An Irish pub. Too many bad Baileys experiences at Bridie O'Reilly's might make you run a mile, but The Last Jar ain't no marketing gimmick. She's the real deal, and you should make a special trip to check this one out.
This pub was the old Arthouse and is smack-bang on a busy corner. The cars outside clatter over the tram tracks, but step inside and the noise fades away. My maiden name is Reed, and my collection of 50+ sunscreen bottles shows that despite many generations living in Australia, the Emerald Isle still courses in me veins. It started to bubble the minute I stepped inside.
This is the kind of place you could pull up a pew and proceed to get very merry over the course of an afternoon. It's charming and not at all kitsch. The staff we spoke to all had that beautiful Irish lilt that makes even "would you like to see the menu?" sound like a folk song.
And what a song. The Last Jar seem to be on a mission to make everything they can in house. House-baked bread, house-cured salmon - even house-made curry sauce, which from Dublin to Derry is the de rigeur dip for your chip.
There's a beer garden upstairs which won't break any hearts but if you want a bit of sunshine, it does the job.
Do you have a "Do not pass go, do not collect $200" dish that as soon as you see, you just must order? One of my many is mussels. I love the rigamarole of foisting each meaty morsel out of the shells, dunking the bread in the juices, and slurping the last bits of goodness out of each shell - and off the shell itself! These were cooked with cider, dill and loads of sweet onion and served with crisp house-baked potato bread.
This heaping portion of house-cured salmon clocked in at a mere $12. Take a slice of soda bread, apply cream cheese in portions that defy gravity, and drape liberally with smoked salmon. Fabulous.
These beauties had that crystalline crunch that can only come from being carefully twice or even thrice cooked. The "curry sauce" is very Irish - a gravy-like dipping sauce lightly seasoned with curry powder. I'm probably too deep in the dead 'orse camp to fully appreciate it, but if you want a real taste of Ireland, order some up!
On leaving we spied a blackboard advertising a full Irish breakfast, featuring black pudding, sausage, toast and more, all made in house (says the website, "Everything except the egg"). "How much?" we asked. "Twenty dollars," said the barmaid, "but you can get a pint of Guinness for six dollars with it".
Beer. With breakfast. God, I love the Irish.
The Last Jar Cnr Elizabeth and Queensberry Streets, Melbourne Phone: 9348 2957 PS: More Rickshaw Run volunteers still needed! Read more about the Rickshaw Run here, and about volunteering here and here. Give me a call on 0438 583 808 to discuss how you can get involved. And if I have somehow failed to return your call, text or email - I've had a lot, bless you all! - PLEASE feel free to call me back and remind me!
This is a commissioned post by the Australian Mushroom Growers' Association for "Mushroom Mania". The Mushroom Mania campaign is on for all of July 2013 and highlights the amazing mushroom dishes on offer at cafes, bistros, clubs, pubs and restaurants across Australia. Check out their competition where you can win one of 40 $100 restaurant vouchers! Full disclosure at end of post.
Don't judge a book by its cover. Or in this case - a restaurant by its elevator.
To get to Gong de Lin, you enter Swanston Street's Noodle Kingdom, take an abrupt left-hand turn and hit the button for the lift.
The doors open to reveal this long, peculiar, almost windowless pearly-white room, which - combined with your slow, rattling ascension here - feels rather otherworldly.
The spot to nab is one of the booths in the window, where you can gaze down at the trams and people rushing about below, as if you're some sort of benevolent spirit.
Gong de Lin is a unique Chinese restaurant serving Shanghai-style, Buddhist vegetarian fare. Western diners often report being somewhat perturbed at Asian vegetarian restaurants like White Lotus and Bo De Trai as the focus is primarily on mock meat, with non-mock meat vegetable dishes somewhat of an afterthought.
There is a good range of mock meat dishes on the menu at Gong de Lin but there is also a strong showing of vegetables in their natural form...in particular, mushrooms. "Hedgehog" mushrooms, "mountain" mushrooms, gold, black and morel - it seems like every denizen of the forest floor has a foothold on this menu!
Deep-fried shredded black mushroom with sweet and sour sauce, $12.80
If your kids have never eaten a mushroom, get this in front of them post haste. These are shiitake mushrooms, sliced, deep fried and tossed with a toffee-like coating. It's not your local shopping centre's sweet and sour, but much more reduced, deeper in flavour and with delicious tang that I think comes from Chinese black vinegar. "Black" or shiitake mushrooms have a particularly rich, deep flavour that held up perfectly against the crackly sweet shell.
Diced hedgehog mushrooms with macadamia nuts, $18.80
See the feathery chunk at the left of the dish? That's a hedgehog mushroom. The pieces had a soft, almost fluffy texture that was quite recollective of delicately cooked fish. The name relates to its appearance, having an underside covered in soft "spines" rather than the longitudinal gills of many mushroom cultivars, like field (see a pic here). The flavour was mild and combined with the light sauce, fresh vegies and crunchy macadamias, this was a very pleasing dish. (Not a fan of the bright yellow gingko nuts which are really bitter, but they're a cinch to pick out!)
