Pub/Bar Food

Leonard’s House of Love

Original Fried Chicken Tenders with Pickles and Chipotle Mayo

Fairly average chicken with terrific chipotle mayo.

★★☆☆☆

Cheeseburger

(beef brisket and short rib patty, special sauce, cheese, onion, green oak lettuce)

Tasty patty that was cooked perfectly.

★★★☆☆

Charcoal Chicken Fries

(fries, pepper gravy, onion, stuffing, cheese sauce)

★★★☆☆

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

(1/2 chicken, jacket potato, sour cream, fries, Greek salad, dinner roll and gravy)

What a feast this was! And special mention goes to the awesome gravy.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

This unassuming bar is located in a small street right off Chapel St and offer a small and simple menu of American comfort foods. The staff were friendly however there was a considerable amount of wait time before our food arrived. Nevertheless I really liked the vibe of this place and would definitely come back for drinks and a snack or two.

Leonard’s House of Love

3 Wilson St, South Yarra, VIC

0428 066 778

The Grand Hotel – Richmond

The Grand Hotel in Richmond recently celebrated their 130th birthday and I was lucky enough to be invited along to take part in the festivities. The party started with drinks at the main bar and a quick glimpse at the Grand Dining Room. It is impressive to note that The Grand has been a winner of The Age Good Food Guide’s Chef Hat award nine times over the last decade, and is the only pub in Australia to consistently hold such a prestigious accolade. The Grand Dining Room is well known for their simple authentic Italian food which is served up by Michelin trained head chefs Federico Frigato and Mattia Aloisio.

Grand Hotel Richmond

After a while we were guided upstairs and encountered a smaller bar and three rooms. As we chatted, some enticing canapes came around. The first canape we sampled was cured ocean trout with citrus and berries, the second was poached veal tongue crostini with salsa verde and the third was tomato and basil bruschetta. All were very delicious!

We were soon led into the Nesso room and was informed that the kitchen was down a chef and that we had to make our own dinner!

So we each put on a T.Serafina apron, grabbed a rolling pin and began to roll out some clay.

We then each received a beautiful piece of fresh Cone Bay barramundi and were told to be as creative as we liked in terms of flavouring this fish dish. I decided to go with potatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olives, braised leeks, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Head chef Mattia Aloisio then instructed us on how to wrap up our barramundi so that it could be baked for our dinner. This whole process was so much fun and I couldn’t wait to taste my creation! We were then led into the Como room which had been stunningly transformed by event stylist The Three Piece Suit with stationary styled by Lauren Skorsis. And it was here where the incredible feasting began!

Pepper Crusted Venison Carpaccio with Goat Cheese Mousse and Beetroot

Agro Dolce Quail with Porcini Mushroom Puree, Brussel Sprouts, Quail Egg and Black Truffles

Broad Bean, Pecorino and Mint Risotto

Mortadella Cappelletti in Brodo

Fish Cooked

This was the moment we had all been waiting for! We made good use of our rolling pins and had a blast smashing these little terracotta parcels open!

The result? Perfectly cooked barramundi that was delicate and moist, with a beautifully intense flavour. And as it turned out, the ingredients I added tasted fantastic in combination with the fish so I had a little bit of a ‘phew!’ moment after having my first bite.

Caprese Palate Cleanser – basil, tomato, buffalo mozzarella

Lemon Delizia – lemon parfait, almond crumble, limoncello gelee, candied lemons

Candy Buffet

A big thank you to Zomato and owners Barnie, Tiur, David and Katie for organising such an amazing night filled with spectacular food!

And finally if you sign up to become a Grand VIP member (which is free), you will receive a complimentary six course degustation dinner for your birthday! How amazing is that?

The Grand Hotel – Richmond

333 Burnley St, Richmond, VIC

(03) 8658 3459

http://www.grandrichmond.com.au/

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of The Grand Hotel.

The Gem Bar and Dining

Ranch style beans with brisket ends

Sweet and spicy.

★★★☆☆

Mac & cheese, Zesty coleslaw, Potato salad

★★☆☆☆

Southern style cornbread

Extremely crumbly with corn kernels and pieces of capsicum.

★★☆☆☆

(from L to R)

Smoked Angus beef sausages

These were tasty however the casings were tough and chewy, and once these sausages had cooled down, each bite left a pool of oil in our mouths.

★★☆☆☆

Pork, fennel and chilli sausages

Smoky, spicy, slightly dry.

★★☆☆☆

Pork belly

Marginally dry.

★★☆☆☆

Beef brisket

Salty, not particularly smoky.

★★☆☆☆

Pulled pork

Tender, lacked flavor.

★★☆☆☆

Lamb ribs

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Casual atmosphere, average service, unexceptional food. I’d probably go elsewhere for American BBQ.

The Gem Bar and Dining

289 Wellington St, Collingwood, VIC

(03) 9419 5170

http://thegembar.com.au/

The Beer and Burger Bar

Beef Burger (beef patty, smoked bacon, beetroot relish, cheese, tomato, lettuce, American mustard, tomato sauce, aioli)

Wonderful smoky bacon, marginally dry brioche bun, bland patty, excessive relish that overpowered the entire burger.

