Cookie, Melbourne CBD by Snooze

If you're looking for a beer hall with a modern take on Thai and a sampling of Italian, then you can't go far past Cookie.

It's not necessarily the easiest place to find. If you didn't know what you were looking for, you'd be forgiven for walking past the entrace. It's not an "in your face, here I am place" but hidden inside a funky vintage building and up the stairs to the first floor.


This wasn't my first visit to Cookie and my first glimpse didn't let me down. I'm a total fan of vintage and Cookie does it well. I love the dark, pared-back interior contrasted with the light that floods through the tall windows onto the street. I especially love the vintage Melbourne feel to the decor ... mini table cloths, doilies and 70s napkins. And when the food arrives the bowls are only what I can call 70s nursery melamine. And don't get me started on the bill ariving wrapped in a Sesame Street Little Golden Book ... totally cute.


The group was well spread in terms of its favourite meal.

Some favoured the coconut yellow curry with steamed egg & pork ordered by me. The curry itself was very mild and tasty, with the egg exactly as I like it ... runny. But for some reason the pork was a little hard and dry on the outside and that took away enough from the overall feel of the dish to leave me dissatisfied.


Another favourite was the penang lamb & eggplant curry. The curry was a little warmer than the coconut yellow curry, but still mild, with a light sauce and meltingly tender lamb. One of our party went back more than once for a little more, and I admit I did the same thing.


Probably the firmest favourite was the stir fried pork belly with red curry, kaffir lime & beans, and not just with us but with others who mentioned this dish as soon as they heard we were going to Cookie. The making of this is interesting because the pork is cooked four times: boiled/steamed, roasted, deep fried and finally stir frien. This adds an interesting texture to the meat ... soft and moist on the inside but crispy fried and roasted on the outside. Very nice.


My personal favourite was the soft shell crab with garlic & pepper + fish broth. The crab was a little saltier than I'd usually eat but that was perfect for the crab. And I enjoyed the accompanying salad ... it didn't overpower the delicate crab, and was a welcome change from the meat that dominated the meal.


The hot and sour chicken prawn & tomato steamboat was left to the end, if only because the soup would stay warm until the other meal was finished. It was warmer than my tastebuds like, but was enjoyed by everybody else. The only downside to the soup was the prawns ... the few prawns were large and juicy, but unfortunately not enough for everybody.


Overall
A large menu of small, medium and large sizes to suit every diner. Our meals arrived soon after ordering, with the wait staff happy to lay everything out so we could share. I'm always impressed when a waiter remembers our order without writing anything down, and Cookie is definitely one of those restaurants. Make sure to book, even for lunch, because Cookie is popular and be prepared to talk loudly ... the place really buzzes as it fills up. The only downside was trying to catch the waiters eye to get the bill, which seems to happen in more restaurants than I'd imagine.

Verdict
Ambience - 9
Service - 8.5
Food - 8.5
Price - 8

Address
Level 1, 252 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9663 7660

Auntie's Dumplings, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

A local Dumpling Bar ridiculously popular with the locals, Auntie's doesn't have the same atmosphere that I like in some of the city dumpling bars but it has better dumplings to compensate. It also has the added bonus of being within walking distance from home.


As you can see from the photo, taken on a Sunday night, if you arrive at a prime eating time you can expect to wait outside until a table becomes free. This applies to weekday nights as well - I had to queue for a few minutes even when I visited on a Wednesday night.

Unsurprisingly, given the name, the prime attractions are the dumplings. They are amongst the best I have tried in Melbourne. The fried dumplings are crispy, tasty and less oily than most cheap dumpling bars, the boiled dumplings less gluggy and the quality seems far more consistent than places like Shanghai Dumpling in the city. I particularly liked the fried chicken and prawn dumplings, which somewhat unusually actually tasted of chicken and prawn meat. The variety of dumplings offered is also good, with some options I hadn't seen before (and want to go back to try).




The fried pumpkin cakes we ordered were ok, not as good as the dumplings. They were crispy on the outside, sweet and slightly chewy, but unlike the dumplings didn't seem to have been properly drained. When we were finished, a few drops of oil were noticeable on the bottom of the plate.


Other than dumplings, Auntie's also does a fairly good selection of dishes with noodles or rice. The Dan Dan Noodles are pretty good, with the lip tingling spice of the sauce nicely balanced by the cooling cucumber served with the dish.


The Beef Brisket on rice wasn't quite as good, with the meat adequately tender but a little dry. I also like a few pieces of tendon to come with the dish, but this variety was tendon free. Both the Dan Dan Noodles and Beef Brisket were fairly generous serves.


