Caffe e Cucina

One of my colleagues suggested I try Caffe e Cucina, located along Chapel Street, South Yarra and he advised that the pasta baked in parchment paper was good.

So, on a cool autumn night, we took the tram and headed to this restaurant which has won some awards.  We were seated quite close to the door which meant that we could feel the draft.  This place is quite small and the table for 4 was quite squishy too... I guess they wanted us to warm each other with our body heat!

Nevertheless, the service was good and friendly and they had a great selection of vino.

We decided to share the lightly battered zucchini flowers (one each).  The flowers were lightly battered and tasted good with the ricotta cheese.

For main, I ordered the pasta with parchment paper.  It was delicious and I think the parchment paper contained the taste well and the seafood was not overcooked.

My friend ordered the pesto - Orecchiette con Pesto alla Genovese.  Alas, she did not really enjoy the pasta as she felt it was too heavy for her.

 
Mum had the fish of the day / special of the day served with broad beans.  It tasted nice and moist and went very well with my seafood pasta.

We decided to pass on the desserts as we were not too keen on the menu.


Verdict:  Not one of the best Italian restaurants I've been to, tables were small and squishy and one feels as if you are not encouraged to sit around.  Not going to visit in a hurry.

Ahh... Bellissimo!

Prior to my trip to Melbourne a few weeks ago, my cousin had told me to check out Brunetti's.  Then my friend, Kevin also told me that he had visited Brunetti's in Lygon Street.  I've never heard of Brunetti's before and all of a sudden two people had told me about this place. Upon checking I realised that Brumetti's had recenly opened an outlet in Myer Central... whoppee doo!

Well, I definitely had to see what the fuss was about and to use the opportunity to check out the newly renovated Myer Central.  There were a lot of people that weekend ...and, of course, Brunetti's was chockers... not a seat in sight.

Not to be deterred, I headed there again the next day and was not disappointed.  There were sandwiches, rolls, homemade gelatos, macarons, dainty cakes (bite sized and normal sized)... oohh... Bellissimo... all the desserts that you could be craving for, too much to choose and a feast to the eyes.  Great addition to Myer!  I'm definitely not complaining!

ps... if the Brunetti Myer is too full and busy they also have another city outlet in City Square, round the corner from Myer.

Old Town Nostalgia

It was by sheer chance that I went to Old Town Kopitiam on Little Bourke Street, Chinatown.  I was catching up with my friends in Melbourne and made them wait downstairs at the QV Central food court until the Old Town Mamak was due to open.  When we headed up the escalators to Old Town Mamak, much to my dismay, I saw a sign which said that they were closed for 2 days for renovations... bad luck!  So, I decided to take them to the Little Bourke Street outlet instead.

We were early... they only open from 11.30 am and we were standing around looking fidgeting and looking desperate waiting for them to open.  I think the "boss" must have seen our hungry looks and promptly opened the door for us at 11.30am!  Yippee!! Time to head in!

Like I said, we were all very hungry by now as we didn't have breakfast... so, here was what we ordered:

Char Koay Teow - must say it tasted ok, not quite used to the thin rice noodles used.  I like how the plate is lined with banana leaf...

Claypot Rice Drop Noodle - came with a cracked raw egg on top which you have to stir to cook it through.  Definitely tasty...

Combination Noodle (Wa Tan Hor) - pretty good and close to "authentissimo"... I like the fact that there was quite a lot of gravy and served with the green pickled chillies!  Awesome!

Fried Hokkien Noodle - quite tasty too, I tasted some pork lard in most of the dishes... that must be the secret ingredient...

Nasi Lemak Seafood with Sambal Squid and Fried Chicken - this must be my favourite, more so because of the sambal squid which reminded me SO much of what I had in Kuala Lumpur.  Can't find the good taste combination here in Australia and this was as close as I could find.  Didn't get to taste the chicken as my friend's 3 year old son, ate it all together with most of the rice - he must love the nasi lemak too!  This meant that I had to order another Nasi Lemak for the rest of the adults to share, this time with curry chicken.

All of us finished the dishes and I was thinking of buying the nasi lemak sambal squid home to Sydney for dinner that night to satisfy the cravings!!

Very satisfied... I thought what we had was as close to Malaysian style food as we could get.  The serving was a tad small though ... but I guess one can't complain.  Have to go again to try out their other cooked to order dishes such as the curry fish head!

Union Bank

It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and I decided to check out Union Bank for lunch.  I love the sandstone building that the Union Bank Wine Bar is housed in and the alfresco dining in the courtyard.  Alas, on looking around, all the outside tables were taken, people were chatting away and enjoying the food.

This place was packed and one needs to get a table, be seated and the wait staff will bring the menu for you.  You will then need to queue up to place your order where upon completion you will be given a number to take back to your table.  As I was waiting in the line, I could hear a few people commenting that they do not like this "system" where they had to queue to place their order and were going to "strike" this restaurant off their list.... humph!

It was clear that the staff has had a busy day not to mention busy couple of weeks due to the Orange Food Week the weeks before.

Standing in the queue is hard as it makes you salivate when you see the plates of food pass by your nose... what should I order???  Again a hard decision given I need to save my stomach for dinner in a few hours time.

Oh... what the heck... I ordered the chilli salt squid with Asian herb salad.  I must say that this was one of the more popular dishes flying past my nose... the Chicken BLT also looked great... hmm... what can I say, the squid was delicious!  It was tender and not too salty with the saltish taste neutralised by the Asian herb salad.  The serving was quite generous too and was definitely a good choice. 

The next tables ordered the sharing plate ... I did not hear a lot of complements from the two oldies though...

As I was leaving, I saw someone eating the Turkish delight - yum-o!!

