Last Saturday Emma and I took Puppeh for a walk down Rathdowne Street to Travelling Samovar, a tea house we've both been meaning to visit for about a year, since it first opened.
Travelling Samovar has a wide range of teas and tea sampling. The staff are super helpful, and knowledgeable, and are happy to provide hot water to give a second (or, in my case, with my pu-er, fifth and sixth) brew.
I was intrigued to learn that not many people know what pu-er is! But Travelling Samovar has an extensive pu-er range, so I totally went for a loose leaf that comes packed in a dried tangerine skin. It smelt amazing, like jaffas, and although I'm not sure the tangerine skin impacted the flavour of the tea it did enhance the overall experience, so I'm into it. I did the full gong fu with my pu-er, until I was tingling from being tea drunk.
Emma went the tea sample option (called a tea-ser), picking darjeeling because she loves it. This came in three pots: a Gielle 1st flush; an Oaks 2nd flush; and a Risheehat 2nd flush. This was a great way of knowing what one likes and trying it until the perfect one is found, which I appreciate.
Emma's tray of teas included timers, clear pots, and extra hot water. Combined with my gong fu, this was an excellent experience because I appreciate being given responsibility over my tea. There are other tea houses in Melbourne which are fun, but the thing I love the most about my tea (especially my Chinese tea) is the ability to experiment with it, to control the steeping and the pouring and also the drinking of it as I want.
This was a fun morning. Although at first I was offput by the cost - $10 for my pu-er - the fact that I could basically drink it until I was tea drunk means it was a price I was in the end content with.
Travelling Samovar
412 Rathdowne Street
Carlton North
Showing posts with label carlton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carlton. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Friday, 29 November 2013
icecreams and sundaes out and about
Yesterday was 32C here in old Melbourne-town, and despite today's amazing and delightful rain and coat weather it truly is heading towards summer, so I've started meeting people out and about for fancy iced treats.
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Notable eats so far:
Coconut + Sago Sundae - St Ali South (pictured)
At $13.50 this sundae is not cheap, but it's also giant, gluten free, filling, and totally shareable between two people, which I wish is how I'd eaten it. It's served with gluten-free muesli, pineapple, mango, and topped with freeze-dried fruit. I ordered it without the pineapple, and despite my scepticism re: the muesli I was totally into it. It was very, very rich though, which is surprising to me given it's on the breakfast menu. I would eat again, but only if I was feeling rich and could share it with someone. 12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne
En-Thai-Sing - Gelato Messina
$9, still pretty exxy, but SO INTO IT. Pandan and coconut sorbet, mango, simple but delicious. Desperately want to make coconut and pandan sorbet this summer at home. I believe their menu also includes a huge range of delicious dried fruits including dragonfruit, and a ginger and five spice pudding. They also do a chocolate sorbet, which intrigues me. I would eat this again but probably not too often, and definitely not while their queue goes halfway down Smith Street. Also that NAME, geez. The owner had better be South East Asian is all I'm saying. 237 Smith St, Fitzroy
Passionfruit Sorbet with Chocolate Soya Icecream - Casa del Gelato
This is my standard, I will never part from it, it is the best combination so give it a go. Casa is the best because they have so many vegan options including baci, and also they are just down the road from my house. Cones start from $5. I just wish they'd engage in some queue management on beautiful days when you have to push five people deep. 163 Lygon St, Carlton
Blood Orange Sorbet - Spring St Grocer/Primavera Gelateria
Primavera Gelateria does a variety of rotating flavours, with at least two dairy free on each of my visits. I think it was $6 for a scoop, so it's exxy but it's good. 157 Spring St, Melbourne
Eats to which I'd like to extend:
Frozen Cheezecake - Merry Cupcakes
I miss ice cream cake a lot. I hope this will turn out to make up for that. 261 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Any icy highlights come your way yet? Please share the icy love.
.JPG)
Notable eats so far:
Coconut + Sago Sundae - St Ali South (pictured)
At $13.50 this sundae is not cheap, but it's also giant, gluten free, filling, and totally shareable between two people, which I wish is how I'd eaten it. It's served with gluten-free muesli, pineapple, mango, and topped with freeze-dried fruit. I ordered it without the pineapple, and despite my scepticism re: the muesli I was totally into it. It was very, very rich though, which is surprising to me given it's on the breakfast menu. I would eat again, but only if I was feeling rich and could share it with someone. 12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne
En-Thai-Sing - Gelato Messina
$9, still pretty exxy, but SO INTO IT. Pandan and coconut sorbet, mango, simple but delicious. Desperately want to make coconut and pandan sorbet this summer at home. I believe their menu also includes a huge range of delicious dried fruits including dragonfruit, and a ginger and five spice pudding. They also do a chocolate sorbet, which intrigues me. I would eat this again but probably not too often, and definitely not while their queue goes halfway down Smith Street. Also that NAME, geez. The owner had better be South East Asian is all I'm saying. 237 Smith St, Fitzroy
Passionfruit Sorbet with Chocolate Soya Icecream - Casa del Gelato
This is my standard, I will never part from it, it is the best combination so give it a go. Casa is the best because they have so many vegan options including baci, and also they are just down the road from my house. Cones start from $5. I just wish they'd engage in some queue management on beautiful days when you have to push five people deep. 163 Lygon St, Carlton
Blood Orange Sorbet - Spring St Grocer/Primavera Gelateria
Primavera Gelateria does a variety of rotating flavours, with at least two dairy free on each of my visits. I think it was $6 for a scoop, so it's exxy but it's good. 157 Spring St, Melbourne
Eats to which I'd like to extend:
Frozen Cheezecake - Merry Cupcakes
I miss ice cream cake a lot. I hope this will turn out to make up for that. 261 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Any icy highlights come your way yet? Please share the icy love.
