Fried chicken

Changz Canteen

Truffle and Mushroom Burger

(double beef and cheese, enoki fries, mushroom ‘ketchup’, truffle, roast garlic aioli)

Juicy beef patties that were well cooked, strong truffle flavour.

★★★☆☆

Canteen Classic with Fries

(beef, chicken brick, double cheese, bacon, onion, pickles, jalapeño, lettuce, canteen sauce)

This substantial burger was distinctively peppery, while the canteen sauce reminded us of Big Mac sauce.

★★★☆☆

Fried Chicken Ribs with Aioli

These tasty ribs were coated in a super crispy batter, and are only $1 each on Sundays!

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Solid burgers, enthusiastic staff, awesome Star Wars decor. Burger joints are a dime a dozen these days in Melbourne, and although nothing we tried was phenomenal, I really hope that these guys make it.

Changz Canteen

256 Glen Eira Rd, Elsternwick, VIC

(03) 8592 4941

http://changzcanteen.com.au/

Suga Korean Restaurant

Tofu Canape

(pan fried homemade tofu topped with Suga’s seasoned rice balls and fried lotus chips, served with wasabi mayo)

★★★☆☆

Side Dishes

★★★★☆

Seafood Pajeon

★★★☆☆

Original Fried Chicken

Sadly dry.

★★☆☆☆

Handmade Kal-Gook-Soo

(knife-cut wheat noodles boiled with egg in fish broth, flavoured with seasoning, onions, garlic, topped with carrots and dried seaweed)

★★★★☆

Spicy Soft Tofu Stew

(soft tofu stew with seafood, mushrooms, zucchini, spring onions and onions in spicy hot soup topped with a cracked egg)

★★★★☆

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Soondae

(Korean style sausages stuffed with pork blood, sweet potato glass noodles, carrots, onions, spring onions, seasoned with ginger, salt, garlic and pepper)

With so many other ingredients mixed in, these didn’t taste like your typical blood sausage (ie. they didn’t have that livery iron-rich blood taste)

★★★☆☆

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Cold Noodles

(thin buckwheat noodles served icy cold in beef broth topped with cucumber, beef slices, half a boiled egg, served with vinegar and mustard)

★★☆☆☆

Tofu donuts with vanilla custard and ice cream

There was tofu mixed throughout the batter which made these donuts extra soft on the inside.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

You will find a huge range of traditional and contemporary Korean dishes at Suga, many of which I have not seen served anywhere else. The must try item however is their delicious home-made tofu which is prepared daily on site! Staff were friendly but service was slow. I just have to make sure that I’m hungry but not ravenously hungry the next time I come here.

Suga Korean Restaurant

269 Huntingdale Rd, Chadstone, VIC

(03) 9888 1001

http://www.sugarestaurant.com/

Chickilia

Soy Garlic Chicken Wings

Crispy and well flavoured.

★★★★☆

Kimchi Jjigae with Ramen

(kimchi, onion, spring onion, tofu, garlic)

Comforting and mildly spicy.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

This tiny bright orange place offers a variety of typical Korean fare, but the fried chicken is what you should order. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have any original fried chicken on the menu, but the soy garlic was quite enjoyable so it wasn’t a big deal in the end.

Chickilia

259 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley, VIC

(03) 9886 3851

http://chickilia.com/

Dexter

Fried Chicken Bun

The green chilli slaw tasted very Asian-like (in a good way) and complemented the juicy fried chicken.

★★★☆☆

Burnt Sriracha Corn

Nicely charred and smoky tasting.

★★★☆☆

Shoestring Fries with BBQ Rub and Aioli

Light, crisp, non-greasy, addictive.

★★★★☆

Hot Meat Donuts

As soon as I saw these on the menu, I was intrigued…

Would the flavours of the pulled pork and the sweet crispy donut go together? Well they sure did! What was great was that the donut’s sweetness didn’t overpower the pork, and that the sweet and mildly spicy accompanying sauce made these donuts taste even better.

★★★★☆

Kurobuta Pork Loin with Mash, Pickles and Slaw

Perfectly cooked flavoursome pork.

★★★☆☆

Cured Beef Brisket with Mash, Pickles, Slaw and Charred Sourdough

Enjoyable beef but I still prefer slow cooked brisket to cured brisket.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Bright and inviting space, prompt service, great food.

Dexter

456 High St, Preston, VIC

(03) 9973 3577

http://www.dexter.melbourne/

Kuku Mama

Cheeseburger Dumplings – beef, pickle, cheese, Bobby John sauce

Although these are not your typical dumplings, this is certainly fusion done right. Within each dumpling was perfectly cooked beef and plenty of melted cheese, which was delicious when eaten with the pickle and the sauce. The dumpling skin was a bit chewy though and needed to be steamed a tiny bit longer.

★★★★☆

Vegetarian Dumplings – sweet potato, shiitake, enoki

Unsurprisingly sweet and mushroomy.

★★★☆☆

Bao – Peking roasted duck, pickled cucumber, hoisin

Soft pillowy steamed buns with a decent amount of tasty duck.

★★★★☆

Tacos – blackened salmon, herb crema, chicharron

★★☆☆☆

Mac & Cheese squared with Bobby John sauce

★★★☆☆

Crinkle cut chips, honey, soy, sesame, chilli, spring onion

A great mix of sweet and savoury.

★★★☆☆

Bao – soft shell crab, kewpie mayo, Kuku kimchi

The soft shell crab had good crunch but lacked any actual crab taste.

★★☆☆☆

Balinese coconut seafood curry with herb rice

The curry was a little on the bland side, while the herb rice (ie. the coriander rice) was a little salt heavy. So I suppose the flavours balanced out when you ate them together.

