Photo of the week: chicken and waffles @ Mr Big Stuff

I'd heard good things about Mr Big Stuff from friends and colleagues so I decided to duck in for a quick dinner on my way home from work with a friend. On a Tuesday night it was relatively easy to get a table for two, but the warm, funky ambiance still made the place seem lively.

I ordered the Fried Chicken on Waffles (a generous serving of delicious, cajun spiced, fried chicken, on beautiful light fluffy waffles with a pot of spiced maple syrup to go with it) and really enjoyed myself. The chicken was super crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and had a really nice kick to it. The waffle was cloud like and wonderful, a perfect recreation of the 'American' style waffles that tend to be lighter and fluffier than the ones we get here. Of special note though was the spiced maple syrup - it was the real deal and delicious, a perfect accompaniment to the dish. These days, too many places give you 'maple flavored syrup' a cheaper alternative that ought to remain where it started, with your hotcakes at McDonald's. I get that genuine maple syrup is expensive, but if you don't want to spring for it, or on-charge it to your customers, leave it off the menu! Props to Mr Big Stuff for getting something so awesome so right.

I would be back for the place, however, it is a bit overpriced for what it is and no matter how delicious the Mr. Big Stuff fried chicken waffles are, I think Bowery to Williamsburg (review to come) does it better.

Photo of the week: Sapporo Ramen @ Kokoro Ramen, Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Kokoro is definitely a top choice for a bowl of ramen in the city, albeit not our favourite. This photo was taken back when they still did the chunky slices of straight charsiu, rather than the thin rolled version that they now have. We prefer the former version but it's still a good bowl of ramen nonethless. I'd stick to the ramens here though instead of venturing to try their dons etc. I've had that before and can confirm they're not very nice, certainly not as good as their ramens. Perhaps my favourite part of Kokoro is that you can help yourself to pickles, including kimchi, which makes for a great and super appetising snack while you wait for your noodles. Remember to order at the counter.

La Tortilleria, Kensington, Melbourne

Curiously situated amongst warehouses and apartments in the heart of Kensington is a little Mexican place which M described as reminding him of some of the eateries in (East) LA. Indeed the place did have an authentic feel to it and the service was very polite.

Because the place was busy and we didn't book, we were seated on bar stools on a narrow bar. While this isn't normally a problem, the narrowness of the bar and the fact that our food came out in rapid succession meant that we often ran out of space to put dishes and it made for some awkward eating and manoeuvering.

We were very much looking forward to the food after reading the menu and ordering quickly. While we waited, we sipped on some horchata—something I'd always wanted to try after first hearing about it some five years ago through the Vampire Weekend song. M really enjoyed it but I wasn't a big fan. To me, it tasted like sweet rice milk with an abundance of cinnamon. I'm not the biggest fan of the standalone flavour of cinnamon in sweet things (although I love it in savoury stuff like pho and curries) and the mass of cinnamon powder floating in the drink was quite offputting.

Very quickly after we sat down, we were giving some complimentary tortilla chips with some little salsas. I really liked the fresh tomato one but we both found the brown one (it looked a bit like a mole) quite oddly flavoured. Being both chilli fiends, we loved the bottles of spicy sauce at the table and shook the bottle liberally over all our dishes. While it was definitely a plus that the spicy sauce was there, the main reason we had to use so much of it was because the dishes were distinctly lacking flavour.

The first dish that came to the table were the chilaquiles. These were underwhelming and to me either needed more flavoursome toppings or just more of it. What we got was pretty bland and uninteresting. The next dish of beef tamales was much better; it both the dish we were most looking forward to and what ended up being the best of the night. I had long wanted to try a tamale but had before now never had the opportunity. This one was was filled with lovely tender beef and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The next dish of a beef flauta, however, was totally forgettable. Again, bland was the order of the day. The elotito, the baby corn, was very nice but it was kind of unbelievable that the dish consisted of one tiny baby corn. I know it's $4, but for 50c more you get a much more substantial portion of a full sized corn at Mamasita (review to come very soon). Our last two savouries of the night, both tostadas, were also disappointing. The ceviche one needed more actual fish ceviche and it was overpowered by the abundance of chopped red peppers on top. Neither of us enjoyed the chicharron (described on the menu as Mexican crackling) one due to its oiliness. I expected lovely crispy crackling but what we got instead of was fried lard without any of the skin in sight.

After the overall disappointment of the mains we were keen for a good finish to the meal and fortunately we got that in the form of a glorious slice of vanilla flan. The flan was lovely and smooth and I enjoyed the abundance of bitter caramel to counteract the sweetness of the custard.

