A few days ago, I unexpectedly found myself in Bangkok after an attempted entry into India (from Colombo) failed. It’s a long, tedious story but the short of it is that my visa was not quite right. I decided to book myself on the next flight to Bangkok instead. There were seats available, the flight was not too expensive, and Thailand is a very nice place.

And, there was one little Bangkok joint that I’ve been dying to visit since it opened in the middle of last year:  nahm. I completely adore Thai food (doesn’t everyone?) and David Thompson is one of my food idols. (See here, where I imagine cooking everything from his Thai food bible cookbook.)

My first task when I arrived was to book myself a solo dining spot at nahm. I visited it last night, and I’m thrilled to report that it lived up to and exceeded all my hopes.

I was so excited to visit that I was ready for my 7pm booking at 5pm. I decided to waste time by walking to the restaurant and exploring Bangkok a little on the way. Somewhat alarmingly, I got caught in the middle of a red-shirts’ rally. Luckily, all was peaceful. Just noisy and crowded. Below is a picture that I took from a footbridge.

It was most fortuitous that I had two hours to walk three kilometres, because the rally slowed things down a lot! Even with my extreme time allowance, I had to take a taxi for the last kilometre, and I was 20 minutes late.

Nahm was the complete opposite of the pandemonium outside. It epitomised the tranquil side of Thailand. I was given a seat overlooking the pool and there was a little purple orchid on my table.

You can either have a ‘set’ menu for 1500 baht (about $50 Aussie dollars), or choose individual dishes. I chose the ‘set’ menu – though it’s not really a set menu at all. You are given all the canapes (there are four) and then choose one dish from each group: salad, soup, relish, curry, ‘stir-fried, steamed and grilled’ and dessert. If this sounds like a lot of food, it was. It’s times like this that I’m very thankful for my bottomless pit stomach.

The staff were extremely attentive – they filled up my water constantly and kept offering me more rice. They also clearly explained which dishes were spicy and offered their genuine recommendations. If anything, they were too attentive because sometimes I like to be left alone, but I can’t really complain about that.

The first dish was an amuse bouche of caremelised coconut on a segment of pineapple. Very refreshing.

The four little canapes were (clockwise from bottom left) blue swimmer crab, pickled garlic and peanuts on a little rice cake; southern grilled mussels on cucumber; a quail egg with smoky Chiang Mai relish – they gave me this one without the usual pork; and grilled prawn, pomelo, toasted coconut, peanuts and palm sugar sauce on a betel leaf. Apologies for the information overload.

The standout for me from the canapes was the mussels. They were so simple but tasted incredible – subtly smokey and cooked to perfection without any rubberiness. They also contrasted well with the fresh crunch of cucumber.

I’m a big fan of goods in betel leaves but elsewhere I have got to assemble them myself, which is a lot more fun.

The remainder of the food (excluding dessert) came all at once, very promptly. It was quite overwhelming – in the best possible way – to have mountains of spectacular food placed right in front of me. (I felt a bit like the kids do in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; it was that type of feeling.)

For my salad course, I chose the hiramasa cured kingfish with chilli, lime and mint. For me, this was the greatest dish of the meal. It was very tart, but the freshness of the mint and softness of the kingfish worked well with this. I ate two mouthfuls to begin and then saved it to eat last.

I chose a soup of smoked fish and tamarind with crayfish.  This was my least favourite dish of the meal; the chewiness of the smoked fish was not that pleasing to me. That said, I think this soup would have been great on its own without having to compete with a literal smorgasbord of fabulousness. I always love to have my thom yum soup on a hangover, and this would fit that prestigious category.

For the ‘relish’ course, I chose yellow bean and crab meat dressed with ginger, kaffir lime and shallots. It was served with a fish cake (that spongey looking thing) and some vegetables. This dish was a very close second to the kingfish salad. It also had that tart, fresh taste and the kaffir lime leaves elevated it to the next level.

The fish cake tasted a little like a prawn cracker. It had a very unusual texture that worked well when eaten in the same mouthful as the relish and vegetables. The vegetables included some unknown herbs and a white tumeric, which until now I have never tasted. Pretty exciting.

My curry was a coconut and tumeric curry with blue swimmer crab and calamansi limes. This dish was very good but I was not wowed like I was with other dishes. I think this is because elsewhere in my smorgasbord I was being bombarded with flavours and textures never experienced, but this tasted just like an excellent yellow curry. I also got a few pieces of crab shell which was a little off-putting.

