The last and final part to my epic food weekend at Taste of Melbourne...By Sunday evening (which dinner I skipped), I was on the verge of food overload (if ever there was such a thing, Sunday night it was)The lovely Smeg fridges which I always want but can never afford...Here's a message to Smeg... Please give me a free fridge.. I'd be so happy!! *sigh*... Wishful thinking...Because everyone had one, I took one too!... Seriously, the grooviest and coolest car.. the Ben & Jerry's mobile unit!A range of 4 flavours were on offer (1 huge scoop for 2 crowns!).... BARGAIN! ...
Archives for “Carlton”
Third post of my Taste of Melbourne 2010 fun is mostly about sitting in for Nicolas Poelaert's Taste Kitchen and trying his menu at the pop-up restaurant of the day, Embrasse!The crowd was starting to build up 30 minutes before the scheduled cooking class was meant to begin...The list of Chefs that were participating in the Australia Gourmet Traveller Taste KitchenRegal Pure Indulgence, being one of the sponsors provided... The guests with a delicious king salmon hors d'oeuvres*nom nom nom*There were many seats kept "reserved" for VIP guests (who paid extra), but people weren't following orders and were seating on ...
I assumed Ying Thai 2 must be good because it is always busy, but did not realise how many people love eating here. Compared to every neighbour on Lygon St, they have fewer spare tables and more customers for lunch each day. It gives you confidence when going somewhere new for the first time to see so many enthusiastic diners around you. I ordered one of the lunch special – tender pork on rice with green vegetables (mostly hidden under the pork in the photo below) and awesome chilli sauce that worked so well with the rich meat. Delicious and good ...
Part II of my Taste of Melbourne Post concentrates on the majority of the dishes we had whilst working our way through the throng and bustle of the crowd... this is not counting all the other freebies of alcohol, cheese, lamb, chocolate etc...maze Restaurant & maze GrillBecause we've already been to Maze when they first opened in Melbourne, we were curious to their new menu (well the Boy was more so than I)...It was disappointing that not many of the head chef's were around and we didn't get to see Josh EmmettCured Marlborough king salmon with sweet corn, chorizo and ...
When the Boy and I heard that the Taste of Melbourne would be making it's rounds again this year, we got super excited and bought tickets really early on... and receiving 30 crowns (the denominations used for food in the event/festival) for 5 dollars less...For the uninitiated, $1 = 1 crown and you can only use crowns to purchase food/drinks/items in there (although I did hear a lady ask the Nando's seller, "Do you take cash?" To which he responded, "Yes and I also take tips!")Thinking that we would be assayed once again with the BIG names and BIG guns ...
It seemed that every foodie brought their taste-testing appetites to the Royal Exhibition Buildings this weekend for the four days of Taste of Melbourne (26-29 August). The Taste festivals in Melbourne and Sydney are a chance for diners to create their own tasting menu from the selection of dishes offered by some of the city’s well-known restaurants. This year the Melbourne restaurants included oldies like The European and Stokehouse alongside newbies like Le Traiteur and maze. The idea is that you pay for entry ($27.50) and then you have to pay extra for ‘crowns’, the currency of the festival, which you ...
Our first visit to new local cafe What About Food had been reasonably successful, so at a loose end a week later we decided to go back for a second look. Things seemed to be running a bit more smoothly after a week of practice and the addition of printed menus meant we didn't have to crane our necks to read the blackboard.Cindy went for something a little more breakfasty this time around with poached cardamom apple and pear, topped with macadamia nut crumble and served with mascarpone ($11.50).This breakfast crumble was top-notch. It was more fruity dessert ...
Help me Doctor!: We are in Melbourne for a long weekend next week and want to fit as many great eateries in as possible. Can you suggest ones that serve smaller dishes so we can visit more than one a night/day/meal? Thanks – Louise Your prescription: Hi Louise, great to hear that you’re planning your Melbourne eating in advance :–) My suggestions for eateries that serve small dishes (all of which I’ve reviewed except the last one): MoVida Aqui Izakaya Den Cutler & Co (Front bar, not restaurant) Auction Rooms Shark Fin House Old Town Kopitiam Cumulus Inc (dinner menu) Peko Peko Yu-u (dinner menu) Anada Markov Place Mamasita Hope that helps! - Jetsetting Joyce
While we still don't know who will be our Prime Minister, one thing is clear - the Greens have been the big winners in this election.Adam Bandt, Sarah Hanson-Young, Bob Brown and Richard Di Natale. Photo: AAPHere in the seat of Melbourne, Adam Bandt won his party's first ever lower house seat (in a general election) with a massive 13% increase in the Green primary vote (to a total of 36%) and a 10% swing from Labor to Greens two-party-preferred. Nationally the Greens gained about 11.5% of the primary vote, an increase of almost 4% from last election, by far ...
Surrounded by franchised fast food and Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian places, Mark’s Place in Carlton is something of a cultural anachronism opposite the University of Melbourne. It makes large cheap old school thick crust pizzas and other Italian food, and is decorated with Australian sporting memorabilia. Given the trend for thin crust pizza (Bimbo’s, Ladro, Supermaxi etc) the pizzas are as out of fashion as the decor, but that does not mean it’s bad. I’ve tried the capricciosa, which was exactly as you would expect, and the volcano (below, hot salami and lots of chilli), which was good. On a cold ...