Friday, 9 August 2013
carlton noms: crafternoon + the beaufort
Ms Hayley recently gave herself blog amnesty and I've been feeling all blocked vis food blogging (not vis media and social justice blogging at no award though) so I'm gonna do a similar thing.
Crafternoon: Emma and I went to Crafternoon a few Sundays back as a way of getting out of the house when we'd both been having lazy Sundays. We took the Sooty Monster and meandered down to Crafternoon in the hopes that it was still open, and it was! Crafternoon is open seven days a week, and it's a small, lovely cafe that offers crafts with your coffee and cake and brekkie and lunch. Vegan items are clearly marked on the menu, as are GF options, so I was delighted to order the lemon and almond tart with berry compote and coconut icecream. I am not usually a huge fan of tarts (on the grounds that I am not a huge fan of tart flavours) but this one was beautiful, and combined with the compote and the icecream made a lovely flavour sensation that I was sad to finish. I enjoyed the presentation of the tart, and I appreciated the paper and crayons already on the table so I could start designing the Mecha Penguin Jaegar that Danni and I are gonna be piloting when the apocalypse comes.
Crafternoon is located at 531 Nicholson Street, North Carlton. There is street seating, and a step up into the venue (plus what seemed like a narrow door). Ordering happens at the table. Reasonable prices ($4 for my tart). $0.5 soy surcharge.
The Beaufort: Hayley's blog amnesty includes a review of her first visit to the Beaufort. My visit two Fridays past was also my first, I went with my Beijing Ren for our usual monthly catchup (we're trying to move beyond Chinese restaurants). I had thought it would be more Gaso/EBC in its vegan opportunities, which I was sadly incorrect about: there were only two vegan options, the Philly Cheese Fake and the vegan Bahn Mi. I went the Philly Cheese Fake with vegan cheese, which was delicious containing a million mushrooms and wrapped by some lovely bread. The Fake comes with some fries which were sadly the saltiest fries I've ever tasted, but I was also delighted by my Granny Smith with alcohol (freshly juiced in front of me and served with Gin). Music was hilariously nineties.
The Beaufort is located at 421 Rathdowne Street in Carlton. Its interior is way too dark, but they let your puppy inside and the service is prompt and friendly. It has also been reviewed by Cindy and Michael.
Crafternoon is located at 531 Nicholson Street, North Carlton. There is street seating, and a step up into the venue (plus what seemed like a narrow door). Ordering happens at the table. Reasonable prices ($4 for my tart). $0.5 soy surcharge.
The Beaufort: Hayley's blog amnesty includes a review of her first visit to the Beaufort. My visit two Fridays past was also my first, I went with my Beijing Ren for our usual monthly catchup (we're trying to move beyond Chinese restaurants). I had thought it would be more Gaso/EBC in its vegan opportunities, which I was sadly incorrect about: there were only two vegan options, the Philly Cheese Fake and the vegan Bahn Mi. I went the Philly Cheese Fake with vegan cheese, which was delicious containing a million mushrooms and wrapped by some lovely bread. The Fake comes with some fries which were sadly the saltiest fries I've ever tasted, but I was also delighted by my Granny Smith with alcohol (freshly juiced in front of me and served with Gin). Music was hilariously nineties.
The Beaufort is located at 421 Rathdowne Street in Carlton. Its interior is way too dark, but they let your puppy inside and the service is prompt and friendly. It has also been reviewed by Cindy and Michael.
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Colourful Yunnan [carlton]
For all the food blogging I did while I was in Beijing, there are a few places I visited regularly that I never got around to blogging, for a variety of reasons. One of those places was a little Yunnanese restaurant close to where some of my friends lived, at which we quickly became regulars, often ordering the same dishes over and over again. It was my first real experience with Yunnanese food, and when I left China it was one I was worried I'd struggle to continue, given the lack of Yunnanese food in Melbourne.
The only restaurant that Google spits out, other than the Neil-Perry Spice Temple, is Colourful Yunnan, on the corner of Grattan and Swanston in Carlton. So it was to here that me and my China adventure compatriots ventured on Friday night.
There are so many amazing things on the menu here (take your meat eating friends).
Wendy and I carefully selected some noodles, a delicious cabbage dish, and my long-time favourite, 土豆丝 (shredded potato).
Yunnan food is spicy. Not as spicy as Sichuanese food, but it's getting up there, with lots of chilli all over the place. So I tried to order a mix of dishes, including some that would be less spicy for our less spicy friends, which means that we missed out on some of our favourites (cold black fungus - so good, but if anything the fact that it is chilled makes it more spicy. I know it sounds odd but trust me, if you like mushrooms and spicy food, order this. Or wait for my next review).
土豆丝 was fine. Nothing super special, a little too heavy on the chilli and the oil, but pleasant enough.
