Frou Frou, Hawksburn – Forget it!
Posted on | May 24, 2009
This morning, Jarrod and I thought it would be nice to go up high street and have breakfast at Spoonfull, the caterers he does work for. Unfortunately when we got there they were packed, which is a good sign, so we thought we’d have a look around to see what else was available.
The Tasting Spoon is on the corner of Chatsworth Road and High Street. I happened to live down the other end of Chatsworth Road when I first moved to Melbourne, so I thought it would be fun to go back to my old haunts and see how much things had changed.
We wondered down Chatsworth Road to Hawksburn for breakfast.
Past my old post office, the IGA I used to go to for food, past Husk, where the Bank of Melbourne used to be and then we found ourselves at Frou-Frou. My memories of it were hazy so we decided to eat there, they had outside seats and there was one free so we plonked ourselves down and waited for a someone to come out and and take our order.
So after a minute of two of looking at ourselves, Jarrod went in to check out what the go was. It ended up that that we had to order and pay for the meal at the counter, now in Melbourne that is something you would only expect to do in one of the more dodgy suburbs.
We both ordered the Eggs Florentine with tomatoes and hash browns. The meal took a while to come out, but I didn’t find that too much of an issue as it was nice to sit there and soak up the past.
When our meal came out, I took a bite… I would have swallowed if I could, but the muffin was untoasted and the egg was over cooked/hard. Have you ever had a nibble of an untoasted english muffin? It’s sort of dough like… Combine that with the soggy spinach and it was like clag!
Over cooked egg yolk is never good even at the best of times!
The hash browns were okay so I had a couple of bites as I was totally famished.
I was really not happy with the meal, so I decided that I would take them back in and ask them to fix it. They weren’t cheap so I thought that I was fully justified.
I took the plates inside and was quickly attended to by the waitress who took the plates to get me ’soft eggs and hard muffins’.
Tick Tick Tick… Time passed and our food was brought back out.
‘Which one of you had the half eaten hash brown?’
WHAT THE!?!
It was me, I replied.
Down the plate was lowered to the table… The thoughts going through my head as to what was about to be put in front of me, was like the visions of your life flashing before you as you are having a near death experience.
The egg and muffin looked okay, but there was no surprise that there was a half eaten, skanky looking hash brown on my plate. Fair enough I thought, but it had better be hot and crispy.
I took a bite and it was the most disgusting thing I had ever put in my mouth! Well it was as disgusting as eating a fish eye. Out of my mouth it flew, across the table narrowly missing Jarrod.
Hmmmm, I wonder if those are fresh tomatoes? HA! Hardly…
I poked the egg to check that it was soft… It was… I didn’t bother taking a bite, I was so mortified with what I had been served and the total lack of pride they took in the food they served, I couldn’t bring myself to eating any of it.
We got up and we walked off in disgust.
We ended up at Mojito’s next to the Prahran Market and ordered Eggs Florentine with hash browns. They were cheaper and they were perfect the first time they came out.
I personally think that if you serve up a meal that isn’t right, then when you bring it back out, the items that are meant to be hot should be fresh. You can get away with returning a salad if it’s presentation is right, but hash browns and roasted tomatoes should be replaced.
Mental note for next time: Be careful of places that make you pay before a meal, once they have your money you don’t have a leg to stand on.
And a note to all you people out there reading this: DO N0T EAT AT FROU FROU’S IN HAWKSBURN!
Movida Next Door – Definitely no second fiddle
Posted on | May 20, 2009
For years now I have been trying to get in to Movida, a tapas restaurant in Melbourne City. Every time I’ve had the opportunity or thought of it, they have been booked out. Every time I’ve wanted to take a date there, I haven’t been able to get a table.
And I’m terrible with things that I can’t have!
Having never eaten at Movida has in no way stopped me from recommending it to any and every one who has asked me for a dining recommendation. I have heard so many good things about it and the anticipation has been building for years, it’s been driving me crazy…
With expectations like this, I was building myself up for disappointment and I knew it.
Tonight Jarrod, my flatmate, organised for a group of us to go to the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard Trivia night, however due to the fact that it was so popular and we were so late booking a table we missed out. No worries, we decided to catch up and go to a Melbourne Restaurant instead. I haven’t written many reviews on Melbourne City Restaurants so I thought it was a good chance to check out something different.
We caught up at Beer Deluxe, I wasn’t all that keen to eat there as it was a bit too pubby, so Jarrod suggested Movida… OMG here was my opportunity. Although, would there be a table?
Alas, would you believe it? No.