I ATE SOMETHING DIFFERENT!! Simon and I shared the avocado tempura (not pictured) which was delicious as usual and seems to be the thing corriander haters can get on board with! Feeling gross and bloated from a weekend of pigging out on wheat I decided to get the Shakahari salad a mixture of steamed and raw vegies with brown rice and an apple flavoured satay sauce. This was absolutely delicious and perfectly balanced. Dessert I can never go past the tofu crème caramel, it wasn’t its best this time the tofu wasn’t as perfectly held together it crumbled into runny ...
The John Curtin hotel on Lygon St is an institution to university students and staff and is a great place to have lunch. The daily specials are amazing value and the food is always good, and the chef even tells you about your meal when your buzzer flashes and you go to the counter to pick it up. They make an excellent burger, but last week I had the $10 pie with real tender steak and vegetables. The gravy was delicious and the caramelised onion with balsamic vinegar added extra flavour. You can follow them on Twitter and the Happyologist ...
Feel free to disregard this advice on an Elgin St wall. Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.
If you haven't read this blog before, I should briefly explain the BSC. Basically, you time how long it takes to walk into Brunetti on Faraday St in Carlton, order an espresso, drink it, and then walk back out the door. Click on the bsc tag to see previous entries. With that out of the way, let's move on to my absolutely astonishing record-breaking time:2 minutes 22 seconds.Wow. About half a minute faster than my previous personal best. Considering it takes about 30 seconds to pull an espresso, and about 20 seconds to drink it, that doesn't leave much slack ...
There's a new cafe just opened on the corner of Elgin and Cardigan Streets, just a block or so from the University of Melbourne. For a few months we've been observing the shopfront; initially a messy and musty room, then introducing itself with a neatly stencilled sign reading What About Food, now finally revealing a fit-out and menu in the style of the northside's best brunch spots.The menu is well suited to our tastes - almost entirely vegetarian (though not particularly vegan-friendly). It starts with a variety of mueslis and porridge, each matched with fruit, moves on to a breakfast ...
I’m not sure that Carlton’s lone classical liberal has many Carlton readers (Alex Willemyns is one of the few), but someone has asked me to promote a local event, a debate on immigration on Thursday night. It features prominent Catallaxy blogger Sinclair Davidson and ‘Arthur Dent’, previously known as Albert Langer, who was an (in)famous Monash University left-wing radical in the Vietnam War era. They were still talking about him nearly 20 years later when I was a student there. In one of the interesting political role reversals of the last 15 years, the right will support more migration and ...
Nasi Lemak House is an old favourite. I’ve been going to many places for lunch that are new to me but I also love returning to places that I know will satisfy me. This is the nasi lemak traditional with awesome sambal. You must try it! You can tell how many people love this place from the incredible number of reviews: Where’s the beef? Delaksa Edgustation Iron eaters More to love vegan Compassionate vegetarians Misspingann My food trail Honkie memories Melbourne food experience Half eaten Walk walk Melbourne Naomi Tham Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.
I’m enjoying continuing to explore the lunch options around the south end of Carlton, and I recently visited Indolicious on Lygon St (where the Baked Potato cafe used to be). The bain marie food did not look very promising but I liked the sound of the made to order menu so I chose this delicious chicken and coconut rice (Nasi uduk). I’ve still got some more places to do in this strip, and I plan to try all of them. Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike ...
From Melbourne Today"Think of Michael Blamey as your visual prompt for Melbourne." - The Guardian
Sambal Malaysia is a new place that opened only a few weeks ago. They do excellent noodles and rice, all freshly made to order. I had the char kuey teow first time I went (unfortunately without my camera) but was back a few days later for the ‘me sing’ noodles with lots of prawns and Chinese sausage. Everything is new and clean and I feel that the quality of the food is better than that from nearby competitors. I’m planning to work my way through the menu. Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is ...
Big Mama is a Korean and Japanese restaurant on the south end of Swanston St Carlton. It seems popular with students and after passing by a few times I had to try it. I ordered the hotpot bibimbap, which comes with three small sides – a coleslaw like salad, a potato salad and crispy seaweed strips, which are completely addictive. The chilli sauce that you pour on as you mix up the ingredients in your bowl is vinegary and quite sweet too. At $13.50 it’s a good value for a substantial and tasty meal. Hungry geek and One man review ...
Design:Made:Trade was a 4 day exhibition (2 day trade, 2 day public) set up in the beautiful heritage listed Royal Exhibition Buildings and a keystone event of State of Design 2010, Victoria’s annual design festival. The grand vaulted space was segmented with 3×3 metre VISY cardboard booths, each containing fabulous furniture, fashion and industrial design brands. It was inspiring to see how the designers transformed the same space to reflect their brand, for example by using felt circles, drawing silhouettes of gabled windows or turning it into a 50s lounge room. A ‘no photographs’ sign was prominently displayed at the entrance so ...
While working in the CBD / Carlton border area, I have been enjoying the many cafes nearby and have rarely eaten lunch in the same place twice. One cafe I have returned to is the Orr St cafe. The reason is they make great strong coffee and fantastic food, like these zucchini and feta fritters with tzatziki and fresh green salad. Aesthetically it’s contemporary in its minimal sophistication, which makes it unlike most nearby competitors, and it seems to attract staff more than students. This may also be because it’s not aiming to deliver the cheapest lunch in the area. It’s ...
On a desolate section of Swanston St between the street and the nondescript lobby of a hotel is Cafe Crema, and they make really good coffee and lunches. You wouldn’t think much of it from the outside but this is one of the secret places recommended to me by university staff who work nearby. They make a fantastic long macchiato and a delicious chicken and honey mustard foccaccia (below). Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.
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 ...