Overall
As a dumpling bar Auntie's Dumplings does its prime task of making cheap, tasty and plentiful dumplings well. My major concerns are with the service, which is a bit chaotic, and the feel of the place. Usually dumplings bars having issues with ambience feel dark, messy and unclean. Auntie's has the opposite issue. With its white walls and high lighting levels it felt to me more like a hospital cafeteria than a dumpling bar. I prefer my dumpling bars to have that real street food feel.

Verdict
Ambience - 5.5
Service - 5.5
Food - 7
Price - 8

Address
68 Koornang Road
Carnegie VIC 3163
Tel: (03) 9568 6641

Mart 130, Middle Park by Big Fil

This place has the potential to become my favourite Melbourne Café. With great food and a really nice place to just sit and eat, I just wish it was a little cheaper and closer to home. Or maybe not, otherwise it's possible I wouldn't try anywhere else!

Cannellini beans and ham hock on organic sourdough toast, with crumbled goats cheese

At lunchtime during the week Mart 130, which is at Tram stop 130 on the 96 line, isn't much to look at from the outside. A few chairs, a couple of bare wooden tables, and not many people to be seen until you get inside. However, come on a weekend and you'll probably have to wait for a table.

The second time I came here with Hungry Pete on a Sunday we were told the wait for a table for two would likely be around 10 minutes. We eventually got a table after 30 minutes. Staff coming around asking patrons if they would like a coffee while waiting for a table to be available made the longer than expected wait a little less annoying.


Coming here twice gave us the chance to sample four of the breakfasts. The first thing Hungry Pete chose was from the daily specials board - an omelette with prosciutto, roasted zucchini, tomato, capsicum and goats cheese on sour dough bread. The omelette itself looked really nice, although I am not a huge fan of the presentation style of putting the food on such a huge plate that it makes the dish look small. I also like my omelettes (and scrambled eggs) to be light and fluffy, and this one was a little denser than I prefer. Hungry Pete also would have preferred the bread a little softer, but I didn't have the same issue with it. A good but not outstanding omelette.


The first dish I chose was the triple pancake stack, with banana, Belgian chocolate sauce, toasted hazelnuts and vanilla bean mascarpone. I was in two minds about ordering this, as I am not generally a huge fan of bananas on pancakes. I am glad I did though, as it was the best dish we tried. Nicely soft pancakes, firm and not mushy bananas combined with the slightly gooey topping meant that I scoffed through this in record time. Also, a big tick on the bottle of authentic Canadian maple syrup served with the pancakes.


On our return trip Hungry Pete went for the French Toast, with organic brioche, grilled bacon and maple syrup. Nice French toast, sliced thickly but still light and not too dense, slightly crispy bacon and again the generous servings of maple syrup. A simple dish very well prepared and presented.

Lastly, I went for the cannellini beans and ham hock on organic sourdough toast, with crumbled goats cheese (see first pic). Again, a very tasty example of a fairly simple dish.



Overall
Excluding the weekend crowds Mart 130 is just a pleasure to eat at. Simply furnished, full of natural light and even with wooden surroundings and lots of customers not so loud as to make it difficult to carry on a conversation. The staff sometimes seemed a little nonchalant but were friendly and efficient. Suggest that you visit either on a weekday or early on a weekend to avoid the risk of having to wait for a table. It does carry a bit of a Middle Park price mark-up though, with prices around 20% higher than some other nearby suburbs. On the other hand, the food here is very good.

Verdict
Ambience - 8.5
Service - 7.5
Food - 8.5
Price - 6

Address
107 Canterbury Road (at the light rail station)
Middle Park VIC 3206
Tel: (03) 9690 8831

Mamasita, Melbourne CBD by Ruby Grapefruit

I was very excited about going to this new restaurant and bar as I’d read some good reviews about their authentic street-style Mexican food. They don’t take bookings (except for groups of 8 to 10) so we had a 15 minute wait for a table on a Monday night. We were shown to the bar and ordered drinks while we waited. I had the Michelada which is beer with habanero hot sauce, tomato juice and fresh lime served in a salt-rimmed glass. Sounds like a strange combination but it actually works. The Negra Modelo, a dark Mexican beer, was also a big hit amongst our group.

Unfortunately my camera is not great so the photos below really don't do the food justice.


We started off with elotes callejeros which is char grilled corn on the cob with grated sheep’s cheese, chipotle (jalapeño chilli) mayonnaise and a squeeze of lime. Again, you would think this would be an odd combination but it all works beautifully and is very tasty.


Next we had three different types of quesadillas which are toasted tortilla sandwiches stuffed with a cheese filling. The quesadilla de queso (cheese and jalapeno sauce) was a little plain for my liking. The one with chorizo was okay but the best of the lot was the quesadilla de huitlacoche. This was filled with mushrooms, roasted corn, epazote (a herb), cheese and huitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn). The strong, earthy mushroom flavour was amazing.