Luckily for me, there is Movida Next Door. I don’t know about this for sure, but I think that due to their success with the restaurant they opened it up to catch the overflow. It is a casual bar and less restaurant than Movida, which makes the two of them very complementary.
The atmosphere in Movida Next Door is a bit louder, there are high tables with bar stools to sit at and a bar to stand at and have a drink.
We stood at the bar to have a drink or two whilst we waited for a table. The bar staff were amazingly friendly and quick to get a drink into us. After a drink and a snack we got seated.
There was an extensive selection of tapas on the menu, we ate dishes from boned Quail to Abalone Broth; Braised Ox Tongue that was like melt in your mouth pate and Goats Cheese with Sardines.
Oh, the food was sublime.
The service was impeccable. The staff were engaging and were able to describe in detail all the wines on the menu. We were so impressed with their ability to talk confidently about everything on offer, we decided to indulge in one of everything.
If this was the appetiser for Movida then I may have eaten too much, but in reality, I can’t wait for the main course.
I will definitely continue to to recommend to everyone to eat at Movida or even Movida Next Door. I was not let down and if anything they exceeded my expectations.
This is somewhere that everyone should go and try out.
Alimentari – Brunswick Street Breakfast.
Posted on | May 15, 2009
I am known for my fads. There was the vegetarianism which morphed into flexitarianism; there was the vitamin and mineral binges; the detoxes; high protein and low carb; lite n easy; and the list goes on…
Not only the types of food but where I eat also becomes a fad.
About a month ago, I started riding to and from work, it works out to be about 7 to 8km each way and I burn between 250 – 300 kcals. Doing so has given me an insatiable appetite and by the time I get to work I could eat a horse!
So, I get to work, shower and then it’s time for breakfast. My current fad is to head down to Alimentari (the deli) for breakfast. One of the main reasons is that they have a couple of tasty options, already made up on display and ready to be cooked.
My current dining choices are a mini, a bess and a large strong latte.
Mini: This is a small (mini) sourdough roll filled with scrambled eggs and a piece of pruschetto. I have this straight away and it stave’s off the hunger pains.
Bess: These are a roll with an egg, bacon, cheese and tomato. Heated up in the grill and dripping with goodness.
Strong Latte: Needs no explanation!
This has been hitting the spot several times a week now and I feel like I’m addicted. Although, if I wasn’t riding to and from work, I would hate to see what it would do to me 
Oh, and another good thing about becoming a regular is that when you walk in you get greeted with that recognition, smile and no need to have to explain what you are after.
Thanks guys, love having breakfast with you.
Madame SouSou – I just ate it!
Posted on | May 12, 2009
Oh my, I’ve just gotten home from dinner at Madame SouSou and I just had to write about it.
I was meant to go to Star Trek tonight with Mark, but we hadn’t booked tickets, the good seats were all gone and the Gold Class options were all at really inconvenient times, so we decided the best option would be to join Stephen and Peta for dinner to celebrate her birthday.
Dinner tonight was at Madame SouSou’s on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. Now one thing I really love, if you hadn’t realised by now is Melbourne food. Reviews I’m finding are coming thick and fast and for the purpose of this blog it’s turning out to be an asset.
I’d been to Madame SouSou for breakfast and lunch before. Madame SouSou is a French Restaurant nestled in the South end of Brunswick Street, rich with ambience and atmosphere. Madame SouSou was chosen for dinner as the aim was to eat somewhere nice where the food would be top end without prices similar to the Labour Government’s spending spree.
We started off with a bottle of wine, of course we went for a Marlborough Sounds Sauv Blanc. We tasted one from the Yarra Valley, but the more floral fuller taste of the Marlborough Sounds options beat it hands down. The service was great, attentive and friendly.
We share hors d’oeuvres; Mushroom Bruschetta and Calamari with School Prawn. It was tasty, cooked to perfection and devoured in no time.
The meals were served well apart enough for us to enjoy conversation and not feel rushed, it was obvious this was no fast food churn and burn place to eat.
For dinner Mark and I had the Braised Beef Cheek and yes, the idea of eating cheek was the reason I picked it. Stephen ordered the Chicken Ballantine, whilst Peta had the eggplant.
I’ll show my ignorance at this stage and point out I had expected my beef cheek to be a piece of fatty skin similar to pork belly. I was surprised to see this decent chunk of beef to appear in front of me. The beef cheek was one of the most tender succulent and melt in the mouth pieces of meat I’d had; second only to wagyu.
Stephen’s chicken was juicy, reminiscent of the country whilst Peta’s eggplant proved why the waitress gave us that knowing look and approving comment when she delivered it.
