Bikaner Sweet and Curry Café, Dandenong by Benny

Our quest is for bling: invited to an upcoming Indian wedding Bilby needed plenty of bespangled items to accessorise her special outfit. And where is the best place to get things Indian in Melbourne? “Little India” of course – a small strip of Indian-themed clothing and grocery shops just beside the Dandenong train station.

Chicken Saag and Lamb Rogan Josh 

Shops are explored and purchases completed. But shopping is hungry work, and recommendations for lunch are sought and obtained from a helpful saleslady of Fijian Indian extraction. “Do you like curry?” she enquires, with a nearby favourite clearly in mind.

Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses' Mini Eclair Collection (by invitation)

I love this time of the year.  No more autumn, no more winter, and hello to spring, summer and a lot of festive-making!  With Halloween (I love how the neighbourhood kids go trick or treating nowadays) and the Melbourne Cup just around the corner, the calendar is telling us it's time to indulge.

With indulgence in mind, the Eat and Be Merry Crew took up Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses' challenge to "d'eclair their love" by trying their new mini eclair collection.

A half dozen of mini Nutella-infused mini eclairs from Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse

Naked Wines Australia winery tour (by invitation)

On the weekend, Ms G and I had a most lovely day trip out to Avenel (two hours north of Melbourne) with Naked Wines Australia. Naked Wines Australia a cooperative of small, independent winemakers who make wines through crowd funding (see my post here for more info).

After a few hours of drinking wine tasting, things got a bit hazy...

Along with a hundred or so Naked 'Angels' (the name given to customers who commit $40 a month into their Naked Wines account to purchase, you guessed it, wine), Ms G and I sipped our way through countless glasses of gorgeous red and whites.  And while this may sound like we were drunk (just happy, we were!), we also sampled some rather scientific wines... red wines that looked as clear as water (if this was a Simpsons episode, I'd be thinking "Mmmm... invisible cola").

Saigon Square, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

The revamp of Menzies Alley has resulted in several new eateries lining this alleyway.  With a menu and prices to entice the nearby office dwellers to part with their money at lunchtime, I was tempted to try Saigon Square.

In line with my ordering preferences at a Vietnamese restaurant, I ordered a bun (warm vermicelli salad).  But uncharacteristically, I ordered five spice grilled beef instead as the betel wrapped beef was sold out (and I wasn't tempted enough to go for the chicken or crab options).

RSPCA’s Choose Wisely initiative

This week, RSPCA launched its Choose Wisely initiative, which is focused on asking all Australians to support humanely produced food when eating out.  As foodies, we think this is a great idea and would love it if our dear readers would also support this initiative.


Photo credit: Choose Wisely

Domaine Anna, Mauritius by Obelix

Domaine Anna is known for its gorgeous garden and water featured settings.  It's a popular place for weddings and functions.  We recently hosted my father in law's birthday there.  Before the sun set, I captured a few shots of the surrounds.  And yes, it was a picturesque venue.  It is large venue.  Alongside our function, there was a wedding held on the other side as well as the regular restaurant section.  

Giveaway—WIN double pass to winery tour, tastings and lunch!

Congratulations to the lucky two readers who will be joining me tomorrow on a gorgeous day of eating, drinking and making merry:

• Laura
• Patrick Wu

Each of them has won a double pass to a winery tour, tastings, masterclass and lunch with Naked Wines Australia!  Please email us (eatandbemerrycrew @ gmail.com) by 5:00pm today with your full name, mobile phone number and email address so that we can arrange your tickets for you.

Thank you to everyone else who entered the competition.

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WOW! Thanks to Naked Wines Australia (see our post earlier this month), we have two double passes to giveaway to our readers.  This is an am-ay-zing prize for wine and food lovers.   Join me (and a select group) this Saturday, 24 October 2015 for a guided winery tour, tasting and lunch in regional Victoria.

We've got two double tickets to giveaway for this flash competition.  Winners will be announced tomorrow at 3:00pm.

