#throwbackthursday review: Swan Street Social, Richmond

Let's get it out of the way: both M and I are big fans of Noir and Swan St Social. In my opinion, along with perhaps Movida, they do the best beef tartares in Melbourne. Their are super flavoursome and the meat is fresh but has a well developed flavour. I also love the little Their waldorf salad is also really delicious. I must admit, the first time I had this at Noir was actually the first time in my life I'd ever tried a waldorf. It's sort of one of those dishes which was enormously popular back in the day but you really don't see much of anymore. However, if other waldorfs are as good as the one at Noir/Swan St Social, then I'm definitely a convert.


The last time we went to SSS, the tartare and waldorf were served as one dish, and they certainly make for an excellent starter. We also got some jamon iberico to start, which was delicious (when is iberico ever not?) but not hand cut. It was however, noticeably better than the more expensive supposedly 36 month old iberico we had at Portello Rosso only a few nights before. M had a fish dish in a spicy tomato based sauce with potatos and some plump mussels. While his dish was tasty, I much preferred mine of a fat piece of pork belly on a celeriac remoulade and some grated apple. Delicious. The pork was really well flavoured and rendered and the balance of flavours was just right. The side dish we got, cauliflower au gratin was really nice but nothing terribly special.


However, overall the food was really great at a very very reasonable price. Unfortunately, though, I don't believe SSS serve full meals any longer but only 'bar snacks'. However, if you want a really great dinner/lunch head downstairs to the sister restaurant Noir (review to come).

Dinner @ Rice Paper Scissors

So if I got a free meal each time someone described the restaurant as 'the next Chin Chin', I would have had at least 5 free meals, and one of them would have been at Rice, Paper, Scissors.

Now, to be honest, I think the only feature of Chin Chin worth imitating is its cash flow. It is the epitome of the 'popular because its popular' circular logic of the Melbourne dining scene. So I am not going to compare RPS to it. What I am going to do is describe to you a nice, well priced, meal.

I went to RPS on a Tuesday night at 8pm and only just managed to snag two spots on a shared table. RPS serves tapas style dishes that draw their inspiration from all over Asia, but primarily from Thailand and Vietnam. Prices per dish vary, but cap out at about $18 for a large 'meal for one' salad. However, for $55 you can get a spread of any 5 of their tapas dishes.

The old school chum I was dining with thought that was the way to go, and I tended to agree. We ordered the Lamb Ribs in Mekong Whisky, Thai Fried Chicken with Siracha Mayo, Grilled Pork Neck, Masaman Beef Wrap and the 'Flying Tiger' Beef. We were both a bit worried about portion sizes prior to the meal arriving, but were very pleasantly surprised.

The lamb ribs (pictured above) were super soft and rendered to sticky perfection in a rich, sweet, whisky sauce. I would say they approach being the RPS signature dish and should feature on your table when ordering.

The Thai Fried Chicken was also great. The batter was as crispy as it was spicy and made for a crunchy fiery hit. The siracha mayo also hit he spot and I used it to add some extra kick to the next dish, the masaman beef wrap.

The wrap was the only real disappointment out of the 5. It wasn't bad, it was just quite blad. Ground beef, flat bread and salad, nothing much more to say - I wouldn't get it again.

Next up was the grilled pork neck. It was basically char siew pork with a Vietnamese twist. However, it was super chary on the outside, really moist in the center and spiced to perfection. The salad that it came with was also a nice twist.

The final arrival was the 'Flying Tiger' beef. It was steak that had been soaked in a spice and alcohol mixture and then grilled till it had a chard crust (but was still medium rare on the inside). It was served with a super hot dipping sauce and what were described as 'betel leaves' to wrap the meat in for dipping. They didn't look like betel leaves to me, neither did they taste like them, reminding me more of the bitter greens at Attica. However, the dish without the leaves was an excellent way to finish off.

I didn't make it to their extensive dessert menu, however I'm definitely going to head back for another round. Good work RPS, you lived up to the hype, and were better than Chin Chin to boot.

