Trunk Diner, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

Ah, Trunk Diner.  I had high hopes for Trunk Diner.  I liked the cute exterior of the building and I was very much looking forward to eating the buttermilk fried chicken wings for lunch.

So for a mid-week team lunch, we headed out early to Trunk Diner.  Knowing that it might be a bit tricky to get a table that's big enough for us (our number of dining folk was 10, which would grow to 12 diners during the course of the meal) and that they didn't take bookings, we got there early and arrived at 12pm.

There the first impression that Trunk Diner gave would be so bad that we collectively couldn't forgive or forget the service... or rather, the lack of service.  And why's that, you ask?

One: it was mid-week.

Two: we arrived early and there weren't that many diners already eating there.

Three: we ask for table(s) that would accommodate us all.  They pushed together two round tables that would normally seat four people per table.  What large group of diners would want to sit at two, small round tables?  George Costanza knows what I'm talking about.

Four: I asked if we could have the five small square tables that were situated along the left side of the restaurant, which at the time were all unoccupied.

Five: the waiter said no, but he said that he would check w the manager.

Six: manager says no.  I asked why not.  The answer was "we just don't want to give those tables to you."  PATHETIC.  Absolutely pathetic.  What moronic manager/restaurateur purposively decides to p*ss off a large group of diners for non-existent small pairs of diners??

So, we squished ourselves up at the two rounds tables.  After that appalling start, the food didn't help try to overturn that bad first impression.

The general feedback from the team was that the food, at best, was ho hum, and at worst, bland, bland and more bland.

Here are some of the dishes we ordered.


Ms B got the 'un cut' salad and added poached chicken.  Roast pumpkin, spinach, peas, beens, corn, pearl barley, fetta and almonds w a lemon dressing.  It didn't look terribly impressive to me.


I got the buttermilk chicken wings. This was a very big let down.  I was imagining golden, crispy chicken wings, all salty, may be a bit spicy w some paprika/chilli flakes, and finger-licking good.  What I got were these dull looking wings, with dry meat and utter blandness.  I'm assuming that the kitchen forgot to season the wings... there was no flavour on the skin or the meat. Plus, I doubt whether they actually used buttermilk for the chicken, as buttermilk should make the meat tender... the meat here was dry, dry and more dry. Thank goodness the table has two bottles of quite good BBQ sauce and tomato chutney - they helped give this dish some life. The potato salad looked promising, but suffered from the lack of seasoning - especially the potatoes.  I ate all the tender veg except the wierd yellow potato cubes.


Mr S and Mr U both went for the baguettes.  One got the Cuban baguette w pulled pork, ham, gruyere and pickles.  The other got the poached chicken w Romesco, roast toms and basil.  Mr S wasn't impressed with the fact that while the baguette was warm from being toasted, the ingredients were still cold.


While Mr U described his dish as "bland mush".  Mr U also didn't like how the food were served directly on the plastic trays.  While we get that TD is going for the American diner look/feel, having to eat your food off a plastic tray that has multiple scratches/scores from past diners using their forks and knives isn't exactly an appetising thought.

Mr H got the portabello mushroom, roast corn, feta and fontina quesadilla.


Most of the ladies got the Wagyu burger which came w a brioche bun, cos lettuce, toms and pickles.  I think this and Ms U's diner dog were the better dishes on offer.


Ms U got the chilli cheese dog.  A wagyu dog w chilli con carne and cheddar on top.  She thought the dog was of a good quality and was pretty happy with her choice.  Although, she would have preferred the chilli con carne to be a bit more chilli.


We also got some fries for the table.

Overall
Food - 6
Service - 5
Ambience - 6.5
Price - 7

Verdict
I'm not mincing words here. Trunk Diner is crap service with bland food.  Price-wise it's reasonable - and that's the only good point about this place. Never again.

Have a gander at Big Fil's review of Trunk Diner back in Oct 2011.

Address
Trunk Diner
275 Exhibition Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 9663 7994

Green Coriander Mauritian Cafe, Dandenong by Big Fil

Mauritians, they are more common in Melbourne than you think.  You may even be sitting next to one without knowing it.  Chewey's parents are Mauritian, and one of our work colleagues, Ms K, was born there.  The majority seem to be centered around Dandenong so it was natural that we headed done that way for the Green Coriander Mauritian Café, a small casual place tucked away in an obscure Dandenong arcade.

Mauritius is a mix of Chinese and Indian, Creole and African, with a bit of French layered over the top.  The food reflects these various influences but Green Coriander serves mainly Indian influenced food.