The final dish of my mains was stir-fried squid with sugar snap peas. As you can see, the squid ink made a generous appearance. This was so beautiful. The squid was lovely and smokey. The sugar snap peas sat perfectly on the border between raw and cooked. The contrast in textures was also a winner.

By this stage, I was incredibly full. I stalled for digestion time by going on a few little unnecessary walks to the bathroom and back. Even then, I only JUST managed to have room for dessert. And another amuse bouche. Luckily.

The amuse bouche tasted incredible. It was a rose apple sitting in a mixture of sugar, salt, chilli and citric acid (I know because I quizzed the waiter on this one)! The flavours came one at a time: first the sweetness, then the acid, then the saltiness, then the chilli. Amazing.

My dessert was black sticky rice with longans and young coconut, served with caremelised taro. This was also incredible. There was something special about the combination of sweet and savoury with this dish. In the sticky rice, the longans were sweet and fresh while the rice was savory. In the taro, the crispy coconut and taro were very sweet while the corn, fresh coconut and black sesame seeds added savoury elements. Fitting this in my stomach was an extreme challenge, but so worth it.

And, finally, who could forget my drink?! A siamjito cocktail – thai whisky, lemongrass, brown sugar, ginger and lime. Must recreate on return to Melbourne.

And there you have it. Apologies for the epic post, but I guess epic meals deserve them? This meal rates extremely highly on my list of Best Meals Ever. All the contrasting and balancing flavours and textures were pretty spectacular. It is also pretty special to be putting new flavours in your mouth with almost every spoonful. It was a MOUNTAIN of food – it’s now 3pm and I’m only just beginning to feel hungry again. Off to go and try some more Thai delights now…

It is such a joy to share my visit to nahm with you all and I hope everyone gets to visit one day.

Off to Chiang Mai tomorrow – a cooking mecca I hear. I’ll keep you posted!

nahm
The Metropolitan Hotel
Off South Sathorn Road
Bangkok, Thailand

+662 625 3388
res.bkk@nahm.como.bz

I have been meaning to visit Charcoal Lane for some time, particularly since I met chef Damien Styles at Taste of Melbourne and got to sample a little of his food. The restaurant is run by Mission Australia and provides work experience and training to Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people.

I finally visited Charcoal Lane to celebrate a friend’s upcoming wedding, which involved 20 of us gathering in the private dining room upstairs. Given we were there for a private function, we had a cut down menu of three entrees, three mains and three desserts to choose from.

While we were settling in with some bubbles and noise levels were starting to border on deafening, the wait staff arrived with an amuse bouche of duck curry:

Thick, rich and unctuous. A great start to the night.

For entree I had the risotto with garden peas, native mint and mascarpone:

Risotto is one of those things that can go so very wrong, but this was really good. It was nice and creamy and there was a lovely pop of freshness from the peas. The native mint was interesting – it added a peppery note that cut through the richness of the mascarpone.

My friend M ordered the kangaroo tataki with ginger, soy, pickled daikon and coastal saltbush:

I snatched a taste and loved the balance of this dish. Tataki really is a great method for preparing lean meats that can otherwise dry out, such as kangaroo.

For main I couldn’t go past the crispy pork belly with seared scallop, ginger glaze, apple salad and fried saltbush:

The flavours and textures of the dish worked really well – sticky, sweet glaze, fresh crispy apple, rich pork and saltiness from the salt bush. The scallops were perfectly cooked and had a lovely sear on the outside. My only issue with the dish was with the pork belly – the fat hadn’t been rendered away and so the exterior was chewy rather than crispy. It was a bit unfortunate.

On to desserts, I ordered the flourless blood orange pudding with vanilla bean ice-cream and orange crisps:

I was somewhat surprised when a little flourless orange cake arrived, as I had expected something else given it was advertised as ‘pudding’. Nonetheless, it was warm, airy and packed with flavour.

When my friend M’s dessert arrived, I was envious:

Doesn’t it look beautiful?

I immediately begged for a taste and M was nice enough to share it with me. The dark chocolate tart was very rich but had a lovely lightness to it. I liked the earthy, nutty flavour of the wattleseed ice-cream too. Total win.

