Why bitch when you can blog

 

March 2010
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Recent Comments

Tags

Adventures on two wheels Bali Be@rBrick Japan Korilakkuma M'sia NZ Party Road trip Spending money

    follow me on Twitter


    Categories +/-

    Archive +/-

    Links +/-

    Meta +/-

  • Munchies

    Dalmatino

    width=

    Tripice – Tripe cooked in white wine,tomato & garlic served with potato puree.

    We were at Port Melbourne on Sunday and I had this craving for ramen after a big day/night out but it was a bit hard to find Japanese eatery that serves good ramen. Then I suggested to DJ to try out Dalmatino because I remembered having a good hearty lunch with our suppliers few months ago. DJ ordered the tripice and I had the toasted ciabatta bread with kulen sausages tomato, capsicum and Provolone cheese.

    DJ was nice to let me have a taste – my verdict:
    How Dalmatino cook the tripe was just perfect. I am not a fan of offal but after trying out the Italian style of cooking tripe, I don’t mind it at all. The tripe was very flavorful and not too chewy like what we usually get in yum chas.

    280 Bay St,
    Port Melbourne VIC
    (03) 9645 6584

    Ibuki

    IMG_4741
    Sashimi boat
    IMG_4756
    Chawan Mushi
    IMG_4758
    Scallop mornay
    IMG_4769
    Tempura platter
    IMG_4777
    Udon noodle soup

    Ibuki is a japanese home cook place where we actually dine at the cook’s “extended” home. There is a minimum of 10ppl perbooking and the banquet ranges from $60 – 80 perhead. The cook decides on the menu and we have no say on what we want to eat – similar to omakase except last year when we were here, the menu was almost the same. We had udon noodle soup this time instead of the fish stew that we had previously.

    Ibuki Japanese Cuisine will be moving to the city in early Aug. I wonder if the owner will still have the home cook style banquet at the new restaurant. Stayed tuned…xoxo

    Car-less night

    img_4157

    Caught up with our lovely friend Sarah for dinner yesterday at Movida Next Door. After trying a few different tapas restaurants, Movida is still the best tapas bar/restaurant in town.
    Movida Next door has a first come first serve concept but we were lucky to get a table in less than 5 minutes although we were told that we had to wait 20 – 30 minutes for a table.
    DJ did all the ordering where else Sarah and me was busy yapping away.

    img_4177

    After dinner, we went to Riverland for a round of beer. The weather forecasted to be raining however, the night turned out to be quite pleasant. It was a good Thursday night catch up and so sad that Sarah is actually going back to Beijing for good. Btw, I have inherited her full-length mirror and microwave. Lol.

    img_4176

    We had to cover our face because I had no make up and Sarah was complaining that her face was chubby -_-

    At about 9pm, DJ and I decided to call it the night and we rode home using the bike trail. The experience was so surreal. Almost like, I was in the movie Blair Witch project – Pitch black with only the headlight on.
    It took us 35 minutes to reach Glen Iris from the city. I am impressed :D I reckon after a few more night practice I will be able to cycle home from after work drinks…hmm…

    Breakfast at St Ali & bike riding at Docklands.

    Even though this month we experienced many days of cold weather but thanked god that today’s weather was extremely beautiful. We rode from our home taking the Yarra trail to South Melbourne to meet up with MonkeyKing and from there we rode to St Ali for breakfast.

    St Ali is famous for their coffees and I must say it is one of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted in Melbourne. The whole set up of this cafe is very laid back and they even had Aesop hand wash & balm in the toilets! Lovely :D

    Our breakfast:

    img_4070
    Pancakes with coffee mascapone & orange marmalade toppings. Highly recommended.

    img_4067
    Chorizo and bacon salad with additional poached eggs.

    img_4074
    Healthy breakfast with beer -_-”

    img_4066
    Lamb sausage with mashed sweet potatoes.

    img_4075

    After breakfast we rode to Docklands to meet up with Lynn. So happy that we finally get to meet Pinko. There were a few minor dramas with Pinko but luckily DJ was there to fix it.

    img_4081_2

    We rode along the bike path for about 20 minutes and decided to take a break at James Squire to quench our thirst with some beer.

    At about 4.45pm, we decided to call it a day and the journey back home took us an hour despite I had to pee so badly after the beer but managed to hold it till I reached home.

    I had a really great time and riding is damn addictive!!