Next up were the tostaditas which are bit-sized discs of toasted corn tortillas with generous toppings. We had two types - char grilled chickedn and carnitas (shredded slow braised pork)--both were excellent and full of flavour.


I was keen to try ceviche so we ordered the ceviche ‘leche de tigre’. This arrived in a glass with thinly sliced pieces of octopus and shrimp cured in lime (and lemon?) juice and served with green chilli, coriander and corn chips. I really enjoyed it and am inspired to give it a try at home.


We also had the Ensalada de Nopales which is a salad containing cactus, red peppers, green beans, queso fresco (cheese) and lime juice. The pickled cactus (probably canned or tinned) had a soft texture so it was good to have the firm green beans to balance the salad.

By this stage we were already full but we still had the tacos de pescado to come. These were delicious and the first time I’d had fish in a taco. With grilled pieces of fish, achiote (annatto seed) paste and red onion salsa it was a fresh and light alternative to your usual taco filling.


Did I mention that we were already full? Well that didn’t stop us from ordering a serve of the chocolate ice cream to share. Chocolate originated in Mexico so how could we resist? We were served two generous mounds of chocolate ice cream with a hint of cinnamon and topped with shards of chilli infused toffee. Very rich and delicious.

Overall

Most of our dishes had chilli but none of them were overly hot. The waiter brings hot sauce to the table if you want to add extra heat to your food.

The other plus is that all their food is gluten free.

The service was great. The staff were friendly, efficient and happy to explain the menu and make recommendations.

The ambience was fun as the restaurant has obviously created quite a buzz in Melbourne. However, with the full house and loud music it did get a little noisy.

The price was surprisingly good. Our group of four paid about $45 each which included on average about two beers each.

This was an amazing culinary experience as we had the opportunity to try for the first time some very interesting ingredients and new dishes. I’ll definitely be back again and look forward to trying some of the mains and having some of my favourites again.

Ratings
Ambience - 8
Service - 9
Food - 9
Price - 7

Address
Level 1, 11 Collins St
Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9650 3821

Kake di Hatti, Brunswick by Big Fil

This was a new restaurant for me but one which looked like it had been a local favourite for many years. That is easy to understand based on our experience, which was of above average to good food at way below average prices.


From the outside this restaurant looks like a typical neighbourhood Indian restaurant. The only thing which gives away that it might be something different is the string of cheap eats awards and newspaper reviews posted on the front window.

We were running early for our booking but our table was already waiting for us. Inside the restaurant has that real cheap eats feel, where you hope the emphasis is on the food rather than the décor.

Given there were only two of us we decided on the mixed platter, to sample as many of the entrees as possible. A little disappointingly, the mixed platter seemed to consist of pieces of cumin kebab and chicken tikka only, with a small amount of salad and some chutney served on the side. The flavours weren't bad and the meat fairly moist and tender. A little more variety would have been appreciated though - just because a dish is labelled as vegetarian or non-vegetarian doesn't mean that the non-vegetarian can't include some vegetarian dishes.


For mains we chose the lamb rogan josh and the chicken makhani. After talking to the waiter about the spice levels of the food we asked for both dishes to be medium. This was a good move, as while these dishes are normally quite mild even at 'medium' spicy I felt they could have done with a bit more of a kick on what was a particularly cold night.

I wouldn't describe either of these dishes as subtle, complex or the best of their kind available in Melbourne. That said, they were tasty, not too heavy and very cheap. The serving sizes were generous and after the meat was finished all the sauces were soaked up with garlic naan, a sign that we were both enjoying our food. Of the two I think the lamb was the better dish, with the flavour of the lamb coming through more than the chicken which was a little overwhelmed by the sauce.



There are only two desserts available, the kulfi and gulab jamun. Kulfi is a fairly dense, Indian style ice-cream, and gulab jamun always reminds me of the holes in donuts, which someone has fried and served with a sweet syrup sauce. While a nice way to finish off the meal, I think next time I will give these a miss and try more of the entrees.


Overall
Not a potential Good Food award winner, but it punches above its class at the prices it charges. There aren't too many places around were you can get a more than acceptable curry, rice, naan, entrée and dessert for around $20.

Verdict
Ambience - 6
Service - 7
Food - 7
Price - 8.5

Address
128 Lygon Street
Brunswick VIC 3057
Tel: (03) 9387 7771

Aix Cafe Creperie Salon, Melbourne CBD by Snooze

If breakfast is your meal of choice and crepes your weakness ... go early and linger at the Aix Cafe Creperie Salon in Centre Place.

With a full day's schedule planned in town, I met up with Big Fil and his brother Hungry Pete for a hearty breakfast before setting out. It turned out to be a very early breakfast at 7.15am, with almost nobody in sight.