All in all, a lovely night to celebrate the impending nuptials. I really liked Charcoal Lane’s focus on using native ingredients and it was nice to try things I hadn’t had before, such as the native mint and saltbush. The pork belly was a bit of a disappointment, but I do recognise the fact that we were eating in a large group, which can’t have been easy on the kitchen. I’m looking forward to going back and trying dinner in the restaurant proper sometime soon.

Details

Charcoal Lane
136 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
Ph: (03) 9418 3400

While we were in Noosa, we wanted to try something different from our standard fare of Bistro C lunches and a special meal at Spirit House or Wasabi. Embassy XO was suggested as somewhere new to try. Embassy XO is part of the new XO Group at Sunshine Beach, which comprises the XO Bistro Wine Bar (a casual bistro downstairs), XO Cellars and Embassy XO which is located upstairs and offers a more upmarket experience. 

The menu is divided into smaller items to start, then larger items to share. Embassy XO also offers banquets for groups of 6 or more, at either $55 or $75 per person. We decided to share three small items, two large dishes and a side between the four of us. 

The small dishes were, from the top – ground prawns Vietnamese style, on sugar cane skewer ($12), lobster dumplings, lime, XO sauce (3 for $15) and crispy chicken ribs, green chilli soy ($10): 

I liked the prawn skewers – they reminded me of a similar dish at Coda, although I probably preferred Coda’s version, which included crispy noodles on the outside. The lobster dumplings were a disappointment – they arrived lukewarm and the casing was quite thick in parts. The chicken ribs were moist and there was a nice crispy exterior, but they were a bit flavourless. 

We were hopeful that the larger dishes would be a bit better. From the top, rice crusted coral trout ($34), wagyu beef cheeks ($34) and wok tossed greens with homemade oyster sauce ($9): 

The wagyu was the pick of the bunch, it was rich, unctuous and had a bit of a kick from the toasted chilli sauce. The coral trout was well cooked but was lacking in flavour.

So all in all, a bit hit and miss really. We did a quick straw poll around the table - two of the girls would be willing to go back and give it another try, and two of us (myself included) thought it wasn’t really worth a repeat visit. If you want an excellent Asian meal in this part of the world, I would recommend Wasabi (Japanese) or Spirit House (Thai) over Embassy XO.

Details: 

Embassy XO
Cnr Duke And Bryan St
Sunshine Beach, QLD
Ph: (07) 5455 4460 

I really like the Commoner. Mr M and I first visited midway through last year (pre-blog!), when I was in the throes of wedding planning. After having my hair and make-up trial for the big day, I decided we should at least go out somewhere, so that the effort was not wasted (although formal hair and make-up combined with jeans is probably not a good look in any event). We arrived on a freezing, windy and dark Saturday night to this little oasis of warmth, comfort and hospitality.

I’ve since returned a couple of times, including in about May this year. I actually took photos of that meal with the intention of blogging it, but the dim light coupled with a crappy camera meant that the photos did not do the food justice at all. In fact, the photos made a great meal look completely unappealing.

Most recently I visited with my mother and friends T & P, to celebrate P’s 30th.

You can choose to order a la carte, but my money has and always will be with the ‘feed me’ option. For $55 they will bring you a range of things to share, including sweets. Just tell them any likes or dislikes (or wheat intolerance!) and the food will magically appear. Too easy.

Our starters arrived – from the top, Boccerones (Sicilian white anchovies with sweet pepper, aioli & parsley), French breakfast radishes with dill butter, roasted cauliflower with almonds and coriander, dip and Mt Zero olives (not pictured):

I do love a breakfast radish – their crunch and sweet, mild flavour. The cauliflower also went down very well, it had a great smokey-ness to it, due to the fact that they wood-smoked it in house (well, in the courtyard out back).  The mild flavour of the white anchovies worked well with the garlicky aioli and smokey sweet pepper. Yes.

On to the larger courses, the wheat eaters amongst us (ie. the rest of the table other than me), tucked into pan fried semolina gnocchi with manchego and zucchini:

(it looked so good)

… while I enjoyed a play on a Caesar salad, with crisp fried quail egg, porky goodness, aioli and paprika:

The larger main dishes arrived, veal chop with Gentleman’s Club relish, char grilled fish and a side salad of radish and heart of palm:

Gentleman’s Club relish! I loved the idea that there could be a relish that was so manly it was not suitable for the ladies. This spiced anchovy butter ensured that my burgeoning love affair with anchovy continued unabated (Mr M is very pleased). The veal was very tender and also had a lovely smokey-ness to it. The simple char-grilled fish worked well with the fresh and crunchy radish and heart of palm salad.

