Mr. Hive Kitchen & Bar – Dessert Degustation

8 Whiteman St, Southbank 9292 8300

Chiboust, exaggerated blackberries, basil sorbet, hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, mint chocolate and puff pastry

Lychee and pine nut tartare, white chocolate, raspberries, gruyere cheese, lychee bubbles and poached raspberries

Mandarin and yogurt ice cream balls

Chestnut honey yogurt, milk crumb, scorched ruby and pink grapefruit poached in elderflower, elderflower jelly, caramelised seville orange, peach/honey/yogurt sorbet and orange isomalt sugar

Housemade dulce leche mousse in a mango glaze, mango poached in kaffir lime leaf, oat cookies, dark ale granita and a multigrain crouton

Dark chocolate sauce, milk chocolate cremeux, dark chocolate frozen soil, pistachio crumb, strawberry sorbet, dried strawberries and strawberry dust

Complimentary take home chocolates: Raspberry milk chocolate & Yuzu and chai dark chocolate

Overall:

I simply LOVE dessert. I am one of those people who always has room for something sweet. So when we decided to come and sample the new dessert degustation menu at Mr. Hive, I was very excited. And I must say, the dessert here did not disappoint.

The dessert bar was overseen by pastry chef John Demetrios, for whom I have a lot of respect. Previously the pastry chef at Circa, he was responsible for some of the best soufflés that I have ever tasted in Melbourne. As we sat at the bar and watched him at work, I marvelled at how quick and neat he was at assembling all the delicate little pieces and tiny details that made up each dessert. Although I thoroughly enjoyed every single dish that John created, the stand out elements for me were the basil sorbet (strikingly fresh with a strong basil flavour), the mandarin yogurt ice cream balls (which were lightly scorched before being served so that the ice cream inside was soft and bursted with flavour once you bit into it) and the dark ale granita (beautifully refreshing).

Note that the dessert degustation menu changes weekly every Tuesday and that the dessert bar only seats 6 people so bookings are recommended.

Third Wave

30 Cato St, Prahran 9510 2991

Russian Sampler Plate

Reuben Sandwich

Thoughts:

Russian Sampler Plate – the perfect choice for those who want to try a little bit of everything from the Russian menu. This sampler plate included:

Russian Salad – a deliciously tangy salad that consisted of roast chicken, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, peas, pickles, carrots and a dijonaise dressing = Good
Blintzes – soft yet crispy crepe-like pancakes that were filled with the choice of either mushroom, meat or cheese. The mushroom blintz was filled with fried mushrooms, plenty of cheese and spices; while the meat blintz was filled with pork, chicken, carrots and herbs. These were scrumptious! = Excellent
Meat Dumplings – served with sour cream, these dumplings were bland and needed a sauce of some kind = Not Bad
Syrniki – soft creamy cottage cheese pancakes that were served with organic blueberry jam and sour cream = Not Bad

Reuben Sandwich – fall apart slow smoked beef brisket, pickles, Swiss cheese and coleslaw, between lightly toasted Rye bread. This solid sandwich was served with pickles, crunchy on the outside soft on the inside chips, and a zesty barbecue sauce = Good

Overall:

I was rather impressed with the extensive menu that they have here. Apart from the classic breakfast/brunch options, there are quite a few American and Russian inspired dishes. The main problem was simply trying to decide what to order as everything sounded terrific! The portions at this place are quite generous, and even their drinks are quite large. The dining area is a light open space with an interesting vertical garden growing on the back wall. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is very casual. This newly opened cafe is a great place to go to if you want to try some tasty food that isn’t on your typical breakfast/brunch menu. And what’s great is that this place takes bookings.