Before going I'd had a bit of a chat to Ms K about what we should order, and her recommendations had included the various fried goodies.  While I (a little embarrassingly) neglected to get the Indian names of the dishes they included the fried taro, chilli chickpea, eggplant and curried potatoes.  These were the most popular dishes of the day if not my personal favourite, with the best the fried taro and the accompanying green chilli salsa.

Clearly my favourite dish was the curried octopus, served with achard (pickled vegetables) and wrapped in roti.  Tender pieces of octopus in a mild curry sauce, with the texture added by the vegetables and served snug in a warm roti, it was both unusual and delicious.  The only negative, the care needed to be taken to avoid juice flowing down arm syndrome.

It's only that the octopus was so good that would stop me raving about the lamb curry, which we again ordered with achard and served in a roti.  Tender lamb pieces in a mild curry, nice meaty flavours but without the strong 'lamb' smell which occasionally puts off my Asian friends.  In a weird way it was almost like an excellent Indian yiros.

Something I'd heard of but never had before was dholl puri.  Apparently it is the Mauritian street food to try, an Indian style flat bread stuffed with yellow split peas.  A bright yellow in colour, it was both tasty and filling and I can well see why it is the quick and cheap food of choice.

By this stage we still had a little space left so the chicken biriyani it was.  The rice is soft, and fragrant from the spices used in the cooking, with chicken pieces served on the bone, a whole boiled egg and a few pieces of salad on the side.  Nice and comforting and by itself comfortably a meal for one.

Following instructions, despite the others flagging at this stage I ordered two of the more dessert style items, the alouda and the Napolitaines.  The alouda is a drink, light green in colour, vanilla in flavour and with some little green worms reminiscent of cendol.  To me, not a dessert on its own but a pleasant drink to go with a meal.  The Napolitaines comprise two biscuits with jam filling, coated in a sweet pink icing.  Not really my cup of tea, but nice enough in their own way.

Overall

Good food, good prices and helpful service, even if it is somewhere you are unlikely to ever come across if you weren't specifically searching for it.  One of the things I like most is getting out and trying to find something a little different, and the constant stream of customers looking for a taste of home was a good indication of somewhere worth trying.

Verdict

Food - 8

Ambience - 6

Service - 7

Price - 7.5

Address

131 Walker Street

Dandenong VIC 3175

Tel: (03) 9791 8955

One Noodle Friendship, Preston by Big Fil

Sometimes it really doesn't pay to judge a book by its cover, as without prior information you'd probably not give One Noodle Friendship a second glance. Stuck in a rundown looking arcade between Preston Market and High street, the fact that you can watch the staff making fresh noodles and dumplings would be your first hint that this place might be a bit different, and better than first impressions might suggest. Still, I suspect that many people would just walk on by. Their loss, our gain, because even at around 12.30 on a Saturday we were able to just sit down and enjoy some of the best value Chinese food going around.

It does take a bit of faith though, as this is not a restaurant that scores highly on the decor or service meters. Not that staff are rude or unfriendly, but it's not really what this place is about. It's about simple food, prepared with care and served at low prices, the sort of food you can happily eat every day.

Given that this place makes its own noodles and dumplings they were of course top of the list of things to try, but there are a number of other smaller snacks available. While Ms Counting Her Calories was adamant she didn't want to try the pigs ears, we did order both the spring onion pancake and the tea stewed eggs. 

Spring onion pancakes are a bit of a personal favourite but there seem to be some regional variations in how it is made. This version is thin and crispy, with a strong greenish tinge from the spring onion. Not my favourite style as I like it a bit lighter and more fragrant, but still fine. 

The tea stewed eggs were again of a perfectly acceptable standard, although I would have preferred a stronger tea flavour to have permeated the eggs.


The noodles and dumplings though were very good given the low prices. First up were the prawn and pork dumplings. With pieces of prawn you could actually see the fillings were moist and full of flavour. The skins too, while looking a bit thick originally, had none of the starchy glugginess you so often get from places selling cheap and nasty dumplings. A little smaller than in many places, but definitely of a better than usual quality.


The noodles come either dry or in soups, and we ordered one of each. The stewed beef noodle came in a very generously sized bowl, the soup nicely flavoured with the herbs and very tender beef. While I thought the amount of noodles was a little disappointing, there's no doubting the superior taste and texture of fresh, handmade noodles.


If noodle soup isn't your thing, you can always go for a dry version. For us that was the fried noodle with pork. The noodles came with a nice, slightly chewy texture, although I'd probably try one of the other varieties next time.





Overall
If you don't care that the setting isn't fancy, and are willing to accept service which is quick rather than fawning, One Noodle Friendship is a great choice in the Preston area. And while I don't usually compare different places, if you are interested in trying different styles of noodles you could do much worse than visiting here and Shaanxi-style restaurant in Box Hill. Both handmade noodles, but both quite different in style.

