journal of the Whills. According to Wuching, Baba House is better than Laksa King. I'll have to bring this up with Amazon! But for now I would like to take a break from coconut in my meals.

Useful Information:

• Your Restaurants
• Blog Reviews: Hausfrau in Melbourne (May 18, 2009)
  
• Blog Reviews: Tummy Rumbles (March 23, 2009)
• Blog Reviews: Crushed Guava (October 26, 2007)
  

Opening Hours:
Monday to Saturday
Lunch: 11.30am-3pm
Dinner: 5pm-10.30pm

Blueprint - Bar, Eatery & Kitchen

222-224 Pelham St
Carlton 3053 Vic
Phone: (03) 9347 3691
Website: blueprintcatering.com.au

Blueprint is one of the places I go to quite regularly due its proximity to Uni. On my first trip to Blueprint, a Uni staff suggested that I try this ham roll, which was so good that it has now become one of my staple lunch foods! Too bad I never remember the name of it and refer to it as "the roll with ham in it, which looks kind of like the salmon one". I do remember that it was somewhere around $8.


So upon arrival today, I was hoping that my ham roll would be there. When I asked where the "roll with the ham in it that looks like that salmon one" was, they said they had already run out of it for today! Darn it, I'll have to arrive earlier next time.

Fish & Chips with squeezable tartare & tomato sauce $9.90
I ended up having this instead, the batter was nice and crisp, not soggy or overdone at all. My friend said the fish tasted like those baked fish that you buy frozen, but what the heck, it was still good!

Sausage Roll served with salad and sauce for the sausage roll. (I think I really need to start learning my sauces, it tasted kind of like barbecue sauce but I could be wrong, most likely am wrong)
It tasted okay, a sausage roll which is pre-made and then heated up can only go so far. Speedy didn't seem to mind it.

Blueprint Burger (Beef) in Salad & Chips $9.90

One of my friends always orders the Blueprint Burger when we come here. I tried a bit of the burger meat and I found that the consistency and taste was really similar to a sausage roll except more dense, a bit strange. I'm sure it would've tasted better if I had ate the whole thing together.

The highlight of lunch today was probably finding out Amazon couldn't eat burgers properly, she had to unstack the burger before she could eat it haha.

Blueprint also offers a breakfast menu that goes until 11am, muffins, yogurt, fruit salad etc. the types of food you'd typically find at this kind of cafe. They have a set lunch menu but they also have daily specials.

Pricing: The lunch menu can range from $9.90 to $18 depending on what you order. You won't be feeling hungry after ordering one of the dishes off their lunch menu. The rolls, pies etc. are around $8 or so.

Overall Score - Casual Dining: 14/20

• Food: 3.5/5
• Range of Choice: 4/5
  
• Value for money: 3.5/5
• Venue: 3/5

Oh, a thing about the venue... the decor is quite nice, but those are some small chairs! I always see these business people cramped up in them, it can look quite funny at times though haha.

Threshermans Bakehouse

221 Faraday St
Carlton 3053 VICPhone: (03) 9349 2319

On the way into Uni today, my friends decided to stopped over at Threshermans Bakehouse to grab some breakfast. Upon arrival you notice how big the place is, for some very odd reason the decor reminded me of Sovereign Hills. Ah... the days of panning gold and failing at it.

Garage Cafe & Bar

221 Berkeley Street
Carlton 3053 VIC Phone: (03) 9349 5000
Website: garagecafe.com.au
I had trouble sleeping last night, no thanks to the hail outside. It started around 11pm or so and was on and off up until 6am. Ended up sleeping at 6am in the morning, only to wake up at 10am to find that it was all white outside! Most of the hail had actually melted by then, but you could still see bits of it.

Comme Kitchen

7 Alfred Pl
Melbourne 3000 VIC Phone: (03) 9631 4000
Website: www.comme.com.au

If I had started this blog a month ago, I would have 3 Comme Kitchen posts by now. But because I didn't I'm missing quite a few photos of the dishes here and there, so bear with me!