Dinner @ Tipo 00

Named for the flour with which one makes pasta, Tipo 00 is very much the pasta place of the hour. The first time I'd been was only a few weeks ago and I liked it so much I chose to come back here for a catchup with a friend and former colleague.

I ordered the Tagiolini al nero (squid ink tagliolini, squid and bottarga) and my friend had the Caserecci (a ragu Bolognese on a special curled pasta). For dessert I had the Casata (a frozen nougat parfait with pistachio icecream and cumin topping) and my friend had the signature ‘Tipomisu’ (Chocolate sponge, filled with mascarpone cream, topped with a disc of chocolate and finished with a rich espresso sauce).

I was very pleased with the Tagiolini, the pasta was fresh and richly flavoured and had contrasting strands of white pasta to offset the darkness and heavier flavour of the squid ink pasta. The squid tossed through the dish was supremely fresh and had ana amazing texture, it had been cooked perfectly and was a great accompaniment. The butter sauce was beautiful and rich, indeed it was almost a broth which added a very interesting aspect to the dish. One thing I would have liked was much more bottarga on the dish.

My friend was happy with her Caserecci. She described the ragu as having a very rich and pleasing flavour, and the aroma I detected was certainly lovely. She also said the pasta was perfectly cooked and that the shaved parmesan on top had a unique flavour.

She was also impressed with her dessert. I have heard good things about the Tipomisu and she thought that the strong reviews of the dish were borne out in the taste. She described the balance between the sponge, the sweet mascarpone crème, the dark chocolate and the ‘tangy’ coffee sauce as being excellent. In hindsight I am very disappointed I didn’t get to try it.

My dessert was however a bit of a let down. The frozen nougat parfait – almost a semifreddo – was delicious. It was delicately flavoured and I saved most of it till the end in order to enjoy it following the other unsatisfying elements. The pistachio icecream was a real disappointment – it was just so meh. The flavour wasn’t there, and although the texture was nice, I wish it had tasted more like the actual pistachios that were crumbled over the plate. The biscotti shards followed 111 Spring Street’s pastry chef’s approach in adding a powdery, flavourless, cardboard-y aspect to the dessert. I get what the intention was, but it just wasn’t well executed. Finally, and most jarringly, the cumin flavour! It just didn’t go. A savoury streak is perfect to cut through a sweet dessert, but here, with such a delicately (and almost savory) flavoured dessert to begin with, it just made it into a cold course. If this had arrived as a palette cleanser at Attica, I would have been much happier, however as a desert, it failed.

That said, Tipo 00 is *the* place in Melbourne to go for a great bowl of gourmet pasta, and I would highly recommend it on that ground alone.

There is one other reason to make Tipo 00 a ‘must visit’ and it is quite unrelated to the food: they stock a most interesting beer, KeTo Reporter. I have had this in the past (although I didn’t order a bottle at dinner) but I would almost recommend a trip to Tipo 00 purely to sample it. It is a dark beer that is aged with tobacco to give it a truly unique flavour as well as a little bit of a nicotine kick! Take my advice and give it a shot with your pasta.

-M

Photo of the week: pulled pork and sides @ Meatmother, Richmond

Came here with my buddy H around this time last year prior to watching my perennially underperforming fave lose against Tommy Robredo at a night match on Hisense last year. M and I have been here and their sister restaurant, Meatmaiden, a couple of times now and have always been pleased with the food.

On this occasion we went very early, as soon as they opened, so that we could make the match in good time. The restaurant was empty when we went in and pretty much stayed that way while we were there but I was still impressed that they were very accommodating when we requested the food to be brought out as soon as possible.

I had the pulled pork with two sides, the mash & gravy and BBQ beans. The mash was very tasty and smooth and the gravy had a lovely flavour through it. The beans were also nice but I had a major case of order envy when I tried H's mac n cheese which was delicious. I was very happy with my choice of pulled pork, however, which was flavoursome, well-cooked, and importantly MOIST with plenty of saucy, meaty juices. The meat was placed atop something which resembled and a pale brioche but later I found out that it was something called Texas toast, something I wasn't a huge fan of and didn't finish (partly due to the size of the rest of the dish)

Dinner @ Co Do, Victoria St Richmond, Melbourne

After having a few not so successful ventures to Footscray eateries, we're now firmly committed to sticking with Victoria Street in Richmond for our Vietnamese fix. This commitment took us to the highly regarded Co Do. I met my friend B here, while M also tagged along for the conversation after already having dinner earlier.

