Jerry's Milkbar, Elwood by Big Fil

Based on the food and prices I shouldn't like Jerry's Milkbar as much as I do. While the food is certainly better than your average suburban café its hardly the best or cheapest in Melbourne. But every time I visit I always leave thinking that I must revisit soon. Why do I like it so much? It's because the setup and staff mean that every time I leave its in a better mood than when I entered.


From the outside Jerry's looks like another suburban milkbar, somewhere to get bread, milk or the papers. A few very basic tables out the front, painted name peeling off the brickwork, the only thing which gives it away a bit is the 1950's magazine covers pasted next to the window.


Inside is very different though. Rather than a few shelves containing a small selection of biscuits and household goods inside has counters behind which reside a selection of sandwiches and pies, cakes and old school lollies (does eating bananas count of one of my five serves of fruit and vegies for the day?). A few tables to sit at, glass mirrors along the wall, lots of things to catch the eye complemented by good music at an appropriate level for talking. It's nothing spectacular or amazingly comfortable but it's an interesting place to eat or read the paper.

Out the back is a courtyard which is even better. Bright and cheerful with lots of shade and a tree to sit under on a warm day, the setup is clean and simple with a play area in the corner. Surprisingly enough, despite appearing extremely basic the seats at the front can be almost as nice a spot to seat. Elwood has some really nice tree-lined streets and it can be pleasant just sitting out there watching the world pass on by.


Menu selections are fairly limited. The savoury crepe comes with cumin spiced scrambled eggs, avocado, spring onion and coriander with sweet chilli sauce. Mine was a workmanlike effort, the crepe light and abit different to your average eggs on toast. However the eggs were somewhat overcooked and the dish as a whole could have used a bit heavier use of the spices.


Better was the Canadian breakfast. This normally comes as two buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, bacon and fried eggs but I swapped the fried eggs for scrambled. Jerry's avoids one of my pet hates with maple syrup by serving it in a small jug on the side allowing you to adjust the sweetness to your own tastes and avoid drowning the pancakes. Not the best pancakes and bacon I've had but not the worst either, with the pancakes and egg fluffy and the bacon quite lean.


I also usually go for the chocolate milkshake in the metal container. Undoubtedly the best way to drink a milkshake.


The last thing that I really like about there is the staff. Very friendly and efficient, the most outstanding thing about them is the wealth of Latin American accents. I'm not sure if a genuine South American accent or at least one good enough to fool me is an essential requirement for employment here, but it sometimes seems that way.

Overall
A very enjoyable local spot for breakfast or lunch. I've never had a bad meal or experience here. It may be a personal thing but it just has a vibe I really like.

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

Address
345 Barkly St
Elwood VIC 3184
Tel: (03) 9531 3078

Binh Minh, Richmond by Big Fil

Binh Minh advertises itself as providing Vietnamese, Chinese and Malaysian cuisines. Not necessarily a promising start, as spreading too wide is often the mark of a mediocre restaurant trying to appeal to everyone. You can end up with a series of inauthentic dishes, with the consequence that if you know these cuisines well you are disappointed and if you don't you get a false impression of what they are about. On the other hand, if they taste good and it gets people out trying new and unfamiliar things how much does it matter? With these somewhat contradictory thoughts in mind it was off to try one of the more popular restaurants on Victoria Street.


With its large glass front and handful of Cheap Eats stamps on the door from the outside there isn't much to distinguish Binh Minh from most of the other Victoria Street restaurants. The inside is similar, slightly dark and the tables a little closer together than I'd prefer, but clean and with warm colours.


For me the best two dishes tried here were the two entrees, the prawn spring rolls and the prawn rice paper rolls. Particularly good were the spring rolls, lightly fried with a delicious prawn filling.


The rice paper rolls came with more prawn than usual and the sauce had a good peanutty flavour, even if it was a bit cold from the fridge.


For mains the choice was one Vietnamese, one Chinese and one Malaysian style dish. First off the rank was the Beef salad. This was very citrusy with a hint of chilli and peanuts to add texture. Unfortunately it was a bit unbalanced with the citrus flavours overpowering the beef, which did not have the tinge of pink I like.


