Ice cream

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/

Mr Scruff’s

Poutine Chips with Cheese, Gravy and Bacon

★★★★☆

Salt & Vinegar Onion Rings with Scruff’s Special Sauce

★★★☆☆

Beef Burger with American Cheese, Cos, Pickles, and Scruff’s Special Sauce

★★★☆☆

Crispy Chicken Burger with Pickled Ginger, Kewpie Mayo, Cos and BBQ Sauce

★★★☆☆

Snickers Waffle with Peanut Praline, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream and Shaved Chocolate

This was a lot smaller than I anticipated.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

I can totally understand why this place is so popular. The vibe is great and the food is pretty damn tasty. The best thing about Mr Scruff’s is that every Wednesdays between 6pm – 10pm the food is HALF PRICE! And it’s not like the prices here are expensive to begin with, so it works out to be a seriously awesome deal.

Mr Scruff’s

60 Smith St, Collingwood, VIC

(03) 9995 3881

http://www.mrscruffs.com.au/

Sir Charles

The Smash

(smashed avocado with dill oil, dukkah, goats cheese croquette, poached eggs on multigrain toast)

Crispy cheesy croquettes, perfectly poached eggs and an ample amount of smashed avocado that was a little salt heavy for me.

★★★☆☆

Salmon Benedict

(panko crumbed eggs with Sriracha hollandaise, smoked salmon rillette, baby spinach and burnt chilli on roti)

My first reaction was: WHOA LOOK AT THAT HUGE CUT OF LEMON! Who actually needs that much lemon squeezed onto their dish? Massive lemon aside, this Salmon Benedict was seriously amazing! The combination of delicious ingredients worked very well together and I loved how the Sriracha hollandaise and burnt chilli gave this dish some gentle heat.

★★★★★

Eton Mess Waffles

(Belgian waffle with crispy meringue, jelly tip ice cream, marshmallow and fresh berries)

This was without a doubt one of the most colourful brunch dishes I’ve ever had! The waffle itself was incredibly crispy and subtly salty which provided a wonderful balance to all the sweetness from the meringue, marshmallow and ice cream.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Excellent food, quick and friendly service, bright relaxing space. Sir Charles, I will see you again soon!

Sir Charles

121 Johnston St, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9415 7077

http://www.sircharlesfitzroy.com.au/

Morris Jones

Oysters with Champagne Granita

House-made Beer and Caraway Seed Bread with Honey Butter

Salt and Vinegar Saltbush Chips

Morris Jones Salmon

Champagne Poached Salmon, Yuzu Seeds, Candied Chilli, Honey Pumpkin

A close up of the salmon

Southern Fried Quail, Turnips, Szechuan-pepper, Quince

Wild Barramundi, Broccoli Couscous, Chicken Skin, Champagne Veloute

Otway Crispy Pork, Wilted Kale, Cloudy Bar Clams, Masterstock

Le Delice Triple Cream Cheese, Honey, Quince, Truffle Oil

Nitro Violet Crumble

(honeycomb, violet ice cream, popping candy, chocolate)

Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial Champagne

Overall:

I recently had the pleasure of attending the launch of Morris Jones’ Moet & Chandon Champagne Lunch. Head Chef Matthew Butcher has previously worked under a number of world renowned chefs (ie. Gordon Ramsay, Shannon Bennett of Vue De Monde and Ryan Clift of Tippling Club in Singapore), so I was really looking forward to the his lunch menu creations. And I was not disappointed! Each dish was original, beautifully presented, and tasted incredible. I don’t think I could pick a favourite dish as I relished everything we sampled and would order it all again. However a special mention is needed for the salt and vinegar saltbush chips. Who would have thought that leaves could taste this awesome?!?! These unique chips are a must try!

Champagne lunches are now available at Morris Jones on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (2 courses for $35 and 3 courses for $45 which includes a glass of wine).

Morris Jones

163 Chapel St, Windsor, VIC

(03) 9533 2055

http://www.morrisjones.com.au/

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of HRPR and Morris Jones.

Trei Cafe

Coconut Hotcakes

(vanilla ice cream, coconut nectar, toasted pistachios, blueberries)

One of the most popular items here at Trei Cafe. We were told that they were out of the vanilla and nutmeg co yo ice cream (coconut milk vegan ice cream) so we happily settled for plain old vanilla ice cream instead. Now I really liked the colourful presentation and the generous serving size, however these hotcakes were not as fluffy as they could have been and were also markedly salty.

★★☆☆☆

Mango Smoothie Bowl

(mango, coconut water, coyo, coconut milk, vanilla Proper protein, granola, macadamias, passionfruit)

Healthy, refreshing and very colourful.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Simple bright decor, average service, ordinary food. The east side is desperately in need of good brunch places, and after my visit to Trei Cafe I still believe that this is the case.

