K-Tarng

How many places do you know have HAND WRITTEN menus? Respect.

Green Tea Rice Punch

A sweet punch with whole rice grains and a strong green tea flavour.

★★★☆☆

Kimchi Pancake

Everything a great kimchi pancake should be: crispy, smoky, spicy, flavoursome. Extra points for it being shaped into a star.

★★★★☆

Corn Cheese

The added sugar made this too sweet for my liking.

★★☆☆☆

Pork Ramen

Instant ramen noodles with a generous amount of tender pork and crispy vegetables. The broth was deliciously smoky and the aroma reminded me of a Chinese stir fry.

★★★☆☆

Original Fried Chicken and Oriental Chicken (honey, garlic and soy)

The original fried chicken lacked a bit of flavour but was so incredibly CRISPY. You could probably hear someone taking a bite of this chicken from the other side of the room! Whereas the Oriental Chicken was less crispy due to the sauce but was nicely flavoured.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Warm cosy interior, friendly service, satisfying Korean fare. Note that this place is closed on Mondays and that they are cash only.

K-Tarng

45 Koornang Rd, Carnegie

9972 9197

Quick Message…

Did you know I published my first post exactly two years ago? On one hand I feel as though these years have flown by, but on the other hand I feel as though I’ve been doing this for longer as I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t want to take photos of my food and blog about it.

In any case I figured that now was the perfect time to make a few changes. “Dammit Janet I Love Food” is getting a new look as well as a new rating system! (And yes the new rating system will finally be out of the conventional 5 stars. Yay!)

Finally, a big thank you to everyone for visiting my blog these last few years. Looking forward to sharing many more food adventures with you all!

Janet ❤

Sault

House made sourdough

= ★★

Sher wagyu beef sourdough parcels, enoki mushrooms, soy, chives

= ★★★★

Hopkins River eye fillet, onion, red capsicum, eggplant, thyme volcanic salt, red wine jus

= ★★★

Roasted free-range corn-fed duck breast, chestnut purée, duck liver parfait, grilled mushroom, Pedro Ximenez jus

= ★★★

Musquée de Provence pumpkin, pine nuts, sage, blue cheese and buttermilk kuzu gnocchi

I could not believe that this was under the ‘something more substantial’ category of the menu. Where was the rest of the dish? What’s worse was that the five bites of pumpkin and five tiny morsels of soft watery gnocchi drowning in cheese also turned out to be extremely disappointing taste wise.

= ★

Overall:

Beautiful setting, good service (although our drinks were forgotten and had to be chased up), unsatisfactory food. Perhaps we went on an off night but even so I doubt I will return.
Sault

Sault

2349 Ballan-Daylesford Rd, Daylesford

5348 6555

Sault Restaurant Daylesford

Sault on Urbanspoon

Sun Moth Canteen & Bar

Fried bread, green olives, lemon, chilli, garlic and percorino

These crunchy little morsels were very addictive.

★★★☆☆

Duck liver parfait, salted figs and candied walnuts

Solid parfait that initially refused to come out of the jar but ended up being quite tasty.

★★☆☆☆

Sweet corn and chicken soup with buttermilk dumplings, spring onions and greens

A light Asian style soup with gnocchi-like dumplings.

★★☆☆☆

Mushroom, olive and barley risotto

This hearty risotto was perfectly cooked and had a delightfully rich mushroom flavour.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Enjoyable food, chillaxed atmosphere, clean and simple decor. A great place to unwind.

Sun Moth Canteen & Bar

28 Niagara Lane, Melbourne

9602 4554

Sun Moth

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Sun Moth Canteen & Bar and the team at Zomato.

Lake House (revisited)

Veal tartare, mojama, bonito, nori

House baked sourdough

Confit trout, roe, cauliflower

Bug agnolotti, house kimchi

Skipton smoked eel in pancetta, new season beets

Limestone farms pullet egg, wild mushrooms, white polenta, porcini chestnut pangrattato

Seared duck breast, parfait, fig, muscatels, hazelnuts, salsify

Ginger and lemon shot

White chocolate mousse, poached pears, pear granita

Lollypop

Lemon curd meringue lollipops

‘An autumn ramble’

Almond biscuits, pistachio friands

Overall:

A perfect experience as always. We chose to get the autumn/early winter tasting menu and relished every single bite. My thoughts remain unchanged from my previous visit and I still believe that this place is worth a visit the next time you are in Daylesford!

Lake House

4 King St, Daylesford

5348 3329

Restaurant

Lake House

Bistro K

Spicy baby octopus and buckwheat noodles with chilli vinegrette

Incredibly tender octopus, terrific flavours.

★★★★☆

Crispy chicken balls with Korean sweet chilli sauce

These were definitely crispy however the chicken was dry.

★★☆☆☆

Smoked pork belly with cooked kimchi salad

Spicy kimchi + tantalizing pork belly = winning combination!

★★★★★

Premium Angus scotch fillet with roasted seasonal vegetables

The scotch fillet was small but tasty, while the vegetables needed seasoning.

