Teriyaki Anarchy Sake is a new Japanese influenced bar on Smith St. It’s not authentic and isn’t trying to be a flash izakaya like Kumo. I met two friends there last Friday night for drinks and food. I began with a Bloody Hugo, a Bloody Mary inspired drink with wasabi instead of tabasco, which I liked a lot.
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I’ve been meaning to eat at the Cider House for months, and it seems hard to believe that it has been open for over 6 months now, but I’ve been busy. Cider House has reinvigorated a space that was a site of multiple business failures and seems to have made it work.
As well as the many ciders on tap available, the food seems tempting. This is an individual tasting plate, which you assemble by choosing a salad (in this case, calamari) and two choices from the grazing menu (here, mushroom and potato croquettes and duck rolls with cherry sauce).…
I’d tried a number of times to spontaneously have dinner when Nyala African restaurant was located on the southern end of Brunswick St opposite Atherton Gardens, but it was always full. Having moved some months ago further north to above Django Django on the corner of Brunswick St and Kerr St, I’d tried a further couple of times but the opening hours seemed a bit erratic and it was closed when their website said they were meant to be open.…
I’ve had a drink or two at Grumpy’s Green on Smith St in the past year but I don’t think I’ve eaten there since 2009. The crinkle cut chips are gone and the menu is very different, though still mostly vegetarian with a token meat page containing only a couple of dishes. Last week I had the halloumi burger with eggplant and pesto, which comes with excellent chips. The food may have improved, but the menu itself is horrific.…
While holidaying in Perth recently I joined friends at La Cholita, Perth’s new modern Mexican bar restaurant, which is similar to Mamasita. It’s also similar to Taqueria in London, as all exemplify one of the current world food trends – taking Mexican street food into a new environment. It also has an extensive tequila list in the way that Kumo Izakaya has an extensive sake list.
I’m curious about about such trends and how we as customers engage with the experience.…
I ate Mexican at Taqueria in Notting Hill last night, which is similar in concept to Mamasita in Melbourne – smart upmarket modern Mexican. I sat in the window looking out onto the street, drank my hibiscus drink and nibbled on chilli roasted peanuts. Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear shuffled past looking grumpy.
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Reading the food menu on the Kumo website made me hungry. Their food, especially after I read Claire’s review on Melbourne Gastronome, sounded amazing and I wanted to eat it immediately. But reading their drinks menu made me nervous. They appear very expensive. I decided the solution was to go for the food and drink modestly on a weeknight. Kumo is closed on Sunday when I was planning this, so I used their convenient online booking form to book a table for two on a Tuesday night.…
The formerly shabby Tramway hotel was one of my haunts years ago, but would not have been there for 5 years. I recently learned it was being renovated and wrote a history post about it while waiting hungrily for the kitchen to open. It now looks rather smart inside; more like a smart cafe / casual restaurant in many ways. It features many de rigueur design tropes you’ll be familiar with – taxidermied animals, vintage industrial accessories, blond wood and Gigibaba style suspended lightglobes.…
Merricote is a smart new contemporary restaurant where the sadly departed Jules bar used to be on the southern Westgarth section of High St Northcote. It opened last week and I was keen to try it with a friend who lives nearby and who has been peeking curiously in the window watching the space being renovated.
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