Peking Duck

Three Williams

Duck Narnie

(peking duck, cucumber, shallots, fried onion, coriander, cabbage, orange hoisin)

★★★★☆

Wild Mushrooms

(lemon and garlic sautéed with wild mushrooms, mushroom and goats curd tapenade, fried egg, hazelnuts, truffle oil, parsley, sourdough)

★★★★☆

Golden Gaytime French Toast

(crunchy brioche french toast, vanilla ice cream rolled in a chocolate cookie crumb, chocolate crisps, fresh strawberry, toffee sauce)

★★★★☆

Splice Shake

(orange, apple and coconut blended with ice cream)

★★★☆☆

Banana smoothie with native honey, macadamia and wattleseed crumb

★★★★☆

Super Smoothie

(kale, apricot, apple, linseed, sunflower, almond, banana, ginger, cinnamon)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Terrific food, friendly service, minimalistic decor. There are often queues for this popular place during the weekend so we decided to visit on a weekday and were seated straightaway. It’s a place that’s definitely worthy of a return visit.

Three Williams

613A Elizabeth St, Redfern, NSW

(02) 9698 1111

http://threewilliamscafe.com/

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/

Red Mango Thai Restaurant

3a Station St, Oakleigh 9569 6879

Pad gra prow with prawns

Stir fried prawns, chilli, onion, mixed vegetables and basil in a medium spicy sauce

More sweet than spicy

= Not bad

Red Duck Curry

Sliced Peking duck braised in a red curry with vegetables and Thai herbs

Minimal duck, minimal spiciness

= Not bad

Larb gai

A traditional Thai salad with minced chicken cooked in lemon juice, herbs, chilli and red onion

There was an overpowering taste of fish sauce and there was a lot more salad than chicken (which shouldn’t be the case when it comes to larb gai)

= Not bad

Pad Thai

Stir fried rice noodles with egg, ground peanuts, vegies and bean sprouts

= Not bad

Overall:

I am very particular when it comes to Thai cuisine as I always find myself comparing it to what I’ve eaten in Thailand or to my mum’s home cooking. Like many other Thai restaurants in Melbourne, the dishes at Red Mango Thai Restaurant have been tweaked to suit Western taste buds. So for me the food here was very average as was the service and the ambiance.

Note that this place only opens for dinner.

Simon’s Peking Duck Restaurant

197b Middleborough Rd, Box Hill South 9898 5944

Duck skin with pancakes, spring onion, cucumber and special plum sauce

Stir fried duck meat with hand made noodles

Duck bone soup with bean curd

Thoughts:

Pancakes – delicate paper thin pancakes, nice crispy duck skin, not so fresh cucumber and spring onion, sweet plum sauce = Not bad

Noodles – hand made noodles stir fried with chinese mushroom, bamboo and duck meat. The only problem was that there was hardly any duck meat! = Not bad

Soup – sweet clear broth with a very strong aroma of star anise = Not bad

Overall:

I was a bit disappointed actually. From the way everyone had raved on about this place, I expected the duck to be utterly amazing. It wasn’t. The food was rather average, as was the atmosphere (chaotic at times) and the service (they definitely need more wait staff). On a side note, there are two dinner sessions to choose from: 6pm and 8pm. Make sure to book as this place is always busy.