Next was the beef rendang with roti. The beef was acceptably tender and comparatively more spicy and less coconutty that somewhere like Nelayan, probably more to Ms Counting her Calories taste than how I prefer it. The roti also was not as stretchy as I like it and I suspect it was store bought. All up, not bad but far from the best example of this dish I've had around Melbourne.




Last main was the salt and pepper squid. This was listed by the door as one of the chef's specialties but I thought it was very similar in standard to the other two mains. The squid was slightly chewy but not too bad. The main problem again was that the sauce and onion were too strong, overpowering the flavour of the squid.


Overall
The one adjective which I would use to summarise this restaurant is reasonable. All the food was alright, with the entrees a class above the mains but nothing unacceptable. The seating is probably a bit above average for Victoria Street, the food came out fairly fast and the manager appeared to deal very well with noisy pre-schoolers, showing them his magic tricks. While I certainly wouldn't object to going back I'm not drawn back either, preferring to explore more options in the area.

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

Address
40 Victoria Street
Richmond VIC 3121
Tel: (03) 9421 3802

Mussel and Steak Bar, Edinburgh by Bureaucrat

Going to Scotland I was hoping to try some Scottish cuisine - arbroath smokies, neeps and tatties, cock-a-leekie...but not haggis! I didn't get the chance to try any of these, but we did have a very enjoyable experience at the Mussel and Steak Bar.


A few colleagues at work mentioned that this was the place to go for great food - certainly when you google the MSB there are consistent rave reviews.


The exterior has a nautical feel to it, while the interior is modern but nothing too fancy or contrived.


For entrees, I had the Queen scallops with gremolata. I was quite sure the menu said that the scallops would be wrapped in pancetta, but what was presented didn't have them. It was no matter, as I find that bacon/pancetta overpowers the delicate flavour of scallops. Instead, a very crispy parmesan cheese and parsley gremolata kept the fresh scallops juicy.


The Lawyer had the very morish duck liver pate with shallot jam. The pate was rich and had a wonderful mouth feel. The crunchy toast and the perfectly flavoured jam (sour without being too vinegary) and the peppery cress offset the rich pate. I had dish envy after I had a (generous) chomp of the pate!


Moving on to the mains, I ordered the grilled steak, which came with honeyed roast root vegs and (god help me) hand-cut, beef fat chips.


Wonderful flavour from the steak, and the beef fat chips, which were proper chunky, crispy chips tasted as good as it looks.


The Lawyer ordered the Surf and Turf. Presentation wise it could have been improved - it seemed odd to serve the dish in a deep bowl with the steak plopped on top of the seafood. The sauce was a delicate (yet deeply flavoured) white wine, garlic and shallot combo, which had flakes of white fish.

Overall
A very enjoyable meal. The staff were very friendly and you just couldn't fault the quality of the food. I'm quite happy that the MSB lived up to the great reviews that I read of it.

Address
Mussel and Steak Bar
110 West Bow
Old Town EH1 2
Edinburgh
Telephone: (0131) 225 5028

Basement Cafe, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

There’s something about Basement Café that really appeals to me. Slightly whimsical and a bit grungy, it’s a casual sort of place where you can get a beer and sandwich for lunch for $13.

I like the way you can sit at the tables on the (artificial) grass watching the passing Lonsdale Street crowd. A bar at the back, pictures of trumpet players hiding behind the pot plants, Billie Holiday and Nancy Sinatra album covers decorating the walls, it’s like a cross between a Brunswick Street Café and a 1960's underground jazz club.

The day's options are written up on a large blackboard on the wall. The dishes we tried were probably typical café standard or slightly better, but to me this isn't what Basement Café is about. Here it’s all about the vibe.

My choice de jour was the homemade sausage roll. The salad was kind of perfunctory and the sausage roll not as good as it should have been. The roll itself was good but it had been overcooked, not yet burnt but getting there. A pity, because a good homemade sausage roll is hard to find in the city. Served with a slightly tangy tomato relish rather than sauce, I'd be willing to give it another go just to find out if mine was an aberration.