The crepe of choice for the day was sweet with Big Fil plumping for the mixed berry crepe with rosewater yoghurt, and chocolate and hazelnut for Hungry Pete.

The mixed berry crepe was very well presented and the crepe itself was nice. Unfortunately, the berries were a little lacking in flavour.

The chocolate crepe was good, well presented and flavoured. Unlike some chocolate crepes it wasn't overly sweet, with the chocolate adding a nice touch of bitterness.

By contrast I chose the more traditional breakfast: two eggs sunny side up and bacon served on sour dough bread. Everything was cooked exactly as I like it: the white was cooked and the yolks runny, the bacon was slightly smoked and crispy without being burnt, and the bread lightly toasted and without butter or margarine.


Our drinks were equally good: mandarin juice for me (which I've never had before), and tea and coffee. All served slightly before our food and still hot enough to enjoy as we ate.

I'd definitely go again.

Overall
Small and extremely intimate inside, with extra tables outside. It's almost impossible to get a seat during the day so arrive early (like us) or be prepared for a long wait.

Verdict
Ambience: 8
Service: 9
Food: 8.5
Price: 8.5

Address
24 Centre Place
Melbourne 3000
Ph: (03) 9662 2667

Jock's Icecream by Big Fil

What more can you say about Jock's other than this is probably the best ice-cream bar in Melbourne.


One whole wall of the shop is covered in the various awards they have won. I don't normally pay much attention to these types of things, as what they sell to the customers is much more important than some particular ice cream created just for show purposes. However the ice cream is good enough to justify the awards, light, creamy and beautifully flavoured.


One of the best things about the ice cream here is the variety in the flavours. There are around a dozen regulars that always seem to be available. These are good but even better are the ones on rotation - cinnamon, hokey pokey, nougat, and my favourites, gingerbread and baked apple (essence of apple pie).

While we were sitting outside one little girl, maybe three or four years old, came running out crying because her favourite date flavoured ice cream wasn't available that day.

The only flavour I have ever heard a negative comment about is the black rice, where the rice itself affected the texture of the ice cream.

If your mind is made up on a particular flavour that isn't available by the scoop that day, you can normally buy it by the container.


Serves are generous without being uncomfortably large. There are also a few wooden benches outside which are a great place to sit in the sun and enjoy your ice cream, watching the world go past on a sunny afternoon.


Overall
It doesn't matter if you’re a kid or an adult. Everyone I have brought here has loved the ice cream. They even offer tastings if you can't make up your mind amongst some unfamiliar choices.

Verdict
Ambience - 7
Service - 6.5
Food - 8
Price - 7

Address
83 Victoria Ave
Albert Park 3206
Ph: (03) 9686 3838

Coconut House, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

Possibly the most authentic feeling kopitiam (Chinese Malaysian Coffee House) in the city is Coconut House. Recently refurbished, it is still as popular as ever and hard to get a seat at peak time. As with most Malaysian restaurants and cafes around Melbourne I have mixed feelings about this place. The one thing I don't have mixed feelings about though is sitting down for a plate of their fried chicken nasi lemak and a big glass of teh tarik.


There is something about the nasi lemak here that I love - the sambal. The mixture of sweetness and chilli just hits the spot for me. The servings are a decent size, the chicken and rice good, the ikan bilis (non-salty fried anchovies) nice and crispy. Easily my favourite nasi lemak in Melbourne. It would be good if more options were available, for example chilli squid, but this dish always leaves a smile on my face.


The Hainanese Chicken Rice is also fairly good. The chicken is soft and tasty, the chicken broth and rice better than most places around town. I am not such a fan of the chilli sauce served with the chicken rice, I think the sambal served with the nasi lemak is much better.


Not as good is the laksa. The soup is good but the ingredients in it aren't of the same standard. In particular I have never had eggplant in a laksa before and I don't think it works. They also don't seem to have a seafood laksa which is a big letdown, not being able to search for those juicy morsels of prawn, squid and fish cakes.


A little unusually they serve cendol in a glass, not a bowl, so that it's half dessert half drink. I have had it that way before but not often. The sweetness and sugar is all at the bottom so you need to stir the drink before consuming it, which isn't a problem. More of an issue is the way they use large pieces of ice rather than crushed ice. This makes it hard to get to the bits of jelly at the bottom of the glass. A pity, because the taste is really nice.


And finally, to accompany any kopitiam meal, a nice big glass of the tarik. Perfect with the cold weather coming up.


Overall
A good but overly crowded option for a quick Malaysian style meal. Try to avoid peak times when it seems uncomfortably crowded, and my suggestion is to get the chicken rice or nasi lemak rather than the laksa.

Verdict
Ambience - 5
Service - 6.5
Food - 7
Price - 7.5

Address
449 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne CBD VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9329 6401