Burma Lane

What: Burma Lane
Where: 118 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when it came to Burmese food. I simply assumed it was going to be very similar to other south-east Asian cuisines. Upon investigation, I found out that the main influences in Burmese cuisine are Chinese, Indian and Thai due to Burma’s bordering neighbors, combined with a slight western influences due to colonization and trade.

What we ate:

ENTREE (shared of course)

• Kun Sar Thi - Betel leaf w/ chicken, shallot, peanuts, green mango & Sichuan pepper
• Crispy soft shell crab w/ dandauk salad & sour chilli (WOW)

MAINS (shared of course)

• Pickled tea leaf salad - tea leaves, tomato, peanuts, sesame seeds, crunchy broad beans & cabbage (AMAZING)
• Scallops & BBQ pork wok fried w/ yellow noodles, Chinese celery & coriander
• Prawns cooked in banana leaf w/ spices & herbs

DESSERT
(I must admit these were not my favorite, largely due to my preference for western desserts)

• Sago & coconut pudding w/ coconut & seasonal fruits
• Pandan, coffee & coconut jelly with coconut sorbet 

Review

Given the wide variety of cuisine in Melbourne generally, I don't think I would personally add Burmese to my standard rotation. But as their website states: it really is "Fresh, Vibrant and Deliciously Different!"

Give it a try - after all variety is the spice of life.
(apologies for the picture - I only remembered to take a picture once we had finished)
Lush

Nama Nama

On my (frequent) trips to Melbourne, I love to wander around the city. In terms of cities I've lived in and visited, it's not vast or even that busy, but I enjoy the quietness; a contrast to the weekday hustle and bustle.

I know I am not alone in this enjoyment, slowly there has been a shift in the weekend food options throughout the city. I'm not talking about the thriving restaurant business that requires hours of queing for lunch or dinner. I mean the small places that you can meander into, sit at a table by the window and settle in for a few hours of slow eating and world watching.

Nama Nama is opposite Treasury Gardens with views of Parliament House. It allows you to stare out at the lush greenery or watch as multitudes of wedding photos are taken...and if you are like me - the opportunity to critique their fashion choices!

Albert St Food & Wine

What: Albert St Food & Wine
Where: Corner of Albert St & 382 Sydney Rd, Brunswick


One of the hippest food and wine stores to pop up recently, run by Executive Chef Philippa Sibley (who appeared recently on Masterchef).

The food, wine, produce and the ambiance all combine to make it my new favourite weekend lunch venue.

Here is what my last indulgence consisted of (with a friend of course):




Start

• Quince Bellinis
• Champagne mixed with quince poaching nectar – amazing (although quinces are seasonal)

 

Mains

• Seared Ocean trout, Balmain bugs, saffron potatoes 
• Crumbed pork scotch, turnips, watercress, green apple sauce

WINE: 

• 2010 Valley Vignerons Pinot Noir Yarra Valley, Vic
• Delightfully full flavoured, complex and long on the palate (perfect with any dish)

 

Dessert

(a must as Philippa Sibley is know for her desserts)

• Meyer lemon tart
• Million Dollar Bullet
• Think chocolate bullet flavours (but using chocolate mousse and liquorice ice cream)

In a word - Perfect!

Be warned though, the menu changes monthly so regular visits are wise.

Lush

Mexican @ Touche Hombre

What: Touche Hombre

Where: Corner Lonsdale St & Tattersalls Lane (Melbourne CBD)

This is one of the newest mexican places in town and I hope it’s here for good – because it is awesome. The food and the ambience are fantastic, even the authentic cups and plates add that something extra to the experience.

The menu is easy to understand and a manageable size AND the tequila menu is actually longer. I went for dinner the other weekday with a friend, and these are the tasty treats we tried.

Entree

Fatty Lamb ribs

- absolutely melt in your mouth, and with just enough sticky sweet honey

TFC (aka Fried chicken)

- the rich and creamy habanero sauce was the perfect match (finger lickin’ good)

Tacos (we tried 3 types)

De Carnitas (aka Pork)

- my favourite of the night

El Secreto (the daily secret surprise taco)

- this was great fun, we ate chicken hearts the night we went (it really is good although that they don’t tell you what the secret ingredient is till afterward)

De Jaiba (aka soft shell crab)

- the Crab batter was a bit too oily for me after our entree's, but it did work really well with all the other taco's flavours (perhaps get it to share)

And several Tommy margarita (delicious)!