Dessert arrived – Middle Eastern yoghurt cake (wheat-free!) with pistachio and pomegranate and vanilla ice-cream with poached rhubarb:

The yoghurt cake was really surprising – very light and airy. It was nice with the crunchy slivers of pistachio and pop of sourness from the pomegranate. As to the other dessert, poached rhubarb is a favourite of mine, so this was always going to be a winner for me.

On the dessert front I should also mention that the Commoner does amazing beignets – warm, little balls of pastry with a crunchy outer and a light, airy inner. These are unfortunately something I can’t eat due to the wheat factor, but every time my eating companions have had them there is a hush over the table and talk of the deliciousness. You have been warned.

So all in all, another lovely meal at the Commoner. Great food, a space that is comfortable, relaxed and understated with friendly knowledgeable service. I’ll be back again soon.

Details

The Commoner
122 Johnston St, Fitzroy
Ph: (03) 9415 6876

About a month ago (yes, bad blogger), on one of the first sunny days we headed to St Kilda for Sunday lunch for a family birthday. The brief was to find somewhere for a nice birthday lunch and Circa fit the bill perfectly with its Sunday lunch. For $65 per person ($110 with matched wines) Circa offers an appetiser, shared starters, main course and dessert. Brilliant.

We were seated in the sunshine in the covered courtyard. This was my first visit back to Circa since its refurbishment and it looks gorgeous. I loved the Cutler-esque light fittings.

Our appetiser was spiced carrot and coconut soup with smoked kingfish and daikon:

Lovely colour! The smokey kingfish was great against the lightly spiced soup and the daikon added a nice burst of freshness.

We mopped up said soup with some house-made breads (including house-made GF bread that was really tasty) and seriously delicious whipped Holy Goat fromage blanc.

Starters were served family style, here we have tuna tartare, lamb kromeskies with sauce gribiche and bean, beetroot yoghurt and white anchovy salad:

The tuna tartare had some great accompaniments - the pickled mushrooms were a particular stand-out. The kromeskies contained minced, slow-cooked lamb. The accompanying mustardy mayonnaise contained chunks of hard boiled egg and was incredibly moreish. The simple, fresh salad of baby beetroot and beans was light and fresh and while I am not much of an anchovy fan, the white anchovies are quite subtle as well.

The last of the shared starter was also simple and tasty – asparagus with slow cooked egg, hazelnut and rocket. A great classic combination.

We were given a choice for main course, around the table we had steamed barramundi with smoked tomato, mussels, prawns and zucchini, oyster blade with chard and Jerusalem artichoke risotto with peas and truffled pecorino:

I had the risotto, it had a nice earthiness from the truffled pecorino and the artichoke and I loved the pop of the fresh peas.

The main dishes came with a few side dishes to share, including an absolutely beautiful vegetable salad. Loved the beetroot and mushroom soils!

On to dessert, from the top we had wattle seed creme brulee with a double chocolate madeleine, Shaw River ‘Annie Baxter’ buffalo milk cheese with green olive jam and baked lemon tart with citrus salad and chantilly cream:

Uncharacteristically, I went for the cheese option, but naturally I did steal a taste of the other desserts. I enjoyed the brulee, which had a hint of earthy, coffee-like flavour thanks to the wattle seed. The lemon tart was pretty delicious too.

All in all, a lovely relaxed meal, perfect for Sunday lunch. I’ll definitely return.

Details

Circa, the Prince
2 Acland St, St Kilda, VIC
(03) 9536 1122

The other day a friend mentioned to me that the somewhat horrific Father Flanagan’s Irish Pub (on the corner of Smith and Alexandra Pde) had been transformed and was now serving cracking pub food with an American bent. I decided to check it out immediately.

Mr M and I went fairly early on a Friday night for dinner. The space still is light and bright, with plenty of woodwork and there are still some touches of Irish pub to it. Broadsheet described the space as ‘barnlike’ but I would say it reminds me more of an old-school train station. The upright booth seats with luggage racks overhead certainly gave that impression.

