eating

Melbourne’s sunny-time lunch spots

Posted on by Chanie

“It’s sunny outside! Let’s have lunch!”

It’s funny how much the weather in Melbourne phenomenally dictates how we spend our lunch-break.

If it’s blowing a gale, has blizzard like arctic winds or is raining cats and dogs I’ll eat at my desk. If I’ve brought my own lunch… I’ll eat at my desk…

I don’t think that I am the only winter desk hermit in Melbourne… 

However…

As soon as it’s warm or sunny (which means anything over 18 degrees in Melbourne), city workers throw caution to the wind, throw off their wooly coats, fling on some thongs, sunnies and maybe even a hat and venture outside to welcome the change in climate.

So where do you go for lunch in Melbourne when it’s sunny outside?

I’ve managed to find some top spots to have an alfresco bite or beverage. I don’t mean finding a table if you’re lucky, these places often have room to indulge in some vitamin D replenishment and serve some tasty grub too… with enough room for friends

Trunk – 275 Exhibition Street – This one is great, if you sit in the garden you can choose either the fancy schmancy restaurant menu or the diner menu so it has a price range to suit everyone. Best to get there at around 12PM on a lovely day to get a seat.

Campari House Rooftop – 23-25 Hardware Lane – Has a rooftop pizza menu from 12pm which is great for sharing a couple of pizzas and drinks, also a good after work meeting place!

The Carlton – Balcony or rooftop (Palmz) – Lunch Thurs-Sat only – Pub grub, Thursday has a $15 Parma and pot, otherwise there are nibbles and other (albeit spruced up) pub fare

Section 8 – 27-29 Tattersalls lane – I LOVE this place and now they do lunch, and its so cheap! Funky as hell and great on a hot day… if you go after work, go early

Riverland Bar – Federation wharf (under Princess bridge) – Has a really big lunch menu that will suit all budgets and a great view of the Yarra, really close to Fed Square

Ponyfish Island – Under the bridge that joins over the Yarra… I haven’t been to this one, but it looks like fun and is certainly a very different location so it had to rate a mention!

Madame Brussels – 59-63 Bourke Street – Not a typical lunch menu, which means a spot in the sun is pretty easy to get at lunchtime. They have some lovely chicken sandwiches you should try

” What if I can’t afford it?”

There is nothing better on a gorgeous sunny day in Melbourne than grabbing some sushi (always my fav cheap lunch) and finding a patch of grass in one of Melbourne’s many gorgeous parks…

Treasury Gardens

Try the Treasury Gardens, they are my favourite! If you can stand the sheer amount of fitness junkies jogging and puffing their way through the surrounds.

Of course there are a plethora of places in Melbourne with outdoor dining options (I’ve left off Southgate, Federation Sq and countless amazing alleys I know!) 

Let me know your favourites and I’ll have to go and try them next time the Melbourne weather decides to play nice!

What’s the best Mexican in Melbourne?

Posted on by Chanie

Enchilada amigo? Muchos gracias Senor!

That’s about the extent of my ability to speak “Mexican” unless you throw in the word nacho, taco and tequila…

and yes… I’m aware the language is Spanish, and that’s casually racist. Mmm Churros *drool*

Alas I’m getting side tracked…

I have been referred to as a Mexican by my New South Wales and Queensland friends for many years (in Melbourne we are south of the border) 😐

As far as I can remember dishes like Tacos, Nachos and Burritos were always on the menu as a quick throw together meal, and el cheapo trips to Taco Bill in my Uni days I can look back on fondly… Pancho Villa and a free sombrero anyone?

Recently I was planning my birthday dinner and was on the hunt for a good value for money cuisine option that would suit a multitude of tastes. With this in mind I stumbled across a plethora of Mexican restaurants…

I’m not talking about chain style restaurants like Taco Bill or Montezuma but, funky, hip and dare I say trendy places that all spouted the line of real Mexican!

When I asked some advice about where to go, it seemed that everyone had an opinion on the best mexican in Melbourne, and all had a restaurant that they either frequented regularly or were dying to visit.

So I’m posing some questions… Is Mexican the new cool kid in the food playground? Or are people’s restricted budgets driving them to seek cheaper yet still fresh alternatives?