Birthday Cake @ Le Petit Gateau

I have gone in to Le Petit Gateau several times for their absolutely delicious milk chocolate, orange and cardamom hot chocolates. Each time I have stood waiting for my drink I have looked into their display cabinet and seen the amazing cakes on offer with a great amount of desire and envy.

Fortunately, to celebrate a recent birthday in our office, the firm bought two of their amazing cakes for us to enjoy. On offer was the Hazelnut Praline Mud Cake (rich flourless choc-hazelnut mud cake slathered in dark chocolate ganache icing) and the Salted Caramel White Chocolate Cake (A light and delicate white chocolate sponge covered in an amazingly rich salted caramel icing).

Both of the cakes were amazing. I was a particular fan of the Hazelnut Praline Mud Cake as it combined a moist, rich, sweet mud cake core with the bitter-orange citrus note of a very fine dark chocolate in the ganache. (I will admit to having had two slices of it because it was just so amazing, but please don't tell R!)

The Salted Caramel White Chocolate cake was also delicious, however, it was perhaps just a little too sweet for me to want to rush back to it. However I do tend to prefer more astringent tastes in my desserts, so I suspect most people would find it absolutely delicious.

I would highly recommend Le Petit Gateau either for your next birthday cake, or as a beautiful Parisian style cafe to sit in and enjoy a nice hot chocolate alongside an incredible slice of cake.

Melbourne's best Reuben sandwich @ Mason Dixon, Collins St

So it took a very long time, but the Reuben at Bowery to Williamsburg is no longer the best in town. That honour now goes to the wonderful people at Mason Dixon on Collins Street. They are a new outfit that has already generated big lunchtime crowds, and with very good reason.

I had their signature dish, the MD Reuben (grass fed corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, on toasted rye) and a slice of their house made key lime pie.

The MD Ruben was perfect. The ratios of corned beef, to kraut, to cheese to dressing were all amazing. My big criticism of the Bowery Reuben over time has been the sheer volume of filling (often compensating for the quality of the inputs) as well as the fattiness of the meat. At Mason Dixon, the ratios are right, and the flavours and textures from each element just sing through. Nothing overwhelms anything else and the burst of flavour from each bite was truly excellent. The corned beef was also amazing, perfectly lean and flavoursome. It also came with a great pickle, mini pretzels on the side. They also (thoughtfully) included a mint for post lunch breath freshening. I've *never* had that before!

I am not generally the biggest sandwich fan, but the MD ones are well worth eating. I really enjoyed the key lime pie too, it was tart and the pastry was super short. However, great as it was, all I really wanted to do after finishing the MD Reuben was eat another MD Reuben. 

Photo of the week: chicken and waffles @ Mr Big Stuff

I'd heard good things about Mr Big Stuff from friends and colleagues so I decided to duck in for a quick dinner on my way home from work with a friend. On a Tuesday night it was relatively easy to get a table for two, but the warm, funky ambiance still made the place seem lively.

I ordered the Fried Chicken on Waffles (a generous serving of delicious, cajun spiced, fried chicken, on beautiful light fluffy waffles with a pot of spiced maple syrup to go with it) and really enjoyed myself. The chicken was super crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and had a really nice kick to it. The waffle was cloud like and wonderful, a perfect recreation of the 'American' style waffles that tend to be lighter and fluffier than the ones we get here. Of special note though was the spiced maple syrup - it was the real deal and delicious, a perfect accompaniment to the dish. These days, too many places give you 'maple flavored syrup' a cheaper alternative that ought to remain where it started, with your hotcakes at McDonald's. I get that genuine maple syrup is expensive, but if you don't want to spring for it, or on-charge it to your customers, leave it off the menu! Props to Mr Big Stuff for getting something so awesome so right.

I would be back for the place, however, it is a bit overpriced for what it is and no matter how delicious the Mr. Big Stuff fried chicken waffles are, I think Bowery to Williamsburg (review to come) does it better.

Drinks @ Eau de Vie, Melbourne

Photo credit: Dmitri Nikulin

Late one winter’s evening I met my dear friend Dmitri (who took the wonderfully atmospheric photos that accompany this review) for a drink at Eau de Vie.