Verdict
Food - 8
Ambience - 6
Service - 6
Price - 8

Address
417-419 High Street
Preston VIC 3072
Tel: (03) 9478 4590

 

Old Barber Shop Cafe, Richmond by Snooze

Visited just before Big Fil called for a cafe breakfast break, Old Barber Shop Cafe made it in by a whisker. I'm glad it did because it's a decent cafe in a location seemingly without a lot of good cafes, at least compared to some neighbouring areas, in a city difficult to find a substandard cafe in. As an added extra, it's not a corner store or milk bar converted into a cafe; it's a barber shop conversion. And if you take a look at the cafe facade; I think it might originally have been a terrace converted to a shop. The building seems to have had an interesting past.





Unlike some of the conversions, I didn't spot many signs of the building's former use as a barbers. Yes, there were photos towards the rear and Big Fil assures me seemed to be a lot more knick knacks around the cafe when it opened. But in some ways that's ok; I'm happy not to be reminded of stray hair and shavings!

The fit out was very me. I liked its simplicity: the use of white to keep it airy with the counterbalancing darker colours adding warmth. The tables and chair were an eclectic mix much more harmonious than most places taking this approach. It was something about the colour of the wood and panelling used throughout pulling it all together. There's also something and somewhere for everybody: outside for the winter hardies looking to watch the world go by, a little bit of seating in the entry near the kitchen for those who like to be where everything's happening, and a mixture of seating styles in the rear. We ended up in the corner in the back, seated with a bird's eye view of the kitchen. I like that spot best everywhere we can get it.





I'm a fan of Gordon Ramsay's view restaurants should do a few things and do them well. Old Barber Shop Cafe hasn't adopted that approach. It's menu holds quite a few interesting things; so many that Big Fil could easily have tried half a dozen offerings. They fit the mould of a short but interesting menu where everything is done well; something I admire in many Melbourne cafes. Old Barber Shop’s menu is slightly longer and full of interesting options: some of the usual suspects you see around Melbourne such as housemade baked beans, breakfast wrap with herbed egg, smoke salmon and mascarpone. Also a number of lovely looking cakes that made it a likely destination for afternoon tea: lime cheesecake and a raspberry and rhubarb crumble slice.

Feeling a little under the weather and warned off smash with feta, I picked cosy comfort food called El Tigre: a corned beef toastie with tasty cheese, pickles, onion jam and chimchurri. With a side of crisps and a cup of tea. This was fabulous and our pick of the day. Tender, fall apart corned beef, good bread and an injection of acid from the onion jam and the pickles.



Big Fil chose a filling and pretty iced chocolate and the Moroccan Baked Eggs: spinach, feta and tomato together pistachio dukkah. It's no secret I love baked eggs but find most versions bland. The feta and pistachio dukkah both took this version of baked eggs away from bland and the yolks stayed runny to the last bite, but there was still that little something missing to move it into the sublime.





Overall
The Old Barber Shop is another Melbourne cafe consistently punching above its weight: its spaces are bright and clean, there's plenty of room to sit and chat, and the menu is varied enough to allow you to try something different each time you go. Yet another cafe I wish I lived closer to.

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

Address
251 Church Street
Richmond VIC 3121
Tel: 03 9421 6463

Dolan Uyghur, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

So, what is Uyghur food?  Well, while it comes from Xinjiang province in China it’s not like most of the Chinese food you find around town.  The Uyghur aren’t Han Chinese but Turkish, Muslim in belief, and their food shares a lot in common with central rather than east Asian cuisines.  There are a few Uyghur style places starting to pop up around town, including Dolan Uyghur Food Heaven on Little Lonsdale Street in the city.

While it had apparently been open for a few weeks and was located near work, the first we heard of this place was when Ruby Grapefruit noticed a blog post.  Given it's less than five minutes walk from work plans were made for a quick lunchtime visit.

Of the three of us on the day, I was the only one who'd tried Uyghur food before.  I certainly can’t proclaim any expertise but for me it has always been about three things – the handmade noodles, the skewers and the lamb.  These are what I head for every time and were pretty much the first things we looked at when we saw the menu.

First dish to hit the table was the handmade noodles with vegetables and chicken.  While I did note down the proper names of the dishes, unfortunately my writing has proved illegible – not even I can read it.  Anyway, we all liked this dish but different aspects of it.  Both Snooze and I loved the noodles, dense and with lots of texture (or bite).  The sauce itself I found a little sweet – with both Snooze and Ruby not fond of overly spicy dishes we'd looked for some of the milder options.  Ruby Grapefruit on the other hand found the noodles denser and heavier than she liked, but loved the sauce.  Confirmation I guess that everyone’s tastes are a little different, although we did all find the chicken a little dry.

