Beletti Restaurant Cafe Bar

161 Lonsdale St, Dandenong 9793 1600

Chai Latte

Duck Risotto

Linguine E Gamberi

Thoughts:

Chai Latte – when it comes to chai lattes, this place has always been highly ranked on my list. Perfect for those who like their chai lattes to be sweet, aromatic and not overly spicy = Excellent

Duck Risotto – a generous amount of oven roasted duck pieces cooked with arborio rice, mushrooms, peas (which the dish could have done without) and red wine sauce = Good

Linguine E Gamberi – a light and tasty combination of linguine, prawns, cherry tomatoes, onions, basil, rocket, olive oil, chilli and garlic = Good

Overall:

The food can sometimes be a hit or miss depending on what you order, but the chai latte is always good (for my taste anyway). The service is attentive and the decor quite elegant. Note that this place is in the Entertainment Book.

Jyu-Jyu

339 Clayton Rd, Clayton 9562 6269

Tori no Karaage

Salmon Sashimi

Spicy Ramen

Takoyaki

Jyu Jyu Upgrade Bento

Beef Una Bento

Thoughts:

Tori no Karaage – crunchy deep fried chicken that lacked flavour = Not bad

Salmon Sashimi – thickly sliced = Not bad

Spicy Ramen – Beef, egg, corn, seaweed and hot spicy sauce served in ramen soup. This dish was actually spicy making it a nice winter warmer = Not bad

Takoyaki – soft creamy octopus balls drizzled with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise = Good

Jyu Jyu Upgrade Bento – gyoza that tasted like it had been reheated, remarkably sweet teriyaki chicken, sukiyaki beef, salad and rice = Not bad

Beef Una Bento – a modest portion of grilled eel on rice, salad and sukiyaki beef = Not bad

Overall:

Simple tiny place, friendly Japanese staff, cheap average food.

Nshry

129a Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park 9682 1077

Umami Burger

Corn and Zucchini Fritters

Coffee Syphon

Thoughts:

Umami Burger – 200g Wagyu and Angus beef (cooked medium rare unless otherwise specified), umami rub, brown mushroom sauce, gruyere, caramelised onions, oven roasted tomato and a parmesan crisp between a sweet brioche bun with a side of beer battered chips, coleslaw, cornichons, spicy chip dip, tomato sauce and wasabi kewpie. Don’t be fooled by the petite size of this burger as it is quite heavy and filling. The beef patty itself lacked flavour but the other ingredients made up for it. The chips were satisfying (crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside) and the selection of side dips were great. (I particularly enjoyed the wasabi kewpie) = Good

Corn and Zucchini Fritters – a generous serving of crunchy panko crumbed corn and zucchini fritters topped with smoked salmon, avocado, a perfectly poached egg and wasabi kewpie = Good

Overall:

Nshry (pronounced ‘noshery’) offers beautiful beachfront views and a tasty unique Japanese inspired menu. You have to work a little bit to get the attention from the staff but at least the food comes out quickly. This place is quite small and the tables inside can get a bit cramped on days when the weather isn’t so good so best to come along on a warm and pretty day.

Maha Restaurant

21 Bond St, Melbourne 9629 5900

Cherry, Pomegranate & Bitters Mocktail

(uludag sour cherry soda, pomegranate juice, rhubarb bitters)

Smoked hummus, lamb, cashew, cumin seeds, almonds

Local olives, maltese fel fel

‘Aegean coast’ – Wild greens, beach bananas, oyster cream and pork crackling

Zucchini falafel, almond, handmade haloumi and radish

Braised lamb neck, brik pastry, smoked eggplant and harissa pickled cabbage

Silverbeet borek

Market fish, parsnip, sesame, wild autumn mushrooms and hazelnut

Cracked wheat pilaf, barberry, date and almond

Fattoush, caramelised garlic, tomato and cucumber

12 hour roasted lamb shoulder, sumac, garlic, green olive tabouleh

Crispy skinned chicken leg, Iranian smoked rice, BBQ corn and egg

Vanilla rice pudding, toasted marshmallow ice cream, pekmez ganache and almond biscuit

Peanut butter and chocolate opera cake, brioche ice cream, salted caramel and lemon meringue

Turkish delight filled doughnuts, honey and walnuts

Overall:

Each serving comprised of a spectacular array of flavours and textures, and I truly enjoyed each dish down to the last bite. However I do want to give special mention to:

1. The hummus – fantastic! The underlying smoky flavour took hummus as I knew it to a whole new level

2. ‘Aegean coast’ salad – the smooth oyster cream was simply divine and provided a lovely contrast to the crispy pork crackling

3. Turkish delight filled doughnuts – crispy light dough with a tasty dollop of sweet Turkish delight inside

This place transcends you to somewhere else with its exotic rhythmic music and its dark elegant decor. In addition it is located in a sub-basement venue so that it perpetually feels like night. The service is efficient and the portion sizes are quite generous. (I originally had my eye on the 6 course menu but as it turned out the 4 course menu was already a struggle to finish) Note that the menu here changes regularly so that there is always something new and exciting to tantalise your tastebuds. If you haven’t been here before, put this on your places to try list!

Ramen Burger

Recipe:

1 pack of ramen or instant noodles
2 eggs
1 beef burger patty
1 slice of Tasty cheese
1 slice of canned beetroot
handful of rocket
tomato sauce

Method:

1. Cook noodles according to directions on the package. (I didn’t add any noodle seasoning but you can if you want to) Drain the noodles and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Whisk 1 egg into a bowl and add the noodles. Mix well to ensure that the noodles are coated with the egg. Divide the egg-dressed noodles in half and place each half into a ramekin or other round container. Cover the noodles with plastic wrap, and place a can of soup or heavy bowl on top to press it into shape. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

3. Add oil to a pan and once the oil is hot, cook the noodle buns until each side is golden brown.

4. Cook the burger patty on a pan and once it’s cooked to your liking, place the cheese on top so that it melts onto it.

5. Fry 1 egg sunny side up.

6. Time to assemble the burger! The order I did this was: noodle bun, tomato sauce, burger patty (cheese side up), fried egg, beetroot, rocket and second noodle bun.

Overall:

A burger that looks terrific and tastes terrific!

Einstein’s 251

251 Hawthorn Rd, Caulfield North 9939 5135

The water comes in a conical flask (!)

Soy Hot Chocolate

Latte

Brazilian Super Smoothie

Mumma’s Latkes

Kaz’s Japanese Teriyaki Burger

Egyptian Brekky

Braised Eggs

Thoughts:

Soy Hot Chocolate – not too rich, not too watery = Not bad

Latte – weak and tasted slightly burnt = Not bad

Brazilian Super Smoothie – THICK blend of acai berries, banana, granola, apple juice, yogurt, topped with coconut. This smoothie was almost a meal in itself = Good

Mumma’s Latkes – thin crispy potato and spring onion latkes served with smoked salmon, a poached egg, radish slithers and a horseradish sour cream = Good

Kaz’s Japanese Teriyaki Burger – wagyu beef burger with teriyaki aioli, tomato and lettuce on a challah roll, served with wasabi aioli drizzled crispy sweet potato = Not bad

Egyptian Brekky – baked eggs with eggplant, spinach, beetroot relish, feta, dukkah and green tahini. Best to get this dish with the spiced lamb otherwise it is quite ordinary = Not bad

Braised Eggs – baked eggs in a sour middle eastern tomato sauce, onion, capsicum, crispy zaatar mushrooms and goats cheese served with toasted seeded sourdough = Not bad

Overall:

If only the food here was as good as the decor.

Hot Cross Cookies

Recipe from: Donna Hay

Alterations I made were:

substituting the sultanas in the recipe for chocolate chips
using melted white chocolate for the crosses instead of icing sugar

Overall:

I’ve had a cookie craving for the past week now and finally found some time today to make these. These sweet crumbly cookies have a distinctive cinnamon taste and I feel that one teaspoon of cinnamon instead of two is plenty enough. (Note that I didn’t use a piping bag, hence the uneven crosses.)