But Gasometer is still a work in progress. It is the new venture of seasoned publicans from the East Brunswick Club, Shit Town and Horse Bazaar and has been open just 4 weeks. There is some further work to be done, including finishing the covered courtyard (apparently the courtyard should be open in the next couple of weeks).

On to the food, the menu is divided into ‘plates to share’ and ‘big plates’. Items to share include mozzarella and ricotta fritters ($10), buffalo chicken wings (or smoked tofu strips) ($12) or cheese stuffed meatballs ($13). The American bent is more evident in the ‘big plates’ section which includes Southern fried chicken ($19), NYC cheese burger ($16.50), BBQ pulled pork ($19) and you can get a side of mac and cheese ($8). Some of the other items have a European bent, think pipis with chorizo ($15), brandy and chicken liver pate ($11) and burrata, basil and heirloom tomato platter ($17). Vegans, vegetarians and the gluten-free are well catered for, with veggie items including a vegan chorizo burger ($15) and arepas with shredded chilli seiten ($18).

Starving after some after work drinks, Mr M & I headed straight to the ‘big plates’ section. Mr M ordered the Southern fried chicken, that had been marinated in buttermilk and was served with greens, mash and champagne gravy:

You can see from the picture that the chicken was incredibly crispy and inside it was moist and tender. Yum.

I ordered the Arrachera ($21) a Mexican style sliced hanger steak, served with guacamole, fried arepas, salsa and a lime and habanero vinaigrette ($21):

I wasn’t entirely sure how to eat this, but decided to stack as many things as possible on the arepa and hope for the best:

This was bloody good. I really liked the zingy, chilli spiced salsa of tomato, spanish onion, heart of palm and corn. Tasty guacamole and crisp, hot arepas. My only qualm was the steak was quite cold.. slightly odd.

We shared a side of fries with black ash salt and aioli ($7.5):

I urge you to try these fries. Like the chicken, they were incredibly crispy. I loved the aioli too, I just wished there was a little more of it!

All in all, a great meal. Gasometer is still a very new venue but all signs suggest it will be overrun before we know it. I’ll be heading back sooner rather than later to check out the courtyard and get my hands on some more of those fries… mmmm.

Details

484 Smith St,
Collingwood VIC (Corner Smith and Alexandra Pde)
Ph: (03) 9417 5539
Mon-Wed 4pm-midnight, Thurs 4pm-1am, Fri-Sat 11am-2am, Sun 11am-11pm
‎

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, Mr M and I decided to head to the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. Being the slightly anally retentive person that I am, I booked our get away 6 months in advance. This ended up being quite fortuitous, as the Royal Mail later won The Age’s Restaurant of the Year and Gourmet Traveller’s Regional Restaurant of the Year and bookings became even harder to come by.

The restaurant offers degustation menus, you can choose from menu vegetarian ($110) or menu omnivore ($150 per person). The wine list is extensive and is also award winning, it won the Gourmet Traveller 2010 Reader’s Choice Award for winelist of the year. Faced with an abundance of choice on the wine front, we took the easy way out and opted for matched wines ($110 per person).

Our first course was sea salad with lemon and lychee, it was paired with a 2008 Gerard Boulay ‘Chavignol’ Sancerre:

At the base was a piece of squid, topped with samphire, dehydrated lemon and the lychee foam. The briney, salty flavour of the samphire, really gave the dish the flavour of the sea and the foam was reminiscent of the waves crashing on the shore. I liked the texture and the intensity of the dehydrated lemon. Very interesting.

Next was jerusalem artichoke, black truffle, triple cream, paired with NV Ca’ Del Bosco Franciacorta Cuvee Prestige:

The roasted exterior of the artichoke gave way to the earthiness of the truffle cream. The lightly seared spring onion was a nice counterpoint to the richness of the artichoke.

Next, john dory, burnt celeriac, mustard, pomegranate:

This was paired with two wines from Alsace, France (lucky us!), a 1996 Kuentz-Baz ‘ Pfersigberg’ Riesling and a 1997 Hugel ‘hommage a jean hugel’ Gewurztraminer. I preferred the minerally riesling on its own, but thought that the Gewurztraminer worked best with the fish. The delicate john dory sat atop the mustard seeds, smokey charred celeriac and the firm, juicy and tart pomegranate.