Chinese cabbage I love at any time, and I especially love it sour and spicy (算拉白菜). So good, and this one was great, I haven't had it in a while and it was a delight to eat.
These noodles! Wendy cleverly took a photo of the menu because the name was long, but foolishly I thought I'd remember it. I was wrong, and I will update this post when I am able with the name. However what I was not wrong about was the deliciousness. We had to order this vego specific, I think, and it comes with chilli, carrot, peanuts, mustard greens, beanshoots, hand pulled noodles and tofu, and you mix it all together and it's great.
Service was prompt, even when we ordered more dishes halfway through the meal. This entire meal cost me $12. So cheap, so good, so happy. Will return, even if just for the noodles, which would make a meal for me and maybe even some takeaway.
Colourful Yunnan
680 Swanston Street
Carlton
This blog post suggests there is also a Flinders Lane location
Get there on any tram that goes to Uni Melb. Totally inaccessible to wheelchairs. Very brightly lit, can order and pay at table. Outdoor seating. Menu is in English and Chinese characters, but is very word heavy and a little confusing. Cash only.
The only restaurant that Google spits out, other than the Neil-Perry Spice Temple, is Colourful Yunnan, on the corner of Grattan and Swanston in Carlton. So it was to here that me and my China adventure compatriots ventured on Friday night.
There are so many amazing things on the menu here (take your meat eating friends).
Wendy and I carefully selected some noodles, a delicious cabbage dish, and my long-time favourite, 土豆丝 (shredded potato).
Yunnan food is spicy. Not as spicy as Sichuanese food, but it's getting up there, with lots of chilli all over the place. So I tried to order a mix of dishes, including some that would be less spicy for our less spicy friends, which means that we missed out on some of our favourites (cold black fungus - so good, but if anything the fact that it is chilled makes it more spicy. I know it sounds odd but trust me, if you like mushrooms and spicy food, order this. Or wait for my next review).
土豆丝 was fine. Nothing super special, a little too heavy on the chilli and the oil, but pleasant enough.
Chinese cabbage I love at any time, and I especially love it sour and spicy (算拉白菜). So good, and this one was great, I haven't had it in a while and it was a delight to eat.
These noodles! Wendy cleverly took a photo of the menu because the name was long, but foolishly I thought I'd remember it. I was wrong, and I will update this post when I am able with the name. However what I was not wrong about was the deliciousness. We had to order this vego specific, I think, and it comes with chilli, carrot, peanuts, mustard greens, beanshoots, hand pulled noodles and tofu, and you mix it all together and it's great.
Service was prompt, even when we ordered more dishes halfway through the meal. This entire meal cost me $12. So cheap, so good, so happy. Will return, even if just for the noodles, which would make a meal for me and maybe even some takeaway.
Colourful Yunnan
680 Swanston Street
Carlton
This blog post suggests there is also a Flinders Lane location
Get there on any tram that goes to Uni Melb. Totally inaccessible to wheelchairs. Very brightly lit, can order and pay at table. Outdoor seating. Menu is in English and Chinese characters, but is very word heavy and a little confusing. Cash only.
Friday, 1 October 2010
shakahari v
My friend Matthias is in town, and I went to meet him at his hotel in Carlton...sadly there was no booking for him! But he was fresh off the plane and really hungry, and had to lug all his stuff around until he could find a new hotel, so we stayed close to Carlton and nabbed a table at Shakahari last night.
I was super excited to find out that next week is a new menu, and they are easing it in! The old menu has some items crossed off, and we were presented with a hand-written replacement! It was a bit hard to read, fair warning, if you go there before it gets typed up.
Off the new menu, Matthias ordered the new couscous dish, which featured really delicious chickpeas in a great sauce, with almonds, roasted tomatoes, and a lot (A Lot) of parsley. This dish was really tasty, and I look forward to ordering myself some time.
I went for the risotto pot pie (gf), which has been on the menu for a while but I had yet to actually sample. I really liked it! Not an overly exciting flavour, but the addition of pine nuts made it really fun, and it was a nice dish. The accompanying vegetables were good, except for the mushrooms, which were half cooked and not that nice to eat.
For dessert we both ordered the vegan almond panacotta (gf), which is new to the menu. This was an interesting dish. I liked the flavour of the panacotta, which was very mild, but it had a gritty texture which was a bit unexpected, and not at all like the beautiful smoothness of the tofu caramel. The panacotta is accompanied by an almond toffee and a very sweet citrus sauce. Both of these were way to sweet for me - I had to very lightly drizzle the sauce, otherwise it was too much for me, and I barely ate any of the toffee.
Overall, the new additions to the menu seem interesting, but there are still more things to try off it. The new dessert is fun, but I'm not sure it's really my thing. If you want to try the panacotta out, I recommend sharing it, it's a bit overwhelming on its own.
Previous shakahari visits one, two, zero, zero prime, three, four.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
I was super excited to find out that next week is a new menu, and they are easing it in! The old menu has some items crossed off, and we were presented with a hand-written replacement! It was a bit hard to read, fair warning, if you go there before it gets typed up.
Off the new menu, Matthias ordered the new couscous dish, which featured really delicious chickpeas in a great sauce, with almonds, roasted tomatoes, and a lot (A Lot) of parsley. This dish was really tasty, and I look forward to ordering myself some time.
