District Brewer

Black Forest Bircher

(80% cocoa chocolate, crushed pistachio, cherry labneh, fresh grapes, coconut)

Absolutely amazing! I loved the presentation and spent a bit of time oohing and ahhing this dish before taking my first bite. This bircher was so incredibly fresh and light, and had a delicious combination of ingredients with wonderful textures.

★★★★★

Just another photo of this pretty dish…

Mr Benedict

(toasted rye bread, slow braised beef cheef, miso babaganoush, wilted calvo nero, curry hollandaise, poached eggs)

The beef cheek was a tad dry however the curry hollandaise was terrific.

★★★★☆

White chocolate and strawberry doughnut

Disappointingly dry. If only it tasted as good as it looked.

★★☆☆☆

Salted Caramel and Oreo Milkshake

Sweet frosty milkshakes that were unbelievably filling.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

This fantastic suburban cafe ticks all the boxes: delicious food, super friendly staff, bright and cheery atmosphere. I strongly recommend visiting District Brewer as soon as possible while there are still no lines during peak time. Oh that Black Forest Bircher…I cannot wait to have it again.

District Brewer

36 Brewer Rd, Bentleigh, VIC

(03) 9972 3812

http://www.districtbrewer.com.au/

Afghan Rahimi Restaurant

Salad, Dips (chilli, mint and yogurt, carrot and yogurt), Naan bread

★★☆☆☆

Mantu

Steam cooked traditional Afghani dumplings made from pastry, lamb mince and onions, served with lentils, topped with yoghurt and tomato gravy.

★★☆☆☆

Vegetarian Ashaak

Steam cooked pastry filled with chives and leek, served with lentils and chickpeas, topped with vegetable gravy and yogurt.

★★★☆☆

Meatball Curry (Kofta)

Lamb mince meatball served with a tomato and pea gravy.

★★☆☆☆

Traditional Afghani Rice

★★★☆☆

Borani Banjan (Eggplant)

Fried Eggplant covered with a tomato and yoghurt sauce.

★★★☆☆

Chicken Korma

Chicken thigh fillet cooked in a mild tomato curry.

★★☆☆☆

Lamb Backstrap and Chicken Tikka skewers

★★★★☆

Overall:

We decided to get the $35 banquet option which was satisfying and extremely filling! The smoky charcoal cooked skewers and the borani banjan were the highlights for me, although the borani banjan could have been less salt-heavy. Service was lovely (the owner of this place is super friendly and we felt very well looked after), and the decor was quite lavish (lots of hand crafted solid wood furniture and Afghan artwork). A good place to come to if you are after a big feed.

Afghan Rahimi Restaurant

23-29 Walker St, Dandenong, VIC

(03) 9793 9981

http://www.afghanrahimirestaurant.com/

Fifty Acres

Chorizo scotch eggs with avocado, manchego, spinach and seeded mustard mayo

Perfect scotch eggs. Deliciously crispy on the outside with golden runny yolk. The only downside to this dish was that it wasn’t very substantial.

★★★★☆

Citrus cured NZ King Salmon, green olive tapenade, poached eggs on dark rye

Well poached eggs with tasty salmon and tapenade.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Delectable food, stylish minimalist decor, calm and relaxed environment, efficient service. There are still so many things on the menu that I want to try (ie. pumpkin pancakes, brioche french toast with nutella) so I must return to Fifty Acres soon.

Fifty Acres

65 Bridge Rd, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9421 0296

http://www.fiftyacres.net.au/

Muharam Cafe

Golden Gaytime Shake

EXTREMELY SWEET and didn’t really taste like Golden Gaytime now that I think about it.

★★☆☆☆

Spiced Sweetcorn Fritters with red pepper salsa, avocado and haloumi

Crispy fritters with a hint of smokiness and spice.