Next was a course I had read so much about – egg yolk, toasted rye, legumes, yeast (served with a 2005 Bannockburn Chardonnay):

This course was an amalgam of textures and I loved the nuttiness of the legumes.

Next, Hapuku, brassicas, chicken broth and skin (served with 1987 Rothbury Estate Pinot Noir – a wine that is pretty similar in age to me!):

I was quite impressed that the crispy wafer leaning against the fish was actually made from chicken skin. The chicken broth was quite strong but didn’t overpower the fish (which had been flown in from New Zealand).

Next was  one of the most memorable dishes of the night, eel, beef tendon, kohlrabi, potato (served with 2004 Chateau Lafleur-Gazin):

I ate quite a lot of eel when visiting Japan a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed the delicate texture and smokey-ness of the eel here. The gel like substance in the photo was the slow cooked (sous vide) beef tendon, which had taken on a gelatinous, unctuous texture. It worked well against the firmness of the turnips and potato.

Next up was the most ‘main’ dish of the night,  lamb, eggplant in white miso, pine nut, chlorophyll (served with 2005 Best’s Pinot Meunier):

I liked that the dish evoked a forest, with the white miso as a fallen log, chlorophyl grass and the lamb representing a tree trunk. As you can see from the photo, the lamb was perfectly cooked (I presume also sous vide) but had a nicely browned exterior. The salty miso was a good foil against the richness of the lamb and the freshness of the chlorophyl, with some nuts for texture, this was a great dish.

We moved to a palate cleanser, rhubarb, licorice, almond, citrus:

I just thought this was so stunningly beautiful. That tile of rhubarb was actually several pieces placed next to one another. The tart rhubarb and the aniseed worked very well together, with the citrus adding some nice acidity and freshness. Texturally it was interesting too, with the soft but firm rhubarb and crunch of the almonds. Those flowers are so pretty too!

The next dish threw me just a little, banana in szechuan pepper, coconut and cocoa ice (served with 2003 Gandia Fusta Nova Moscatel):

This was a real surprise. While looking at the dish, the upper coating has the appearance of something dry like brown sugar, it was actually shaved ice. I expected it to taste sweet and dry, but the cocoa ice melted in the mouth. Hidden under the cocoa ice was the szechuan pepper laced banana, and under that, the coconut ice. Taking a bite of all the elements, the sweet caramelised banana had a kick of spice, which was softened by the coconut and cocoa ice that melted in the mouth. Such a fun dish to eat and the highlight of the night for me (yes, I love sweet things).

On to more lovely sweet things, Mr M and I ate different desserts, due to me being wheat-free. Mr M was served the pistachio, hazelnut, honeycomb, chocolate with NV Sanchez Romate Cream Sherry:

The wheaty element of the dish was the pistachio cake, but I stole a taste of the other elements, the hazelnut parfait, crunchy honeycomb nuggets and chocolate straws. Yum.

Instead, I was served fresh and dried berries, beetroot, black olive and rose, which worked very well with the ruby, 2008 Marenco ‘pineto’ Branchetto D’acqui which had hints of rose:

This was another fun dish to eat, with lots of interesting components from a textural and flavour standpoint. The dehydrated berry powder almost had a sherbert quality to them. Then there was the crunchy, intense almost aerated texture of the whole dried berries and the contrast of lush juicy fresh berries. To cut through all that sweetness, there was a sourness from the beetroot and sheeps milk yoghurt ice-cream as well as an earthiness from the dehydrated beetroot. Awesome.

What a meal!

The next day, we awoke in our Mountain View room (though it was sadly sans Mountain view due to fog). We stocked up on continental breakfast at the hotel (highlights were Grampians sheeps milk yoghurt and stewed fruits) before Mr M insisted on going for a bushwalk to Mount Picanninny. I was none too pleased about walking in the fog and rain, but the foliage was stunning and we saw some beautiful wildflowers:

We even saw a furry little friend:

On our way back through Dunkeld the fog had lifted and the imposing Mount Sturgeon was clearly visible:

All in all, it was an incredible meal and a lovely night away from the city in some really beautiful countryside. The Royal Mail is highly, highly recommended and you should definitely try to get out there, so long as you can get a booking!