I went for the risotto pot pie (gf), which has been on the menu for a while but I had yet to actually sample. I really liked it! Not an overly exciting flavour, but the addition of pine nuts made it really fun, and it was a nice dish. The accompanying vegetables were good, except for the mushrooms, which were half cooked and not that nice to eat.
For dessert we both ordered the vegan almond panacotta (gf), which is new to the menu. This was an interesting dish. I liked the flavour of the panacotta, which was very mild, but it had a gritty texture which was a bit unexpected, and not at all like the beautiful smoothness of the tofu caramel. The panacotta is accompanied by an almond toffee and a very sweet citrus sauce. Both of these were way to sweet for me - I had to very lightly drizzle the sauce, otherwise it was too much for me, and I barely ate any of the toffee.
Overall, the new additions to the menu seem interesting, but there are still more things to try off it. The new dessert is fun, but I'm not sure it's really my thing. If you want to try the panacotta out, I recommend sharing it, it's a bit overwhelming on its own.
Previous shakahari visits one, two, zero, zero prime, three, four.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
Monday, 12 July 2010
shakahari iv
Went to Shakahari for dinner twice last week, and took nary a photo because I hate the lighting at Shakahari and can never take a good photo there with Toy Camera (the Ixus 55).
So here's a photo of a strawberry daquiri I had earlier this year; their seasonal daquiris are always super tasty and I often order one with dinner. Danni had the Nirvana, which was also pretty amazing.
Fortunately for two visits in one week, the menu has changed since our last visit in April. The entrees and mains are now all vegan! And about 75% gluten free. Exciting!
Over the last week, between the two of us Danni and I have tried the following (not their actual names): polenta triangles (gf); buckwheat flatbread (gf); lentil lasagna; malaysian curry thing (gf); pumpkin soup (gf except for the bread on the side); couscous de fes; tofu caramel (gf).
Shared the polenta triangles and the flatbread between seven people as entrees. The flatbread came with a really nice pesto, I think there was tomato and chilli involved and it was delicious. The polenta was good, but a bit polenta grainy.
I tried the puy lentil lasagna on Tuesday (it was my birthday). The flavour was fine, but I didn't really enjoy the use of the lentils - they didn't bind together at all, which I love in lasagna. It's not that the lasagna was bad, it's just that I don't think it was my thing. Em had the lasagna last night, and she agreed.
Danni had the couscous de fes (maybe alla fes), which she described as good, but not spectacular.
I had an entree soup upsized to a main last night, as I wasn't feeling very hungry. The soup of the day was pumpkin, sweet potato, tomato and chickpea, blended to a smooth soup. I was intrigued and slightly concerned by this combination, but it had a beautiful texture and a yummy flavour, and Danni was jealous.
Danni ate the curry, it was a slightly sweet and spicy beany curry served with dahl, papadums and rice. It was tasty! I would order this.
Other delicious things I sampled were the risotto + potato pot pie (gf) which was good but apparently really filling, due to the risotto; and the sago pudding (gf) which was exactly as it sounds. I would like to order the risotto one time.
Recent shakahari visits one, two, zero, zero prime, three.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
So here's a photo of a strawberry daquiri I had earlier this year; their seasonal daquiris are always super tasty and I often order one with dinner. Danni had the Nirvana, which was also pretty amazing.
Fortunately for two visits in one week, the menu has changed since our last visit in April. The entrees and mains are now all vegan! And about 75% gluten free. Exciting!
Over the last week, between the two of us Danni and I have tried the following (not their actual names): polenta triangles (gf); buckwheat flatbread (gf); lentil lasagna; malaysian curry thing (gf); pumpkin soup (gf except for the bread on the side); couscous de fes; tofu caramel (gf).
Shared the polenta triangles and the flatbread between seven people as entrees. The flatbread came with a really nice pesto, I think there was tomato and chilli involved and it was delicious. The polenta was good, but a bit polenta grainy.
I tried the puy lentil lasagna on Tuesday (it was my birthday). The flavour was fine, but I didn't really enjoy the use of the lentils - they didn't bind together at all, which I love in lasagna. It's not that the lasagna was bad, it's just that I don't think it was my thing. Em had the lasagna last night, and she agreed.
Danni had the couscous de fes (maybe alla fes), which she described as good, but not spectacular.
I had an entree soup upsized to a main last night, as I wasn't feeling very hungry. The soup of the day was pumpkin, sweet potato, tomato and chickpea, blended to a smooth soup. I was intrigued and slightly concerned by this combination, but it had a beautiful texture and a yummy flavour, and Danni was jealous.
Danni ate the curry, it was a slightly sweet and spicy beany curry served with dahl, papadums and rice. It was tasty! I would order this.
Other delicious things I sampled were the risotto + potato pot pie (gf) which was good but apparently really filling, due to the risotto; and the sago pudding (gf) which was exactly as it sounds. I would like to order the risotto one time.
Recent shakahari visits one, two, zero, zero prime, three.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
Friday, 9 April 2010
shakahari iii, carlton
Sunday night we decided to try fine dining at Shakahari. I know it was a long weekend, but I was super disappointed to discover that the dessert we all coveted (the rice pudding) was unavailable! Particularly given this was only one of two possible vegan dessert options, this was unexpected and not welcome!
At least there were cocktails to be had.
And main meals, too. Christine ordered the pot pie, which was only lukewarm! Delicious, but lukewarm. Danni ordered the Memory of Medina, which as always was perfectly serviceable.