Eau is hidden away, tucked behind a nondescript door in a back alley off Flinders Lane at the Paris end. But it is worth finding. As you step through the door you are transported decades into the past as the deep carpets, and rich dark wood, absorb both the sounds of the other patrons and the cares of the world.

The staff are polite and extremely knowledgeable about what is an incredibly extensive drinks menu. As demonstrated by the photo above, they have spirits from every corner of the globe, and many of the bottles are special hard to find varieties that few other bars carry.

Photo credit: Dmitri Nikulin

Dmitri ordered an ‘Old Fashioned’ (Two parts whisky, house bitters, sugar, rind) with a special bourbon called Booker Noe’s (62.5% and an intense maple flavour). I had a Glenfarclas 21yo neat (but with just a drop of water to help open the flavours).

The cocktail was expertly made and my whisky was allowed to air just enough to make drinking it a special experience. The ambiance, service, quality of product and range of drinks makes a trip to Eau de Vie well worthwhile. I will be back.

Toasted cheese and smoked cola @ Boombap, Melbourne

Boombap has become one of my new favourites for a sandwich on the run. Though it takes some finding, the hunt is well worth the reward.

I ordered a Grilled Cheese Sandwich (American Cheddar Cheese, Dijon Mustard and Jalapeños on the most amazing sourdough toast) and a bottle of StrangeLove Smoked Cola.

The sandwich was fantastic, perfectly toasted and crunchy on the outside with a wonderfully gooey (and spicy) cheese filling. A toasted cheese is one of those things that either hits the spot or fails painfully, and Boombap was right on target. Not to mention that it came with amazing sliced pickle on the side and a generous serving of crinkle cut chips. Amazingly satisfying.

Also satisfyingly delicious was the StrangeLove Smoked Cola. I hadn’t heard of the brand before, but Boombap is proud to be one of the first places carrying the product. I am sure glad they do, and will be back for bottles of the stuff in future. Imagine a wonderfully citrusy and herby cola (almost a cinnoto) that in an of itself is the perfect balance of sour and sweet. Then infuse that with a rich hickory smoke. It was a revelation, and you really need to try it.

Boombap, your food is great, your staff are lovely, your little shop is super funky. You have a new convert, and I will be back. 

Chinese New Year dinner @ Bistro Nguyen's, Canberra

My friend W and I had been talking about going to Bistro Nguyen's for a little while since we'd noticed it pop up in a conspicuous space in the middle of Civic. I randomly selected a night, invited a few people and hey presto. Turned out I had inadvertently selected the night of Chinese New Year so it became a little celebration of sorts.

BN has been receiving some mixed reviews on Urbanspoon so while there was some niggling reluctance, I was still keen to try it. Being the pho fiend that I am, I went for a bowl of rare beef pho and I shared a grilled beef banh mi with our friend L. The pho was good, the broth is aromatic and rich and it came in a nice big bowl. I would have liked the soup to be hotter, however. By far the worst part of the pho though was the beef. While it soft and thinly sliced it definitely tasted very funky, as in not very fresh at all. The problematic beef was even more problematic in the banh mi, which I can safely say was the worst banh mi I'd ever had. I didn't even finish my half of it; I had never before not finished a banh mi before. Firstly the bread was not very good, not very crispy like a good banh mi roll should be; there also weren't enough vegetables and herbs and the spring onion was non existent. However, again by far the worst element and the bit that just spoiled the thing completely was the beef. While there was lots of it, it was lots of very bad tasting beef. Again the beef tasted vaguely off; quite smelly and just not very fresh at all. It was also very very wet like it had been boiled rather than the good charry meat you expect in a grilled meat banh mi.

I was also a bit troubled by the service; the waitresses were rather abrupt throughout the evening and seemed very disorganised as demonstrated by their fumbling and mixups when a couple of people at the table asked about the house white. On top of that, they refused to give us the bill at the table. Fair enough they wanted us to pay at the counter and we were happy to do that, but at least give us a receipt to take to the table of 7 so we can work out how much people need to pay. We had to gestimate based on the menu but we ended up being short when we took the money up to the counter, after which time they just gave me the receipt to take back to the table. How hard is it to do that in the first instance so we can save everyone some time and hassle? Lastly, they have a $2 credit card surcharge; probably the biggest I've ever seen in a restaurant and kinda ridiculous when we were paying by Visa not Amex.