Make sure you do give it a whirl (with several margaritas alongside of course), however I would recommend ordering a salad too as the meal sat a bit heavily in my stomach without one (or this could have just been a product of my over indulgence).

Lush

Sweetness @ Pope Joan

What: Pope Joan
Where: 77/79 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East VIC 3057

All the blogs and food magazines are full of praise for the wonderful breakfast/brunch place Pope Joan and for good reason; it is amazing!

I could spend all day blogging and talking about the cornucopia of food at Pope Joan, but what really took my fancy last month when I was only a little bit hungry in the morning was their homemade Jam Doughnut, with Berry Jam and Cream – YUMMY!

The menu is constantly changing and keeping me guessing (but you can preview their latest menu on the website if you wish to be less surprised in the early hours of the day). I have personally been there several times and amongst my all time favorites are:

• Coffee, coffee and more coffee (of course)
• Boiled eggs, soldiers, bacon bits, herb salt
• Poached eggs w/ whatever they are serving them with this month (never been disappointed)
• The Cuban Sandwich: pulled pork, pickles n cheese (unbelievable)

Recent recommendations:

• Heirloom tomatoes roasted, basil, smoked mozzarella rarebit
• Spanner crab omelette, coriander, chilli salt

Make sure you do try it – you will not be disappointed.
Be warned it's busy, but well worth the wait.

Lush

Penny Farthing

What: Penny Farthing Espresso
Where: 206 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070

This adorable little bar/restaurant fits the bill for a chilled night out, close to public transport, great atmosphere and good food.

Named after the Penny-farthing high wheel bicycle – originally named such due to the large front wheel (Penny) and a much smaller rear wheel (farthing)– the restaurant has used a clever play on the words (and its origins in British currency) for their name and menu options.

With a Farthing (the smaller wheel) representing their smaller dishes or entrées, and a Penny (the larger wheel) representing their larger dishes or mains.

Entrée (aka Farthing)

• White bean & fennel croquettes served with chilli & lime dip
• Polenta, fig & chevre stacks with black sesame ash & toasted pinenuts
• Rice flour crepes topped with duck, prosciutto & radicchio, finished with pomegranate kernels

 Main (aka penny)

• Baked field mushrooms stuffed with ricotta, lemon thyme, olives & sundried tomatoes
• Confit duck legs on orange & sweet potato puree with beetroots, candied walnuts & coriander

Side:

• Crispy chat potatoes tossed with chives & served with a mint aioli

Review

The best dish of the night was definitely the confit duck leg – WOW!

I have to say I least preferred the mushrooms and polenta – as I thought they were a bit too sweet (rather than savoury) and thus unbalanced to my palate.

I recommend ordering several farthings and penny’s and sharing with friends (plus a bottle of wine of course).

Lush

Pei Modern

What: Pei Modern
Where: Collins Place, 45 Collins Street

Chef Menu (that day at least):

• Gazpacho with Blue Swimmer Crab  (see picture)
• Bullhorm Peppers, grilled Ox Heart & Harissa
• Streamed Barramundi, Sea Urchin Butter & Sweet Corn
• Coffee Sorbet w/ Chocolate Sponge

Wine:

• 2011 Enigma ‘Variations’, Syrah Rose (suited the meal wonderfully - its more full bodied than a white, but clean and light enough to eat with Seafood)

Review
The chef menu is set (but they will make alterations if you have dietary allergies) – as we had to in our case.

The Gazpacho was delicious, the coriander, grapes and parsley perfectly complimented the cold soup and blue swimmer crab chunks.

Ox Heart (which I had never tried before) was tender and delicious. However I did think the texture of the pepper seeds was not harmonious to the rest of the meal (therefore suggest scrapping them out when eating the dish).

The barramundi was perfectly cooked, but beware the Sea Urchin Butter is very fishy (to me the sea urchin tastes as intensely of sea as wheat grass does of grass). However it complimented the dish wonderfully – so glad I tried it, because I normally would not have ordered it.

Dessert of coffee sorbet with Chocolate sponge crumbs was wonderful. However – the caramelized tomato dessert which my friend had (as she is allergic to chocolate) looked amazing, and when I sampled it – this was the true winner of the day. Amazingly creative and flavorful!

Lush

Paco's Tacos

What: Paco's Tacos
Where: NAB building cnr of Willams & Little Bourke

Located in a great foodie square with Earls Canteen and Movida Aqui; this end of town is now spoilt for choice of gourmet, affordable lunches.