I tried the pasta, which I had never before done. It was tasty!
The meal was overall fine, but nothing special. It was the middle of a four day weekend though, so I suppose we can forgive them.
Shakahari one, two.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
At least there were cocktails to be had.
And main meals, too. Christine ordered the pot pie, which was only lukewarm! Delicious, but lukewarm. Danni ordered the Memory of Medina, which as always was perfectly serviceable.
I tried the pasta, which I had never before done. It was tasty!
The meal was overall fine, but nothing special. It was the middle of a four day weekend though, so I suppose we can forgive them.
Shakahari one, two.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
out and about over the long weekend
I've already blogged about the delicious lasagna at the vegie bar, but we ate at a few other places over the weekend!
After the storm on Saturday, we didn't want to venture too far from home so we popped on over to the EBC.
Trashy and familiar, I elected to eat the classic vegan parma at the EBC. Danni went for the shepherd's pie (TVP and potatoes and vegan cheese, I think) from the specials board. This was really tasty!
We shared a cherry ripe cheesecake. Who could go past such a delight?
I know several people have had some terrible service at the EBC lately, but Saturday night our service was prompt and friendly, some of the bar staff were even cheerful!
Maybe it was the weather?
Went to Shakahari, had the Kali Tunis, which was delicious (oh Malaysian curries, I love you), light but with a chilli bite that didn't hit until after. I know it's hard to see, but it's at the back of the photo! Oh, composition! My strawberry daiquiri was a bit light on with the alcohol, but my mango crumble was delicious, and Danni's highlight of the meal.
Also went to Lord of the Fries (Melbourne Central), I have got to stop ordering a burger and sharing a box of chips just with Danni, it is too much delicious trashy food, and I feel uncomfortable for ages.
Failed to get a seat at A Minor Place, this is what happens when you try to do brunch on a public holiday in Brunswick.
Meal lowlight of the weekend: going to Sugardough with J and dB just before Danni's family arrived, and the vegan cake sitting there on display, but not being allowed to eat it. Just cut the cake for me! LET ME EAT IT, SUGAR DOUGH.
We actually considered buying the whole cake, and in hindsight, probably should have. Because they're DELICIOUS.
East Brunswick Club
280 Lygon Street
East Brunswick
Shakahari
201-203 Faraday St
Carlton
Lord of the Fries
Knox Lane
Melbourne Central
Sugardough
163 Lygon St
Brunswick East
After the storm on Saturday, we didn't want to venture too far from home so we popped on over to the EBC.
Trashy and familiar, I elected to eat the classic vegan parma at the EBC. Danni went for the shepherd's pie (TVP and potatoes and vegan cheese, I think) from the specials board. This was really tasty!
We shared a cherry ripe cheesecake. Who could go past such a delight?
I know several people have had some terrible service at the EBC lately, but Saturday night our service was prompt and friendly, some of the bar staff were even cheerful!
Maybe it was the weather?
Went to Shakahari, had the Kali Tunis, which was delicious (oh Malaysian curries, I love you), light but with a chilli bite that didn't hit until after. I know it's hard to see, but it's at the back of the photo! Oh, composition! My strawberry daiquiri was a bit light on with the alcohol, but my mango crumble was delicious, and Danni's highlight of the meal.
Also went to Lord of the Fries (Melbourne Central), I have got to stop ordering a burger and sharing a box of chips just with Danni, it is too much delicious trashy food, and I feel uncomfortable for ages.
Failed to get a seat at A Minor Place, this is what happens when you try to do brunch on a public holiday in Brunswick.
Meal lowlight of the weekend: going to Sugardough with J and dB just before Danni's family arrived, and the vegan cake sitting there on display, but not being allowed to eat it. Just cut the cake for me! LET ME EAT IT, SUGAR DOUGH.
We actually considered buying the whole cake, and in hindsight, probably should have. Because they're DELICIOUS.
East Brunswick Club
280 Lygon Street
East Brunswick
Shakahari
201-203 Faraday St
Carlton
Lord of the Fries
Knox Lane
Melbourne Central
Sugardough
163 Lygon St
Brunswick East
Saturday, 27 February 2010
out and about; or, CNY noms with my family
The first thing we did with my family, of course, was go in hunt of some noodles to share. We wanted to go to Idea Fine Foods for their excellent combination of CNY and noodles but, alas, they have closed! Warm and hungry and slightly grumpy, we turned around and went to the Thai restaurant across the road, Sawasdee.
Up the stairs we found the mezzanine busy, but were quickly seated even without a reservation. Our waiter claimed that there was no fish sauce or shrimp paste in the vegetarian curry, so we took him at his word and ordered a green tofu curry and a dish of noodles. The curry was spicy but quite flavoursome, and it was a good meal. And there was a guy playing a piano! Which made me laugh.
On Sunday we jumped on the train and ventured out to Box Hill for yum cha. We were excited! I love going to Vegie Hut for a nice combination of yum cha menu and lunch menu, but upon our arrival we were disappointed to find out that, due to CNY, there was no lunch menu available! Only limited yum cha, and a special Chinese New Year menu. We can eat a CNY menu anywhere, we were there for yum cha! No radish cakes, no taro cakes, which was a bit disappointing, and if you can't order noodles than what is the point? Still, the grilled dumplings were good, as was the sticky rice, and we finally tried the four seasons buns. A word to vegans - the green bun is definitely kaya, which always contains egg (it is next on my list of Malaysian treats to veganise).
