Pork

Lake House

4 King St, Daylesford 5348 3329

Olive crisps, churros and olive aioli

Tuna sashimi, sea lettuce, buckwheat, avocado, bonito aioli, nori, mojama

Freshly baked grain roll, flaxseed crisps, white bread rolls

Eel, pancetta, beets

Mt Mercer pork, fermented pickles

XO braised pastured beef, grilled bug

Brioche french toast, Holy Goat cheese, poached pear

Lollipop

(lemon curd covered with Italian meringue)

Chocolate mousse, raspberry sorbet, fresh raspberries

White chocolate and cranberry squares with almond biscuits

Overall:

A trip to Daylesford is never complete for me unless I dine at this outstanding restaurant. Situated upon Lake Daylesford, this place offers impressive views of both the lake and of surrounding wildlife (which includes a local kookaburra family who fly in everyday to be fed). The decor here is absolutely beautiful and service is very professional. The menus are altered twice each season to ensure the usage of the best available produce. We chose to get the Summer Tasting Degustation and found every single dish to be superb with all the fresh ingredients and amazing flavours. Definitely worth a visit the next time you are in Daylesford!

Bistro Goemon

281 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick 9523 9900

Frozen umeshu (plum wine)

Sweet corn kara-age

Spicy pork salad

Satsuma-age

Seared scallops with mountain vegetables

Assorted sashimi

Thoughts:

Sweet corn kara-age – lightly fried sweetcorn, sprinkled with seaweed salt. As the corn had been fried, it was chewy instead of juicy = Not bad

Spicy pork salad – sliced pork mixed with shredded vegetables and a Japanese chili soy dressing. A light refreshing salad = Good

Satsuma-age – fried fish cakes mixed with edamame and octopus = Not bad

Scallops – tasty scallops that were lightly seared and nicely flavoured with Japanese seven spice = Good

Assorted sashimi – chef’s choice of 10 pieces of fresh sashimi, served with an assortment of seaweed = Good

Overall:

Good service, a comfortable atmosphere, quality Japanese fusion (which comes as no surprise as the the owner and head chef of this place used to work at Nobu and Akachochin)

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.

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).

Shanghai Street Dumplings, Wontons and Noodle

64 La Trobe St, Melbourne 0405 427 910

Boiled pork dumplings

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings

Shanghai fried noodles

Pork dumplings in chilli oil

Thoughts:

Boiled pork dumplings – juicy pork filling with thick dumpling skin (compared to the fried ones which was a bit strange) = Not bad

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings – enjoyable crisp dumplings with plenty of visible prawns pieces = Good

Shanghai fried noodles – thick chewy shanghai noodles with a strong aroma of chinese mushroom = Not bad

Pork dumplings in chilli oil – moderately spicy chilli oil soup that brings out the flavour of the dumplings = Not bad

Overall:

If you are in the mood for dumplings and do not want to line up for ages at Shanghai Street Dumpling on Little Bourke St, then this is the place for you. This sister restaurant of Shanghai Street Dumpling produces food that is fast and cheap, while the service here is slightly below average. I also have to mention that when we tried to order another chicken and prawn dumplings dish, we were told that they had run out! What kind of dumpling place runs out of dumplings? (and this happened around 6:30pm!) On a more positive note, this restaurant does take reservations but just remember that it is cash only.