Shoya

25 Market Lane, Melbourne 9650 0848

Pickled fish and vegetables

Intensely sour

= Not bad

Savoury Egg Custard

Marvellously silky steamed egg custard with chicken, prawn, mushroom and edamame

= Excellent

Tempura

The tempura batter was delicately light, crunchy and subtly seasoned. My only gripe with this dish was the enormous piece of broccoli that was served. Don’t get me wrong, I love broccoli. It’s just a little difficult to eat when it’s the size of my hand.

= Good

Signature Deep Fried Dish

The left portion comprised of a tantalisingly tender scallop that was wrapped with understated crab meat and deep fried, while the right portion comprised of deep fried egg and mushroom.

= Good

Sashimi

Extremely fresh and delicious with each piece having that amazing melt in your mouth texture.

= Excellent

Sushi

Fresh and tasty but the wasabi was a bit too heavy for my liking.

= Good

Wagyu Steak and Miso Soup

Not sure if this is the norm, but this steak happened to be cooked medium-well and some of the pieces were extremely tough and sinewy. The sauce was lovely and aromatic, however the quiche that was served alongside was quite cheesy and did not complement the steak whatsoever. A strange combination.

= Not bad

Mixed Steamed Rice

Lacklustre fried rice that comprised of chicken, vegetables and mushroom.

= Not bad

Green tea ice cream

Weak green tea flavour, dense and had ice chunks in it.

= Not bad

Overall:

This place offers tasty yet affordable lunch sets that start from only $24.80. The cheap lunch sets must be very popular as by 1pm we were told that the two cheapest sets had already been sold out. But that didn’t faze me as I wanted to get a slightly more expensive Shoya Special Lunch Set anyway. I ended up getting the Matsu Set and substituted the crab dish with tempura. Most of the dishes came out at a nice even pace so that as soon as we had finished one dish, the next one would promptly arrive. Service was good and the atmosphere was chic and sophisticated. We witnessed one of the chefs preparing Shoya’s famous sashimi ice domes. They looked spectacular but I think you can only get them as part of the $180 dinner degustation menu. I think I’ll just stick to coming here for lunch.

Popol Nah

171 Lygon St, Carlton 9347 3293

Empanada vegetariana

Chickpea, sweet potato and silver beet in baked pastry with crema fresca

= Good

Patatas bravas

Crispy baked potatoes with tomato sauce and aioli

= Excellent

Anafre de chorizo

Cheese fondue, chorizo and corn chips

= Excellent

Albondigas

Lamb and beef meatballs in a tomato sofrito

= Good

Ensalada de vegetables

Shredded zucchini, kale, cucumber and extremely sour pickled vegetables

= Not bad

Pollo con adobo

Fresh baked chicken breast in adobo with grilled corn and pumpkin

= Not bad

Arroz en leche

Rice pudding, caramel and banana

= Not bad

Prana chai with agave syrup

= Good

Overall:

Popol Nah (The People’s House) offers a tasty selection of fresh Latin American food as well as Latin American drinks. I sampled their Chicha Morada (a drink made from purple corn, pineapple, cinnamon and cloves) which tasted strange at first but turned out to be delightfully refreshing. Service was lovely and the decor was funky and artistic. All in all I was very happy with this Groupon voucher purchase so I will definitely be coming back to sample the rest of their menu and devour more of their terrific cheese fondue.

Taste of Singapore

162 Clayton Rd, Clayton 9544 7865

Chicken Murtabak

Fried roti canai filled with minced chicken, eggs and onions, served with a curry sauce

= Good

Mee Goreng

Tasted like bolognaise with bean sprouts added instead of Mee Goreng

= Not bad

Chicken Hor Fun

Not enough noodles, the egg gravy lacked egg, this dish simply didn’t taste quite right

=Bad

Beef with Yellow rice

Wasn’t the biggest fan of the beef to rice ratio however the beef was tasty, tender and could be easily pulled apart

=Not bad

Overall:

A small family-owned eatery that is extremely casual (eg. the staff here served us our food with one hand and held a baby in the other). The service is great, the menu items are limited (note that they only serve satay on weekends) and the prices are cheap. It was a nice experience but I think I’ll stick to India Delights.

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.

Miss Katie’s Crab Shack

238 Victoria Street, North Melbourne 9329 9888

Crispy Fried Clarence River Organic School Prawns

Katie’s Crunchy Corn

Katie’s Fried Chicken & House Baked Cornbread

Seasonal Jambalaya

Thoughts:

Crispy Fried Clarence River Organic School Prawns – crunchy prawns dusted in corn masa flour and smoked paprika, served with lemon and hot sauce. A very addictive dish = Excellent

Katie’s Crunchy Corn – baby corn ‘chips’, salted ricotta, chilli and coriander. A bit pricey considering how little food you get = Good

Katie’s Fried Chicken – covered in an array of marvellous spices, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, served with ranch sauce and terrific fries that were crunchy and well seasoned. Don’t forget to try the chicken with their BBQ sauce = Excellent

House Baked Cornbread – deliciously light and fluffy with a hint of sweetness = Excellent

Seasonal Jambalaya – a pleasant combination of new season okra, local mussels, prawns, and spicy kranski = Good

Overall:

Delightfully quirky and nautical themed (which includes a giant plastic shark head that sits in the middle of one of the tables), this laid-back place serves up pretty darn good food. The tables were covered with newspaper which makes sense as eating here can become quite messy. Service was friendly and orders were taken at the kitchen counter. My only gripe with this place is that they use styrofoam boxes to serve up some of their food. But apart from that, I really enjoyed my visit to Miss Katie’s Crab Shack.