We ended up at Penang Affair on Brunswick Street for dinner. The uncle there was delighted to meet my mother, with whom he immediately started chatting (in Hokkien) to work out if they knew any of the same people (they did not, although they did remember the same restaurants of the streets of Georgetown some forty years ago).
My parents started with some popiah (vegatarian but contains egg so not vegan), which mum declared 'okay, not quite soft enough.'
Of course (of course!) we ordered a CKT, because I love the CKTs available at Penang Affair. We also ordered a couple of serves of roti, a sayor campor, and a really great gulai campor. The gulai campor was seriously delicious, and went perfectly with the roti. I also ordered a spectacular cocktail, containing a whole lot of fresh chillies, that was a little too much for me to finish.
Monday morning saw us at Grigons and Orr, to which I have been eager to return since our first visit in December. I ordered the pan-fried tofu in soy sauce, with a side of baked beans. It was delicious, but I'll be honest - it was nowhere near as delicious as the cous cous porridge of my previous visit. Orange juice was pretty tasty, and Julie really liked her mushrooms and toast (and her hashbrowns, which are not suitable for vegans).
We adventured out to St Kilda, where we had lunch at Lentil As Anything. My mum had watched a documentary (or something?) on Lentil as Anything, and was saddened to hear he was running out of money so was particularly interested in going. There were a lot of things not on the menu on Monday, and we suspect it's because their vegetable delivery had yet to arrive (it turned up as we were leaving). So my parents shared the mixed curry plate, and Julie and I both ordered the okonomiyaki. It was massive! Delicious, but massive, I had to grab a container from the Spud Bar next door and take the remainder home!
For Monday dinner we hit up Shakahari, dressing up and ordering cocktails. Danni and I shared the potato gnocci which was served in a tamari sauce with snow peas - it was odd but tasty. My parents shared the soup of the day, it had almonds and broccolini which didn't appeal to me but was apparently very good.
For mains I tackled the 'memory of medina,' cous cous with an eggplant curry. My mother, Malaysian to the core, picked the Malaysian curry. Danni and my sister both opted for the pie, filled with mushrooms and accompanied by giant garden salads. All verdicts were good, and my father decided that this was the best vegetarian restaurant I had brought him to all weekend, which is a compliment I suppose.
Then on to dessert, for which I was glad I had kept room, for Danni and I shared the mango rice pudding and it was delicious, oh so lovely. My parents had the fruit crumble which was light and tasty, and my sister the mango sorbet. Mangos all around! As it should be.
On Tuesday I took them to the airport, and that was the end of our CNY adventures with my parents (not, of course, the end of CNY adventures as there is yet time!)! It was super awesome that they were able to come across to share noodles and traditions with us, and bring us CNY goodies and an adorable tiger, as is custom.
There could have been more noodles, though.
Sawasdee
Level 1 139 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne
Vegie Hut
984 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill
Penang Affair
325 Brunswick St
Fitzroy
Grigons & Orr
Corner of Queensberry St and Chetwynd St
North Melbourne
Lentil As Anything
41 Blessington St
St Kilda
Shakahari
201-203 Faraday St
Carlton
Up the stairs we found the mezzanine busy, but were quickly seated even without a reservation. Our waiter claimed that there was no fish sauce or shrimp paste in the vegetarian curry, so we took him at his word and ordered a green tofu curry and a dish of noodles. The curry was spicy but quite flavoursome, and it was a good meal. And there was a guy playing a piano! Which made me laugh.
On Sunday we jumped on the train and ventured out to Box Hill for yum cha. We were excited! I love going to Vegie Hut for a nice combination of yum cha menu and lunch menu, but upon our arrival we were disappointed to find out that, due to CNY, there was no lunch menu available! Only limited yum cha, and a special Chinese New Year menu. We can eat a CNY menu anywhere, we were there for yum cha! No radish cakes, no taro cakes, which was a bit disappointing, and if you can't order noodles than what is the point? Still, the grilled dumplings were good, as was the sticky rice, and we finally tried the four seasons buns. A word to vegans - the green bun is definitely kaya, which always contains egg (it is next on my list of Malaysian treats to veganise).
We ended up at Penang Affair on Brunswick Street for dinner. The uncle there was delighted to meet my mother, with whom he immediately started chatting (in Hokkien) to work out if they knew any of the same people (they did not, although they did remember the same restaurants of the streets of Georgetown some forty years ago).
My parents started with some popiah (vegatarian but contains egg so not vegan), which mum declared 'okay, not quite soft enough.'
Of course (of course!) we ordered a CKT, because I love the CKTs available at Penang Affair. We also ordered a couple of serves of roti, a sayor campor, and a really great gulai campor. The gulai campor was seriously delicious, and went perfectly with the roti. I also ordered a spectacular cocktail, containing a whole lot of fresh chillies, that was a little too much for me to finish.
Monday morning saw us at Grigons and Orr, to which I have been eager to return since our first visit in December. I ordered the pan-fried tofu in soy sauce, with a side of baked beans. It was delicious, but I'll be honest - it was nowhere near as delicious as the cous cous porridge of my previous visit. Orange juice was pretty tasty, and Julie really liked her mushrooms and toast (and her hashbrowns, which are not suitable for vegans).
