Marquee Restaurant

445 Toorak Rd, Toorak 9827 7938

Selection of breads accompanied with three house made dips

Mini wagyu burgers

Crunchy saffron arancini served with aioli

Braised lamb ribs served with sweet sticky sauce

Flash fried baby calamari

Grilled halloumi and chicken marinated in herbs

Thoughts:

Breads and dips – the ‘selection’ of breads comprised of sliced white bread and sliced wholemeal bread. These were cut up into primary school reminiscent triangles that were completely toasted so that they resembled slices of hard crusty croutons. I have never seen a restaurant serve sliced sandwich bread with dips before and found this to be quite bizarre and disappointing. The three dips that accompanied the bread were beetroot and sour cream, hommus and sun dried tomato. The amount of dip provided was certainly not generous and did not taste house made at all = Bad

Mini wagyu burgers – uninspiring wagyu patty served in a tough dry brioche bun messily thrown together with lettuce, tomato, relish, gruyere cheese and quails egg = Not bad

Crunchy saffron arancini – rather than being crunchy, these were stuck in your teeth chewy. I’m not sure how much (or if any) saffron went into these arancini balls but the only thing that I could taste was cheese = Bad

Braised lamb ribs – dry crispy ribs that came with a sparing but sweet sauce = Not bad

Flash fried baby calamari – the calamari was dusted with undistinguishable wasabi and was served with a side salad of pickled carrot and cucumber = Not bad

Grilled halloumi and chicken = reminded me of Nando’s lemon and herb chicken, but with haloumi melted onto the chicken = Not bad

Overall:

What happened Marquee? When I first visited years ago, this elegant restaurant served mouthwateringly delicious food. The menu used to be vast and interesting, and their mini wagyu burgers were unbelievably amazing, (one of the best that I have ever had) but not anymore. The quality of food here has definitely gone downhill and the menu is now limited to tapas. The restaurant itself is divided into two sections: a casual front section that is covered by gorgeous cream drapes that resemble a marquee (hence the name), and a stylish back dining section filled with dark leather seating and black timber furnishings. Although the dining area was fancy and relaxing, the atmosphere was unfortunately ruined by the out of place dance music that they had playing all night. Although the service is fast and friendly, I am sad to say that I don’t think I will ever venture here again.

Dee’s Kitchen

19 Pier Street, Dromana 5981 4666

Warming Shakshouka

Delicately smashed rosemary potato and pumpkin

Zucchini and fetta fritters

Spiced carrot and chickpea pastili

Thoughts:

Warming Shakshouka – a rich Middle Eastern inspired tomato salsa baked with spinach, chorizo and chèvre (goats cheese), topped with two poached eggs and served with warm house baked pita bread = Not bad

Delicately smashed rosemary potato and pumpkin – the roasted potato and pumpkin were tantalising and full of flavour. These were served with beautifully poached eggs, crispy pancetta and pepperonata (stew of onion and sweet peppers) = Excellent

Zucchini and fetta fritters – deliciously crispy fritters that had a hint of creaminess due to the fetta, served with a sweet beetroot and sesame dip, and a tasty labneh (yogurt cheese) dip = Excellent

Spiced carrot and chickpea pastili – rolled carrot and chickpeas in crunchy Tunisian pastry, served with a cauliflower and quinoa salad, a pumpkin dip and a yogurt dip. These imitation spring rolls were bland while the salad and dips were plain and unexciting = Not bad

Overall:

The menu is Middle Eastern/Mediterranean inspired, while the ingredients that they use are sourced locally wherever possible and change with the seasons. Note that this place also sells wine, cheeses and cured meats for you to take home. The staff are friendly and helpful, and although the decor here is quite dark (dark floors, dark metal chairs, grey metallic ceiling), the open space of the dining area allows for plenty of natural light to enter in through the windows, making the place feel warm and comfortable.

Fruit “Cake”

It was my mum’s birthday and as she is quite health conscious, she requested “no birthday cake please!” (Which was very sad because I LOVE birthday cake) So instead I made her this alternative “cake” made entirely out of fruit. No need to feel guilty about having another slice of this birthday “cake”!

