Double Thai boat noodle dinner and N2 in the CBD

Me Dee
I've become a relatively recent convert to boat noodles, after discovering it at Jinda Thai. I've yet to have one as good as Jinda's but have been on an ongoing quest to find one. The latest one I was itching to try was at Me Dee in the food court of the Paramount Centre. This outlet is an extension of the Me Dee restaurant in Springvale, which I'm yet to try.

I had a small beef boat noodle and as usual asked for no beef balls. We also got a Thai iced tea each, M the milk and I the lemon version ($3.50 each). These were alright but definitely not the best I've had. The boat noodles themselves were also not super impressive. While it was pretty tasty, I found the broth lacked the punch and extra dimension of flavour I've come to expect from boat noodles. It is however pretty good for food court food.

Rim Thang
Afterwards I still had a bit of a hankering for boat noodles so we headed out to Rim Thang on Elizabeth St, the sister restaurant to Thai Culinary. We've passed Rim Thang a number of times but before tonight had never actually pulled the trigger and gone in.

As previously discussed the boat noodles at TC aren't as good as they used to be. However, the version here are Rim Thang are like the TC boat noodles of old: a generous serving, nice quality meat and plenty of basil. You also get to choose your noodles here. I chose the egg noodles after being advised the fresh rice noodles were sold out. The broth was lovely and fragrant and with a few chilli flakes, it definitely makes for a delicious bowl of noodles. Also at $8.50, it's definitely excellent value. We'll definitely switch from TC to Rim Thang from now on; the decor, the service and the food seem to all be better.

N2 (CBD)
As if double boat noodles weren't enough gluttony for one evening, afterwards we headed out to the newly opened N2 in the city for some nitrogen ice cream. We've been to their original outlet in Fitzroy a few times and have found it inconsistent. Some of the flavours are delicious: creamy and not too sweet whereas others are more like standard Australian gelato (ridiculously sweet). Their latest menu seems to take their name from tennis players' names and we chose the Red Venus (velvet) Cheesecake to share. It was a great choice because this flavour fell squarely in the 'delicious' category. We both enjoyed every mouthful as the ice cream was tangy, well-balanced, creamy and not too sweet.

Noodle reviews: ramen @ DonToo and boat noodles @ Thai Culinary, Melbourne

Miso ramen with extra egg $10.80

 The money shot

The gory ending

DonToo

This is our pick for the best tasting bowl of ramen in Melbourne. While others will disagree and while it's certainly not the most authentic ramen out there, it's the one we consistently go back to. So why is it the best? Firstly the price: at $9.30 their miso ramen is ridiculous value, especially considering that other ramen joints easily charge you $15+ to get the sorts of topings you get as standard in DonToo's version. It's also just super yummy and ridiculously comforting: the homemade noodles are always lovely and chewy (and you get to upgrade to 300g worth for no extra cost), the broth is delicious and flavoursome, something I have found lacking in other bowls of ramen, the pork is super flavoursome and not too fatty (although this is a personal preference, others prefer a fattier cut of pork like the traditional rolled pork belly), there are plenty of vegetables including my fave—the corn, the marinaded egg is absolutely delicious, well flavoured and gooey in the middle (so much so that I almost always order extra egg), and last but not least free condiments!!! At the counter you can pick up cute little jars of garlic, chilli, pepper and sesame oil. I add all of them in abundance to my broth while M prefers to go au naturale; but hey, it's nice having a choice, right?

Beef boat noodles (no beef balls at my request) $9

Thai Culinary

As previously alluded to, when the hankering for boat noodles hits, we generally go to Jinda Thai in Abbotsford to quell the craving. However, like the last time we wanted some Thai, Jinda was booked out. Instead, we headed round the corner to Thai Culinary, which is usually pretty good if you want a quick meal on the cheap. I've ordered the boat noodles a few times at TC now, after changing from my previous fave of pad see ew. The first time I got the boat noodles here, it was a huge serving, with really nice soft meat and bits of crushed whole garlic cloves for extra flavour. Nowadays, the serving is definitely less generous, the meat not as nice and no more garlic. That said though, the flavour of the broth is still really nice and even though it lacks the blood which is traditional, it's still very very flavoursome so I'd still recommend it if you have a hankering for a hot bowl of spicy and fragrant noodles in the CBD.