Next up, the lamb pie.  It’s a little different to the typical Australian pie, flatter with the pastry just a little flaky on top and soggy on the bottom where the juices from the lamb have soaked through.  What it is though is full of flavour, good strong lamb flavours that stick to your bones.

 Best dish for the day for me and for most visits to Uyghur restaurants, the lamb skewers.  The lamb is quite heavily spiced (although not always chilli hot), the meat a little fatty to ensure it remains moist during cooking.  Usually cooked on flattened metal skewers to stop the meat sliding when being turned, one thing you have to be very careful about is only holding the end of the skewers.  Pick it up near the middle and the third degree burns you will suffer will quickly make you wish you hadn’t.

Final dish was the Turkish bread topped with tender lamb ribs.  This I liked despite the bread not being straight from the oven fresh.  The lamb was tender, again slightly fatty but fall off the bone tender, the juices mixing into the sauce and soaking into the bread.  I think the others were struggling a bit by this stage as the serves were quite generous, but I was determined to take no prisoners (lamb ribs are one of my favourite things in the world).

Overall

Don’t expect anything subtle or complex about the food and you’ll be well satisfied.  It’s tasty, it’s filling, it’s comforting, it’s good.

Verdict

Food – 7.5

Ambience -7

Service – 7

Price – 7

Address

166 Little Lonsdale Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

Tel: (03) 9041 8802

Silo by Joost, Mebourne CBD by Bureaucrat

Silo by Joost is a place I've been curious about for quite some time.  It has that hippy, eco vibe that's alluring and also strangely confronting with its earnest eco-warrior feel-goodery vibe.  

While I've been intrigued about the place (it's cute and I've read about it in so many places), there was never a right time to go.  Either I was with the wrong dining companions who wouldn't be interested in trying an hippy, veggy, eco place, or I wasn't in the mood for hippy, veggy and feel-good food.  Plus, I've read SbyJ has zero waste.  They recycle, reuse and.... well, you get the picture.

Having being able to escape the desk for lunch one day, we headed down to SbyJ, which is located in Hardware Lane. It's a narrow shop with a few small tables on the pavement, and a big shared table inside.  Remarkably, among the five of us, we've never tried this place before despite its close proximity to our office.  

Inside, it's an intimate space and an excellent example of how one can efficiently and effectively use a limited space - kinda like an Ikea display.  As I said, there's a long shared table with high stools, which runs parallel to the kitchen.  You can see everything as it's being prepared - from the grain they're milling for the bread to the dishes being plated up.  Snooze and I remarked it's like being invited into someone's home to watch them make a meal for you.

As it was lunch hour, we were fairly lucky to bag five seats at the shared table.  The staff were so friendly and accommodating helping us get settled in and comfortable.

There's a limited menu of about five dishes.  Everything that's offered is based on what is in season and what they happen to have.


I got the spiced eggplant, freekah and yoghurt.  The eggplant was cut into thick rounds which were grilled/baked in the oven.  They were perfectly squishy without falling apart... very morish.  I loved the freshness from the mint and the fennel fronds (I think), and the sweet juicy burst of pomegranate seeds. The freekah and torn chunks of ciabatta bread which was drizzled with lots of lovely EVOO gave the dish texture.  Yum.


Snooze and Ms No Meat shared the eggplant and the four grains salad w carrots, almond and coriander. Ms No Meat thought the salad was the perfect size (it certainly seemed the biggest serve of the dishes we ordered), and liked the combination of flavours and textures.  She felt it was filling without being too much.


Big Fil and Ruby Grapefruit got the smoked river trout, potato, fennel and herbs.  Both of them thought the dish was delicious - the trout was lightly smoked and the dressing very tasty. A very fresh and light dish.  However, they thought the dish was a little too light as the serving was quite small. The addition of a few slices of bread would have made the dish perfect.

We also got some of their homemade ginger beer/cordial thingy and I got a pot of soy chai (which used their homemade soy milk).  

Verdict
Food – 9
Ambience – 8
Service – 7.5
Price – 6.5

Overall
Given the serving size, the prices are on the high side of things.  However, you know this means you're getting fresh, eco-friendly and very, very Mother Earth quality food in return.  Food for the soul.  I really do love what SbyJ are doing and that they're passionate about what they do.  I will come back again whenever I want to eat something nourishing and doing my bit for Mother Earth.

Address
Silo by Joost
123 Hardware Lane
Melbourne 3000
Telephone: 9600 0588