Suda, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

Suda is one of the growing number of Korean or Korean influenced eateries appearing around Melbourne.  At dinner time the menu is Korean inspired tapas (or maybe tapas inspired Korean), but we were looking for a quick and convenient lunch.  We’d recently been to Mr Nice Guy, and while we considered the interesting looking 68 Degrees (crab laksa!), Suda it was.

Given its location in Healeys Lane, the Laneway where promising eateries go to die, it was a bit concerning to see just how quiet Suda was when we entered.  A few more turned up looking for lunch while we were eating but still quieter than you’d really expect for a Thursday lunch.  Nice looking place though, lots of light coloured wood and industrial lighting, with the kitchen towards the back.  Our friendly server handed us the fairly straightforward menus so it didn’t take us long to order – Snooze the fried chicken on rice, me the bulgogi bibimbap.

Hmm, fried chicken at a Korean Café or restaurant or dinner is definitely one of the finer things in life.  Suda’s was good, juicy and flavoursome if not necessarily the best going around.  The item that Snooze complemented the most was the sesame topped rice (I think from memory, as I didn’t try it).  

Unfortunately though we didn’t like the fried dumpling served with this meal.  I’ve only had Korean style dumplings (Mandoo) a handful of times, so it may not be a comprehensive sample, but my impression is that the steamed version is better than the fried.  It’s to do with the texture of the dumpling skin.  I like the combination of softness and crispness or Japanese and Chinese dumplings, but fried mandoo have a very different texture, for me almost like cardboard.

I decided on the beef bulgogi bibimbap, a dish of rice served in a bowl with lots of different types of vegetables and grilled meat.  Before eating you mix all the ingredients together.  Some places offer the option of a stone bowl version of this dish which is my preference, often served with an egg over the top which cooks in the heat coming off the bowl.  At the bottom of the bowl the rice crisps up, kind of like a good paella.  This version though was served luke warm, and while I enjoyed it I can’t say I was overwhelmed by it.

Overall

Cute place for lunch, good enough without being outstanding.  It’s clean, it’s comfortable, the staff were friendly and prices are reasonable.

Verdict

Food – 7
Ambience – 7
Service – 7.5
Price – 7

Address

Healeys Lane, 550 Lonsdale Street

Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9942 6422

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge and Emily's Place, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

There are coffee drinkers, tea drinkers and then there are hot chocolate connoisseurs.  In my pod at work, hot chocolate reigns supreme.

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge is located in a slightly out-of-the-way part of Melbourne Central.  I remember the spot used to be a giftware store (MoMA) which I quite liked.  But ever since TCL took up residence, I never was curious enough to go in there to check it out.

First impressions is that TCL is a less luxe version of Max Brenner.  There are similarities - there’s handmade chocolates, drinks and snacks on offer.  But the fit out and little details aren’t as nice – think more utilitarian tables and chairs, handwritten labels that lack presentable penmanship, and it definitely feels more like a franchise than a decadent den of delicious chocolate experience.

However, the hot chocolate here was better than I expected.  I got the chilli hot chocolate.  Proper melted chocolate in the cup, piping hot, a nice warming buzz from the chilli and most importantly (for me, at least) it wasn’t sickeningly sweet.

The other drinks we got included a milk hot chocolate and chocolate spider milkshake.

And, on this occasion, we were joined by Little Miss P who got a baby hot chocolate and a macaron.  While we were all expecting the baby hot chocolate to be mostly milk, it seemed like it had more (or at the very least, the same amount) of the melted chocolate in the cup than the regular sized hot chocs.  So much so, that Mr P had to spoon out some of the melted chocolate to minimize the sugar high that Little Miss P was thoroughly enjoying.

A week a so later, we headed out to Emily’s Place, which is also in Melbourne Central.  It’s a cute little café serving up small meals and hot chocolate.

The hot chocs here were a bit more average – more what you typically get in most cafes.  Made from powder it lacked the smooth richness of a hot choccie made from actual chocolate.

Verdict

For Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

Food – 7.5

Ambience – 7
Service – 7
Price – 7

For Emily’s Place

Food – 6.5

Ambience – 7
Service – 6.5
Price – 6.5

Overall

Of the two places, TCL is the better one for hot chocolates.  Although TCL doesn’t appear to be as luxe as Max Brenner, I’d definitely rate its hot chocs ahead of the [hot] chocolate by the Bald Man.