Hudadak

Carinish Rd, Clayton (near the corner of Clayton Rd) 9543 4276

Steamed dumplings

Seafood and kimchi pancake

Spicy corn noodles

Half fried chicken/Half ganjang chicken

Thoughts:

Steamed dumplings – healthy tasting mince and vegetable filled dumplings served with soy sauce = Not bad

Seafood and kimchi pancake – not enough seafood, not enough kimchi = Not bad

Spicy corn noodles – chewy corn noodles with vegetables (carrot, cucumber, cabbage, bean sprouts, seaweed), sliced apples, and half an egg, served cold with a spicy sauce = Not bad

Half fried chicken/Half ganjang chicken – the fried chicken is original Korean style fried chicken, while the ganjang is soy and garlic sauce fried chicken. Both were delightfully crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the ganjang chicken having a delicious sweet flavour to it = Excellent

Overall:

This small casual place has the usual Korean menu (eg. sizzling BBQs, clay pot soups) but the stand out item for me was definitely their fantastic fried chicken!

Tutto Bene

Shop M28 Southgate Plaza, Southbank 9696 3334

Bread and olive oil

Slider of the day

Zucca risotto

Anatra risotto

Thoughts:

Bread and olive oil – Tutto Bene’s very own brand of award winning olive oil is simply marvellous! Robust and fruity, the olive oil here is definitely something special and is even available for purchase = Excellent

Slider – crumbed scallops with celeriac and truffle = Good

Zucca – roasted butternut pumpkin, sage, crushed toasted walnuts and Taleggio. The sweetness of the pumpkin combined with the aromatic Taleggio cheese and the addition of walnuts for added crunch made this dish very enjoyable = Excellent

Anatra – organic duck, porcini mushroom and sage. Whenever I have risotto anywhere, I somehow always compare it to this one. With generous amounts of succulent duck, this simple dish is mouthwateringly delicious. My only concern is that it has become saltier these days than how it used to be (I must remember to tell them to add less salt next time), but I still love this dish anyway = Excellent

Overall:

The translation of Tutto Bene in Italian is “everything’s good” and it is a very fitting name for this restaurant. The food here is fantastic, particularly their risottos which are one of their house specialities. Be sure to also try their terrific in-house produced gelati (note that flavours vary from season to season). The service here is generally excellent, while the dark elegant decor and amazing views of the Melbourne city skyline provide a wonderful dining atmosphere.

Afghan Pamir Restaurant

195 Lonsdale St, Dandenong 9792 0197

Mantu

Meatball kofta

Salad, dips, naan bread

Afghani rice

Borani banjan

Chicken and lamb skewers

Thoughts:

Mantu – soggy tasteless dumplings that were served drowning in yogurt = Bad

Meatball kofta – spiced lamb meatballs served in a mild tomato and pea sauce = Not bad

Salad, dips, naan bread – simple salad, undistinguished dips, hard (almost stale) bread = Bad

Afghani rice – long grained rice blended with bright strands of carrot, barberries and spices = Not bad

Borani banjan – oily fried eggplant topped with cooked tomatoes and an abundance of yogurt = Not bad

Chicken and lamb skewers – tender pieces of smoky meat = Not bad

Overall:

We were completely blown away by the magnificent decor; hand crafted solid wood furniture, marble table tops (albeit covered by a layer of plastic), and stunning pieces of Afghan artwork. It would have been a wonderful dining atmosphere except for the fact that this place was completely empty when we arrived, and would practically remain so for the remainder of the evening. The food at this place is rather pricey in comparison to other Afghan restaurants in the area, and we ended up opting for the $35 banquet which enabled us to try a bit of everything from their menu. Unfortunately the food did not impress me as much as the decor did, and I would most likely not venture here again.

Spilt Milk

288 Neerim Road, Carnegie 9571 8880

Donkey

Cow

Thoughts:

Donkey – overcooked poached egg, bacon (not the crispy kind) and fresh spinach on sourdough, served with spiced capsicum aioli = Not bad

Cow: baked eggs with fatty chorizo sausage, plenty of fetta and herbs served in a pan, with chewy light rye bread and sweet tomato relish on the side = Not bad

Overall:

The menu here is fun and unique as all of their dishes have been named after various animals. Portions however are quite small, as is the place, thus seating is limited. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is cosy. Just note that there is no restroom here but they are in the process of installing one.

Dahon Tea Lounge

Shop 5, 111 Cecil St, South Melbourne 9696 5704

Mango and Passionfruit Tea, Berry Tea, Pandan Sago Drink

BBQ wings with java rice

Kalabasang may gata

Boneless bangus (milkfish)

BBQ skewers (chicken inasal and pork tocino)

Sans rivals

Ube macapuno

Thoughts:

Gourmet Iced Teas – all tasted very sweet and very artificial = Not bad

BBQ wings with java rice – well marinated, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, smoky BBQ chicken wings that went really well with the java (tomato) rice = Good

Kalabasang may gata – prawns, fish, pumpkin and vegetables in a creamy coconut sauce, served with steamed rice. I liked the fact that even though this dish contained a creamy coconut sauce, it wasn’t heavy = Good