We adventured out to St Kilda, where we had lunch at Lentil As Anything. My mum had watched a documentary (or something?) on Lentil as Anything, and was saddened to hear he was running out of money so was particularly interested in going. There were a lot of things not on the menu on Monday, and we suspect it's because their vegetable delivery had yet to arrive (it turned up as we were leaving). So my parents shared the mixed curry plate, and Julie and I both ordered the okonomiyaki. It was massive! Delicious, but massive, I had to grab a container from the Spud Bar next door and take the remainder home!
For Monday dinner we hit up Shakahari, dressing up and ordering cocktails. Danni and I shared the potato gnocci which was served in a tamari sauce with snow peas - it was odd but tasty. My parents shared the soup of the day, it had almonds and broccolini which didn't appeal to me but was apparently very good.
For mains I tackled the 'memory of medina,' cous cous with an eggplant curry. My mother, Malaysian to the core, picked the Malaysian curry. Danni and my sister both opted for the pie, filled with mushrooms and accompanied by giant garden salads. All verdicts were good, and my father decided that this was the best vegetarian restaurant I had brought him to all weekend, which is a compliment I suppose.
Then on to dessert, for which I was glad I had kept room, for Danni and I shared the mango rice pudding and it was delicious, oh so lovely. My parents had the fruit crumble which was light and tasty, and my sister the mango sorbet. Mangos all around! As it should be.
On Tuesday I took them to the airport, and that was the end of our CNY adventures with my parents (not, of course, the end of CNY adventures as there is yet time!)! It was super awesome that they were able to come across to share noodles and traditions with us, and bring us CNY goodies and an adorable tiger, as is custom.
There could have been more noodles, though.
Sawasdee
Level 1 139 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne
Vegie Hut
984 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill
Penang Affair
325 Brunswick St
Fitzroy
Grigons & Orr
Corner of Queensberry St and Chetwynd St
North Melbourne
Lentil As Anything
41 Blessington St
St Kilda
Shakahari
201-203 Faraday St
Carlton
Friday, 4 December 2009
shakahari 二, carlton
On Wednesday evening, we ventured out to Shakahari with Sheebaface and Zanchey. This was my second visit of recent months (you can read about my previous visit here).
I was interested to discover the menu had changed since my October visit (this change felt very seasonal), especially in light of Cindy's comment on my previous post, indicating that they had kept the same menu for some time.
I commenced the evening with a delightfully pink cocktail, the name of which I sadly cannot recall. A zen something? It was bright pink and delicious, and a great opening gambit on my part. D was very excited to drink a strawberry daiquiri, delicious and strong (but not a pinch on the B.Adam school of strawberry daiquiris).
We shared a serve of the lentil parcels, and a serve of the avocado rolls, for starters. Between the four of us, we had two votes for the superiority of the lentil parcels, and two for the avocado rolls. Sadly for me, the highlight of the lentil parcels was the thin slice of nori wrapped around the middle.
D ordered the laksa. This was rich and quite different from the laksa we're used to (assam), I would perhaps consider it a curry noodles filled with mushroom, tempe and udon noodles. It was a bit too much for D so I finished it up, and it was delicious.
Zanchey selected the satay. The sauce on this dish was amazing, but the other elements were less so. He was particularly unenthused by the side salad with which it came, featuring a cold floret of broccoli. It was also the first encounter of all of us with seitan, and none of us were particularly impressed. It was very chewy.
Sheeba ordered a Moroccan something, which she said was very enjoyable. It came with some flavoured cous cous, which I sampled (and was delicious). Sheeba reported that the eggplant of the curry itself was excellent, which, given she is not usually a fan of eggplant, is high praise indeed.
Finally, after much deliberation, I picked the pot pie. This dish was rich, and I enjoyed the gravy and the slices of potato and sweet potato thinly spread across the top, but the very centre of the pie was slightly chilled, and over all I wasn't blown away. This was a slight downer, just because I enjoy being blown away by dishes at shakahari.
As an aside, usually I don't require a lot of time for deliberation of dishes, so that it took me so long highlights the issue I had with this iteration of the mains menu - nothing on it really stood out for me. The dessert menu, now, it has a pandan panacotta, sadly not vegan, but some people I know will probably take to it eagerly. And the entree menu was awesome also.
Over all though, a good evening out, and nice service.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
I was interested to discover the menu had changed since my October visit (this change felt very seasonal), especially in light of Cindy's comment on my previous post, indicating that they had kept the same menu for some time.
I commenced the evening with a delightfully pink cocktail, the name of which I sadly cannot recall. A zen something? It was bright pink and delicious, and a great opening gambit on my part. D was very excited to drink a strawberry daiquiri, delicious and strong (but not a pinch on the B.Adam school of strawberry daiquiris).
We shared a serve of the lentil parcels, and a serve of the avocado rolls, for starters. Between the four of us, we had two votes for the superiority of the lentil parcels, and two for the avocado rolls. Sadly for me, the highlight of the lentil parcels was the thin slice of nori wrapped around the middle.
D ordered the laksa. This was rich and quite different from the laksa we're used to (assam), I would perhaps consider it a curry noodles filled with mushroom, tempe and udon noodles. It was a bit too much for D so I finished it up, and it was delicious.
