Late Night

Red Pepper

14 Bourke St, Melbourne 9654 5714

Vegetarian Thali

Aloo Baingan

Butter Chicken

Thoughts:

Vegetarian Thali – includes one paneer dish, one seasonal vegetable dish, daal makhani, rice, one plain naan and raita. Our vegetable dish was a spicy cauliflower and potato curry which turned out to be my favourite dish of the night. The paneer dish and the daal makhani were tasty but nothing extraordinary = Good

Aloo Baingan – eggplant cooked with potatoes, herbs and spices, served with raita and one plain naan (we requested garlic naan instead). This dish actually had a slightly sour undertone. I’m not sure if that was the intention, but I wasn’t a fan = Not bad

Butter Chicken – tender pieces of boneless tandoori chicken in creamed fresh tomatoes served with either two plain naans, one plain naan and small rice, or rice only. (we also requested garlic naan instead with this dish) = Good

Overall:

Although some of the staff had no idea what certain menu items were and that service was noticeably slow, this simple eatery does serve up cheap and enjoyable Indian food. Note that orders are taken up at the counter and that this place opens until 3am.

Acland St Cantina

2 Acland St, St Kilda 9536 1175

Salted caramel ice cream churros tacos

Triple chocolate & chilli trifle with passionfruit

Thoughts:

Churros tacos – I initially thought that this was going to be a mix between a churro and a taco but it turned out to be churros dough that had been piped out into a round flat shape. As it turned out the combination of warm cinnamon churros, cold salted caramel ice cream and crunchy praline, drizzled with dulce de leche sauce was just terrific = Excellent

Trifle – comprised of a passionfruit jelly-like layer, a chocolate mousse layer, a more dense chocolate layer, a scoop of some sort of sorbet (i couldn’t tell what is was because my tastebuds were overwhelmed by all of the chocolate!) and shaved white chocolate on top. There was no taste of chilli at all though. Maybe they forgot to add it? Nonetheless, a rich creation that I would recommend for any chocolate lover = Good

Overall:

I have walked past this place so many times never realising that there was a restaurant here. So we were given the choice of either dining in the brightly coloured retro front area or the dark modern candle lit back area. We decided on the back area as that was where the crowd was at, including the DJ who was happily doing his thing in a dim corner. Service was good but the noise level here was considerably loud so this is not the place to go to for a quiet catch up. Dessert wise, this place was absolutely delectable.

Hell of the North

135 Greeves St, Fitzroy 9417 6660

Duck liver parfait, Madeira jelly and Brioche

Duck rillettes, Gherkins, Crispy bread

Cassoulet

Thoughts:

Duck liver parfait – extremely smooth and well made, brioche was fairly average = Good

Duck rillettes – it was my first time eating rillettes and it made me wish that i had discovered it sooner! Strong salty duck flavour that had just the right amount of fat in it = Excellent

Cassoulet – a very hearty tomato based dish that consisted of pork sausage, pork skin, and cannellini beans galore = Not bad

Overall:

A relaxed casual atmosphere with attentive service (e.g. within a minute of the bread running out, more magically appeared). A place worth going to for a good quality late night meal as supper is served until 1am from Wednesday to Saturday.