Overall don't be fooled by the cool looking decor and graphic walls, there are definitely Vietnamese restaurants with much better food and service in Canberra.

#throwbackthursday Canberra reviews: Poacher's Pantry and Knead Patisserie

Poacher's Pantry
I know Poacher's Pantry is technically in NSW but it's so close to Canberra it's basically considered a Canberra place. The place comes highly recommended by many Canberrans and upon a glowing recommendation by a friend of M's, we booked a table for my birthday lunch.

PP is family owned and run. The estate not only has the restaurant, but sells wines and smoked goods too. Because the place is effectively situated on a farm, it can be a bit fiddly to get there. We had a little bit of trouble finding the place and the driveway wasn't exactly easy on the Michelins. After I have a slightly wobbly trot in my blue pumps through the dusty track, we finally arrived at the restaurant. I suppose the decor (the space looked like it had been converted from a house) would hold some charm for some but I personally found it quite plain and decidedly 'Canberra'.

M and I were really looking forward to trying their charcuterie plate, given that this place specialises in, and makes its own, smallgoods. For the $33 price tag, the serving was pretty disappointing. While the smoked goods on the platter were very tasty, including some really good smoked ham, there was a very small serving of it. The rest of the platter was filled with mostly pretty standard antipasto assortments (e.g. olives) which I could definitely take or leave.

For mains, I chose a smoked chicken pie which was decently tasty flavour wise (smoked chicken was very good) but I found it rather dry, partly because there there was too much pastry to the amount of (scarce) filling. It was also pretty damn small for the price; I can't remember exactly how much it was but I remember it beinf definitely expensive for what it was. The worst part of it though was probably the pear salad that accompanied it. It was legit a few lettuce leaves stacked on top of each other plus some super ripe pear. I'm not a fan of ripe pear at the best of times but in a salad it's particularly bad. I love some crispy and refreshing pear in a salad but when that pear is ripe it just completely spoils it in my opinion.

Poor M's main wasn't much better at all. He had the pork belly which was served atop some flavourless quinoa and a smear of sweet potato. The pork belly was was disappointing, not only was it not particularly well flavoured, it was very fatty; it definitely needed some more rendering to make it unctuous but not oily. Worst of all, the crackling was non existent—the skin was soggy— and the splash of jus (why even bother with jus/sauce if you're gonna have that tiny an amount?) right on top of the skin certainly didn't help things.

Overall we both disappointed and thought it was definitely overpriced for the food and experience you got. However, the one really good thing to come out of our meal here was that we discovered Knead, whose bread is served at Poacher's Pantry.



Knead Patisserie
Yes the discovery of Knead at PP was very serendipitous indeed. We've since been back a number of times, and it's become a favourite haunt of ours in Canberra. It's a little boulangerie/patisserie in the Belconnen markets, certainly not the chicest location in the world but Knead is definitely a diamond in the rough. M loves the croissants and pains au chocolat here (I've yet to try them) and says the coffee is great too. We both love their tarts (fantastic thin short pastry and really nice curd) too. The last time I came here, I also tried one their pies (it was chicken and tarragon at the time but the filling changes often) which was delicious and a bargain at under $5. However, perhaps the best reason to come here is to pick up a loaf of their amazing sourdough. Chewy but not hard, deliciously sour and a fantastically moist crumb; it's pretty damn perfect. No joke, Knead is probably my favourite place in Canberra, insofar as they do what they do fantastically well.

Photo of the week: Chicken Chop Rice @ Pho 888, Box Hill

I really miss working in Box Hill. It was a great office where I made some great friends and I was pretty much always happy and carefree. Part of the enjoyment of working in Box Hill was the location and being in very close proximity to the town centre and the numerous and very good Asian restaurants nearby. Pho 888 is definitely one of those and I'm not really sure why I didn't go there more often, probably because there was so much choice around the area. My colleagues and I would try to make the time to go out together for lunch once a fortnight and on one of these occasions we ended up at Pho 888.