I had heard good things about their pho, so was very keen to try it. I got a small bowl ($9.50?) since we were also sharing a banh xeo. The pho was pretty nice; I loved that it came with plenty of onions, coriander and pepper. The broth was probably more aromatic than usual but still not as much as I like. Additionally, the beef was probably also not as thin and tender than the ideal. However, it was still a very tasty bowl of pho and due to my hunger at the late dinner, I wolfed it down.

B got the spicy lemongrass beef stirfry with rice, which he said was very tasty and had some nice heat. He ended up taking half of it home, though, because we wanted to save our stomach for the centrepiece of the meal.

It's always a bit of a spectacle when a good banh xeo arrives at the table, partially due its enormous size, the bright yellow colour (due to turmeric) and the aroma imparted by the coconut milk in the batter. I had actually never finished a banh xeo before this, even when sharing, but on this occasion we polished it off in about five minutes flat. Again, part of it was the hunger for me but it was also a very nice banh xeo. There was a very strong and aromatic coconut flavour in the batter of the pancake and it was cooked to a very nice degree crispiness. The mountain of a variety of herbs we got with the dish was also a big plus.

#throwbackthursday roundup of a few quick photoless reviews (part II)

Melbourne

Seddon Deadly Sins
I was excited to try a brunch place that was located somewhere other than the city, inner North, South or East. Having rarely ventured into the west side of the city, it made for a nice change of scenery. The place itself was very charming, with a very cute little courtyard out the back where customers could dine alfresco. The menu also read nicely and the prices were reasonably, noticeably less expensive than many brunch places not in the west. I went for the chicken parma, which I rarely if ever order. This one was nice, a very generous serving with nicely crispy crumbed chicken and an abundance of ham, tomato sauce and cheese. However, as I cut towards the middle of the chicken, it was clear that it was fully cooked as it oozed blood and still had that undercooked chicken texture which is very distinctive.While I rarely send food back, on this occasion I made an exception since it was you know, raw chicken. What happened next convinced me never to return to this place. After a few minutes the dish was returned to me with the embarrassed looking waitress saying that the chef had taken a look and that it was in fact cooked. So if you're willing to go to a place with arrogant chefs willing to put their put their patrons' health at risk, try Seddon Deadly Sins.



Westlake
For some reason, I've found that the yum cha in Melbourne is not as good, and not as cheap, as those in Perth. For a city with such great food and a high population of Chinese immigrants, I've always found this odd. Westlake in Chinatown is no exception to the below-par yum cha experiences in Melbourne. The food was average and the prices were OK, but still more expensive than what you'd pay for the same stuff in Perth. The service, however, is terrible. The three of us were chatting at our table after finishing our food when the wait staff literally came up to us and told us to leave because other people were waiting. Still the rudest experience I've had in a restaurant.



Binh Minh
Of all the ridiculously busy and popular Vietnamese places along Victoria St, Binh Minh is definitely amongst the busiest and most popular. I can only put its popularity down to its prime location at the beginning of the street, because, hell, it can't be due to the food or service. On the night we went there was a ridiculously loud and raucous children's birthday party happening which while it made the experience unpleasant, wasn't exactly the fault of the restaurant. The setting, however, was bad enough on its own. The upstairs area where we were seated looked semi abandoned and like it hadn't been refurbished in yonks. This would have been forgiven if the food was any good but it was very mediocre. The pho that I ordered was bland, not to mention a small portion and more expensive than what you'd pay at many other places along Vic St. The service was also pretty non-existant. There are definitely much better places along Victoria Street.



Chimac
West Melbourne is positively a mini mecca for Korean food in the city and Chimac is no exception. Tucked away on Peel St near the Queen Vic Markets, you've probably passed it a number of times. Do yourself a favour though and walk in for a bite when you're next in the area. Walking in, the place is definitely hip and well thought out. Upon sitting, you get some complimentary fried spaghetti to nosh on while you wait for your food. The KFC served here is DELICIOUS and very flavoursome. The bulgogi we had here was also very tasty. The only slight complaint is that I don't think they offer unlimited banchan.



La Cantina
Staying with the Queen Vic Markets theme, inside the markets themselves you'll find a surprisingly good Mexican/Latin American eatery. La Cantina is only open on the days the market is open, so not on Mondays and Wednesdays and I believe only for lunch. We've been here a couple of times and enjoyed it. On the most recent visit, I went for a very tasty chicken borrito, having not been a fan of their beef (which I found too chewy). This burrito was nicely sized and the addition of the spicy sauce you can help yourself to really gave it that extra oomph. Prizes are also reasonable and the staff are friendly.