Trei Cafe

232 Blackburn Rd, Glen Waverley, VIC

(03) 9802 0960

Bistro K

Spicy baby octopus and buckwheat noodles with chilli vinegrette

Incredibly tender octopus, terrific flavours.

★★★★☆

Crispy chicken balls with Korean sweet chilli sauce

These were definitely crispy however the chicken was dry.

★★☆☆☆

Smoked pork belly with cooked kimchi salad

Spicy kimchi + tantalizing pork belly = winning combination!

★★★★★

Premium Angus scotch fillet with roasted seasonal vegetables

The scotch fillet was small but tasty, while the vegetables needed seasoning.

★★★☆☆

Makgeoli (Korean rice beer) brulee

This dessert turned out to be ordinary creme brulee with Makgeoli flavoured sorbet on the side (instead of Makgeoli flavoured creme brulee, which was what I was expecting).

★★☆☆☆

Hotteok (Korean sweet pancake with caramelised honey syrup) with ginger ice cream

This pancake was so deliciously fluffy and had an amazing caramelised honey filling. The ice cream was a wonderful accompaniment and had a subtle ginger aroma, while the crushed peanuts and sunflower seeds gave this dish some delightful crunch.

★★★★★

Sujeonggwa (sweet Korean cinnamon punch)

Sweet and refreshing with distinctive cinnamon notes.

★★★★☆

Overall:

We came here with a Cudo voucher and felt that we got such an amazing deal. I was so impressed with this place that I am already looking forward to my next visit! The food was great (not surprising seeing as former Nobu chef Jae Park heads the kitchen), the service faultless, and the atmosphere warm and simple. A must try for lovers of Korean food. Note that this place is closed on Mondays.

Bistro K

366 Smith St, Collingwood

9973 6055

http://bistrok.com.au/

Flavours of Asia Market Festival – 28 February 2015

I was recently lucky enough to be invited to a sneak preview for the Flavours of Asia Market Festival that is part of the 2015 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day. The Flavours of Asia Market Festival is one of the first events on the 2015 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival calendar and will feature a range of delicacies from across the continent, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. The festival is designed to bring together an array of authentic Asian street food with dishes starting from $5. Expect to find delicious menu items from Hammer & Tong, Hoy Pinoy, Wonderbao, Overdosa, Lankan Tucker, Uncle, Gogi and Eat the Chicken.

What: Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day – Flavours of Asia Market Festival

When: Saturday 28 February 2015

Time: 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Where: Caulfield Racecourse, Station Street, Caulfield

Cost: Adult $20, Concession $10, Children Under 14 Free (includes admission to the racecourse and the Flavours of Asia Market Festival.)

Tickets available via: mrc.racing.com

Now onto the menu preview. So when we first arrived we had the opportunity to sample the Flavours of Asia Market Festival’s feature cocktail ‘The Market Mule With A Kick’ which was a fusion of vodka, dry ginger ale, lime and chilli. I was a little apprehensive about the chilli at first but it actually gave this refreshing cocktail a nice gentle heat. It was seriously good. So before I knew it I had polished off my cocktail and I had forgotten to take a photo of it. Whoops. Here’s a picture of a lady dancing instead.

Wonderbao’s Pork Bao

Fluffy steamed buns filled with sweet tender pork

★★★☆☆

Hoy Pinoy’s Lechon Kwali (slow braised and crispy fried pork belly with buco, chilli and yemma sauce)

Absolutely incredible! Delicious sauce, super crispy crackling and pork that simply melts in your mouth.

★★★★☆

Hammer & Tong’s Red and Black rice salad (pomegranate, broad beans, peas, mint & grapefruit mignonette)

A light rice salad with a lot of flavour and texture.

★★★☆☆

Marinated barbecued skewers cooking over a customary BBQ from Hoy Pinoy. Candied meat. Mmmmmm. Notice that the skewers are delightfully sizeable!

Inihaw na Baboy (pork belly skewers in banana ketchup glaze)

★★★☆☆

Inihaw na Manok (chicken skewers in traditional soy glaze)

★★★★☆

Wonderbao’s ‘Roast Pork Belly Gua Bao’ with cucumber, pickled carrots, daikon & hoisin sauce and ‘Fried Silky Tofu Gua Bao’ with pickled mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts.

★★★☆☆

We also had the opportunity to see the making of Hammer & Tong’s famous Soft Shell Crab Burgers .

It isn’t surprising that up to 1000 soft shell crab burgers are sold during a night at Queen Victoria’s Wednesday Night Market!

Soft Shell Crab Burger (brioche bun, sriracha mayo, sesame seed slaw, soft shell crab, spring onion and coriander)

The perfect soft shell crab burger.