Details

Royal Mail Hotel
98 Parker Street (Glenelg Hwy), Dunkeld, VIC
Ph:(03) 5577 2241

]]> http://itpleasesus.com/2010/10/26/the-royal-mail-hotel-dunkeld/feed/ 10 http://itpleasesus.com/2010/10/07/holiday-eating-beachside-cocktails-at-bistro-c-noosa/ http://itpleasesus.com/2010/10/07/holiday-eating-beachside-cocktails-at-bistro-c-noosa/#comments Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:11:49 +0000 Emily http://itpleasesus.com/?p=3183

In the last couple of years we have started a tradition of an annual girls trip to Noosa. A key aspect of this trip is briefly becoming regulars at Bistro C , which ordinarily involves a daily visit, preferably timed with cocktail hour (which is happily two hours, from 3-5). During cocktail hour Thail Muels and Daiquiris (mango, strawberry or  banana) are just $12 or you can order a bucket of Coronas instead!

Bistro C is open all day and night with different menus for breakfast, brunch, lunch, the afternoon and for dinner. We usually time our visit for just before 3pm to take advantage of the lunch menu (which finishes at 3) and so we don’t have to wait too long for our much needed cocktails.

Favourites for lunch include the coconut chicken salad ($20):

The salad is a nice, light lunch after a day on the beach. The salad has shredded tofu, snowpeas, capsicum and red onion and is dressed in coconut, chilli and fish sauce. The cashews add a nice crunch.

Another favoured lunch dish is the fish and chips ($21):

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, there are four pieces of fish there! Given the generous serve we usually share the fish and chips between two and just order another side of chips ($7). Nothing quite beats eating fish while the sea is in full view and with a cocktail at your side, the scene nears perfection.

Visits to Bistro C for breakfast or dinner have never quite captured the magic of lunch for me. The great aspect of Bistro C is its comfortably casual atmosphere, perfect when you have been beachside all day and need a break from the sun. Don’t forget the cocktails!

Details

Bistro C
On the beach, 49 Hastings St,
Noosa, Queensland
(07) 5447 2855

We headed to Embrasse to celebrate a very special milestone – Mr M’s thirtieth!

We had heard very good things about chef Nicolas Poelaert’s food and he has an impressive background, including working at Michelin starred Bras Restaurant in Laguiole, France.

Embrasse is located in Drummond Street, Carlton in a space that was previously occupied by three, one,  two, Mrs Jones and prior to that, Donninis.  The restaurant opened in early 2009. Our party of 7 was seated in the upstairs room- fun fact, Princess Mary and Prince Frederick ate in this room when the restaurant was three, one, two.

At Embrasse you can choose from the a la carte menu or degustation, 5 course degustation is $90 per person (or $145 with matched wines) and 8 course degustation is $120 per person (or $215 with matched wines). We decided on the 5 course degustation and opted to choose our own wines.

It is at this point, dear reader, that I need to make a confession. We went to Embrasse quite a while ago, but I did take notes! Apologies if any of my comments are somewhat vague…

First off, an amuse bouche of tasting spoons:

Next up was kingfish, steamed for a little bit:

The foam was made from chorizo and mussels and had a salty and smokey flavour. There was a hint of lemon from the wood sorrel and saltiness from the seagreens. The kingfish was incredibly delicate.

Next was the meli melo of vegetables, emulsions and purees, with home grown herbs and flowers:

Doesn’t that just look like a work of art on the plate? The meli melo has become somewhat a signature dish for Embrasse (insofar as it competes with the other ‘signature’ dish of the forest floor dessert) and loosely translates to ‘bit of this and that’ or a jumble.

The plate consisted of a range of perfectly cooked and seasoned vegetables, some of which came from producers in Donvale and Warrandyte. Some of the more interesting vegetables included black radish and coloured carrots, and there was also baby parsnip, zucchini and squash. On the outer perimeters were a couple of sauces – pea puree, beetroot and mushroom.  Then the edible flowers and herbs on top. It was quite a fun dish to eat, I tried all the bits individually and then mixed bits and pieces together.

Next was a palate cleanser of celery, apple and wasabi granita:

This had a slight heat from the wasabi and was very refreshing.

On to the meat course, we had the Australian pink veal, Daylesford old style vegetables, sprouting seeds, hazelnut, radish:

Despite appearances, the emulsion was actually carrot. The meat was rich and tender. I enjoyed the toasty and earthy crunch of the seeds.

