Thai food - so often reduced to what Phil Lees once memorably termed "traffic light curries". Well, ignore the lights, put your foot down and take off on a tour of Thai noodle soups with Soi 38.
Noodle cart Soi 38 began life in Andy Buchan's backyard where he slowly perfected his Thai 'boat noodles' (very loosely comparable to Vietnamese pho). He's now teamed up with Top (left), formerly of Tidlom Thai Antique. Their mission is to introduce folks to popular, authentic Thai dishes that are under-represented in Aussie Thai restaurants.
To this end, the lovely Huda (above) from Sketch and Tulip in North Melbourne is hosting our noodle soup crusading duo for the next six Friday nights.
Andy and Top had a "family and friends" night which I popped into to try a couple of freebie bowls of boat noodles. They are wickedly good, with a dark, smoky broth just covering a pile of rice vermicelli, water spinach, slow-cooked beef chunks, pork crackling and just-cooked rare beef. Each table has a caddy of fish sauce, white sugar, pickled chilli and dried chilli. Even though the broth is so tasty and balanced, give it a sprinkle with the toppings as they really send the flavour profile into hyperdrive.
Noodles are a most excellent $5 a bowl (they're just small, so you'll probably need two or even possibly three to fill you up). There's also Doss Blockos beer for $7.50 a pop.
Check out the full itinerary below, plus Soi 38's website and Facebook page. First stop is boat noodles this Friday night, July 19, from 5 pm, then come back each Friday until August 23 for a different authentic Thai taste each time.
Leaving things up to your kids' imagination can backfire badly. Once, waiting at the international terminal to pick up their dad from a long trip away, I asked my oldest who she thought we were waiting for. "A dinosaur?" No. "A herd of dinosaurs?" No. "Santa!" No! Smooth move, Mum, I thought - she is going to be so disappointed when her boring old dad walks through the doors.
So, deep in the school holidays, when I said, "Where do you think we are going? PS: It's somewhere AWESOME!", I did consider that the eager anticipation might surpass the end result. But despite the kids' valiant and creative guesses, they were still screeching with delight when we walked into 123 Cake.
123 Cake is a cafe where you don't just eat your cake - you make it too! In fact, you could say it's the Korean BBQ of cake.
Choose your base cupcake (flavours include red velvet and chocolate mud, plus gluten-free choices like vanilla spice) then power up with flavoured icing, ready to go in piping bags, and sprinkles galore!
SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!
All the decorations have different price points, from 50 cents to $2, and there are deals for three or more of the same colour.
Bare cupcakes are $3.50 and icing bags $2. It might seem dear at first but if you have a few people and can share, it works out quite well and is more fun - for five fully customised cupcakes and two coffees, we paid around $28 which I think is quite reasonable for such a fun outing.
And boy, did we have fun. I thought the kids would just knock back the pots of decorations like whiskey shots, but they were actually very careful and methodical.
You can reach for the sky...
...or be a smooth operator. Spatulas are provided, as well as tweezers to get everything just so. 123 Cake also offer larger cakes to decorate which would be perfect for a birthday party.
Jing Jing and Natalie are the fresh faces behind 123 Cake. They are high school mates and modelled the idea on South Korea's themed cafes. (Other favourites in Seoul include cafes where you can get kitted up in full bridal regalia, and cafes full of cats which you go to be ignored, I mean, pat!)
123 Cake is open from 11 am till 6 pm Mon-Wed and until 9 pm Thurs-Sun evenings for good clean fun. Well, until you try to lever your magnificent creation between your jaws!
I think I'm the only person in Melbourne who wants this heat wave to continue. Reason being, I dragged my skinny jeans out of the cupboard the other day and hoo boy - less muffin top and more mushroom cloud! As long as these days keep being sunny, I can stuff those pants at the back of the cupboard and keep swanning about in forgiving summer frocks.
As you may know, the Food Festival is upon us and it's been worth every popped button so far. I want to share with you some of the brilliant events I've been to in the western suburbs, but first it's time to clear the decks with a smattering of tasty treats. My first amnesty post was here, and I hope you enjoy another!
I'm not sure if this festive red shop, Victoria Restaurant in North Melbourne, is new but one dish on the menu piqued my interest when wandering past.
$24 (serves two)
These are do-it-yourself Nha Trang-style rice paper rolls. Lengths of grilled nem nuong or minced pork patty, smoky and juicy, are supplied along with pickled carrots, vermicelli, mints and cooling sliced apple - an interesting and delicious touch!
You twirl the round rice paper wrapper through hot water, fill it how you like, roll it up and dunk in special, curiously orange Nha Trang-style sauce. Quan Viet also make Nha Trang-style rice paper rolls with this same sauce - I know it contains pork, but that's the extent of my knowledge!
Pho bo tai, $11 (one size)
Victoria Restaurant also do pho, and are the first place I've ever seen in Melbourne that serves sawtooth coriander alongside the regulation Thai basil! In terms of our other dishes, some were perhaps a little Anglicised - spring rolls came with sweet chilli, not nuoc mam cham - and I think they were unexpectedly busy as the last of our dishes didn't arrive until about 90 minutes after ordering. I only had a sip of this pho but I'd like to go back and try it again.