Definitely a tick for next visit... but again, on an empty stomach!

Sweet Lolli!

I was in Orange this Easter long weekend and decided to book way in advance to secure a dinner table at  Lolli Redini, regarded by the locals as an institution.  What makes Simonn and Leah's restaurant so special is that they have managed to create a feast for the senses.  Their food has been described as sexy and sensous!

I passed by the restaurant in the afternoon and even at 2pm, there were quite a few people eating outside and enjoying the sunshine.  The Hawke's General Store which is also part of their business stocks interesting and a variety of brandnames from clothing to homewares.

This restaurant is a collborative family project and was set up in 2001.  It has grown from strength to strength, using local and organic produce and has won the SMH's One Chef's Hat Rating 8 times now... being awarded is one thing but maintaining their chef's hat is an achievement in itself.


The restaurant was already nearly full when we arrived at about 7pm.  The service was prompt and we were seated towards the front of the restaurant.  The decor is filled with red hues with colourful cushions stacked against one side of the wall.  Paintings adorn the walls too.

It was really hard to decide what to eat as everything on the menu together with their daily specials sounded so good!

Mum and I finally decided on the 2 courses but we will share an entree and a dessert each.  For entree, we shared a seafood bisque, brought out in 2 divided servings.  The bisque was really smooth and the prawns and the scallops were cooked just perfect.

For mains, I had the caramelised sweet belubula pork belly, seared sea scallop, kumera puree and green apple and mint salad.  What a fusion of taste... the sweet pork belly, cooked slowly until the meat is tender blended with the slightly tangy green apple and mint salad ... ahh.. it was divine!  One could not fault the food, the taste was exquisite and each mouthful really combined well.

Mum had the snapper fillet with asparagus and a truffled potato mash .. I thought I could check the menu when I came home but the menu was slightly different.  The snapper was cooked well and although mum said she couldn't finish it, she polished the whole dish up.

For dessert, I opted for the almond frangipane tart served warm with quince and caramelised fig with a fig leaf ice cream... (although, it might not be fig leaf...as I can't remember which type of ice cream).  Anyway, wow, the tart itself, with a delicious crispy crust and the almond and frangipane filling was... wow!  I've never tasted a tart quite like this... not heavy but it just melds in the mouth... not too sweet either balanced by the quince, figs and the ice cream... I wished I could have seconds!  I was very tempted to go back the next day to get a takeaway tart!!  Must say one of the best tarts I've had...!  More, please!

I can now see why this restaurant is calling out for me to pay another visit...  bear in mind, their public holiday surcharge is 15% ...

SomTum anyone?

I'm beginning to discover that Sydney is so blessed with great Thai food.  I mean not only the likes of Spice I am which is authentic or Chat Thai but along Pitt Street, there are quite a few Thai cheap eateries which live up to their name of being cheap and good.  But, they each try to differentiate themselves in terms of the Thai cuisine.

I dragged a friend to check Saap Thai one Monday night.  I've had lunch in Saap Thai a while ago... the menu looked quite extensive and most of the tables in this small eatery has been filled.

We didn't know what to order but ordered a spicy chicken noodle which is one of their chef's suggestion.  It didn't look exciting when it arrived... mainly with soft noodles with a curry chicken sauce.  The chicken curry sauce had a nice consistency to it and I must say... looks are deceiving as the noodles and the sauce were a great combination and tasted really good.

We also ordered another specialty dish which is fish salad.  The fish salad is shredded fish, and cooked in a crumb with a spicy Thai salad dressing on top.  I think Bangkok restaurant does this dish better.


We decided to also order a pad thai as it looked quite good when one of the waiters brought it passed us.  Hmm... let's say, the taste was a bit sweet-ish and lacked oomph.

We were told that this Thai eatery specialises in Som Tum which is green papaya salad.  Looking at the menu, yes... there were plenty of Som Tum variations.  I think we should definitely order Som Tum next time I go there instead of Pad Thai!

Worth another visit... but on an empty stomach!

Kevin and I decided to go for a drive during the Australia Day weekend to visit a few suburbs which we haven't visited for sometime.  First stop was Marrickville.  This suburb seemed to be quite rundown and it looked deserted being a long weekend.  We had lunch at one of their small Vietnamese restaurant (I can't remember the name...) but the food was not too exciting at all.  The suburb also lacked "activity"...

After a look around and Kevin buying an Australian flag as he was feeling patriotic, we then drove off with the flag flapping in the car towards Campsie, trying to stop at Petersham at Sweet Belem for a coffee fix but alas, it was closed.  It was lucky that we found a parking spot quite quickly and in front of Albee's Kitchen as well.  Albee's kitchen has been around for a looonnngg time and I remember trying it a long time ago.  Campsie was a much livelier suburb compared to Marrickville and we were instantly rejuvenated.

After taking a short tour, we decided to have afternoon tea at Albee's Kitchen (even though we were not very hungry ... but the excuse was that Kevin has a long drive ahead).  Must say the menu looked quite good with a few Malaysian delicacies... there were curry puffs sitting on a hot stove and Malaysian cakes staring at us...we wished we had come here for lunch instead of Marrickville.

As the weather was quite humid and sweltering, we each ordered an ice kacang.  It came in a tall glass but lacked all the usual ingredients (it didn't have the sweet corn or palm seeds!) which I was used to. 

We then shared a seafood egg-sauced hor fun.  I was a bit sceptical after popping my head in to the kitchen and noticed that the kitchen staff does not really look Malaysian or Singaporean.  However I must say I was quite surprised as the hor fun tasted really yummy...

I think we need to pay Albee's Kitchen another visit to try the fish head curry but this time on an empty stomach.