Snooze went for the salad with spinach, feta, avocado, pesto and pine nuts. Neither of us are huge fans of pesto but enjoyed what was a generously sized serve. The pine nuts added texture to the dish and the salad wasn't drowned in the pesto to the extent of masking the other flavours. A generous and nice lunchtime option.

While the selection of sweets isn't very wide, to finish lunch off I ordered the chocolate brownie. While I liked the strong chocolate flavour Snooze wasn't such a fan finding it very sweet and a little on the dry side.

Overall
Comfortable and a bit different, a good place to visit when you just want to relax. It’s not gourmet food but it’s not too bad either, prices are reasonable and staff came across as friendly and helpful if a little disorganised.

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

Address
350 La Trobe Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Tel: (03) 9329 8000

Mary Ward Centre Cafe, England by Bureaucrat

The Mary Ward Centre is an adult education centre, which has a vegetarian cafe. Ms L first put us onto this place as a great place for veggie food at great prices.


MWCC is a simple, canteen style place. During peak times, it can get quite busy, but the line moves quickly.


The food is vegetarian, with some of the dishes and snacks catering for vegans and specific food allergies (wheat, nut, egg free, etc).


For lunch one day, I ordered the veggie risotto. Packed with lots of veg (in this case, capsicums, peas, zuchinnis and a few root vegs) and legumes (which I picked out - I'm not a fan of farty beans), this was a very hearty dish. It wasn't a risotto in a true sense, rather, more of a stewy-rice dish. But for a cold day, this definitely hit the spot.


Ms G, Ms S and Ms B all went for the polenta cake. A big slice of polenta cake that was stuff with (from what I could see) a ratatouille medley of veg, topped with tomato sauce, cheese and a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar. It came with your option of a selection of salads.

There's also quite a range of snacks and small meals (eg sandwiches, cakes, pastries, etc).


Ms G and I ordered a raisin muffin and a spinach and goat's cheese muffin, respectively, as our take away item. Ms G liked her raisin muffin, which wasn't too sweet. And I quite liked my savoury muffin, which had a pleasing crispyness from the olive oil that was mixed into the muffin.

Overall
A friendly, simple, homestyle/student cafe. Eating here practically guarantees that you would have had your 5-a-day fruit and veg! Healthy, hearty and less than five pounds...brilliant!

After your meal, you might be inspired to sign up to a course.

The only caveat to the MWCC is that it's only open during the semester, but when it is open, it's also open all day (morning til night). It's a pity it's not open all year round - many a times have we walked to the MWCC for lunch, only to have to walk away and wait impatiently for the semester to start.

Address
Mary Ward Centre Cafe
42 Queen Square
London WC1N 3AQ

Maha Bar and Grill, Melbourne CBD by Ruby Grapefruit

We came for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Restaurant Express Lunch and were very pleased that we did as the staff at Maha really showcased the quality of their food. A note to other restaurants: that’s the point of offering the Express Lunch deal – to get new customers in and entice them to return!


For those unfamiliar with the Express Lunch – it’s two courses, a glass of wine, and tea/coffee for $35. We’re more of a ‘cheap eats’ crowd so this is an opportunity to try restaurants we normally wouldn’t go to (except for special occasions). It really is a good deal but don’t expect to linger at lunch as most restaurants schedule two sittings.

One of the two entrees we could choose from was shredded chicken, bbq and puffed corn, smoked almonds and mayo. Big Fil was impressed by the dish and thought it was well balanced in terms of flavours and textures.


The other entrée of octopus stuffat consisted of a rich stew of sliced octopus underneath a perfectly cooked poached egg. This was covered with potato foam and sprinkled over the top was finely grated jamon (Spanish dry-cured ham). It tasted and looked amazing (at first we thought it was a dessert!).