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Third Wave. All food ratings & review are purely based on my own experiences and how I felt about the service, food and quality at the time of visit

Big Lou’s Donuts

318 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 0407 007 166

Thoughts:

Bear Claw – an enormous claw shaped donut that had an apple pie like filling and a sticky vanilla glaze. This monstrous pastry was bigger than my face, making it perfect for sharing = Good

Vanilla slice – a custard and cream filled donut covered in a thick layer of sugary icing and drizzled with chocolate = Not bad

Cookies and cream – this donut was PACKED full of cream and was topped with crushed chocolate cookies = Not bad

Overall: The actual texture of these donuts is different to those found in donut chain stores. The donuts here are more dense and chewy (similar to bread) as opposed to being light and airy. Worth trying if you happen to be in the area.

Ping’s Dumpling Kitchen

330 Clayton Road, Clayton 9558 8831

Sticky rice and pork dumplings

Steamed shanghai pork mini buns (xiao long bao)

Boiled vegetable dumplings

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings

Boiled peking pork dumplings

Dan-Dan noodles with spicy pork sauce

Spring onion pancake

Fried chives cake

Shanghai fried noodles

Thoughts:

Sticky rice and pork dumplings – bland! = Not bad

Steamed shanghai pork mini buns – these would have been better if the dumpling skin had been thinner and if they contained more pork juice/soup = Not bad

Boiled vegetable dumplings – we could not figure out what vegetables were packed into these dumplings, so all I can say was that the insides of these were green and that it tasted healthy = Not bad

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings – my favourite dumplings from this place! An enticingly juicy chicken and prawn filling wrapped in crisp dumpling skin = Excellent

Boiled peking pork dumplings – tasty pork filling encased in soft dumpling skin = Good

Dan-Dan noodles with spicy pork sauce – spicy and delicious! = Good

Spring onion pancake – a rather small and thin pancake that was oily and salty = Not bad

Fried chives cake – thick fried pastry that was packed full of chives = Not bad

Shanghai fried noodles – oily thick noodles that had a touch of sweetness to it = Good

Overall:

Whenever I get a craving for dumplings, this is my go-to place. The service is ultra speedy, and the food is always consistent and is great value for money. Note that this is a cash only place.

When I was in Hong Kong and Macau…

Here are some of the things I sampled in Hong Kong and Macau:

Bak kwa (sweet-salty sheets of dried barbecue meat, similar to jerky)

Portugese egg tarts

Siu mai dumplings and cha siu bao (barbecue pork buns)

Har gow dumplings

Cheung fun (steam rice noodle rolls) filled with pork

Steamed eggs with soy sauce

Tofu soup

Rice noodles with fish cakes in soup

Black glutinous rice and taro paste

Durian cheesecake

Gai daan ja (eggette)

When I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand…

Influenced by neighbouring countries (particularly Myanmar/Burma), the food in Chiang Mai is truly distinct. Here is some of the food I sampled, including a few of Chiang Mai’s most popular dishes (eg. khao soi, sai ua, kalamae, kaeb moo, nam prik noom):

Khao soi (curry egg noodles)

Khanom jeen nam ngiaw (fermented rice vermicelli noodle soup)

Sai ua (grilled herb sausages), Kaeb moo (crispy pork rinds) and Nam prik noom (roasted green chilli dip)

Kalamae (sweet sticky candy made from palm sugar, rice flour and coconut milk , wrapped in palm leaves)

Massaman chicken curry

Prawn and mushroom Tom Yum soup

Roasted sesame seed cakes

Roti with condensed milk

When I was in Bangkok, Thailand…

Thailand is without a doubt my favourite holiday destination. Part of the reason is of course the food! There is an enormous variety of both Thai as well as non Thai food that is fresh, delicious and unbelievably CHEAP! Here is just some of what I ate:

Spicy pork sausage (moo yor), crispy rice cakes (eaten with the peanut/coconut sauce), Thai fermented sausage (sai krok Isan), spicy papaya salad

Goi See Mee noodles

Satay rice with pork and chilli jam

Tom Yum pizza

Gelato

Pad Thai omelette

Duck and egg noodles in Tom Yum soup

Waffles (pandan, chocolate, strawberry)