Sam Plunkett is an independent winemaker based in Victoria who loves to make delicious, easy drinking Aussie wine. Naked Wines' Angel funding has enabled some super-talented winemakers to follow their dreams and craft their very own gorgeous wines. Spend the day with Sam learning about wines and, more importantly, do a lot of wine tasting and eating!

Giveaway—WIN double pass to the Cake Bake & Sweets Show

Drum roll!  Congratulations to:

• Stefgal
• Jia Yin Tay

Each of them has won a double pass to the Cake Bake & Sweets Show!  Please email us (eatandbemerrycrew @ gmail.com) by 2:00pm Thursday, 22 October 2015 with your full name, mobile phone number and email address so that we can arrange your tickets for you.

Thank you to everyone else who entered the competition.

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With just a less than a week to go before the Cake Bake & Sweets Show, the Eat and Be Merry Crew have two double passes to giveaway to our dear readers!

If you love to bake or indulge in absolutely gorgeous works of edible art, then this is for you. The show features cooking demonstrations from international celebrities such as Duff Goldman (USA, Ace of Cakes) and local personalities from MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules.

Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes (photo supplied)

Hattori Hanzo, Cheltenham by Benny

Quentin Tarantino fans will know Hattori Hanzo as the master Japanese swordsmith who comes out of retirement in his 2003 movie Kill Bill. The original Hattori Hanzo was a samurai and ninja of the Sengoku era (16th century). This modern incarnation in suburban Melbourne is a restaurant that describes itself as ‘focussed on hawker style food halls throughout Asia’.


Twice cooked duck in red curry

A1 Kebab and Cafe, Frankston by Bureaucrat

A weekend reconnaissance to inspect property was why we were in Frankston.  I don't know much about Frangers except that, well, it's full of bogans, and you drive past it on the way to Mornington Peninsular (you simply must come and stay at my Portsea home, daarrling).

With a tip from the property development manager, Mr P, we went in search of a kebab place in the main shopping area for lunch.  According to the owner of A1 Kebab and Cafe it does a brisk trade.  I was really looking forward to ordering their charcoal grilled meat skewers but was disappointed to learn that they only serve that at dinnertime (however, I think since our visit they now serve the charcoal grilled meats at lunch too).

Between the four of us, we ordered two lamb souvlakis and two pides.  The souv was pretty good - lots of lamb, salad, garlic sauce and soft bread.  For me, the lamb is the most important part.  There was lots of it, it was tender and it wasn't fatty or greasy.  We could tell that the owner really takes pride and a lot of care to make the souvs.

Naked Wines Australia (by invitation)

Ahead of our road trip to Avenel to meet with winemaker Sam Plunkett next week, Naked Wines Australia sent us a lovely package of wines to sample.  Have you heard of Naked Wines Australia?  It's kinda like a collective of small, independent winemakers across Australia.  NWA buys the grapes from the winemakers upfront so that the small winemakers have financial security while they take the time to make great wine.  In turn, customers can purchase great wine directly, which is more bang for their buck.

Left to right: Boy Meets Girl 2014 Prosecco, The Butterfly Effect 2014 Chardonnay, Jen Pfeiffer Rock It Like A Redhead

Solitude Food Truck, Mauritius by Obelix

Picture this: azure blue sky overhead; black sediments of volcanic rock underfoot; sugar cane fields on either side; a truck parked in the middle of nowhere by a twisted leafless tree casting it's shadows like gnarled fingers on the road.  I was having my Anthony Bourdain moment, I was street fooding, Mauritian-style.

This food truck is not surprisingly nameless.  However that does not mean it is not infamous.  I have nominally called it Solitude Food Truck as it is located in the aptly named suburb of Solitude to further highlight that one is in the middle of nowhere.  Try googling Solitude Roti, or Solitude Faratha, it is clear that others have gone before and opinion of it is high.  Locals come screeching to a halt in their cars for a bite.  Likewise the locals come on foot.  Ladies undulating with loads on their heads emerge from the horizon to queue up for a pair or two of the farathas.