Although stuffed to the brim we couldn’t resist ordering desert. I had the Belgian chocolate mousse, Mark and Peta the Creme Brûlée and Stephen the winner of the round had the Chocolate Fondant. Our’s were great but Stephen’s hot fondant was rich and irresistible.
A sign of how good the meal was, is that I started blogging as soon as I got home and if it’s the place Justin Timberlake eats when he’s in town take the hint.
Back to Spudbar Brunswick Street
Posted on | May 8, 2009
I’m sitting here with my belly aching!
We went back to Spudbar Brunswick Street for lunch again today… hmmmmm… I chose to make my own, but it resembled the Italian, oh well. It was great.
As an attractant to return, they have customer loyalty cards where you get the tenth spud for free. So far it seems to be working.
Maedaya – Do it your self Japanese
Posted on | May 7, 2009
It took Melinda and I a couple of years to finally make it to each others birthday, but last year for her birthday dinner we went to Sake and Grill Maedaya.
So when I heard that I would be eating with Ange and her friend Bex in Richmond, it was the first place I thought of to eat at. Ange had just finished work at Ministry of Dance and she was catching up with Bex Trist, a friend of hers from New Zealand, for dinner so I tagged along. Ends up that Bex also grew up in Plimmerton, where I had grown up so we had an instant report.
Neither Ange or Bex had been to Maedaya, so I got to break them in. Downstairs is this great grill and the experience on offer upstairs, which is where we were headed, is the reason I had brought them there.
The meal is something that you cook yourself. The menu is a wide range of raw meats from chicken to waygu and all the vegies you would expect to see in any japanese meal. Beautifully laid out images designed to whet your appetite and entice you to order and cook.
Once we had ordered the staff bought out this little BBQ like grill filled with hot coals and then out came the plates of raw food. The idea here is that you cook the food yourself and eat it fresh off the grill. Such a novel idea, I love to eat freshly cooked hot food.
I did most of the cooking, but then again, I love that kind of thing and the girls had lots to catch up on, so it ended up working out just right.
We had our fill of food and sake and the meal came to less than $20 each. We didn’t go there for a cheap eat, that was just a bonus and the food was so healthy as it was all cooked on the grill and there was no frying involved at all.
This is a fun place to eat, where you can expect great prices and a healthy meal to boot.
Kush – krushed?
Posted on | April 30, 2009
Continuing on from my FOG night theme, when I ventured out of the house tonight with Ange, I looked us both up and down and appreciated that we had put in the effort to dress up; tonight I thought, lets go down to what has traditionally been known as the classey end of Chapel Street for dinner.
I might have mentioned this before, but the Windsor end of Chapel Street (My end, the southern end) apparently doesn’t hold a candle to the ‘classier’ Toorak end. Taking this in to account, I thought we were more suitably dressed to try somewhere down there… It took me a while to convince myself to leave the comfort of home, but we did.
The stretch of Chapel Street between High St and Malvern/Commercial Road was like a barren wasteland, there was nothing open and it gave you the feeling of being exposed. Where was everyone hiding?.
Having spent many years working on Chapel Street and living in the area I had an out of date idea of what would be good and what to expect.
We walked past the Old Pepper but weren’t up for Pizza, so we continued… KFC didn’t even come close to appearing on the radar! The next restaurant we passed was Sienna (the place to be seen on Chapel Street), but alas, pasta wasn’t on our radar either… Hang on, are we on Lygon Street?
Then, across the road, I saw Kush. I used to love eating at Kush. It was cool, funky and fresh. Bound to be a good experience.
We went, in. The place was quite empty, but the street wasn’t all that busy so we didn’t think anything of it. There was no sign of staff so we seated ourselves. After an embarrassing attempt to order a drink we got the staffs attention and some table service.
I won’t even mention here the waiter asking me if I wanted to pour the wine myself. Hell, after FOG I’m no stranger to pouring my own drink. But hey, just pour us our first glass and then you can get back to your gossiping behind the bar.
We ordered the Saganaki, there is nothing quite like hot Saganaki with lemon squeezed over it and we got nothing quite like it! I actually used the garnish that came with it to help me eat it.
The napkins at Kush are the first sign I have seen of the GFC, are the little extras the first thing to go?
It was around then that we started to notice our surroundings. The nice clean fresh look of Kush of long ago had given way to ill chosen feature walls and a broken mirror. Personally I don’t think menus written on mirrors are a good idea anywhere.