The service is friendly at TCL and seems to be run by a family.  While there’s a nicer interior at Emily’s Place (you could easily pretend you’re somewhere in Europe) the service is a bit abrupt.

Address

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

North side

Melbourne Central

211 LaTrobe St

Telephone: 9662 2778

Emily’s Place

Melbourne Central

211 La Trobe Street

Telephone: 9654 7971

Huxtaburger, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

Part of the dude food revolution which hit Melbourne a couple of years back, until a week or so ago I never knew there was a Huxtaburger outlet just a few minutes walk from work.  It is kind of hard to spot if you are just walking around like I normally do, it was only a few scattered outside tables that gave the hint that there might be something to see there. 

Entering you find yourself in a small but very cool dinner style space, all neon and shiny metal with bottles of amusingly named beer on the front counter, hipsters behind it.  One thing I didn't notice, not until Ruby Grapefruit pointed it out.  Other than one of the servers, she was the only non-dude in the place.  I suspect it was only a coincidence, but caused us both to chuckle a bit about a dude food place full of dudes!

Unfortunately the lighting meant that it was hard to get good photos of what were pretty decent burgers.  Ruby went with the Denise, with jalapeno and sriracha mayo.  On the good side the bold flavours were wonderfully punchy without being overly spicy, largely complements of the tangy mustard and mayo used on every burger.  And the burger was nicely cooked, just a touch a pink in the middle.  

There were a couple of negatives though, one minor and one major.  I have a bit of a thing about the use of sweet buns on hamburgers, it was fun when it started but having since become so widespread I must admit to be a bit over it.  While I thought the mustard prevented the sweetness from becoming overly strong, even so it was strong enough for Ruby to point out.  More importantly, it was a bit of a case of the disintegrating bun, which towards the end made the burger a bit hard to eat.

I decided to go with the more manly Bills, with bacon, egg, pineapple and beetroot.  This was tall, to the extent that I ended up eating the pineapple and tomato separately, just to make it more convenient to eat.  Again a nicely cooked burger, with punchy flavours from the accompanying mustard.  Unlike Ruby my bun managed to hold together pretty well so maybe that was a one off thing.  Could probably have done without the pineapple as for me it doesn't really add much to the burger, unlike the semi-mandatory bacon and onion.  All up I was pretty impressed with the burger and its full flavoured approach.  

The accompanying crinkle cut chips though were a definite disappointment, soft rather than crispy.  The original service was friendly but we seemed to wait a long time for our burgers to arrive and I suspect that the chips were hanging around for a while waiting for the burgers.

Overall

Quite a mixed experience, with service friendly but slow, burgers good but chips not up to par.  All fixable things which were more annoying rather than something which stopped us enjoying our lunch here or wanting to return.

Verdict

Food - 7
Ambience - 8
Service - 6
Price - 7

Address

Fulham Place
Off Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9417 6328

Raw Trader, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

Little Lonsdale Street near Hardware Street is metamorphosing from a barren and noisy area that’s dominated by empty shops and building works to a little pocket of new eateries.  This is good news for us as we work in the area and have new places to try out.  And that it’ll be easier for us to get to Krimper as we can go through the once previously blocked back streets.

I’ll shortly be writing up my review of China Spice (one of the newcomers) but today’s post is on Raw Trader.  As the name indicates, Raw Trader is a café that specializes in organic, raw, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free and paleo healthy desserts and treats.  On my first visit, we spoke to the owner (I forget her name, sorry!) who makes all the tempting treats herself.

The place is an ode to earthy minimalism.  Floor to ceiling glass door and windows, wooden crates and terrariums decorate the interior. 


Apart from coffees, the place offers a select range of treats including breakfast chia puddings, protein balls, slices, cheesecakes and tasting plates.


I was keen to try some of the raw desserts – in this case, the chai-infused raw cheesecake.  I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’ve never had a ‘raw’ cheesecake before.  There’s a slight hint of chai (mostly from the cinnamony-dust garnish).  The base is nutty, aromatic and quite nice – I much prefer this sort of base than the typical crushed biscuit and melted butter cheesecake base.  The filling was quite smooth and creamy, which I think it was made from a blend of nuts as there’s a fairly strong nutty flavour. 