Mama Bear is a new brunch spot that's popped up in this cafe blackspot, not far from Flemington Racecourse.
Their house brew is Gridlock's 7,000 blend, plus there are single origins. A latte and a single origin short black were respectable, perhaps not as sublime as Common Galaxia or Wee Jeanie but good all the same.
$16.90
There are loads of enticing menu options like eggs with apple cider hollandaise and slow-cooked beef cheek sliders. I settled on this wild mushroom and taleggio tart with a pear and rocket salad, which was delish. And for you fuss pots, there is an actual menu item called "I just want some eggs". Love it!
From one mama to another... There's probably nothing Melbourne likes more than a new dumpling house, and consequently Shandong Mama is getting epic amounts of buzz. It is actually run by a mamafrom Shandong, and staffed by many gorgeous family members (we were served by her delightful son-in-law).
I mean, if that video doesn't make you scream and run around the room, you're not really a Melburnian. So when I visited, to quote a friend who'd been a few nights earlier, I was expecting the second coming.
$16.80
And therein probably lay the problem. I think I'm the lone dissenter in all the hype in that Shandong Mama didn't blow my mind. My impression is that it is really, really authentic, but out of the entire Asian gastronomic pantheon, I find northern Chinese dishes such as these the most difficult. This "Sichuan pepper beef" was too much for me, the pieces very fatty and gelatinous.
$8
Likewise I couldn't handle this homemade smoked fish, served cold with a thick, gooey sauce.
$4.80
I did really like this lovely, sweet cabbage salad (an authentic version of Chang's!) but an accompanying black fungus and sesame oil salad, with big sheathes of swollen, slightly rubbery black vegetable, didn't go down well with me.
$13.80 for ten
The dumplings were good but they just didn't reach the dizzying heights I was expecting. We tried quite a few varieties and my favourite were probably these "Melbourne dumplings", a tasty mix of seafood, chicken, lemon zest, olive oil and parsley. I must add that they had run out of so many dishes, ordering became somewhat farcical (a friend confirmed this too on another visit). So it's back to Shanghai Street for me. But try Shandong Mama for yourself and see what you think!
But whatever you do, DO believe the hype at city lunch joint Wonderbao. Check out this great interview by Eat & Greet with funky young owner Andrew Wong - his fam had been making steamed buns in Braybrook for years before Andrew commandeered the family recipes, booted out the MSG and created an instant Melbourne classic.
$3.80 each
These are Taiwanese-style gua bao, steamed white bread enclosed around fillings to create what could be termed Taiwanese tacos. Wonderbao do three varieties - braised pork belly, roast pork belly and crisp silken tofu, each spiked with different combinations of pickled mustard greens, crushed peanuts and more. Make sure you get the house-made soy milk too - cooling, sweet and beany. Wonderbao? Wonder-wow!
And finally, if you were curious about the top pic in this post, Footscray's new creative hub venue The Colour Box is hosting SELF, or Sustainable Ethical Local Fashion. It's a pop-up shop featuring duds by independent designers and cooperatives like New Model Beauty Queen (great name!), The Social Studio, Jude, and Twitch Women's Sewing Collective, a South Sudanese women's group in Dandenong.
Read more about Colour Box from its founder, the very inspiring Amie Batalibasi, who not only makes documentary films but also gorgeous bags and badges under her label Pretty WAK. So I might just leave those skinny jeans at the back of the cupboard, get fitted with new duds at Colour Box instead, and keep enjoying life!
Telling someone who lives in Footscray that they know a great Ethiopian restaurant elsewhere in Melbourne is kind of like selling ice to eskimos. But hey - I like ice.
Little Africa is on Victoria Street in North/West Melbourne, not far from the Vic Market. It's teeny tiny inside and quite lovely, with interesting bits and bobs decorating the walls and each table set with a tiny red tea light. I loved the gorgeous young waiter, softly spoken and wearing regulation hipster garb of skinny jeans turned up at the ankles and black plimsolls.
Some frosty beers while we perused the menu. There are loads of interesting things, all with clear descriptions. I had my eye on kitfo - "freshly minced lean beaf sauteed with warm clarified butter, mitmita [chilli] and cardamon" or maybe dorho aletcha - "cubes of chicken breast marinated and sauteed with spices, onions and peppers". But it's still very hard to go past just the straight-up vegetarian combo as a good marker of an Ethiopian joint.
Veg combo, $20 for one, $35 for two (each additional person $18)
WHOA - did I say marker? I meant goalpost. As in, sailed right through. Yes, I know it makes no sense. But look at those colours and textures! The chef (mum?) brought out this huge platter covered with a big sombrero-like woven cloche. So from the 6 o'clock possie we have dubba - pumpkin cooked until collapsing in berbere spice. Sweet, rich, oh so divine. Heading left, I loved these simple veg, cooked very lightly in a little garlic and still with so much freshness, colour and flavour. What a fresh, modern touch. Then brown lentils, cooked with berbere, earthy and just perfect.