Canberra

Saigon Fresh
While banh mi is a common sight in the likes of Melbourne and Sydney, this is certainly not the case for Canberra. Unfortunately you have to the places like Gungahlin and Mawson to get a decent one. When work sent me to Gungahlin for the day, I took the opportunity to try Saigon Fresh. The little shop is sort of hidden away in one of the Gungahlin malls but it was worth the little search. The rolls are fresh and tasty and it was actually the first I had a cold pork roll, as I normally go for the grilled meats. It was surprisingly tasty though and at $6(?) it was good value for Canberra. Yes, yes, we all know you pay $4 for them in Melbourne but $6 for a nice sandwich is still good value, no? If you're a banh mi purist you might take issue with the fact they use red onion instead of spring onion, but I didn't mind, it still made for one might tasty sanga.



Pho Phu Quoc
I've said before that Vietnamese cuisine is actually pretty decent in Canberra and Pho Phu Quoc is no exception. I had first came here when I came up for the weekend to inspect apartments before my move over. You know, the good old days, before I actually had to live here. Anyway, I've seen been back here a few times as their they do a nice bowl of pho, nice chewy noodles and a very aromatic broth. Be warned though, it is a pretty small serving and I dislike the fact that it's served in a shallow bowl, which to me takes away from the experience of eating a bowl of pho.  I also always ask for less beef and extra noodles, because I'm weird like that. Service here is very variable. They were nice when I came here with colleagues but can often be rude and inattentive. You usually have to ask 3+ times for some water.



Griffith Vietnamese
M recently had a conversation where the gist of it was that when something is described as a *insert city here*  institution, it usually means the place isn't very good. However, I'm glad to say that this isn't true for Griffith Vietnamese. The place is partly famous for all the messages left on the wall by politicians. My personal favourite is the one from the Member for Isaacs, Mark Dreyfus, because he made the effort to write a bit in Vietnamese. The couple of times I've been here has been with a group and inevitably, as is the done thing here, we ask the kitchen to simply give us a few dishes and some rice to share. These tend to be Chinese-Vietnamese style stir fries which are mostly very tasty. Personally, though, I prefer more Vietnamese-Vietnamese fare. I've always found it odd that they don't serve pho. Do try the caramel pork, though, it's delicious.



Iori Plus
Came here for a celebration lunch with my team. I was in charge of booking and organising for the large group (25+) and the staff were very accommodating with my requests and all the back and forth. Service was very good, as is pretty typical of (Japanese run) Japanese restaurants. Most of us got the banquet, which although normally $60, was being promoted for half price. It was definitely worth the money in terms of quantity. Believe me, I eat a lot of food, and there was plenty of it on offer. The quality, though, was a bit lacking. The sashimi wasn't super fresh and the quality of the beef used for the tataki left a bit to be desired. However, I really enjoyed the grilled squid and the agadashi tofu. 



Parlour Wine Room
Came here for a lunch with my colleagues after one of us had seen the place recommended on another blog, especially recommending the pork pappardelle dish and their lunch set menu (I wanna say $16 for a dish plus a drink). The people who chose the pappardelle dish seemed to enjoy it but I went for something else, a dish of fried eggs with pepper and jamon. It wasn't the best choice. The eggs were nicely cooked but they were just eggs. The peppers weren't weren't as smokey sweet as I would've liked and I could barely find the jamon. As sorry as I felt for myself, I felt more pain for my colleague who chose the 'cassoulet'. I use the term very loosely because what arrived at the table was nothing resembling a proper cassoulet. The dish looked literally like a couple of sausages (I think they used chorizo which of course is not traditional) with a few beans swimming in a bright red sauce. Definitely no sign of the confit duck, pork belly chunk or toulouse which I'd expect in a good cassoulet. 

 

Up 2 U
I had wanted to try this place for while as they are one of the very few places in Canberra that does one of my favourite things in the world: hotpot. When my friend asked whether I wanted to come along as she had bought half priced Living Social vouchers, my answer was a resounding yes. With the voucher, I think it was $15 for all you can eat hotpot (normally $30). This made for good value even though the range of ingredients wasn't super extensive. We each got our own little pot to ourselves, which was nice and the food was better than the last hotpot place I'd been where we got individual pots. We also got to choose from a range of soup flavours and I went for the mushroom while others went for interesting ones like laksa. The only slightly annoying thing is that while the vegetables are free for you to take at a buffet table, you have to ask for the seafood and meat. They were strict with how much they gave you, making sure you'd finished what you had at the table before they would give you more. While it was a bit inconvenient, I didn't mind too much as I hate food wastage.