Cold wonton in Shanghai style, $5.00
Dumpling time! Apparently one top pick at Gong de Lin is their beancurd dumpling which actually has a skin made from tofu instead of dough. We went off piste with some cold Shanghai-style wontons, but it was a bit of a dud run. They were filled with some sort of green pickled vegetable and served with vinegar and sesame dipping sauces, but the straight-from-the-fridge chill put me off. I'm sure they're authentic but next time I'd rather try the "Jade Buddha temple vegetable baozi", which look like fluffy char siu pork buns.
Barbecue boletus edulis, $18.80
You know how tomatoes are technically fruits? Well, mushrooms aren't technically vegetables. They are, of course, fungi, which makes their nutritional profile completely different than vegies. For instance, did you know that mushrooms are the only non-animal source of vitamin D? The specimens above were "boletus edulis", also known as the mighty porcini.
Porcini mushrooms (centre in the above pic) have large, thick stems and are most often seen dried. After the fluffy, delicious hedgehog mushroom (left), I wasn't such a fan of the coarser, slightly leathery boletus. Despite very different menu descriptions, both dishes were prepared similarly, which was a bit disappointing. Anyway, I had eaten way too much of the specimen on the right - the deep-fried shiitake slices. Trust me - so good!
So much food excitement and I forgot to mention drinks. Loved this sweet, hot soy milk...
Or there are also fancy teas like chrysanthemum, served in gorgeous teapots. Just be sure to stir it while it brews to get the full flavour profile. And speaking of flavour, Gong de Lin use no MSG. The prices are a bit steeper than your average city Chinese joint, but I reckon the unusual dishes and unique ingredients make it worth it.
Gong de Lin
Level 3, 264 Swanston Street, city
Phone: 9663 7878
Disclosure: This post is the second in a series of two for Australian Mushroom Growers' "Mushroom Mania" campaign. I had free choice of any Victorian restaurant 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. Reviews could be completed anonymously or with prior notice; I visited Gong de Lin anonymously and without prior warning. Australian Mushroom Growers and Gong de Lin have not sought nor been given any editorial control of this post.
Disclaimer: I ate here for free. See end of post for full disclosure.
Once you get clued into seasonality, there's something deeply disconcerting about cafe menus spruiking heirloom tomato bruschetta at this time of year. Why stubbornly hang on to basil, avocado and all the other delights of summer when you can celebrate lovely roast pumpkin and wilted, garlicky kale? What we're often unaware of is that like fruit and veg, nuts and grains also have seasons, and right now is buckwheat harvest time.
In Japan, soba noodles made from the season's first buckwheat are called shin soba and are highly prized for their particularly sweet flavour and delicate fragrance. I've previously written about Shimbashi, Melbourne's only dedicated soba bar where Chef Taka Kumayama grinds buckwheat into flour and makes soba noodles with it daily on the premises. Taka invited me back to try out shin soba, only available once per year.
Deep-fried soba to start. Perfectly crisp and seasoned.
Shimbashi now have a dedicated sake sommelier! I love this nigori-sake, unfiltered sake served cool, with a texture almost like drinking yoghurt. We also had amazing, lolly-water yuzu sake and plum wine.
One of my all-time favourite foods - nasu dengaku, or eggplant with sweet miso sauce. This was a sublime specimen - the eggplant flesh scored into diamonds, cooked till velvety-soft, with luscious, almost caramelly miso. WOW.
Gorgeous oysters with ponzu sauce and fat petals of sashimi, all tangled up with fresh salad.
Tempura love! Delicate wedges of pumpkin, zucchini and eggplant in light, blistered batter. Only the Japanese can make deep-fried food seem healthy.
The main event. I love how it looks like a prayer offering. To eat, sprinkle the dipping sauce with spring onion and gently dunk strands of soba in. Just so lovely. I don't eat soba enough to be able to wax lyrical about new-season shin soba, but I can tell you that these are some mighty fine noodles. You can taste the chef's passion in every bite.
Afterwards, the staff will come and top up your sauce pot with soba cooking water to make a warm "soup" that tastes so delicious and nourishing.
Sake pudding. Wow wow. The pudding itself is utterly luscious, like creme caramel. Loved the tangy, marmalade-like lemon sauce on top.
Shimbashi has been open for about eight months now, and I think it's really come into its own. The public hold Japanese restaurants to standards of authenticity far above any other cuisine in Melbourne, and Shimbashi definitely hits those heights. It's a very Japanese restaurant, right down to the quirky, homely decor and the Japanese version of Smooth FM they play. A refreshingly non-sceney spot.
If you want to catch the season's first shin soba, head to Shimbashi in the next week or so. Of course you can still enjoy hand-made soba here year-round, as buckwheat keeps well - unlike heirloom tomatoes.
17 Liverpool Street, city Open: Mon-Sat 11.30am-2.30pm, 6-10pm
Disclaimer: Shimbashi invited me and a friend to try shin soba on the house. This was NOT conditional on subsequently writing a post, but I so enjoyed this meal I wanted to share it. Shimbashi have not requested nor been given any editorial control over this post.
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!
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...