The texture was somewhere between a typical NY-style baked cheesecake and a gelatin-refrigerator cheesecake.  Chances are that the cheesecake didn’t include sugar or dairy in it too, but I’m not entirely sure.

While it's nice, it's different, it's unusual, it was just wasn’t my thing (sadly).  I enjoyed it because of the effort, love and care that went into making the cheesecake and the fact that it was a new experience, but I can’t say I’m a fan of raw cheesecakes.


The guys tried some of their drinks, including a hot chocolate (which Mr P thought it tasted like carob)…


…and chocolate milkshakes.





Verdict
Food – 7.5
Service – 7.5
Ambience - 8
Price - 7

Overall
I love the Raw Trader as it offers more options for people with different food needs.  The service is friendly and I love the vibe inside.  The place mostly have small tables.  There’s a few round benches around the structural poles that can sit four people but those aren’t terribly good for holding conversation as you can’t see the other person on the other side of the pole.

Despite being fairly new, there’s a steady stream of people coming in for the treats and getting coffee as takeaway.

I’ll definitely come back to try the chai, coffee and to also try out more of the nice, different and unusual raw treats!

Address
Raw Trader
10 Sutherland Street
Melbourne 3000
Telephone 0478 692 008

Dainty Sichuan Noodle Express, Melbourne CBD by Big Fil

I’ve been a bit slow to try many of the places in Emporium but a couple have definitely caught my eye. 

One of these was Dainty Sichuan Noodles, the latest rendition of the growing Dainty Sichuan empire.  Similar to a lot of other eateries in Emporium, it’s kind of flash for a shopping centre eatery, and towards the back where we sat you could be excused for forgetting you were in a shopping centre at all.

In keeping with being somewhere you pop into while shopping and unlike the other Dainty Sichuans, which specialise in al le carte and hot pots, Dainty Sichuan is about smaller and quicker individual noodle and rice dishes.  Handed a menu as you take a spot in line, choose what you want and order and pay when you get to the front.  You’ll be handed a number after which you can search for a table. 

Snooze isn’t a fan of spicy food which obviously  narrowed her options in a Sichuan restaurant.  She fairly quickly settled on the pork mince with (chick) peas.  In an unusual turnaround she was a bit ambivalent about this, finding it had less flavour than expected.  While I don’t normally like chickpeas as much as Snooze does I did like the delicate savoury flavour that the pork and chick peas had.  Generous size serving as well which she was unable to finish.

I decided on the spicy stewed beef.  Not as spicy as expected, what really stood out was the extreme tenderness of the beef.  In fact this resulted in a minor case of splashed soup on shirt, with the beef falling apart under its own weight when lifted with chopsticks.  In addition to the moderate use of chilli there was just a hint of that wonderful tongue numbering Sichuan Pepper.  And the dish was nicely fragrant, something Snooze particularly commented on.

Overall

Good, solid quality noodles, very generous in size and at a reasonable price.  Fairly popular too, as while the line for ordering wasn’t long when we arrived most of the seating was already filled.  Service was a little brusque but better than many of the cheaper Chinese places around town, and quite fast.  All in all a pretty good option for noodles for lunch.

Verdict

Food – 7.5

Ambience – 7.5
Service – 6.5
Price – 7

Address

Emporium lower level

287 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Rama Thai, Ashwood by Bureaucrat

Don’t you hate it when you’ve had dinner but you’re still feeling peckish a little while later?  Having found ourselves in this situation, my mind turned to getting some takeaway to fill the hungry void.  As we weren’t near home at the time, we couldn’t go to our usual reliable Danny’s Kopitiam for food.  

Instead, we tried potluck along the Ashwood shopping strip, which is near the intersection of Warrigal and High Street roads.  I had spotted Rama Thai as I had driven past it numerous times.  And I thought this would be the occasion for us to try it out.  It’s a small suburban eatery – there’s a few tables inside but it’s cramped and it seems like everything inside (the walls, tables, chairs, floors) have seen better days. 