Saskia’s meat free version was quite similar:

The ‘main’ dishes were served with a simply dressed (but very tasty) salad of green leaves:

Next was the cheese platter, consisting of a washed rind, a Daylesford cheddar and Roquefort:

Everyone seemed to have a favourite here, Saskia monopolised the Roquefort, I adored the washed rind and Mr M focused on the cheddar.

Finally, the much lauded ‘forest floor’ dessert:

The dessert consists of chocolate mushrooms cleverly made out of meringue with a hazelnut parfait dome. The ‘forest floor’ is dehydrated flourless chocolate cake. Other foresty accents include the sorrel mint granita and herbs. As an additional bonus, asides from the chocolate tuile, the dessert is gluten free. Win!

I really liked the whimsy of this dessert. As with many of the dishes, I also enjoyed the sense of discovery, tasting bits and pieces and then putting them together. Yum.

All in all, a wonderful night. At Embrasse there is a focus on the quality of the ingredients and a light touch. Service was friendly and relaxed. We unwittingly were the last customers to leave (we didn’t notice as we were in the upstairs room) but we were not hurried at all. An excellent meal and highly recommended – it was a lovely birthday celebration for Mr M.

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Lots of other bloggers have enjoyed Embrasse too. Check out reviews from Melbourne Gastronome, Essjay Eats and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

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Details

Embrasse
312 Drummond Street, Carlton, Vic
Ph: (03) 9347 3312

Mr M and I recently visited Next Door Diner for a Friday night date. Next Door Diner has been on my to visit list for ages. It has a great pedigree in that it is owned and run by the team behind the Breakfast Club (which I loved), and which is located next door (get it?).

The space is warm and a bit dark, perfect for “date night”. It was relaxed and comfortable and surprisingly, not too loud, given all the hard surfaces.

Everything at Next Door Diner is meant for sharing and the menu is divided into small, large and side dishes. Small dishes veer from crispy chicken wingettes ($8 for 3) to veal and sauerkraut ($7.50) to artichoke barigoule with mussels ($14). Larger dishes include wild barramundi cooked in paper ($22) and free range chicken ($20).

After discussions with our waitress, we went for one small dish, two large dishes and two side dishes. To start, local spicy sausage with celery, endive and shanklish ($16):

The sausage was indeed spicy (as advertised) and the shanklish provided a nice rich, creaminess to offset the heat.

Next, we shared the pork cheek with soft egg, green sauce and toast ($18):

The pork was soft and incredibly tender. There was a nice acidity to the green sauce and the egg was perfectly cooked and oozed its yolk all over the toast.

Our other ‘main’ dish was the Plains Paddock lamb ($26.50):

This beautiful piece of meat sat atop pearl barley, which was studded with anchovies, spinach and pork lardon. A rich lamb sauce covered the barley and the anchovy was quite subtle (a win for me, as I am not a huge anchovy fan - despite Mr M’s best efforts).

Our side dishes arrived, a special which was an ’ancient grain’ salad and organic dutch cream potatoes with rosemary salt ($8.50):

I was super excited about the ancient grain salad as I am always on the look out for interesting uses of alternative grains. The salad had quinoa, freekah and buckwheat and was topped with thin slivers of pork fat and cheese. I liked the nuttiness of the grains coupled with the richness of the pork. It is on my to-do list to combine grains in more interesting ways, so this was some delicious inspiration. The potatoes were crunchy little morsels of heaven.

The only criticism of our meal was that it was quite filling with all the grains (in the salad and served with the lamb) coupled with the potatoes – although this really came down to our choices. A better choice of second side dish would have been something lighter like a garden salad ($8) or slow roasted beetroot with walnuts and goats cheese ($10).

Despite our fullness, we found some room for dessert (and I’m glad we did!). Desserts include pear & date frangipane tart, which is made to order ($11), warm cinnamon doghnuts with vanilla sauce and apple sauce ($10) and an impressive selection of local cheeses – Donnybrook Pastorello, Tarago River Triple Cream and Gippsland Blue. I had to order the chocolate mousse with prosecco poached rhubarb ($12):

So gorgeous! The prosecco laced rhubarb was quite tart, providing a perfect backdrop to the rich and silky mousse.

All in all, a great night out. Friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere and great food. I can’t wait to go back!

Details

Next door diner
204 St Georges Rd, Northcote
Ph: (03) 9939 1350