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?

Beer

Cookie is the restaurant which got me into Thai, before that I was always really hesitant to have Thai food, it had all the components in a dish which I didn't like - coconut, coriander, weird sourness etc.

Pad thai - rice noodles with egg, bean curd & sprouts $16.50When my friend ordered her pad thai, she seemed disappointed that it was vegetarian, even the menu clearly suggested that the dish had no meat in it. However, after she had a taste of it she seemed quite happy to finish the rest of it.

Chilli beef stir fry with beans & thai basil $17.50

Now this is the dish which turned me into a Thai food lover. I've tried having this dish at other restaurants, but they just don't come anywhere close to this! If you know of any other place which makes this dish well, don't hesitate to leave me a comment or something.

Stir fried peppered snapper with celery & spring onions $21.50

Chicken hot pot with fermented rice noodles & fresh vegetables $16.50

I got my friend to take this photo for me, obviously I should've taught him how to use my camera first.

Green curry with chicken & corn dumplings $19.50

Stir fried raddish cake with bean shoots & egg $18.50
The raddish cake was really good, no complaints there!

Hot & Sour chicken prawn & tomato steamboat $19.50

There isn't a single thing on the menu at Cookie which I've tried that was bad. So I think it's definitely worth going!

Opening Hours
Daily - noon till 11pm