 The prawn pad Thai was so-so.  The first thing I noticed were the oddly shaped and off-white peanuts.  They hadn’t been properly toasted – the peanuts weren’t crunchy but were waxy in texture instead and with a burnt flavour to them.  They didn’t taste or look fresh so we scraped off as much of the peanuts and the rest of the noodles were okay.  A couple of medium sized prawns, a reasonable savoury gravy but I was missing the nice wedge of lemon to give the noodles a bit of life.

The Thai fried rice was also so-so.  Slivers of chicken tossed through with chunks of tomato with slices of cucumber down the side.  There was an okay amount of egg through it but the rice itself was lacking wok hei.

Verdict

Food – 6

Ambiance – 5.5

Service – 7

Price – 6.5 

Overall

I don’t want to be mean but the food here isn’t too flash.  Perhaps we ordered wrong.  But given there are other Thai restaurants along the shopping strip, I’d be trying those places next time.

Address

Rama Thai

531 Warrigal Road

Ashwood 3147

Telephone: 9885 9060

Two Little Pigs, Brunswick by Big Fil

You have to love a place that is willing to try something a little different, to go out on a bit of a limb.  Two Little Pigs breakfast menu certainly does that, and while a couple of things didn’t quite hit the bulls eye, it prompted some happy little squeals of delight from both Snooze and I.


Long and lean on the inside with a pleasant garden area out the back, Two Little Pigs definitely has that Melbourne Hipster vibe to it.


The tables are basic, the chairs fashionably uncomfortable (metal on a cold day) and the semi-mandatory communal table sits just behind the front window.

Even early on a Saturday most of the inside tables were full, the staff friendly and we were left open mouthed at some of the delicious looking breakfasts coming out of the kitchen.

The most unusual thing about the food here is that it is so meat focused, it’s definitely light on for options for the vegetarian inclined.  Snooze chose the Bubble and Squeak, chickpea fritters with braised beef, caramelised onion, truffle oil and corn kernels.  I suspect it was partially a nostalgia thing for Bubble and Squeak, and partly they had her at chickpeas.  Compared to the usual assortment of garden produce you find in this dish the flavour was quite savoury, complements of the beef and in particular the chickpeas.  By themselves I thought the fritters were a little plain but were very nicely complemented by the accompanying chutney.


The main reason I wanted to visit here was the Peas and Ham, crisp roasted pork belly, poached free range eggs, green pea veloute and sour dough toast.  Very colourful when delivered to the table, and something I really enjoyed.  Not because it was perfect, the skin of the pork belly being slightly chewy rather than crispy.  But the flavour of the pork was wonderful, well balanced between the meat and the fat, and extremely tender.  The green pea veloute soaked into the bread was delicious, although you had to be careful not to soak up too much or else it would go soggy.


For breakfast dessert we ordered the Hot Jam Dough Cakes, served with cinnamon sugar and caramelised bacon ice cream.  Snooze and I had a really mixed take on these.  She did not like these at all.  The main reason is that she didn’t like the texture of the dough cakes, finding them far too doughy and heavy. 

On the other hand I liked them a lot.  With two dough cakes in a serve it’s possible that the difference was in the cakes, but I suspect more likely it was just a matter of individual taste.  The jam was good but used with restraint, Snooze seemed to get most of the bacon/ice cream and found it interesting.  For me the sugar could have used more cinnamon, but then again for me there is no such thing as too much cinnamon in a dish.

Overall
Quality is good and I’m always willing to tip my hat to anyone who is willing to try something different.  Service from out hipster friends was warm and friendly, although it was a little chilly sitting on our cold metal chairs.  While we may have come across a few places recently where we thought the food was marginally better (and it is only marginal), this is the place that I enjoyed the food the most.

Verdict
Food – 8.5
Ambience – 7 (get those heaters working please)
Service – 8
Price – 7.5

Roti Road, Footscray by Big Fil

Located in Footscray Roti Road was somewhere I'd heard about through the bloggers grapevine and was keen to try.  After all, good roti is one of my favourite things and while Footscray isn't the first place that would come to mind when thinking of a Malaysian style meal, the sheer competition of all the other good eateries in the area would mean that it would have to be good to last.


Situated on Barkly Street maybe ten minutes from the train station, Roti Road is just that bit nicer place to eat than most of the Malaysian eateries around town.  Nicer than most neighbourhood places in Malaysia too, with its painted mural on the wall, dark wooden tables and industrial style lighting. 