Paco's Tacos is the reincarnation of Movida Terrazo. With all tacos at $6 and quick service it is a great place for a workday lunchtime catch-up. It's also open for dinner and has a decent cocktail menu that empahsises Mexican flavours and evokes memories of warm, sunny evenings. And helps those of us struggling to get through the coming afternoon in the office! 

We had: 

• Carne Asada Taco
• Veduras Taco
• Crispy Pork Crackling

2 tacos are enough for a light lunch, but it is would be worth getting a third taco or something to share if you are feeling like a decent sized meal. The beef had a little heat to it, but I found the delicious green sauce (name unknown) added the necessary extra bit of spice that I look for.

The pork crackling was too rich for a weekday lunch. Basically deep fried pork crackling with salsa and guacamole; it was crispy and light, but I ended up equating each mouthful to an extra block I should be adding to my walk back to the office.

Highly recommend going here before the 1pm rush. It's not as busy as places like Tripy Taco, but the queue to order grows pretty quickly. A bit on the pricey side for the size of the meals, but all around an easy place to enjoy a Melbourne-Mexican lunch.

Glutton

La Luna

What: La Luna
Where: 320 Rathdowne Street Carlton North VIC 3054

Another Express Lunch, as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches
Yet again, best to go in pairs so you can share. This time we got one entrée, two mains, and one dessert.

Entrée:

• Lamb tongue croquette with labna

Mains:

• Beef ribs
• Lamb, fetta, spinach filo

 Dessert:

• Chocolate pudding with fig ice cream

Review:

• The croquettes were light and fluffy; perfect.
• The filo pastry was well balanced, crispy, and filling.
• The beef ribs were interesting, but a bit heavy (so make sure you are hungry).
• Overall it was unbelievably good value, and who doesn’t love La Luna (the chalk picture of the cow detailing all the meat cuts is a favourite of mine – after all you should know what you are eating).

Lush

Comme

What: Comme

Where: 7 Alfred Place Melbourne VIC 3000

Another Express Lunch, as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches
It is fantastic to be able to attend some of the best restaurants in Melbourne for only $35.00 per person, (which includes 2 courses & 1 glass of wine)

I definitely recommend going with a friend to all of them, so you can share. This time we did something a bit different, we only got one main, two entrees and one dessert. More than enough – especially considering they gave us great bread and coffee at the end.

Entree

• Soup du jour - potato & leek (very green due to the chefs using the whole leek I assume, and wonderfully thick and buttery, created a great mouth feel)
• Rillettes of Otway pork, spiced cherries, sage & sourdough (the sourdough was in the form of bread crumbs, so the dish was mainly meat - delicious and rich, just enough to entice the palate - a great entree)

Main

• Roasted breast of Hazeldene chicken with a tomato, shallot & soft herb dressing (actual quite disappointing - even though the meat was cooked perfectly, the 'dressing' was more like a bruscetta salsa, and very sweet - not a savour dish, to my palate it did not work)

Dessert

• St-Emillon of Valrhona Chocolate, macaroon crumbs, Armagnac and crème fraiche (thick and rich, a chocolate lovers dream - think chocolate mousse - perfect with the tang of the crème fraiche which acted to balance the rich chocolate)

Wine

• 2008 Mandala Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley, VIC (standard decent table wine, quaffable but not remarkable)

Money Order Office

What: Money Order Office (aka M.O.O.)

Where: 2 Driver Lane (near the Crn of Little Bourke St & Elizabeth St) Melbourne VIC 3000

As part of the Melbourne Food & Wine, Restaurant Express Lunches I went to M.O.O. Unlike other lunches I had attended that only offer 2 courses & 1 glass of wine for $35.00, at M.O.O. they gave us 3 courses plus a glass of wine.

Definitely recommend going with a friend, and getting all 6 options they have on the Restaurant Express Lunch menu – then you can share them and enjoy a wider variety of dishes.