While some my colleagues went for a big bowl of pho or some rice paper rolls, I chose the Chicken Chop on Rice. This turned out to be an amazing—the chicken chop was a huge piece of chicken thigh butterflied out and marinated with plenty of lemongrass and other flavoursome goodness. This rendered the meat SO well flavoured and juicy while being super super charry. The charry lemongrass goodness also permeated the rice which sits below. I even enjoyed the token vegetables on the side, which included pickled carrot. In order words, everything on the plate was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mocha Jo's, Kingsway, Glen Waverley

There was a time say, five or six years ago, when you could count on three places on Kingsway in Glen Waverley for high quality food and excellent coffee: Coco Lounge, Zest 89 and Mocha Jo’s. On a good day they could compete with the highest of high end brunch places that dot Carlton and the CBD. Now Coco and Zest are well below average, only looking in any way favorable in comparison to the truly terrible competitors that have sprung up like weeds around them.

The only place that retains any of its former glory is Mocha Jo’s. It is still an acceptable place to visit for breakfast, and when I am in Glen Waverley meeting friends, it is my go-to backup.

I came here for breakfast with two friends and between us we ordered the Eggs Benedict with Spinach, Buttermilk Pancakes with Berry Compote and the Big Breakfast.

In order of enjoyment:

The Eggs Benedict were apparently a good choice. The eggs seemed really nicely poached, and the little scrape of hollandaise I tried tasted house-made and really quite nice. It looked a little silly at the centre of a super large plate – but hey that’s what sides are for I suppose.

I had the pancakes. They were nice. Not amazing. The berry compote was really tasty, but the mascarpone cream was too sweet and too rich, with none of the mascarpone flavor I was hoping for to cut through the sweetness of the pancakes. The pot of ‘maple syrup’ I thought was a nice touch, at least until I tried it and realised it was ‘maple flavoured syrup’ in the vein of what you get at McDonalds. I get that maple syrup is expensive, but don’t do a bait and switch with it. Just pile on more berry compote and leave it there.

Worst of the bunch – although not terrible – was the Big Breakfast. I mean look at the picture, it doesn’t really scream innovation or even amazing portion size! The friend who ate it is a bit of a weights junky and will generally go for volume over quality, however he was mildly dissatisfied in terms of the taste and still looked hungry by the end of it.

So in summation, if you absolutely must eat brunch on Kingsway your best choice is probably  Mocha Jo’s. However, if you feel like something sweet and an excellent coffee, I would really suggest you go to Hugo’s Cafe and Dessert Bar. 

100 things to like about Canberra reviews: Brodburger and Koko Black

Brodburger
Brodburger is well very known around Canberra, inevitably you will try this place within a month of living here. In fact it made the '100 things to like about Canberra' list. If you want a chuckle, check out list. It's pretty hilarious especially when one of the 100 things is 'closeness to Sydney'—you know a city is great when one of its 100 greatest things is its proximity to another city. Anyway I've been to burger few times now and have also tried Broddogs.

I've always found Brod's burgers really good and evidently, the rest of Canberra does too judging but the list and the fact that the line is always huge. Pro tip: phone order you meal in advance to skip the queues. Anyway the most recent time I went I was actually a little disappointed. It had been a good while since I'd had one, maybe 6 months or so and it definitely wasn't as good as I remember it.

I usually get the bacon and egg Brodburger. While the pattie used to be charry but still juicy, this time the patty was sort of wet and undercooked. Unless the beef used for a minced patty is truly amazing, I actually don't like my burgers done medium or medium rare. It was also pretty damn flavourless. This might have been partly because we picked up our burgers a little late and most of the aoli had slipped out of the burger and accumulated at the bottom of the bag, but I remember the patty itself being better flavoured than this. The rest of the burger was ok—the bread is always soft and perfect for a burger and the salad wilted but that was our fault for picking it up late; I would have preferred the bacon more crispy but it was really the patty that was the main bummer.