On entering service is friendly but what is surprising is that for a place called Roti Road the selection of rotis was a bit restricted, the range of other styles of dishes wider than I'd expected.


First thing I always have to have in a Malaysian café is the nasi lemak, ordered with the chicken berempah (fried chicken) and sambal sotong (spicy squid).  On the plus side the serve was generous, and the rice had some fragrance to it although I would have liked more.  I wasn't such a fan of the sambal though, which was more liquid and less punchy in flavour than I like.  The chicken, which initially looked overdone, was nicely moist and the squid tender, but the ikan bilis felt slightly stingy.  Fair enough to say that that it left me with mixed feelings.


Fortunately though all the rotis were better.  The roti chanai was nicely fluffy, the accompanying sauces flavoursome with the chilli packing an acceptable level of heat (I generally prefer it quite spicy). 


When the accompanying beef rending came out my initial thought was the serve was small, but the flavour was rich and good.


There are a few sweet dessert style rotis on the menu, including a roti pisang (banana) and a roti tissue.  The roti pisang looked very cute, served with a scoop of ice cream on the side and Roti Road spelt out in chocolate syrup.  Nicely sweet and crispy, I would have preferred a bit more banana but it's fairly common for this dish to be a bit light on here because of the cost.


I liked the look of the roti tissue when it hit the table, mainly because it reminded me of the sorting hat from Harry Potter!  Sweet and slightly sticky as I like, the reason it's called roti tissue is because the roti should be tissue paper thin.  This was a bit thick in places, not badly so just not quite what it should have been.  Tasty and with a snappy texture in some parts, but closer to regular roti in others.

Overall
Nice place to eat and if it's not as good or as cheap as your favourite mamak place in KL or Penang, it's perfectly fine for Melbourne. 

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

Address
189-193 Barkly Street
Footscray VIC 3011
Tel: (03) 9078 8878

Chin Chin, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

Arriving fashionably late (after 8pm) for a mid-week dinner with Ms N, there was a palpable buzz in the air at Chin Chin.  My button-down humdrum suburban sensibilities were surprised to see the presence of many school kiddies out for a late dinner with their parents during a school week among the roomful of bright young things shouting to each other about their fabulous lives while taking in dinner.

The restaurant was packed out (with more people milling about hoping for a table to become available).  It's squishy and you're almost rubbing elbows with the next table.  But somehow this sort of squishiness is part of the experience - that is, you ought to feel very special to have gotten a table in such a popular restaurant that you'd more than gladly give up a sense of personal space to be seen here and to eat the food. The service is mixed.  The staff who were dealing with the bookings and managing the tables have a bit of an attitude to them, while the ones that look after you during your meal are definitely more friendly, responsive and a little bit flirtatious with you.


As both Ms N and I had already had some pre-dinner nibbles, we settled on sharing two small plates and one larger plate. While it was tasty, the two small mouthfuls of Miang - betel leaf on braised lamb neck w smoked eggplant and mint relish - was a tad pricey at $12.  The lamb was tender and had a nice smoky flavour to it, while the roasted nuts and betel leaf added some crunch and texture to the dish.


The chilli salt chicken wings w coriander and lemon ($14) wasn't too spicy and the sauce had a nice sour twang to it.


The caramelised sticky pork w sour herb salad and chilli vinegar ($26) was definitely the best dish of the night.  Meaty slabs of tender pork which had a nice crunchy-ish and sticky crust.  It was unapologetically punchy with the sour citrus and vinegar flavours.  The freshness from the beanshoots, coriander and Thai basil cut through and otherwise rich dish.  A great balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot.


Ms N also got a drink which I forgot to note down (it was non-alcoholic).



Verdict
Food – 8
Ambiance – 7
Service – 7.5
Price – 7

Overall
Chin Chin is obviously popular among the punters.  It has that too-cool-for-school vibe, interesting menu, good looking staff that are responsive and the food is pretty tasty. 

While I have nothing against the place, it's just not for me - the place is squishy, noisy and a bit pricey for my liking.

Also have a gander at Ruby Grapefruit's review back in April 2012.

Address
Chin Chin
125 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
Telephone: 8663 2000