★★☆☆☆

Onion Rings with relish and aioli

★★★★☆

El Mucho Burger (free range spicy chicken, chipotle aioli, jalapeños, lettuce, corn salsa, smashed avo and corn chips)

★★☆☆☆

C.C.G (chips, cheese, gravy)

★★☆☆☆

Spicy Chicken Wings

★★☆☆☆

Salted caramel milkshake

Inconsistent. One was lumpy and clearly tasted like salted caramel, while another was smooth and tasted like mild caramel.

★★☆☆☆

Hills Apple cider

$2.50 pots all day Tuesday? Yes please!

Overall:

Ordinary burgers, average service, casual atmosphere. Come for the $2.50 pots on Tuesdays.

The Beer and Burger Bar

112 Swan St, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9429 5934

http://www.tbbb.com.au/

Markov

350 Drummond St, Carlton 9347 7113

Wagu burger (free range bacon, cheddar, beer pickles, avocado, relish) served with fat chips

= Not bad

Pan fried rock ling, pancetta, peas and chick pea chips

The rock ling was nicely fried while the chick pea chips were melt-in-your-mouth soft and reminded me of tofu (in a nice way)

=Good

Deliciously fiery fried chicken wings that were covered in hot sauce, served with ranch dressing

=Good

Overall:

Step through the front bar and you will find yourself in a simple gastropub that has friendly staff, a succinct menu and plenty of beer.

Captain Melville

34 Franklin St, Melbourne 9663 6855

Haloumi stuffed zucchini flower

Gnocchi

Pulled Pork Bun

Fried Chicken

Quinoa Salad

Thoughts:

Haloumi stuffed zucchini flower – chickpea batter, eggplant puree, pomegranate & za’atar = Not bad

Gnocchi – ricotta and basil gnocchi, yellow tomato sauce, smoked tomatoes, roast red onion and olives = Not bad

Pulled Pork Bun – western plains pulled pork, BBQ sauce, crunchy coleslaw, pickles and onion rings = Good

Fried Chicken – crispy fried chicken (which was well fried but lacked any taste) served with sriracha mayonnaise = Not bad

Quinoa Salad – golden beets, grilled asparagus, shanklish cheese and honey yoghurt = Not bad

Overall:

Unexceptional food, average service, relaxed atmosphere.

The Waiting Room

Crown Casino, 8 Whiteman St, Melbourne

Afternoon Tea

Sandwiches

Sweets

Scones

Sorbet

Overall:

One of the best high tea places that I have ever been to! The service was prompt and professional, the atmosphere elegant and relaxed, the decor lavish and the quality of the high tea food was sensational.

The sandwiches included:

tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella on ciabatta
egg and cress salad on olive bread
smoked chicken with mango on whole wheat bread
whisky marinated salmon croissant
cucumber and cream cheese on white bread

Although the whole wheat bread was a bit dry and hard around the edges, and the cucumber and cream cheese sandwich didn’t have quite enough cream cheese spread, the sandwiches overall were very tasty = Good

The sweets included:

lemon curd tart with raspberry meringue
apple and blackberry crumble with Tahitian vanilla cream
strawberry and vanilla tarts with Pimm’s cream
earl grey tea flavoured chocolate mousse and tonka ganache
chocolate eclairs
moist orange chocolate cake
gin and tonic jelly with sweet cucumber
white lady
pistachio sponge with orange marmalade

All of these desserts were rich and marvellous, except for the white lady (which tasted like cream and nothing else) and the gin and tonic jelly shot (I am not a big fan of gin) = Good

Scones:

Traditional raisin and buttermilk scones that come with winterberry jam and clotted cream. The great thing about this place is that you get to decide exactly when you want to have your scones during your afternoon tea session. Baked fresh on request (they take approximately 12 minutes to cook), the results are hot buttery delicious scones that are light and fluffy = Excellent

Sorbet:

Raspberry sorbet with Grand Marnier on a praline base. A terrific palate cleanser to end on. A clean sweet sorbet with a hint of crunchy praline = Good

I am definitely coming back here again for afternoon tea!

Gami Chicken and Beer (Lt Lonsdale)

100 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne 9671 3232

Corn cheese

Kimchi pancake

Fried chicken

Spicy sauce fried chicken

Thoughts:

Corn cheese – hot bubbly cheese mixed with juicy corn kernels and a bit of mayo for sweetness = Good

Kimchi pancake – crispy, oily, kimchi laded pancake that was full of flavour and didn’t need any dipping sauce = Good

Fried chicken – ordinary deep fried chicken = Not bad

Spicy sauce fried chicken – the spiciness of this chicken doesn’t hit you immediately, but when it does it’s fiery hot! = Not bad

Sweet chilli fried chicken – somehow reminded me of sweet and sour pork = Not bad

Sweet soy garlic fried chicken – sweet sticky chicken with a hint of garlic flavour = Not bad

Overall:

Unfortunately this place did not live up to its hype and was a bit underwhelming. The original flavour chicken was alright while each flavoured chicken came drowning in sauce. This is the place to go to if you are after a quick meal that is messy, greasy and fatty. The service is average and the atmosphere quite noisy. Also be sure to use the toilet before you come here as the single toilet that they have is quite disgusting.