★★★☆☆

Trio of Sliders: Chicken Schnitz and Slaw, Wagyu Beef, Mushroom and Haloumi and Pesto

The chicken and beef were dry, while the haloumi and pesto combination made for a significantly salty slider.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

After seeing heaps of Instagram photos of Muharam Cafe’s incredible Nut-tellin’ doughnut shake (which is essentially a Nutella doughnut on top of a Nutella milkshake), I knew I had to come here to try one. The only problem was that they had run out of doughnuts! At 12:30pm! On a weekday! Our friendly waitress told us that they could still make us the shake minus the doughnut, but who would want a doughnut-less doughnut shake? Now onto the food menu. I had already looked at the menu before coming here and knew that I wanted the Red Velvet Pancakes. You can only imagine how devastated I was when we were told that the Red Velvet Pancakes had sold out! My next choice would have been the crumpets but before I could even form the words in my mouth, our waitress told us that the crumpets had also sold out! Dammit.

After all that disappointment, I had my fingers crossed that what we ordered would have been great to justify coming back again for the Nut-tellin’ doughnut shake and Red Velvet Pancakes. Unfortunately it wasn’t so I don’t think I’ll be coming back here in a hurry.

Muharam Cafe

97 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn, VIC

(03) 9818 7722

http://www.muharam.com.au/

ShanDong MaMa

Chicken Fried Dumplings

(chicken mince, ginger, black fungus, shepherd’s purse herb, dry shrimps, sesame oil)

★★★☆☆

DARYL noodles with prawn, potato, mushroom, pork, black fungus and egg

★★★☆☆

Shandong Mama

Noodles with prawns, pork, shredded cucumber and coriander in bean paste

★★☆☆☆

Beef Fried Dumplings

(beef mince, onions, dry shrimps, black pepper sauce)

★★☆☆☆

DILL-icious Pork Boiled Dumplings

(pork mince, fresh dill, spring onion, ginger, dried shrimps, sesame oil)

★★★☆☆

Overall:

A decent place for noodles and dumplings. The fried dumplings had incredibly crispy skins but were too salty for my liking, whereas the boiled dumplings had thick chewy skins but had tasty fillings. Not the first place I would go to if I had a dumpling craving, but also not the last.

ShanDong MaMa

Midcity Arcade, 208-210 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9650 3818

Serotonin Eatery

Positive Pancakes

(three organic banana flour pancakes with house-made banana ice cream, mixed berries, yogurt balls covered in roasted almonds, organic agave)

★★★☆☆

Happy Zucchini Linguine

(raw zucchini spirals in red pesto with walnuts topped with fresh basil, mint and dill)

★★★☆☆

Super Smashed Avo

(smashed avocado topped with house-made beetroot relish, fresh chilli and poached eggs on organic sourdough)

★★★☆☆

Overall:

The menu at Serotonin Eatery simply screamed HEALTHY. The words ‘organic’, ‘raw’ and ‘house-made’ appeared everywhere, while the familiar words of ‘bacon’, ‘french toast’ and even ‘fried eggs’ were nowhere to be found. In fact everything on the menu is vegan or gluten free or both. Having said that, the food we tried offered great flavours and I left feeling wonderfully guilt-free. I can’t say that I also left feeling completely satisfied though as portions were a bit on the small side. The service was average, the atmosphere bright and cheery, and the decor simply unique with their shiny gold cutlery, comfortable Japanese style couches, and awesome swing chairs! The perfect place to head to for those who are health conscious or for those who just really like swings.

Serotonin Eatery

52 Madden Grove, Burnley, VIC

(03) 8658 3124

http://www.serotonindealer.com/

Tina’s Noodle Kitchen

Rice Noodles with Chicken Stock Soup

(rice noodles, tomato, spam, quail egg, bean curd skin, bok choy, spring onion, tofu, mushrooms, bean sprouts, fungus, deep fried pork)

★★★★☆

Rice Noodles with Pork Liver and Pickles

(rice noodles, black fungus, bean curd skin, bok choy, mushroom, spring onion, bean sprouts)

★★★★☆

Japanese Matcha Frappe

★★★☆☆

Overall:

When Tina’s Noodle Kitchen first opened, what caught my attention was the retractable belt barrier positioned in front of the place to control the crowds. I’ve eaten here a few times since then and this is what I know:

This place only serves noodles but the noodles are consistently good and very filling.
The 150°C bowls mean that the noodles arrive burning hot and remain that way for a quite while, so take your time eating otherwise you will leave with a burnt tongue.
Orders need to be made at the counter before you sit down.
Service is variable.
If you look Asian or anything slightly Asian, expect to be spoken to in mandarin.