Pizza By Nature, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

It was all a matter of timing.  I was on a tram heading up Elizabeth Street, on my to West Brunswick.  But I was really, really, really hungry.  I was already cutting it real fine - I would have just enough time to get to my appointment.  But I needed to eat.  And it wasn't possible for me to grab some eats afterwards.  I didn't want to be late.  And I was hungry.  You get my dilemma?

Feeling like a slow-poke version of James Bond, I jumped off my tram when it trundled up to Queen Vic Market.  I ran like the wind into to the market hall.  All the tourists, students and office workers were flocking around the usual suspects (the hot dog place and the borek place).  Looking much less popular was Pizza By Nature.  No queues and gluten free - bingo bango, this was the place for me.

With about eight types of individual pizzas available, I choose Beet 'n' Meat - a pizza with a beetroot base, salami, Roma tomatoes, capsicum, basil, olives and cheese.  It's pre-cooked and reheated in the oven.  I loved the lurid magenta of the beetroot base.  The base was pretty good in texture - a good imitation of a gluten base.  However, it was let down by the fact that it was rather soggy towards the middle - definitely could do more time in the over to crisp/dry that up.  The toppings were good, too.  Nothing fancy and homestyle in nature.  Definitely no grease or excess fat here.

Flying Dodo Beer Spa, Mauritius by Obelix

Bonjour!  It was Oktoberfest while I was on holiday.  Since I'm not a avid beer drinker, I thought I'll get into the spirit by partaking in a beer spa.  The Flying Dodo is a microbrewery in Mauritius and downstairs in their dungeon area, they also run a beer spa.  A beer spa as I am lead to believe from their brochure and from googling other establishments that also provide beer spa services, involves a soak in beer with a massage at the end.  The Flying Dodo's own brochure depicts a bathtub filled with beer and massage chairs alongside.  So I was expecting a soak and a bit of a rub down.  I was disappointed however to realise that the beer spa at The Flying Dodo despite their advertisement, only involve the soaking part.

Mr Foxx, Glen Iris by Benny

A spontaneous and genuinely friendly “welcome back” greets us as we are seated by our waitress, and this is only our second visit. Even though it is only a week after our first, it is little things like this that enrich a pleasant and memorable meal with friends, and enhances the already good impression we have of Mr Foxx.

Mr Foxx is a breakfast and lunch eatery that significantly raises the bar for innovative value-for-money daytime dining. The décor is difficult to categorise – a functional, almost industrial theme softened by the liberal use of natural timber finishes, with plenty of natural light made possible by large windows taking advantage of its corner location. There are plenty of outdoor tables, but Melbourne’s winter is still with us and indoors is far preferable.


Salmon at Mr Foxx

Cloudy Bay's 2015 Sauvignon Blanc launch (by invitation)

There were no clouds in the sky at Cloudy Bay's launch of its 2015 Sauvignon Blanc.  In a sun-drenched conservatory at The Botanical, Mr Strong and I got to taste the delightfully citrusy and zingy sauv blanc.

Fancy Hank's BBQ Joint, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

To commemorate that I was chucking in the towel (i.e., I was quitting my job... hurrah!) to pursue a scholarly life (i.e., I was going back to study), I used that as an excuse to have lunch with absolutely everybody.

So for my one of many fare-thee-well lunches, I went to Fancy Hank's BBQ Joint with "the guys".  Located near Vic Market, I've been wanting to try this for some time now.  I like the name of the place and who doesn't like BBBQ? (that extra 'B' was a typo).  Throw in a good measure of hipsters with luxuriant beards and body hair (lumbersexual, anyone?) as waiters, I was set to buy into the marketing gimmick,

In short, there's six types of slow-cooked meat on offer and a whole heap of sides and bready options too.  Thinking we'd be OD-ing on meat, Mr G and I decided to share 100gms of Texan beef brisket and 100gms of Kansas city pork ribs plus a small side of chips.  What came out was rather spartan and I felt we were served prison rations.  The good points were that the flavours for both the beef and pork were deepy, smoky and packed full of flavour; the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender.  Chips were the best as it had a wonderful crispy batter-like crust (but rather pricey at $5.50 for a small serve).  The not-so-good points were that the both meats were kinda served warmish - definitely not hot.