Boneless bangus – tasty pieces of fried milkfish served with a simple salad = Good

BBQ skewers – marinated in lemon and kumquat, the chicken inasal skewers were surprisingly moist and citrusy. The pork tocino (Filipino sweet cured pork) skewers on the other hand were sweet and a bit more harder to chew than the chicken skewers = Not bad

Sans rivals – cashew meringue that reminded me of the inside of a Snickers bar, but with cashews instead of peanuts. Sticky and sweet, this is a dessert that is best shared = Not bad

Ube macapuno – purple yam and coconut cake. A soft, light, airy cake that contained small pieces of coconut in the middle. This was quite eggy and unfortunately had no yam flavour to it at all = Not bad

Overall:

A casual place where the service is very prompt, and the food is terrific value for money and is somewhat unique (as Filipino restaurants in Melbourne are not very common).

Hotel Windsor

111 Spring St, Melbourne 9633 6004

Afternoon Tea

Seven Fairies (Glorious Blooming Tea)

Overall:

When I found out that they were going to increase their afternoon tea prices as of November 1st 2013, I thought to myself that now was a good time to go and try this place out. The service was professional, the atmosphere relaxed and the decor classy and elegant. The afternoon tea food however was rather ordinary, with nothing in particular standing out.

The sandwiches included:

smoked salmon, creamy avocado, dill
chicken, apple, mayonnaise
egg, mayonnaise, snow pea sprouts
virginia ham, dijon mustard
cucumber, sour cream

These unfortunately tasted like they had been sitting in the fridge for a while = Not bad

The pastries included:

lemon meringue pie
mille feuille
sacher torte
lamington eclairs
caramel eclair

The lemon meringue pie was yummy, I found the pastry of the mille feuille and eclairs to be quite tough, and the sachet torte was exceptionally rich = Not bad

Scones:

Traditional and sultana scones that are baked daily, served with jam and double cream. These scones were warm, buttery and slightly crumbly = Good

Seven Fairies Tea:

I find blooming teas (or flowering teas) really fun to watch. They are essentially a bundle of dried tea leaves wrapped around one or more flowers into a tight ball. When this is steeped, the leaves and flowers unfurl in a process that mimics a flower blooming, with the tea leaves forming the petals and the flowers inside unfolding as the centrepiece. With the combination of green tea leaves and fragrant young jasmine flowers, this tea tasted clean and refreshing = Good

Tuck Shop Take Away

273 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield North 0431 406 580

Redskin and Salted Caramel milkshake

Nutella milkshake

Minor burger

The Cuts

Pulled Pork jaffle

Dessert jaffle

Thoughts:

Milkshakes – absolutely amazing! If only I had enough stomach space, I would have tried all of their flavours. Made with house syrups, the milkshakes are served in a mini-milk bottle with stripy paper straws. The redskin flavour tasted exactly like redskins, the salted caramel flavour had the perfect balance between salty and sweet, and the nutella flavour tasted like Ferrero Rocher = Excellent

Minor burger – beef patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion, pickles and Tuckshop sauce (tomato sauce/mayo/mustard combination) in between a grilled linseed brioche bun. Unfortunately the beef patties here are a lot smaller than the bun so that two thirds into my burger, I only had bun and lettuce left. What I also noticed was that the homemade Tuckshop sauce reminded me of the sauce you get on a Big Mac = Not Bad

The Cuts – hand cut chips! How many places are even doing this these days? Crunchy with an earthy flavour, these chips were definitely something different = Not bad

Pulled Pork jaffle – juicy pulled pork with a tasty smoked cheddar béchamel = Good

Dessert jaffle – banana, liquid cheesecake and salted caramel jaffle = Excellent

Overall:

A small takeaway shop located on the corner of Hawthorn and Glen Eira Road, this place can only seat about 10 people so grabbing takeaway is a good idea. The menu is also quite small, and the decor is simple and quirky. I have to mention that the service from the guy owner of this place is extraordinary. He is super friendly and also very observant in making sure that his customers are happy with their food. (For example when our order was given to us without our chips, he overheard us question to each other whether or not we had forgotten to order them and straightaway went to check our order for us and brought us our chips, all before we even had to ask anyone). The stand outs for me were no doubt the marvellous milkshakes and the desserts. Apart from the dessert jaffle, they also have a variety of other homemade desserts such as redskin brownies, chocolate chip cookies and toffee apple crumble. I am definitely coming back again to try all of these! Note that the close at 8pm on Monday to Thursday, 9pm on Friday and Saturday, and are not open on Sunday.