Koko Black
KB is another one on the Canberra 100 list; while again this is a little sad, this place is actually pretty good. The decor is suprisingly luxe for a place like this—lots of wood and upholstered leather—it reminded me of a library in an old house. The service was very pleasant and welcoming and the prices are definitely not exorbitant. The menu is pretty extensive and of course it's dominated by chocolate. I laughed a bit at the one savoury item on the menu—a sandwich—and joked to my friend that they would probably freak out if anyone ever ordered it. While I was tempted—it was a pastrami sandwich and I LOVE pastrami—I ended up going with the iced salted caramel ($8) instead. This was huge and very tasty—rich but smooth and very nicely flavoured. The size, though, meant I only managed to finish about half of it.

-R

Goneburger, St Kilda

So according to the sign in Goneburger’s new pop-up retail store, when something is ‘Goneburger’, it means a good thing has slipped between your fingers, you’ve lost something before you really knew what you had.

I wonder if they were talking about the quality of their burgers?

If I can be frank, a 100% Urbanspoon rating (which Goneburger had at the time Snowcrabnebula dined there), based on a not insignificant number of votes, is generally enough for most blogs to abrogate their judgment to the people and commence fawning. I think Goneburger was hoping for exactly this.

I have heard very good things about the burgers that the Goneburger food truck serves up. However at the pop-up restraint the speed, taste and quality that the brand is known for is unfortunately Goneburger.

I went for dinner with two friends, and between us we ordered two Beef and Bacon Burgers (Organic beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, Spanish onion, pickle, crispy bacon, caramalised onion,  tomato sauce and mustard based ‘special sauce’ all on a Brioche bun), a Beef Burger (as above, just without the crispy bacon and caramalised onion) and two bowls of their ‘famous’ crispy chips.

Starting with the positives:

- The service was friendly, even though they seemed to be quite overstretched.
- The chips were super duper crispy and really nicely spiced.
- The place was located in the lobby of a 4 star hotel in St Kilda, so the bathrooms were nice, and they were offering a tray of free breakfast pastries for some unknown reason (this reviewer did not partake). 

Moving on to the negatives (or rather, the rest of the review):

Something was clearly going awry in the House of Goneburger. The place wasn’t busy (it can really only seat perhaps 25 people spread between inside and outside) and there would have been a maximum of 15 guests when I was there. However, it took more than 10 minutes of waiting at the counter for my order to be taken (albeit with repeated apologies) and a further 35 minutes for the burgers to arrive. Now I get that things go wrong in food service, and when I have a table of people to talk to, a bit over half an hour for food isn’t unforgiveable. But when it arrives after a long wait, I need the food to be good.

Unfortunately, the burgers were not particularly nice. I had the Beef and Bacon, and here is my report:

The brioche bun (when will burger joints stop offering freaking brioche buns) was exceedingly dry and particularly unappetizing. It was soaked in the ‘special’ mustard sauce top and bottom and I can say without hesitation that was the only thing that made it edible.

The bacon was OK. I guess it is hard to screw up bacon. It was sufficiently crispy. Bully Goneburger.

The caramalised onions were alright – a bit sweet, but apropos of nothing. They didn’t really suit the burger, especially given it already had raw Spanish onion. The burger certainly wouldn’t have suffered from their omission and it didn’t gain anything from having them there.

The patty was very disappointing. It just tasted of nothing and was quite dry. It was still pinkish right towards the centre, but the cook was a bit uneven. It had a nice melt of American cheese on top, but that was all I could really taste. Given the beef that Goneburger use is meant to be premium it was sad not to be able to taste the quality and their grillwork is clearly doing quite a disservice to the meat.

The salad was fresh enough and the pickles were nice. But that wasn’t going to redeem the burger.

My dining companion with the other Beef and Bacon reported similar things, although the recipient of the Beef Burger was more complimentary – particularly regarding the cook and taste of his patty. He had just returned from a burger odyssey in the States so his judgment was not to be discounted. However, at best that means the pop-up Goneburger produces an inconsistently good product, as opposed to a bad one.

So there you have it, 100% Urbanspoon ratings are not always indicative of a 100% experience. Caveat emptor. Your burger mileage may vary.