The main course consisted of five shared mezze dishes. The 12 hour roasted lamb shoulder was tender but slightly lacking in flavour. Maybe the addition of a garlic yoghurt dip could have been enough to lift it. The grilled swordfish had a great lemony flavour but just a little overcooked. The fattoush salad was really lovely with crisp pieces of flat bread, mint, iceberg lettuce, and cucumber dressed with lemon and olive oil. The stand out dish was the very tasty pilaf.



For dessert one of the choices was a chocolate and pomegranate tart with mint ice cream. Big Fil really enjoyed it and thought the richness of the chocolate tart was balanced perfectly by the tartness of the pomegranate sauce.


The second choice for dessert was the Turkish delight filled doughnuts with roast almond ice cream. The doughnuts were light and drizzled with a lovely honey syrup. The addition of the Turkish delight filling is inspired.


Overall
We were very impressed by our lunch as all of the dishes were tasty and beautifully presented. The service was friendly and efficient and despite the time constraints we never felt rushed. The regular menu looks very enticing so I'm sure we will be coming back to try some of the other dishes.

Rating
Food - 9
Service - 8
Ambience – 8
Price – 8

Address
21 Bond St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 03 9629 5900

Firehouse, Ringwood by Big Fil

When thinking about eating in Ringwood fairly posh cafes is hardly the first thing that comes to my mind. Maybe Pizza Hut or Fasta Pasta, but not a converted fire station serving competent upmarket breakfasts. My mistake, because that's exactly what Firehouse is about.


With a warren of rooms each outfitted differently, we were seated in what would have once been a small office at the front of the building. Nice enough but from a quick glance there were other rooms which looked more interesting; a well lit large main room and a back room painted a very bright shade of red. Apparently the room upstairs comes with a pool table, although we didn't go up to check it out.


There are about a dozen choices for breakfast and I settled on the Huevos Rancheros, two baked eggs with tomato salsa, bacon, beans, coriander, guacamole, chill, sour cream and a crispy tortilla. This was good if not quite how I would have liked it. For example the eggs were overcooked, not to the extent of going rubbery but without that lovely runny centre. I am not sure if that's how they were intended or if the fact that the pan that the eggs were served in was so hot, by the time it was cool enough to eat the eggs had overcooked. Also the bacon and beans could have given it more a smokey flavour. On the other hand, the guacamole was good and the crispy tortilla a novel touch.


Ms No Meat and Snooze decided to share some dishes in their own version of a breakfast mezze. First to arrive was the sultana rice custard, with toasted almonds and rhubarb compote. Rice custard is one of my comfort foods and I had considered ordering this myself. It would have meant asking for it without the sultanas though - does the texture of these make anyone else think of dead flies? Anyway, the sweetness of the custard was nicely balanced by the slight tartness of the rhubarb and the crunchiness of the toasted almonds added texture. Simple and hardly groundbreaking but pleasant and nicely presented.


The toasted bread with honey and berry jam was ok, the jam and honey fairly generic but the bread quite good and not over toasted.


Better was Snooze's fruit salad. Generous in size with large pieces of fruit, I could see figs, grapefruit, pineapple and raspberries for starters. Served with natural yoghurt, this was refreshing and I'd only change two things - no passionfruit (a personal thing, I just don't like it) and add some oats or something similar to provide a bit more texture.


I also liked the way that the drinks were served. The tea came in its own beaker, something I hadn't seen before and very cute.


My own hot chocolate looked superb with its different layers and the top layer of foam was outstanding. Unfortunately the bottom layer was chocolate syrup rather than melted chocolate, a slight disappointment.


Overall
Good food with professional service in a nice café/restaurant, I enjoyed my visit to Firehouse. Admittedly the food was a bit unadventurous and the particular room we were in got a bit noisy, but presentation was very good and I am willing to put my egg misadventure down to the time I took waiting for the pan to cool. It gets bonus points for bringing somewhere worth visiting to a barren foodie location. It is also very close to Ringwood Lake Park, perfect for taking Star the happy Wolfhound cross for walks afterwards.

Rating
Food - 7.5
Service - 7.5
Ambience - 8
Price - 7

Address
253 Maroondah Highway
Ringwood VIC 3134
Tel: (03) 9876 8100