★★★☆☆

Makgeoli (Korean rice beer) brulee

This dessert turned out to be ordinary creme brulee with Makgeoli flavoured sorbet on the side (instead of Makgeoli flavoured creme brulee, which was what I was expecting).

★★☆☆☆

Hotteok (Korean sweet pancake with caramelised honey syrup) with ginger ice cream

This pancake was so deliciously fluffy and had an amazing caramelised honey filling. The ice cream was a wonderful accompaniment and had a subtle ginger aroma, while the crushed peanuts and sunflower seeds gave this dish some delightful crunch.

★★★★★

Sujeonggwa (sweet Korean cinnamon punch)

Sweet and refreshing with distinctive cinnamon notes.

★★★★☆

Overall:

We came here with a Cudo voucher and felt that we got such an amazing deal. I was so impressed with this place that I am already looking forward to my next visit! The food was great (not surprising seeing as former Nobu chef Jae Park heads the kitchen), the service faultless, and the atmosphere warm and simple. A must try for lovers of Korean food. Note that this place is closed on Mondays.

Bistro K

366 Smith St, Collingwood

9973 6055

http://bistrok.com.au/

Vincent the Dog

Green Tea Latte

★★☆☆☆

Poached eggs, smoked salmon, goats cheese and avocado on sourdough

First thing I noticed about the eggs were the cling wrap marks on them. Nothing wrong with that as long as the eggs are properly poached (which they were).

★★☆☆☆

Pulled pork shoulder open waffle sandwich with pickled red cabbage, coleslaw and chipotle aioli

Generous amount of pulled pork piled on top of a crispy waffle.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

This cosy little place offers more than your typical brunch menu items. Not only did they offer waffles and bagels, they also offered dishes such as Shanghai-style braised pork belly and Chinese donuts filled with melted cheese. The service and atmosphere were easy going however the limited seating deters me from coming here during the weekend. Note that this place is closed on Tuesdays.

Vincent the Dog

348 Drummond St, Carlton

(03) 9348 2068

High Tea

Every now and then I get a hankering for high tea. I love how fancy everything is, from the elegant set up to the finger sandwiches to the tasteful little desserts. Oh and let’s not forget about the tea. Unfortunately most places charge an exorbitant amount for high tea so I figured why not host my own high tea party instead.

My sandwiches included:

– smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese

– grilled capsicum and hummus

– cheddar cheese and tomato

– egg and mayonnaise

Top Tier: Classic vanilla cupcakes

Middle Tier: Chocolate brownies, Anzac slice, Lemon tarts, Button cookies

Bottom Tier: Classic scones, Mini quiches, Cheese and spinach triangles

Overall:

Preparing for this was fun and easy. Everything was homemade except for the quiches, the triangles, and the lemon tarts (which I put together using store bought tart shells and lemon curd from a jar). My guests were super impressed and we all ate until we could no longer move. (I kept refilling the tiers and eventually gave everyone some food to take home as there was so much leftover). This was definitely a great experience and is something anyone can do.

Journeyman

Latte

Aromatic, noticeably milky.

★★★☆☆

Almond and cornflake crispy chicken with red cabbage slaw, coriander, lime, corn and tomato salsa on a brioche bun

Talk about a good burger! The chicken was satisfyingly crunchy and the slaw was delicious. Plus it was decently sized and very filling. I can totally picture myself ordering this again.

★★★★☆

Pulled pork benedict with poached eggs, cider vinegar hollandaise, apple and spinach

Everything was tasty except for the hollandaise sauce. It was more like a butter sauce. It was so overpoweringly buttery that I had to scrape it all to one side in order to taste the rest of the dish.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Previously known as Dukes Coffee Roasters, Journeyman was renamed in 2014 to separate the cafe from their coffee roasting business. The menu as well as the decor have pretty much remained the same, and service was efficient. So give this place a go if you are after great coffee and/or a great chicken burger.

Journeyman

169 Chapel St, Windsor

9521 4884

http://www.journeymancafe.com.au/

B’Cos Brazil

Pao de Queijo – Brazilian cheese puffs

These were delicious and had such a unique texture: soft, airy, chewy and cheesy. These were so good in fact that I want to have a go at making them myself soon.

★★★★☆

Coxinha – Brazilian chicken and cream cheese croquette

★★★☆☆

Bcos fried chicken pieces

Tough and dry.

★★☆☆☆

Picanha – BBQ’d Brazilian beef served with Brazilian rice, beans and salad

I liked being able to choose our salad (as you can see I wanted to try a few) as well as our rice (I chose brown over white). The beef was fairly standard and on the small side.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

This was a great introduction to Brazilian cuisine for me. Service was outstanding (the staff were very welcoming and helpful) and the place itself was small and casual. Note that this place is closed during the weekend.

B’Cos Brazil

353 Little Collins St, Melbourne

(03) 9670 1956

http://www.bcosbrazil.com.au/