As some of you may know, I couldn't get reservations at Comme for Chantels' dinner mid May, so I decided to have lunch there instead with Kaelyn since it was so close to her work.
On my first visit there with Kaelyn, we each ordered 2 entrees and 1 main, and shared a desert which totaled to $29 dollars each. The waiter even halved the chocolate tart for us and gave us an extra scoop of their malted ice cream which was to die for. With that sort of an experience, who wouldn't go back for more? Great food, great service and a great venue!
I'm sorry that the photos aren't that great this time around, I'm still a beginner! :)

Sydney: Forty-One

Level 42
2 Chifley Sq
Sydney 2000 NSW
Phone: (02) 9221 2500
Website: www.forty-one.com.au

During the Easter Break I went up to Sydney. A family friend had been wanting to take us to Tetsuya's since hearing about the restaurant being one of the best in the world. Now, tell me who could pass on that offer? Sadly Tetsuya's was closed for the entire Easter Weekend, so our family friend took us to Forty-One instead.

The French Brasserie

2 Malthouse La
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9662 1632
Website: www.thefrenchbrasserie.com.au
A bunch of friends my friends went to The French Brasserie to celebrate our friend Chantel's birthday mid May. Chantel was pretty busy, so I offered to look for a restaurant for her for her birthday. Originally I had Comme Kitchen and The Italian in mind, however they were both booked out, so I decided to go with The French Brasserie as my third option.

In terms of making a reservation, it was quite a breeze, considering there were 13 of us in total. They even offered to seat us upstairs as we had a larger group so that we would have more freedom. When I walked into the restaurant that night, I immediately noticed the two story glass windows that go along the side of the restaurant. The venue has a nice feel to it.

While waiting for everyone to arrive, I asked the waiter for a mocktail, something tropical and bubbly! Although mocktails weren't on the drinks menu, they were kind enough to whip me exactly what I asked for! The drink was very refreshing with plenty of fresh strawberries in it. Chantel and Maddie ended up ordering one each after trying mine. :)

For starters we got a basket of fresh bread which the guys quickly demolished seeing they were quite hungry.

ENTREES

Time to get the create juice buds flowing!

I have to admit, I've yet to familiarise myself with the restaurants around Melbourne.

So for a food "newbie" like myself, to decide on where to eat next I usually turn to the following:

1. The Age Good Food Guide
2. YourRestaurants (www.yourrestaurants.com.au)
3. Food Blogs
4. Google (which eventually lead me to food blogs)

I guess this would have to be one of the main reasons I started this blog. Not only to document the places I've been to and post all the wonderful photos of food (food pornography as some may call it), but also so others like myself have something to refer to when they're deciding where to eat next!

For now though I'd like to mention a few of my favourite sites that I like to visit when it comes to food.

Food, Food & More Food Photos

• Tastespotting (www.tastespotting.com)
  
• FoodGawker (www.foodgawker.com)

Need I say more? I think the names of these sites are pretty self explanatory.

Melbourne

• Tummy Rumbles (tummyrumbles.com) - This blog comes in handy when eating in the CBD. If it weren't for this blog I would not know about Creperie Le Triskel! Mellie and EG also make sure you have regular updates on Asian eateries.
  
• Melbourne Gastronome (www.melbournegastronome.com) - This site comes in handy when you're looking for a good cafe. Claire keeps you updated on restaurants to eat at, new cafe openings and invites you to have a home-cooked meal with her family.
  
• Eat (Almost) Anything At Least Once (www.eatalmostanything.com) - If you like fine dining and traveling across Europe, this is definitely the blog you should be reading. Paloo and Haloo ensure that there will be no shortages in reviews of the best restaurants in Melbourne.
  

Other places in the World

• Use Real Butter (userealbutter.com) - so far this blog would have to be my favourite, not only is it regularly updated, the writing, the food, the photos... Jen has it all down pat. You have to check it for yourself to see
  
• The Wandering Eater (thewanderingeater.com) - ever wondered what it was like to dine in NY? Tina definitely knows her restaurants and her photography.