★★☆☆☆

Bao – southern fried chicken, slaw, BBQ sauce

The crispy tender chicken combined with the slaw and BBQ sauce made for terrific baos!

★★★★☆

Overall:

This was such a cool place. From the vibrant decor to the comfortable booths and couches, Kuku Mama is a fantastic place to eat, drink and simply hang out at. Service was quick while the food was creative and reasonably priced. Make sure you come with a few people because there will be lots of things on the menu that you’ll want to try.

Kuku Mama

105 Chapel St, Windsor, VIC

(03) 9529 6900

http://kukumama.com.au/

Leonard’s House of Love

Original Fried Chicken Tenders with Pickles and Chipotle Mayo

Fairly average chicken with terrific chipotle mayo.

★★☆☆☆

Cheeseburger

(beef brisket and short rib patty, special sauce, cheese, onion, green oak lettuce)

Tasty patty that was cooked perfectly.

★★★☆☆

Charcoal Chicken Fries

(fries, pepper gravy, onion, stuffing, cheese sauce)

★★★☆☆

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

(1/2 chicken, jacket potato, sour cream, fries, Greek salad, dinner roll and gravy)

What a feast this was! And special mention goes to the awesome gravy.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

This unassuming bar is located in a small street right off Chapel St and offer a small and simple menu of American comfort foods. The staff were friendly however there was a considerable amount of wait time before our food arrived. Nevertheless I really liked the vibe of this place and would definitely come back for drinks and a snack or two.

Leonard’s House of Love

3 Wilson St, South Yarra, VIC

0428 066 778

Mick Adams Burger Bar

Kostaki Fried Chicken

(spicy fried chicken, iceberg lettuce, avocado, chilli jam, radish, coriander, mint and chilli mayo)

Amazing toppings but the dry overly fried chicken prevented this good burger from being a great burger.

★★★☆☆

The Big T

(two premium beef patties, double cheddar, pickles, cos lettuce, tomato, aioli, ketchup)

Ordinary but satisfying.

★★☆☆☆

Truffle Parmesan Chips

These needed a good mix as all the parmesan was on top while all the truffle was at the bottom.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

With so many burger places popping up all over Melbourne, I was hoping that Mick Adams Burger Bar offered something special that would make it stand out from the crowd. Service here was efficient and the atmosphere casual. Although the food was good, unfortunately it wasn’t good enough to bring this place straight into my mind the next time I get a burger craving.

Mick Adams Burger Bar

38 Portman St, Oakleigh, VIC

(03) 9563 0331

NeNe Chicken

Are you a fan of Korean Fried Chicken? If the answer is yes then you have to try NeNe Chicken! The name “NeNe” translates to “Yes! Yes!” in Korean, and this store first opened in 1999 in South Korea. Since then they have expanded to over 1000 outlets in South Korea, and have recently opened their first Australian store in Melbourne Central. Being a huge fan of Korean Fried Chicken, I was thrilled when NeNe Chicken finally opened.

Original Fried Chicken

You can’t go past the original. And the Korean mustard gave each bite some tasty edge.

★★★★☆

Oriental Green Onion

Original chicken designed to be eaten with fresh crunchy green onion and soy/wasabi sauce.

★★★☆☆

Snowing Vegetable

Don’t be fooled by the name, this was definitely fried chicken and it was seriously good. The powdery coating was mildly sweet and almost tasted like corn.

★★★★☆

Swicy

Sweet, spicy, and very addictive.

★★★★☆

Freaking Hot

Adequately named, this one is not for the faint-hearted! You have been warned!

★★★☆☆

Overall:

NeNe Chicken offers a variety of crunchy, juicy fried chicken coated in a mouth watering selection of secret recipe sauces. All of their fried chicken is served with coleslaw and radish, and I love the fact that they offer disposable gloves so that you can enjoy your fried chicken with your hands, minus the mess. Unfortunately there is very limited seating at the Melbourne Central store so I am looking forward to the opening of the dine in venues at Box Hill and High Point. So the next time you are in the mood for fast quality Korean Fried Chicken, you know where to go.

NeNe Chicken

Melbourne Central, Level 1, Corner of Swanston Street and La Trobe Street, Melbourne

9654 0772

http://www.nenechicken.com.au/

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of NeNe Chicken and Wasamedia Pty Ltd.

Le Bon Ton

Onion Rings – beer battered and jerk seasoned

Nicely seasoned onion rings with a thin crunchy batter.

= ★★★★

Fried Chicken – Southern style buttermilk soaked tenders with cracked pepper white gravy

Each bite brought to mind KFC chicken.

= ★★

Mac & 3 Cheese – Cheddar, American and Swiss

Dry and pungent.

= ★★

The Smoker’s Lot – (left to right) Otway Ranges pork shoulder, Chicken basted in apple BBQ sauce, Jalapeno and cheddar hot-link sausage, Riverina Angus beef brisket

Each meat was deliciously smoky and tender. However everyone’s clear favourite was without a doubt the sausage: spicy, juicy, with portions of deliciously melted cheese.

= ★★★

Overall:

Decent food, decent service and I really liked the old West saloon vibe that they had going on. I must really try one of their burgers the next time I come here as I’ve heard many good things about them. And here’s a fun fact for you. The name “Le Bon Ton” actually originates from a Louisiana saying “Laissez les bons temps rouler” or “Let the good times roll”, which is often used as a fun and festive way to get people riled up and let them know that the party is starting. So altogether now: “Le Bon Ton!”

Le Bon Ton

51 Gipps St, Collingwood

9416 4341

http://www.lebonton.com.au

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