We ventured out for a ciggie, another of my bad habits, and sat in their seats out the front. Definitely one of the great places to eat and drink on Chapel Street in the summer. To the credit of the waitress, she came out to see how long we would be and to let us know that our meals would be ready in five minutes. Loved it, much better than waiting for us to come in and having our dinner go cold.
The mains were great, I had smoked Salmon pasta (yes pasta) and Ange had a salad. Great flavours and fresh. Beautiful.
It was good, but not great, there were too many things that just weren’t right. I’d like to say I’ll go back, but I really aren’t that sure.
To add insult to injury, we went back past Sienna which was still packed! Bugger, I know where I’m going next time.
Ange’s favourite healthy breafast
Posted on | April 29, 2009
So me best friend Ange has been on Cohen’s and has been taught or exposed to a lot of information and knowledge on nutrition. The kind of thing that I think is missing from our education system.
Any hows… Ange for breakfast now eats fruit or fruit salad. Exactly the kind of think I learned when I was going through my Phillip Day phase.
Ange and her hubby Tim went on a road trip up the east coast of Australia and when they were in Byron Bay, Ange ordered her standard fruit orientated breakfast and was awarded by what she has now made her new standard breakfast.
Here it is:
– Fresh fruit (salad like, cut up etc)
– Natural yoghurt (I prefer Jelna)
– Honey drizzled over it
– Anointed with crushed Macadamia nuts
I haven’t tried it yet and this is the first post I have made about food I haven’t eaten, but I’m looking forward to her making it for me for breakfast next time I’m staying at their place! Hint Hint… 
Napier hotel – premier pub food
Posted on | April 24, 2009
Today I joined the traditional lunch time crew from work. We headed just round the corner to the Napier Hotel, one of our oft chosen locals.
I tend to be wary when eating there, due to their novelty oversized meals. Sometimes I go halves and are still very satisfied.
The range of meat loving and vegie loving dishes means that there is always going to be something for everyone.
This time I chose the blue cheese twice cooked Soufflé with fennel. I love egg and I love blue cheese and actually, come to think of it, I love fennel to. This dish was great, the mix of the fennel and the blue cheese was genius.
Another great eating experience at the Napier.
FOG
Posted on | April 23, 2009
Tonight I caught up with Mark Torpy, as one last dinner out before the wife got back from her trip to London.
We decided to head down Chapel Street, towards the Toorak end… I had been spending most of my time up the Windsor end so it
was a noice treat. We got to Greville Street and thought, hey, been a while since we ate down here so off we headed.
Past the old Candy bar where we had spent so many Sunday afternoons.
We walked past FOG, had a look at the menu, which was very impressive and decided to see what else was on offer before made
our decision. Our first choice was Chez Olivier, I had been there a couple of times before and loved it. Unfortunately they
were busy and without a booking it would have meant a 30 minute wait.
So, we headed back to FOG.
We were taken inside out the back in a great spot so we could see the fire… We sat down and the waitress opened our napkins
and put them on our laps. Excellent, this should be a great experience.
Hang on, that fire is outside, and there are people out there eating! Why are we in here? So we requested a seat outside and
the waiter went out to see if there was anything available. There was, so we were escorted to our seat where fresh napkins
were waiting, however we had to put them on ourselves.
So this is where I have to explain why this post is heading in the direction it is heading in…
Normally, I’m not this fussy or snobby or what might start to appear as being unreasonable, but when I know I’m going to be paying a decent amount of money for the meal, I have some high expectations.
On the table were 2 warm fluffy rolls, a dish of lovely light olive oil and tasty balsamic…
First of all our sparkling water arrived, closely followed by our Cosmo and French Martini. The cocktails were only $10 each which for a cocktail out was very reasonable; however they were quite weak and very drinkable.
We took forever to decide on our food and put through our order, but no time at all to decide on the bottle of Catalina Sands Sauvignon Blanc.
After returning from the toilet it noted that our napkins hadn’t been refolded.
I ordered the lightly Smoked Duck on Israeli Couscous or Ptitim with asparagus, charred bok choi and apricot almond compote. Mark had the Salmon with yellow lentils, roasted fennel topped with a brown mustard seed, watercress and persimmon and coriander glaze.
The food was amazing, the wine was great, but unfortunately my glass felt like it was always empty…? Oh, there’s the bottle over there on the seat in the ice bucket… may as well fill up the glass myself.
The duck was juicy and tasty… I just love the ptitim, last time I had it was at Cavallero with fish.
The out door area at FOG is great, comforatble and the big brazier added to a great atmosphere… But we think indoors might have been the place to be for that extra little bit of attention.
It was deffinitely a great meal and I did enjoy myself, but I can’t help but wonder what Chez Olivier would have been like.
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