Broddogs
We came here when the little red food truck was still located in the carpack of the Belconnen mall. It's sinced moved on (to Braddon?) but it's fact we're not entirely cut up about. Being fans of Brodburger, we were keen to try out Broddogs, owned by the same people. However, while Broddogs do some of the best burgers in Canberra, I was less enamoured with the hotdogs. The issue wasn't that it was tasty, it was tasty enough. However the dogs are a pretty small serving for their price (mostly over $10) and the sausages in particular are very thin and small. While is was decently nice for a hotdog, it definitely doesn't match up to other gourmet dogs out there.

Quick Dinner @ Red Silks, Melbourne

Red Silks is one of those restaurants which I had been wanting to try for literally years and which we've passed numerous times but never eaten at. You've probably been past it too, it's the big bar/restaurant in the same arcade as where Sushi Hotaru is located.

The place is definitely well planned out to maximise the sale of drinks and therefore maximise profit. The drinks appear at the front of the menu, followed by the more expensive food items. And you feel like the empty alcohol bottles which decorate the space are there to encourage you to empty some bottles of your own. However, M and I are generally to immune to such sales tactics and went for some one dish meals and some softies. I went for something I had been craving, hofun noodles with egg sauce. Red Silks' version comes with beef and was a generous serving and very tasty. They were also generous in giving me my requested chilli, in the form of both very fragrant chilli oil and fresh cut chillies. Mark's Thai green vegetable curry was also very flavoursome with a nice amount of basil through it. I was quite amused by the giant quenelle of rice that came with it.

As for drinks, I had an iced lychee drink which seemed to just be the syrup from a can plus a few lychees and some chilled water. M's wasn't super impressed with his teh tarik either. The service was decent but our waitress seemed a bit inexperienced and nervous but that's definitely not a deal breaker. The setting is also nice, sitting on a large balcony alfresco area over Bourke St. I'd be keen to come back to try their other dishes.

Photo of the week: sashimi platter @ Kokoro, Canberra

Our pick for the best Japanese in Canberra. Unfortunately, you have to drive out to Gungahlin for it but it'd be a great semi regular haunt if I lived in the area. I had an udon soup here which was nice, albeit a little oily for my liking. M had a tasty curry don which he though was nice but not amazing. Sashimi was fresh, which is a mean feat for Canberra. All in all, mediocre by Melbourne standards but excellent by Canberra ones.

Dinner with friends @ Nieuw Amsterdam, Lt Lonsdale St Melbourne

M and I had been to Nieuw Amsterdam before and had a nice experience. On that occasion, we had the pork trotter and ham nuggets which were delicious and a generous portion. The mains we got, the pork chops and jerk chicken, as well as the side of mash were all delicious and great value. Thus we were keen to go back and when it came to choosing a dinner venue to meet some friends at, we came back here.

However, on this occasion, our experience was significantly less positive. Firstly the minor issues we had with the service on our first visit were amplified this time around. I've found that in general the waitstaff here are pretty lackadaisical. They also have a habit of getting orders and table numbers wrong. On our first visit they gave us the wrong side but were kind enough to comp it. This time, they twice tried to give us a drink that belonged to another table and we noticed they were also getting drinks orders wrong at other tables. This is definitely something NA has to improve on, but it would have been forgiven if the food was amazing.

To share we got the pimento cheese fritters. At $14.50 for three (we added an extra one so that everyone at the table could have one), these were definitely not worth the price. I expected something pretty amazing but they turned out to be pretty bland and standard cheese type croquettes which definitely needed more spice and flavour. Definitely not as good as their pork trotter & ham nuggets.


We then each got a main. Our friend L got the cheeseburger which he declared to be quite nice. I know others have complained about its size and I must say the pattie definitely looked to be too small for the (already small) bun. L's partner C went for the baked eggplant which she seemed to pick at. She did say she didn't enjoy the sauce, which she described as 'odd'. M went for the beef brisket which he rather enjoyed, saying it was nicely flavoured and well cooked. When I tried it, the meat was lovely and soft but I wasn't as crazy about the flavour. I also thought the BBQ sauce that accompanied it tasted quite artificial. I did, however, love that it came with kimchi. I made a bad choice with mains, having chosen the grits fritters. Firstly, it was a very small portion for a main, especially one with little protein. I also just found the flavour uninspiring. I liked the liberal use of corn and baby corn for texture and sweetness but I thought the dish overall was too sweet and needed more salt and acid to balance.

For dessert, M and I had wanted the pumpkin pie but were told that it was sold out that day. Thus we reluctantly chose something else in the form of the berry split. It turned out to be serendipitous because the dessert was very yummy: a great balance of the acid of the berry with the creaminess and sweetness of the mousse. Both M and I really enjoyed this.