soft shell crab

Richmond Oysters

Seafood Platter and Garden Salad

(natural oysters, smoked trout rillettes, Morton Bay bug, prawns, mussels, baby octopus, local scallops, soft shell crab, salt and pepper calamari, grilled fish)

★★★★☆

Golden Gaytime

(honeycomb parfait, peanuts, chocolate)

★★★☆☆

Creme Brulee

(macaroon, salted caramel, chocolate)

★★★☆☆

Overall:

I was truly impressed with the newest branch of Richmond Oysters (which is unexpectedly located in Oakleigh). Spacious and modern, this place emanated a sophisticated yet comfortable feel, and I loved all the live seafood that was on display. Service was excellent (friendly and attentive), and the food was fresh and tasty. We came here with a $99 Cudo voucher which made this meal a bargain (a bottle of wine was also included!), and we left feeling extremely full and content.

Richmond Oysters

66 Portman St, Oakleigh, VIC

(03) 8592 4676

http://richmondoysters.com.au/

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/

The Garden of Good & Evil

Baked scallops with garlic and chilli butter

Well cooked but tasted purely of butter.

★★★☆☆

Street Corn

★★☆☆☆

Twice cooked pork belly with Asian slaw and micro herbs

Great flavours except the pork belly skin was extremely chewy and difficult to cut/bite through.

★★★☆☆

Soft shell crab tacos with smashed avocado, salsa fresca and chipotle aioli

Crispy crab with a delicious combination of ingredients.

★★★★☆

Beef brisket sliders with smoked hickory BBQ sauce

★★★☆☆

Seafood paella with tiger prawns, calamari, mussels, barramundi and saffron rice

This was in the ‘something bigger’ section of the menu so I was expecting something well…bigger. This dish was a little salt heavy otherwise the flavours were good and the seafood plentiful.

★★★☆☆

Trio of vegetable crisps

An interesting mix of sweet potato, potato and red cabbage.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

The inside dining area was poorly lit so we decided to grab a table in the lovely back courtyard. Service was friendly and the food enjoyable. Note that the $10 paellas are only available 12-4pm on Sundays.

The Garden of Good & Evil

13 Station Rd, Cheltenham, VIC

(03) 9585 6067

http://www.thegardenchelt.com.au/

Jinda Thai Restaurant

Green Apple Salad (deep fried soft shell crab topped with green apple salad dressing)

★★★☆☆

Pad Thai with prawns

★★★☆☆

Tofu Combo (tofu and mixed vegetable tempura served with crushed peanuts and sweet chilli sauce)

★★☆☆☆

Yellow Grilled Chicken Curry

Great for those who can’t do spicy.

★★★☆☆

Red Roasted Duck Curry

★★★☆☆

Minced Chicken Larb (hand roasted then grounded rice, crushed dry chilli, mint, red onion)

★★★☆☆

Cha Yen (Thai iced tea)

Just like it is in Thailand: intensely sweet.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

There was only one reason why I wanted to come here: crepe cakes. So when we were told that the maker of these popular desserts was on holiday in Thailand and that there were no crepe cakes available that night, I was DEVASTATED. The waitress tried to tempt us with some of their other desserts but none of them seemed on par with the crepe cakes. But luckily the other food we sampled that night was thoroughly enjoyable so I didn’t leave the place feeling completely disappointed. I was told by a friend that portion sizes had reduced over time, so we simply ordered an extra dish to compensate. The atmosphere was lively while service was average as it was difficult getting the staff’s attention at times. In any case, I must return one day for those sought after crepe cakes!

Jinda Thai Restaurant

7 Ferguson St, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9419 5899

Rudimentary

The Burger – soft shell crab, chili mayo, green apple, celery and mint

Flavoursome crab covered in crispy batter.

★★★☆☆

Organic Zeally Bay bun with smoked brisket, kimchi and asiago

Unexpected burger filling that would have been more enjoyable had the brisket been less salty.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

Footscray is not the first suburb that springs to mind when it comes to coffee and brunch. The owners of Rudimentary have done an excellent job at creating this earthy hipster cafe that makes you forget that you are in Footscray (that is until you look up at the high steel fencing surrounding the place). The cafe itself is cheery and vibrant with large open windows and clean neutral tones. From inside you would never guess that the building is in fact a couple of shipping containers welded together. Service was very efficient and I loved the fact that we were able to leave a name and contact number and be called when our table was ready. The menu here is quite small and has clear Asian influences (crispy pig’s ear anyone?). Everyone on our table decided to get a burger and the first thing we noticed was how incredibly thick the burger buns were. Not only were they thick but they were also quite dense making it impossible to squish down and fit into your mouth. I don’t know about you, but a cut up burger to me doesn’t taste as good as a burger I am able to hold in my hands and bite into.

In any case Rudimentary is a great addition to Footscray and I really hope that they continue to do well.

Rudimentary

16-20 Leeds St, Footscray, VIC

0497 058 173