Thai boat noodles and fried dumplings

Spicy pork ramen with egg

Suki dry noodles (suki haeng) on a sizzling plate

Green curry stir fried rice with tuna in an omelette

Bean curd sheet rolls (filled with an assortment of meat, these get freshly deep fried on order)

Hot Pot train

The Beaufort

421 Rathdowne St, Carlton 9347 8171

Deep fried pickles with ranch sauce

Country fried chicken

The Beaufort Butt sandwich

The Out-N-Out burger

French dip roll

Thoughts:

Deep fried pickles – crispy batter, tangy pickles, tasty ranch sauce = Not bad

Country fried chicken – super crispy chicken served with pico de gallo and a bowl of shoestring fries = Good

The Beaufort Butt sandwich – juicy pulled pork, kimchi, sririacha sauce, lemon and ginger aioli in a soft white roll, served with shoestring fries = Good

The Out-N-Out burger – meat, cheese, french mustard, ketchup, tomato and spanish onion in a soft white bun, served with shoestring fries = Not bad

French dip roll – slow roast beef in a french roll with sauteed onions and hot English mustard. This dish came with some onion dipping gravy and shoestring fries. I now feel that all rolls should come with some dipping gravy. They just make the roll extra delicious! = Good

Overall:

Good food, average service, poor dining atmosphere (it was so dark that we couldn’t see our menus or even our food without using the light from our phones).

Sushi Hotaru

Shop 118 200 Bourke St (1st floor of MidCity Arcade) Melbourne 9663 7538

Sushi train

Salmon sashimi

Salmon box sushi

Eel cream cheese roll

Okonomiyaki

Kingfish nigiri

Salmon onion wasabi mayo roll

Seared salmon and scallops

Black sesame latte

Green tea mousse

Overall:

I really enjoy going to places like this where you get to watch the chefs in action as they prepare everyone’s food. Now apart from what was going around on the sushi train, a wider variety of dishes (including hot ones) were able to be ordered from electronic touch screens. These touch screens enabled the service here to be unbelievably fast: within two minutes of selecting a dish from the touch screen, a chef was already handing it over to us! There is a fantastic variety of dishes to choose from here and the ones we sampled were quite tasty and reasonably priced. I particularly enjoyed the salmon box sushi and the seared salmon and scallops (fresh and full of flavour). However next time I would probably avoid from the green tea mousse (overly creamy, left a slightly bitter green tea aftertaste) and the pre-made black sesame latte (exceedingly sweet, the more I drank the thirstier I became). What I also noticed was that they had tubs full of dirty dishes stacked on the floor behind us, making the place feel less like a restaurant and more like a overloaded kitchen. Note that this place can get quite busy and that they will not seat you until your entire party has arrived. Hence be prepared to wait and let your friends know that they have to turn up on time!

Drugstore Espresso

194 Toorak Road, South Yarra 9827 5058

Corn fritter stack

Brioche french toast

The Somerset burger

Drugstore’s full prescription

Thoughts:

Corn fritter stack – enjoyable fritters packed with plenty of sweet corn kernels served with diced avocado, fresh salsa, smoked salmon, a poached egg and wild roquette = Good

Brioche french toast – served with fresh berries, grilled banana, creme fraiche and drizzled with a copious amount of maple syrup (making the entire dish intensely sweet) = Not bad

The Somerset burger – wagyu beef patty (cooked medium), English cheddar, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and aioli, all in a toasted brioche bun served with crunchy thick fries = Not bad

Drugstore’s full prescription – a general big breakfast dish comprising two poached eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, roast mushrooms, smoked chorizo and wilted spinach = Not bad

Overall:

The service at this place was great. Our waiters were fun and goofy but also quick and attentive. The food on the other hand was fairly average while the coffee was disappointing (ie. served weak and lukewarm). Also note that the menu is now smaller than it used to be and that they no longer serve the Mr Miyagi burger (which was listed in the Herald Sun’s top 25 burgers of Melbourne at the end of 2012).