Zanchey selected the satay. The sauce on this dish was amazing, but the other elements were less so. He was particularly unenthused by the side salad with which it came, featuring a cold floret of broccoli. It was also the first encounter of all of us with seitan, and none of us were particularly impressed. It was very chewy.
Sheeba ordered a Moroccan something, which she said was very enjoyable. It came with some flavoured cous cous, which I sampled (and was delicious). Sheeba reported that the eggplant of the curry itself was excellent, which, given she is not usually a fan of eggplant, is high praise indeed.
Finally, after much deliberation, I picked the pot pie. This dish was rich, and I enjoyed the gravy and the slices of potato and sweet potato thinly spread across the top, but the very centre of the pie was slightly chilled, and over all I wasn't blown away. This was a slight downer, just because I enjoy being blown away by dishes at shakahari.
As an aside, usually I don't require a lot of time for deliberation of dishes, so that it took me so long highlights the issue I had with this iteration of the mains menu - nothing on it really stood out for me. The dessert menu, now, it has a pandan panacotta, sadly not vegan, but some people I know will probably take to it eagerly. And the entree menu was awesome also.
Over all though, a good evening out, and nice service.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
Monday, 12 October 2009
shakahari, carlton
It has been some time since my last visit to Shakahari, so it was with some delight that I met up with H there recently.
We settled ourselves into a corner table, well away from the many couples, as we didn't want to disrupt their dates. We spent a lot of time chatting, and very little time perusing the menu - we quickly decided on the avocado rolls and the rice gnocci to share, and the croquettes and the lasagna, and declared that we would attempt dessert.
We also drank a lot of delicious genma cha.
The avocado rolls have been quite talked up, so it was a must to try. The batter was crisp, and the deep-fried nature of the avocado was interesting. The avocado was served with a coriander sauce, which it definitely needed - without it, the rolls would have just been deep-fried and a little on the plain side, but with the sauce they were a delight.
The rice gnocci was soft and tasty, and the salad on top (which might have been pickled? I can't remember) really added some awesome flavour.
The lasagna was very filling, very bulky. It had quinoa, which is not my favourite grain but which added something fun to the texture of the lasagna, which is an experience I am not sure I enjoyed, but it was definitely interesting. It was really delicious, though.
I sampled a small piece of H's croquette. The croquette was good, but the sauce with which it was served was amazing - a chilled ginger and carrot sauce, which I think would be an amazing dessert sauce.
I left all of my salad (it was boring, some lettuce leaves and a small amount of dressing), and H left one whole croquette, in order to ensure we had enough room for dessert. We shared a rhubarb crumble, with a scoop of soy icecream on the side, and it was delightful. Just the right amount of tart rhubarb and dry crumble, what a delight!
Not as delightful as the company, of course, but this is a blog for food, so.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
We settled ourselves into a corner table, well away from the many couples, as we didn't want to disrupt their dates. We spent a lot of time chatting, and very little time perusing the menu - we quickly decided on the avocado rolls and the rice gnocci to share, and the croquettes and the lasagna, and declared that we would attempt dessert.
We also drank a lot of delicious genma cha.
The avocado rolls have been quite talked up, so it was a must to try. The batter was crisp, and the deep-fried nature of the avocado was interesting. The avocado was served with a coriander sauce, which it definitely needed - without it, the rolls would have just been deep-fried and a little on the plain side, but with the sauce they were a delight.
The rice gnocci was soft and tasty, and the salad on top (which might have been pickled? I can't remember) really added some awesome flavour.
The lasagna was very filling, very bulky. It had quinoa, which is not my favourite grain but which added something fun to the texture of the lasagna, which is an experience I am not sure I enjoyed, but it was definitely interesting. It was really delicious, though.
I sampled a small piece of H's croquette. The croquette was good, but the sauce with which it was served was amazing - a chilled ginger and carrot sauce, which I think would be an amazing dessert sauce.
I left all of my salad (it was boring, some lettuce leaves and a small amount of dressing), and H left one whole croquette, in order to ensure we had enough room for dessert. We shared a rhubarb crumble, with a scoop of soy icecream on the side, and it was delightful. Just the right amount of tart rhubarb and dry crumble, what a delight!
Not as delightful as the company, of course, but this is a blog for food, so.
Shakahari
201 Faraday St
Carlton
Friday, 20 March 2009
melbourne uni noms
After managing to miss our flight to Melbourne (not our fault, thanks, Qantas), D + I managed to rebook on the next one. This meant that there was no food for us, nothing in the airport except fruit and nothing on the plane except bread. We landed in Melbourne and were swept away to deliver Essie to Uni Melb, by which time it was 1630 Melbourne time and we'd had nothing to eat all day but watermelon and oreos.
Castros ordinarily provides vegan pies, but had sold out for the day and we made do with a vegan apple muffin. Essie wandered off to class and we were bursting with sugar, so we meandered over to Union House where we found the Co-Op still open, and serving lentil soup with rice. It was delicious and super satisfying.
Hello Melbourne!
Castros ordinarily provides vegan pies, but had sold out for the day and we made do with a vegan apple muffin. Essie wandered off to class and we were bursting with sugar, so we meandered over to Union House where we found the Co-Op still open, and serving lentil soup with rice. It was delicious and super satisfying.
Hello Melbourne!
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