Entree:

• Poached Pear Salad: Composed of poached pear, wild rocket & Valderon cheese with a lemon vinaigrette (glorious, refreshing, great textures, perfect blend of acid from the vinaigrette and Valderon blue cheese) 
• Roast Pumpkin & Pomegranate Salad: Roast pumpkin with pomegranate, toasted slivered almonds, goats cheese & pumpkin puree (a very dense salad, but wonderfully colorful, full flavored, and who doesn't love pomegranates - especially when someone else has done all the effort of removing them from the pith)

Main

• Pork Belly: Twice cooked pork belly with Jamon, savoy cabbage & cider foam (the foam is like a sorbet, which acts with its acid to balance the fat of pork, however the Jamon proscuitto was a bit salty - which I think slightly dominated the other flavors)
• Tempura Monkfish: Tempura monkfish with saffron aioli & watercress salad (I mean how can you go wrong with tempura and aioli - very tasty and light, especially when paired with the pork belly)

Dessert

• Crema Catalana: Catalan's version of creme brulee (amazing, perfectly creamy, with nicely caramelized sugar on top - favorite dish of the day)
• Vanilla & Goat Curd Mousse: Served with spiced orange & figs (refreshing and interesting, glad I tried it, but not a repeat order when I go back)

Wine

• 2009 Sally's Hill Pinot Noir (mature, full and round, fantastic)

Review:

Best value of the festival for me

The ambience is perfect for a date, good lighting, friendly staff, and nicely decorated. And AMAZING WINES.

Wagyu & Truffled Eggs

What: The Paragon

Where: 651 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North VIC 3054

Dinner:

After eating a bit too much popcorn at the movies last Friday night, two of us decided to go out to dinner – and where better to eat in Melbourne than Rathdowne Street. Since we were not quite hungry enough to get a main, but still needed some real food, we settled on three entrées to share (and of course a few glasses of wine: the Manawa Pinot Noir, Marlborough NZ was great value for money)

Our order:

• Potato and fontina cheese tart with sautéed mushrooms (buttery and filling)
• Pan seared scallops with cotechino sausage, confit tomato and cauliflower purée (fantastic, with very well balanced flavours)
• Wagyu brescola with truffled egg and witlof (my favourite dish of the night; a taste sensation! It was a special for that night, so you might not be able to try it on your visit- sorry guys L ).

The Wagyu dish reminded me very strongly of the award winning Movida Cecina dish (Air- dried Wagyu with Poached Egg and Truffle Foam), so don’t despair head on down to Movida opposite Fed Square to try it out.

Review: The Paragon was definitely a great place to eat, either for a light dinner or a full meal. The lighting, ambience and friendly staff were just what the doctor ordered after a long week at work.

NOTE - they would not scale down their main meal size when we asked, so if you want a light dinner I suggest not reading the mains on the menu or you will be tempted by something you can’t have such as the Pork Duo).

Lush

Breakfast with Soul

What: Marmalade and Soul

Where: 162 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North Vic 3068

Breakfast:

Cornbeef Jaffle - A toasted jaffle sandwich, filled with baked beans and cornbeef, with a side of ‘salted egg yolk marmalade’. Tasty and filling.

Can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.

Review: This quirky redevelopment is great, trendy but not ostentatious. The wooden spoon chandeliers are fun, the seats comfortable and practical, the décor is appropriate. Definitely a neighbourhood institution in the making, specialising in Modern British Food.

The coffee served here is decent (not quite competing with the rest of the neighbourhood's very high standards), and the desserts are all made in house (I just had to get a raspberry marshmallow takeaway – delicious).

It is soon to be open for dinner (selective nights), in addition to the existing lunch and breakfast.

Lush

Asian Tonight

What: Laksa Me

Where: 1/16 Liverpool Street, Melbourne CBD, VIC 3000

The Meal:

Oyster on Oyster – was definitely my favourite dish of the night. Menu description: Pacific oyster arranged on top of a grilled oyster mushroom which has been lightly cured in a lemongrass, chilli and fresh ginger dressing, partnered with julienne of green apple and finely sliced fresh herbs. AMAZING

Other dishes ordered and recommended:

• Oyster Shots (very well balanced, and nice kick of basil)
• Lolly Pop (vegetarian eggplant – battered and fried)
• Thai Beef Salad (traditional, fresh, and delicious) 
•  Laksa Lemak (how can you go to Laksa Me and not get a laksa right?) 
•  Pad Thai (a good staple)

Review:  This delightful little modern asian restaurant, tucked in the back-streets of Melbourne, truly is worth finding. As per their website, they really do offer “Modern Asian Cuisine with influences that draw from Malaysian, Thai, Chinese, Singaporean, Vietnamese and a bit of Italian cuisines”, and they live up to their concept of “Creative, Traditional and Australian versions of Asia Pacific Cuisine"

Bring a bottle of wine (as it is BYO) – I suggest picking one up at the City Wine Shop (located at 159 Spring Street, Melbourne CBD VIC 3000).

Lush