    Satou Steak House, Kichijoji

    Before our Japan trip, DJ has been doing a lot of reading and research on where and what is a must try for our trip in Tokyo.
    He came across to this recommended steak house located at Kichijoji ; about 20 minutes train ride from Shinjuku station.

    img_3066

    The steak house is located above a busy butcher on the main shopping street.
    As early as 9am there are already heaps of people queuing up for off cut wagyu meatballs. Too bad we could not bring the meat back to Australia otherwise I would have gotten a kilo of the meatballs to try out.

    img_3070

    A very steep staircase leading up to the dinning area. We were lucky to be there early otherwise we would have to wait for at least 30 minutes for a table.

    img_3076

    The restaurant is very tiny and it can only accommodate maximum 16 patrons – 6 counter seats and 10 table seating.

    img_3087

    My ¥5,250 Matsuzaka A5 beef set lunch served with bottomless rice.
    The texture of the beef was so tender that chewing was not required. The meat just melts in the mouth. Unbelievable delicious.

    dsc09925
    Very happy and satisfied gaijins. Well done DJ!

    Currently craving for…

    IMG_1626.jpg
    Grey Goose Bloody Mary.

    Oysters

    Backdated post : Xmas eve dinner 08.

    DJ cooked a specatacular Xmas eve dinner. The main ingrediant was OYSTERS. We bought these considerably good size oysters from this wholesaler next to his work place – 6 dozens for less than $50.

    Oysters 004 (Small).jpg
    Belvedere vodka oyster shots.
    Thanks to Yauie for bringing the vodka ;)

    Oysters 001 (Small).jpg
    Oyster natural with mignonette sauce.

    Oysters 003 (Small).jpg
    Japanese oyster kaki fry & deep fried rice balls.

    Oysters 005 (Small).jpg
    Baked oyster in herb butter and golden panko.

    Oysters 006 (Small).jpg
    Oysters roll in thick warm sabayon sauce.

    The oysters were wrap in savoy cabbage with blue cheese fillings and served in champagne sabayon sauce.

    I feel like having oysters today for dinner after looking at these photos… with a glass of Brown Brother Zibibbo… yummm :)

    The Graham

    IMG_0023_thegraham.jpg

    My manager and I attended a Xmas lunch at The Graham, organised by one of our suppliers from work.
    I had the Chargrilled 1824 scotch fillet served with horseradish potato salad, wholegrain mustard butter and red wine jus.

    Everyone was curious of me taking photos of the food -_-.

    Okonomiyaki

    Today we decided to have okonomiyaki for dinner. Okonomiyaki means “cook what you like”. The process of cooking this dish is very simple and all we need is a premix batter that is easily found in any Japanese grocer.

    IMG_1221_DIY okonomiyaki 1.jpg

    For our fillings we have instant char-meen noodle, chopped spring onion, crab stick, corn, kimchi gyoza and cabana.

    IMG_1221_DIY okonomiyaki 2.jpg
    IMG_1221_DIY okonomiyaki 4.jpg

    Our home made okonomiyaki with extra *okonomiyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter), aonori (seaweed flakes), katsuobushi (fish flakes)* and heaps of Japanese mayonnaise. Oishi :D

    *extracted from wikipedia.

    Money Order Office

    Last Friday, DJ and I went for dinner at Money Order Office to celebrate our 1st year wedding anniversary.

    DSC03023.jpg

    M.O.O. resides in the basement of the old money order office to the G.P.O. tucked away at Drivers La off Lt Bourke st.

    This restaurant was voted Australian Wine Bar of the Year 2005. DJ ordered a bottle of 2005 Heathcote Estate shiraz for dinner and tasted not too bad.

    For our entrees we had:

    DSC03036.jpg

    Cured ocean trout with smoked beetroot puree, apple, walnut & mint paste.

    DSC03038.jpg
    Seared Harvey bay scallops with spring onion, miang,and szechuan pickled cucumbers.

    Our mains:

    DSC03040.jpg
    Suckling pig with braised savoy cabbage, potato puree & caramelised apples.

    DJ was so in love with this dish. He couldn’t stop raving about how good the pork tasted.

    DSC03041.jpg
    Margaret River eye fillet with spinach puree, glazed shallots & foie gras butter.

    The eye fillet was cooked to perfection however the spinach puree was too creamy to my liking. I prefer the beetroot puree that I had earlier for entree.

    DSC03071.jpg

    We order a dessert assiette that has a selection of dessert items to share.

    +Rose and vanilla pannacotta w poached fruits, honey ice cream and orange floss.
    +Walnut and orange semifreddo with poached fig
    +Lemon Tart w fresh berries, grapefruit marmalade and mint yoghurt sorbet
    +Dark chocolate and cherry mousse.

    In conclusion, the ambient, food quality and service in MOO was good and I wouldn’t mind coming back here again to try out their Entrée tasting plate that has a selection of entrée items and champagne during Friday-after-work-drinks.

    DSC03070.jpg

    Basement 318 Lt Bourke St
    Melbourne Victoria 3000
    Tel: 03 9639 3020