So to the left of the lentils is fool - dried broad beans cooked down with tomatoes, chillis and onions for a warm cumin-rich treat. Then, still heading left, my fave and something not all too often seen - shiro, powdered dried chickpeas cooked with berbere for a silky smooth, rich, seductive paste. Then finally cabbage and carrots cooked in garlic, ginger and turmeric. The cabbage, like the veg, was left chunky in leaves - I think I prefer it a bit more shredded. But oh boy, the flavours, I tell you!!! They were all brought together by lemony, super-fresh salad in the middle. This was seriously incredible East African food.
We ate to our heart's content and then we ate some more...and some more, and suddenly our "dinner and a few beers" looked like it might be more like "one beer and stagger home, protuberant stomach first". We managed to waddle the few doors to Prudence where we groaned in painful satisfaction and sipped icy beer very slowly.
As we sat, the lovely young man from Little Africa entered again and again with more giant trays with peaked, woven covers that emitted smells that still tantalised, despite our stuffed state. Turns out the good citizens of North Melbourne have cottoned on to this most excellent idea, and are taking it up with gusto.
This is East African fare worth travelling for. RUN DON'T WALK!
PS: I would book. They are already pretty busy! If they're full, you can always "order in" at Prudence!
PPS: I am pretty sure they have rice! (I heard someone ordering it.)
Little Africa 358 Victoria Street, North Melbourne Phone: 9329 8018
This is a sponsored post for Australian Mushroom Growers' "Mushroom Mania" campaign. The Mushroom Mania campaign is on for all of July 2012 and over 2,000 restaurants are participating by putting delicious mushrooms on the menu. Please see end of post for full disclosure. Once upon a time both the church and the corner pub were local meeting places where people could bump into each other. This sounds throwaway, but that casual running into people and just knowing people's faces is an incredibly important part of feeling like you belong to a community. Now, just as many churches are being decommissioned, we see many corner pubs closing and being turned into apartments (think The Albert and The Buckingham in Footscray).
It is possible to reverse this trend and the Courthouse in North Melbourne shows it how it's done, creating a modern yet still genuine pub, a new community hub that feels quite timeless.
Running in its present form since about 2002, the Courthouse is a great multitasker, marrying a classy Euro-feel bistro with a front bar that takes craft beer seriously. I love the intimate dining room with its Art Deco (I think?) light fittings, fireplace and dark wood panelling that feels straight out of Paris...
...hence French bubbles are a necessity! The wine list by the glass is small but confident - two sparkling (one dear, one not) plus about ten reds and whites that eschew stock shiraz and semillon for more interesting European varietals.
Chestnut soup, wild mushroom crepe, hazelnut and nutmeg, $16
The Courthouse are big on making everything, I believe right down to their bread, and this dish, although small, had so many delicately formed components. Frothy chestnut soup surrounded a delicate parcel of earthy braised wild mushrooms. The silky, dark mushies had the intriguing tingle of fennel seed, which provided a counterpoint to the rest of the dish's richness.
Pan fried gnocchi, local wild mushrooms, porcini cream, truffled pecorino, $25
This dish had a family tree of mushroom varieties, if you like, from good-natured, populous wild and cultivated varieties, to the regal, more often dried porcini, to the big chief of the mushroom world - the truffle, here gently infusing hard pecorino cheese. The pan-fried mushies tumbling over the gnocchi were gorgeous, from juicy little buttons to slices of wild varieties that had such an interesting texture with an almost meaty grain. I found the gnocchi surprising at first, as they were more like large potato dumplings - I know, that's what gnocchi are! - but once I got over the expectation of cloud-like little balls and enjoyed the contrast between creamy interior and crispy edges, it was delicious.
Black Angus porterhouse steak, hand-cut chips, parsley and horseradish butter, $27
Come to Mama! Gorgeous juicy steak, its juices muddling with the fabulous seasoned butter and facilitating much happy swiping of chips. Ideally I think this dish needs to be augmented with a side, but we were still content at meal's end.
Good coffee topped it off. The service at the Courthouse is really good too, attentive and genuine.
This is a great local secret, for me best saved for special occasion dining, but I'd happily have a Temptress every week in the front bar.
Disclosure: This post is the first in a series of three for Australian Mushroom Growers' "Mushroom Mania" campaign. I had free choice of any three participating Victorian restaurants and was required to choose at least one dish in which mushrooms were the "hero" ingredient. I am being paid a flat sum for my writing which does not include meal expenses. The restaurants were not aware of exactly who was visiting and when but may have been aware that they would be reviewed at some stage over the course of the campaign period. Australian Mushroom Growers and The Courthouse have not sought nor been given any editorial control of this post. View Footscrayfoodblog reviews in a larger map
Footscary? Please - that is so old. How about Footsavvy, or better still, Footscrummy? I love Melbourne's maligned western suburbs and want to reveal them as the treasure trove they really are. Read more...