★★★★★

Wonderbao’s Ice cream Gua Bao (golden fried bao dusted with sugar and filled with sesame seed ice cream, caramel and nuts)

★★★☆☆

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Melbourne Racing Club

Hammer & Tong

Rear 412 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9041 6033

http://hammerandtong.com.au/

Hoy Pinoy

Location varies, Melbourne, VIC

Wonderbao

4/19-37 A’Beckett St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9654 7887

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato

I love the theatrics involved with liquid nitrogen gelato. No matter how many times I see it, I still find it incredibly cool. (haha get it?) Once liquid nitrogen is added to a gelato mix, freezing occurs almost instantly resulting in tiny ice crystals and gelato that is deliciously smooth and creamy.

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato offer eight different flavours at any one time, with flavours changing every 2-3 weeks.

After Ate

(milk chocolate gelato infused with peppermint oil and churned with crunchy brownie chunks, topped with fresh vanilla cream)

I was hooked after the first bite! Incredibly smooth and chocolatey with a hint of fresh peppermint.

★★★★☆

W.I.T.S

(watermelon iced tea sorbet made from fresh watermelons, limes, mint leaves and brewed tea)

Fruity and extremely refreshing.

★★★★☆

Lazy Dinner

(sage, burnt butter and caramel gelato, topped with sticky caramel sauce)

Sweet and buttery with a subtle aroma of sage. However after a little while this flavour became too rich and heavy for me.

★★☆☆☆

Pink Flamingo

(peach and rose moscato sorbet, topped with rosewater coconut cream)

Amazing sorbet! But the combination of peach and rose moscato with the coconut cream was a bit odd for my liking.

★★★☆☆

Cold Pressed Juice (rock melon, mango, granny smith, royal gala)

Juices here are pressed in store daily with seasonal fruits so flavours are constantly changing. Cold pressed juice apparently retains more flavour, nutrients and enzymes compared to traditional juice. In any case the juice I sampled was very fresh and very tasty.

★★★★☆

Cold Brewed Coffee

Containing up to 67% less acidity than hot brewed coffee, cold brewed coffee is naturally sweeter, more intense and has less of a bitter aftertaste.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Located down a small CBD laneway, Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato is without a doubt a place worth visiting. A lot of testing, tasting and sourcing of quality ingredients is involved with every gelato flavour produced here. It was obvious to me that owners Jesse and Wei Ming are extremely passionate about their jobs. In fact Jesse informed me that he wanted every single person leaving the place to feel happier compared to when they walked in. And this is easily the case considering how amazing their gelato/juice/coffee is and how friendly the staff are. I really liked the space and the layout of this place as it felt like a nice spacious cafe that you could sit down and relax in. What I also liked about this place is how the team here are environmentally conscious and only use reusable bottles for their beverages. (Bottles can also be purchased if you really like them). Note that fresh pastries will soon be available here so that is something to look out for.

*Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato.

Dex2rose Nitrogen Gelato

377 Little Bourke St, Melbourne , VIC

(03) 9078 0784

Home

South of Johnston

SOJO Burger of the week (Pulled Pork Burger)

Satisfying burger filled with lots of juicy pulled pork

★★★☆☆

Pancakes topped with banana, butterscotch sauce, vanilla ice cream and toasted crushed hazelnuts

★★☆☆☆

Corn fritters with a poached egg, tomato relish, avocado, smoked salmon

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Funky eclectic decor, ordinary food, ordinary service. Might be worth your while exploring Collingwood’s many other eateries instead.

South ofJohnston

46 Oxford St, Collingwood, VIC

(03) 9417 2741

http://southofjohnston.com.au/

Miss Marple’s Tearoom

Devonshire Scones (plain and fruit) served with home-made raspberry jam and freshly whipped cream

The scones were moist and fluffy, and had a texture that was comparable to a light cake. The jam was sweet and fruity, while the cream was deliciously light (our waitress informed us that the jam and cream were refillable).

★★★☆☆

Miss Marple’s Famous Fingers – chicken, cheese and asparagus

These open toasted sandwiches were quite cheese heavy and needed a bit more chicken in them.

★★☆☆☆

Miss Marple’s “Sundae Best” (layers of ice cream and berry sauce topped with chocolate fudge, whipped cream, almond biscotti, roasted flaked almonds and strawberries)

This thing was HUGE and we only managed to get through half before throwing in the towel.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

After reading so many negative reviews, I was initially wary about coming here. But my experience turned out to be a really enjoyable one. We arrived on a foggy Saturday morning at around 11am and were seated immediately. The atmosphere was very intimate and homely (teapots and kettles everywhere, floral tablecloths and curtains, traditional English lamps, fireplace), the service was prompt and polite, and the food was delightful.

Miss Marple’s Tearoom

382 Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras, VIC

(03) 9755 1610

http://www.missmarplestearoom.com/