Gone are the days when Mexican (thanks to Old El Paso $5 kits) is a quick at home fix, or a cheesy greasy fast food style restaurant option…

In the end I ended up going to a pub for my birthday dinner…

Why? Finding a mexican restaurant that would take 20 people; without having to go with a set menu was a task (and story) better suited to another blog!

Mugarita?

I did get to a funky place called Touche Hombre for lunch, which I have to admit was fantastic!

I will definitely be returning… mmm Margarita in a mug! Mugarita?

Perhaps it can be my “best Mexican in Melbourne” restaurant, but I’d better try the others first!These are some that were suggested to me as alternatives:

 

 

I’m sure that there are plenty more… let me know so I can try them out!

Nem Nuong… Nom nom nom

Posted on by Chanie

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An excellent recommendation from our guide in Dalat was to try “Nem Nuong”…

A do it yourself type arrangement, Nem Nuong is served as BBQ pork strips with crispy pork skin, pickled salad veggies, Vietnamese herbs (mint, coriander etc), garlic and red onions and rice paper.

You basically throw all the ingredients into the rice paper, constructing them into hand rolls yourself, then dip them into a satay style sauce.

A great blend of tastes, and judging how busy the restaurant was at 4pm in low season it’s quite a popular dish!

Next challenge is to find some in Melbourne or move to Dalat

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Bahn Cuon and Canh Chua Ca oh my!

Posted on by Chanie

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So we’re in Hoi An… And about to leave which is a shame as it’s a fantastic place!

In case you were wondering not everything we eat here is for a challenge, we’ve had some amazingly normal tasty dishes since arriving.

2 in particular that were on the list were astoundingly great!

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Pho sure!

Posted on by Chanie

Mmm… Beefy broth, rice noodles, spices, herbs and tender beef…

Beef Pho (Pho Bo)

I’ve entered a pho-coma

Pho is a delicious… no INSANELY DELICIOUS soup, and can be prepared in many different ways. Most commonly in Melbourne it’s referred to as Pho Bo (Beef), Pho Ga (Chicken) or a vegetarian variety (I don’t bother with vego as the broth is made from beef anyway), and the essential make-up of the dish is generally the same.

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Eating Chicken Feet: A question of taste…

Posted on by Chanie

Yum Cha Lunch

It’s only 32 days till Vietnam…

…and my once eager palette and taste buds have hit a roadblock.

It happened last week when I was out to Yum Cha lunch in Bourke St with my mother… Salivating at the thought of an endless supply of dumplings and Chinese delights mum and I ordered eagerly from every cart that rolled past our table for 4, that even though there were only 2 of us we had somehow managed to fill with steam baskets and plates within the first 10 minutes. Prawn dumplings, shark-fin dumplings, Prawn and vegetable, chinese broccoli, steamed eggplant and prawn rolls, warm tofu custard, crab meat parcels and every single way you can think of to cook, bake or fry a prawn trundled past…

Then… came the chicken feet…

Now, chicken feet are on my list of things to try in Vietnam… and there they were, sitting in their bamboo basket all crispy and golden and part of the “All-you-can-eat” lunch deal right in front of my face… a million thoughts went through my head like “why not? you’re already here anyway!”, “ew, you can’t eat that!” and “can my mum stomach the sight of my gnawing on chook toes?” Finally I settled on a lame excuse that “I wanted to leave room for more dumplings” and politely declined…

Declined an opportunity to test my mettle, and if I’m honest I “chickened out” when put on the spot…

… so the question is, do I risk wigging out and possibly missing out in Vietnam? Or do I drag myself back to yum-cha, order a plate of fried chook feet and get stuck into them claws and all?

Chicken Feet

I also passed on the tripe… but who doesn’t?

Side note: After discussing chicken feet with a few friends who have been game enough to try them, apparently they are delicious… especially with plum sauce, and that if I can’t do the feet that the un-born eggs will be no-chance for me!

Eating Ethiopian food in Melbourne

Posted on by Chanie

Ethiopian food is something new to me…

I need to recommend a certain restaurant I REALLY enjoyed the other day!