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Me N Roll

636A Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn 9973 9825

Honeydew Rice Wine

Octopus Roll

Salmon Salad Roll

Spicy Tuna Roll

Prawn Crunch Roll

Thoughts:

Honeydew Rice Wine – sweet and refreshing with the distinctive taste of honeydew = Good

Octopus Roll – octopus mix, roll salad, cucumber and avocado = Not bad

Salmon Salad Roll – salmon, roll salad, cucumber, avocado and onion = Good

Spicy Tuna Roll – tuna mix, cucumber,spring onion and fish roe = Not bad

Prawn Crunch Roll – tempura prawn, roll salad, cucumber, avocado, fish roe and lettuce = Good

Overall:

I don’t buy many restaurant vouchers these days. However what compelled me to buy this particular voucher were the words ‘All-You-Can-Eat Sushi’, and for $29 for two people I was sold! I felt confident that I could eat at least 5 of these sushi rolls without a problem! But it turns out that rice is not your friend when it comes to all-you-can-eat.

The sushi rolls here are freshly made, nicely presented and are quite generous in size. (Note that this voucher limited our selection to what was available on the Roll-B and Roll-C menu only) The staff here are friendly and the decor is very cute. Nonetheless I don’t think I would come here without a voucher or discount of some sort.

Nieuw Amsterdam

106-112 Hardware Street, Melbourne 9602 2111

House baked sourdough

Black kingfish ceviche

Chicken waffles

Smokey beef brisket

Rabbit meatballs

Grits fritters

Baked eggplant

Peanut butter sandwich

Pumpkin donuts

Thoughts:

House baked sourdough – tasted more like regular bread than sourdough as it did not have that mild sour taste. However this bread did have a crispy yet oily crust reminiscent to that of pan fried pizza base = Good

Black kingfish ceviche – served with daikon, dashi dressing, crunchy quinoa and finger limes. A fresh and cool combination of flavours and textures = Good

Chicken waffles – strong flavoured pate, terrine, crispy chicken skin and orange caramel = Not bad

Smokey beef brisket – juicy pieces of beef served with carrot remoulade = Good

Rabbit meatballs – dry gamey meatballs, undercooked tagliatelle, sofrito, and roast tomato sauce. Note that this dish is no longer on the menu = Bad

Grits fritters – marvelously fluffy fritters served with a variety of sweetcorn and heirloom beetroots = Good

Baked eggplant – served with grilled tofu, mushrooms and spiced yogurt = Good

Peanut butter sandwich – served with cherry ripe ice cream, peanuts, salted caramel and chocolate sauce. It’s such a shame that this dessert is no longer on the menu as it was delicious! = Good

Pumpkin donuts – crispy deep fried donuts served with Kentucky bourbon whipped cream. The donuts by themselves are quite dry so need to be eaten together with the cream = Not bad

Overall:

Great food, good service, dark and sleek atmosphere. This place is absolutely worth visiting.

Colourful Yunnan

680 Swanston St, Carlton 9943 1055

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles (before)

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles (after)

Fried Kway Teow with Beef

Barbecue Lemon Fish

Thoughts:

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles – a traditional Yunnan dish that has a charming story behind it. The story involves a scholar who was studying for his imperial exams amidst the tranquility of a small island. Each day his wife would bring him lunch by crossing a bridge onto the island however by the time she got there his food was cold. She decided to experiment with different methods to keep her dishes warm and soon discovered that by having a layer of oil on top of the soup, the broth would remain hot enough to cook the other ingredients by the she arrived onto the island. And since she had to cross a bridge to get to the the island, her dish became known as “cross-bridge rice noodles”.

What you get with this dish is:

a bowl of pre-cooked rice noodles
a big bowl of very hot chicken broth
a plate of assorted slices of chicken, raw fish, ham
a quail egg
a plate of vegetables

The order in which the ingredients go into the soup is: egg, fish, ham, chicken, vegetables and then noodles. The next step is to wait for a minute or two for the ingredients to cook through.

I really enjoyed this dish. The broth was mild yet very flavoursome, and the noodles were fantastically soft and slippery. (Plus it was fun putting all the ingredients together) = Good

Fried Kway Teow – flat rice noodles with either beef or chicken or seafood, egg, spring onion, capsicum and bean sprouts = Not bad

Barbecue Lemon Fish – sweet, citrusy, and mildly (hardly) spicy. This perfectly fried crispy fish was delicious = Good

Overall:

Located close to Melbourne University, this place is often packed full of hungry students during lunchtime. The atmosphere was noisy and the service was good considering how busy they were.