In any case, Tina’s Noodle Kitchen is a good place to head to the next time you are in the mood for a satisfying bowl of noodles.

Tina’s Noodle Kitchen

231 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9041 6382

Gyoza Gyoza

Salmon Tataki

Tuna Tataki

Soba Noodle Soup

Yaki Hotate

(baked Japanese scollops with creamy miso sauce)

Lobster Mini Burgers

Panfried Miso Eggplant and Duck Gyoza

Kinoko Hoiru-yaki

(foil baked mix mushrooms with ponzu butter sauce)

Overall:

What makes Gyoza Gyoza such an appealing place is that all their dishes are $6.50. With more than 80 Japanese tapas style dishes to choose from, we spent a fair amount of time deliberating over the menu. We had high expectations with the gyoza (due to the restaurant name) but they turned out to be rather ordinary and also smaller than expected. In fact most of the dishes we sampled turned out to be quite ordinary, with the only stand out dish being the baked scallops. Service was average and the small tables meant that it became a tetris challenge trying to fit all our dishes onto the table. Gyoza Gyoza may not offer the best Japanese food, but they do offer a wide variety for a decent price.

Gyoza Gyoza

115-117 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, CBD

(03) 9663 0801

http://www.gyozagyoza.com.au/

Flavour Exchange Spring 2015 Special Offer

Flavour Exchange-140

Melbourne’s Flavour Exchange Spring 2015 is here and with it comes the exciting opportunity to sample some of Victoria’s finest wine, beer, cider and food. With over 50 exhibitors all under the one roof, Flavour Exchange provides a wonderful opportunity to go behind the scenes and meet the producers, winemakers and growers behind the products. Each ticket entry comes with 14 tasting tokens along with a premium tasting glass to take home. So here are the details:

When: Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th September 2015

Time: 4:30pm – 8:30pm

Where: The Atrium, Federation Square

Cost: $36.60 online and $38.00 at the door

But wait! Since you guys are so awesome and are reading this post right now (thanks for that!), I’d like to share with you a 2 for 1 deal! All you need to do is go to Ticketek and enter in the following:

Password for Thursday: TH241

Password for Friday: FR241

Hope to see you there!

Goneburger

The Chicken

(Flame grilled chicken thighs marinated in white wine, garlic, lemon and rosemary, smothered in rich melted camembert and served with cranberry sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion and tangy garlic aioli on a toasted brioche bun)

Loved the camembert and flame grilled chicken combination!

★★★★☆

The Beef

(House crafted beef patty made from a blend of beef chuck and grass fed short rib beef with unique GB sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheese and pickles on a toasted brioche bun)

A simple burger done well.

★★★★☆

Baby Back Ribs

(Roasted pork ribs covered in a house spice blend and BBQ sauce)

These ribs were a bargain for $15 and were surprisingly fantastic! The ribs were well marinated and the meat was fabulously tender and simply fell off the bone.

★★★★☆

Truffled Macaroni and Cheese

(Macaroni and three cheese sauce and truffle oil

Cheesy, truffle-y, very filling.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

We stumbled across Goneburger after our original dinner plans fell through, and what a great find this place turned out to be! The food was top-notch and the ambience was very relaxed. We went on a Tuesday night and our friendly waiter was also the barman as well as the cashier. It was basically a one man show but he did a great job and everything ran smoothly. This pop up restaurant is currently contracted with Mavis Brown’s Bar until February, so make sure you visit by then! Note that this place is open 6 days a week (closed on Mondays) from 3pm.

Goneburger

35-37 Fitzroy St, St Kilda, VIC

0458 928 265

http://www.goneburgerbar.com/