Highly recommended by various Internet sources, I found myself at “The Abyssinian” in Kensington one Friday night who serve up Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine “From the Horn of Africa”. It was suggested to order the chef’s meat platter selection, to which we were greeted with an absolutely MASSIVE plate of food…

Spicy lamb, beans, white lentils, goat, dark lentils, chicken casserole, roasted spicy pumpkin, and fish all served upon delicious Injera bread that has the consistency of a bubbly thick crepe with a tart but not too strong vinegary but also sweet taste. I’ll have to eat there again to remember all the names…

Some of the spices are were not for the faint hearted in fact the lamb was pretty darn hot on the spice-o-meter, but all the meat just fell apart in the mouth, even the goat which I have previously found gamey and tough, was not chewy in the slightest.

The entire meal reflected flavours that have been honed to perfection for donkeys years, which i would describe as comforting food that feeds the senses. The colours, the smells, and the tastes all blend together, and it was impossible to find a dish on the plate that didn’t go beautifully with all the others…

Except the salad, not sure it belonged there with what tasted similar to an Italian style dressing poured over it… That said you could have rolled me down the street afterwards from the amount of food consumed so there’s not much point getting hung up over a few lettuce leaves!

There is also something incredibly satisfying about not having to use cutlery to eat… The bread that covers up the plate is your cutlery and does a better job than a spoon would in mopping up all the sauces… my top also did a great job, bibs would be a great idea when eating with your hands, especially if you’re as clumsy as I am!

Got a hot tip from the restaurant boss too… Each restaurant has its own signature dishes so it’s a good idea to try as many of them as you can as they all have something different to try…

Challenge accepted!

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Check out The Abyssinian on Urbanspoon:
The Abyssinian on Urbanspoon

Don’t trust a ham sandwich…

Posted on by Chanie

The root of all evil

There are a few things i’ve learned about unsafe food so far on my travels that will hopefully assist me and my stomach in the future…

Imagine for a moment… you’ve woken up in the idyllic setting of a Railay Beach resort in Thailand, keen to get around doing some rock climbing, or scuba diving or generally hang out on the beach… you wake up 1/2 an hour before you have to so that you can gulp down 2 imodium with water and lie there fingers crossed that they take hold for the next few hours… you know at this stage that if you stand up at any point, you will be calling god from the porcelain telephone all morning or worse things will come from the other end… you know this because this is the same routine you have had to endure for the past week…

… all because of a ham sandwich… a last-minute… “yeah whatever, that will do…” ham sandwich…

The kitchens of Thailand, as a general rule don’t really follow the same strict refrigeration rules and regulations we have come to enjoy in Australia, and their preparation procedures can sometimes leave a lot to be desired as well. I know you’re probably thinking “duh, of course! Why would you even eat a ham sandwich over there?” and my answer would be… 

“Yes… I’m an idiot” I didn’t think… I thought I’d be ok… and I let my concentration lapse. 

Even though losing 11kgs in 2 weeks might seem a blessing to some, getting dysentery whilst overseas (I’m lucky it wasn’t worse and my imodium x buscopan concoction worked) isn’t for the faint hearted and can leave you incredibly weak, incredibly tired and it incredibly f*cks up your trip… So here’s a list of things to consider food wise (more so in S.E Asia) to hopefully help others avoid my messy fate: 

  • Don’t drink the water…
  • See above… ice = water… don’t drink that either
  • See above above… Shakes (i.e. Mango Lassi or any Lassi etc.) = water
  • If you are going to drink the water, buy those purifying tablets (even though they taste like crap)
  • Boiling water first also works a treat
  • Bottled water = OK 🙂
  • Don’t drink the shower water and use bottled water to brush your teeth
  • Avoid Cold meat platters, cheese platters
  • Avoid unpasteurized dairy products (check the labels)
  • Eat where lots of people eat… never eat from a street vendor with no-one there
  • Eat what you can see has been or is being freshly cooked
  • Wash your hands before you eat… there is always poo on them apparently
  • Make sure the water you wash your hands with is “safe water”
  •  Check that the cutlery is not too filthy… cutlery sometimes = hands
  • Beware of raw meats, runny eggs and fruit you haven’t peeled yourself
  • Edit from wordpress comment: Avoid shellfish as the refrigeration temps are all over the place (Thanks Misty!)
  • And the best of the best tip… Alcohol and spice is everything nice! They both contain goodies that kill germs… while this isn’t a foolproof remedy I can recommend this option!

So there you have it… if there are any other suggestions or home remedies to prevent against or cure getting food poisoning I’d love to hear them!