Note that this place is cash only.

Sauced Pasta Bar

148 Chapel Street, Windsor 1300 728 233

Mafaldine Amatriciana

Fried ravioli & Oven roasted desiree potato gnocchi with The 4 P’s sauce

Thoughts:

Mafaldine Amatriciana – perfectly cooked pasta with a somewhat flat sauce that comprised of cold smoked pancetta, napoli, spring onion and chilli = Not bad

Fried ravioli – sweet potato, sautéed leek and ricotta ravioli served with napoli sauce. The ravioli itself was crispy, thick and tough to bite through, while the filling was so bland that I had to check the menu a few times to remind myself what I was actually eating = Bad

Gnocchi with The 4 P’s sauce – the pumpkin puree, pine nuts, persian fetta and basil pesto combination was terrific and the gnocchi was deliciously soft and light = Good

Overall:

Building your own pasta dish is a great concept. Pick a sauce, pick a pasta, and if you want to, add on a side. The atmosphere was lively as the kitchen was situated right at the front of the place and was in full view of everyone. Service was a little bit slow but since the pasta was cooked so well, I am willing to forgive them for that. I’m not sure if I’m a fan of the disposable dishes that they use here, but at least they are recyclable.

J Café Restaurant

167 Exhibition St, Melbourne 9650 9877

Soft Shell Crab Sushi burger and Gyoza in a Bento Box

Spicy Raw Tuna Sushi burger and Sashimi in a Bento Box

Salmon Alburi Sushi burger

Ebi Mayo Sushi burger

Yomogi Daifuju (red bean), Black Sesame Daifuku, Green Tea Cream Daifuku, Murasaki Imo Daifuku (purple sweet potato)

Ichigo Daifuku

Overall:

Sushi in the form of a burger? GENIUS. These burgers comprise of various sushi fillings and buns made from sushi rice that are held together with a sheet of seaweed. There are almost 20 different types of burgers to choose from which are made fresh on order. My favourite would have to be the Ebi Mayo Sushi burger (crispy tempura prawn, lettuce, tartare sauce and teriyaki sauce) although every other burger I’ve tried has also been very delicious. There is also the option of getting your Sushi burger in a Bento box which comes with the choice of an entree and miso soup. I found the Bento Boxes to be merely okay so these days I simply order the Sushi burgers by themselves.

For those who are a fan of daifuku (small round glutinous rice cakes that contain a sweet filling), try the Ichigo Daifuku here!

Note that service can sometimes be slow and that prices are cheaper for takeaway Sushi burgers.

Corn Chowder

Recipe from: jamieoliver.com

Alterations I made were:

doubling the celery
omitting the spring onions
adding salt, pepper and parmesan to taste

Overall:

This hearty stew that is nutritious, delicious and very easy to make.

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.

Miam Miam Restaurant

Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone 9569 4499

Iced matcha latte with matcha softee

Peanut butter and banana milkshake

Lobster bisque pasta

Mac and cheese

Famous French toast

Vanilla souffle

Thoughts:

Iced matcha latte with matcha softee – milky green tea latte that contained lots of ice, topped with a swirl of green tea soft serve = Not bad

Peanut butter and banana milkshake – thick, sweet, had small chunks of peanut added to it which gave the milkshake an interesting crunch = Not bad

Lobster bisque pasta – the soup base tasted purely of prawns (I did not detect any lobster), the pasta was well cooked and the dish was topped with parmesan cheese and a grilled tiger prawn = Not bad

Mac and cheese – strong cheese aroma, had a nice crunchy top from the Japanese breadcrumbs = Good

Famous French toast – thick slices of delicious classic French toast served with a dollop of cream and a small jar of maple syrup on the side (which is fabulous because it lets you control how sweet you want your dish to be) = Excellent

Vanilla souffle – reminiscent of Asian sponge cake, this souffle was light yet a little bit wet and distinctively eggy. I also managed to taste a bit of salt with every second or third bite = Not bad

Overall:

This French-Japanese restaurant is one of those places that has such an intriguing menu that it makes choosing what you want quite a difficult task. The atmosphere is very casual and the decor somehow reminded me of a country farm house (red bricks, wood chip walls, white window shutters, simple wooden tables and chairs). The service was friendly however the arrival of our food was very staggered. Hopefully that won’t be the case the next time I dine here (as there are still other dishes that I want to try).