Friday 31 August 2007

Footy

I missed calls and texts from Stephen (he said there were many, I reckon there was only one) who was calling to see if I wanted to go to the footy tonight and see the penguins (It's actually the pies, magpies, but it's so much fun call them penguins and seeing the look on his face, one of these days he's going to go postal on me (he doesn't know what postal means)).

So I stuffed up and didn't get the message(s) till too late, I have only been to one footy game and would like to go and see another, the atmosphere is quite exciting...

So instead I got the consolation prize... Dinner with the delectable Mark and Stephen... I was collected (that ones for you Philly) from work and delivered to their place in Amy's Nissan Xtrail.

On the menu tonight was Chicken Taco's. Not just the normal Taco, they had been to the organic shop at the Tribeca appartments... Have I told you that Kylie Minogue has an appartment there... apparently Danni and Pat Rafter do too... I wonder which of them has the penthouse...

Dinner was washed down with a healthy dose of the pies on TV (cos we didn't make it to see them live) and an extra healthy dose of Squawking Magpie Sauv Blanc from Marlborough.

The Pies aren't doing so well and Stephen is getting just a little tetchy... You can count yourself lucky that you aren't here... Although the food and wine makes up for a pie's supporter with a sore tooth...

I'm taking video next time!

What a week so far...

I just want to point out what a fantastic week I've had so far and what an amazing variety of great food I've been lucky to eat. I'm trying to think if this is normal? Hmmm I think it might be...

Grill'd

Now I'm gonna slag them off and it's not really because of bad food, it's more to do with the fact that I chose the wrong burger!

I chose this thing with beef, fried egg, bacon... ick... dripping with fat and all that yuk...

Normally I have the Baa Baa Burger, a reasonably sized lamb burger.

But it's my fault I ordered this monstrosity. I got back to work and my fingers stunk of burger...

yuk yuk yuk

The Toasted Sandwich

Now, New Zealand and Australia are very similar. We are practically the same. But there are somethings that are just different!

New Zealand is tecnologically advanced and Australia is struggling with the whole EFTPOS thing... The people in Australia are grenerally better looking... Australian's say hey and Kiwi's say aye... New Zealand Cadbury chocolate is much tastier and creamier... Australia is drier... There are more homo's in Australia... Australia suffers from tall poppy syndrome...

When I ask for a toasted sandwich I expect some filling surrounded by bread and put in some kind of heated pressing device. In Australia a toasted sandwhich is a filling surrounded by bread and put under the grill... Yu get this crusty bready thing... Yuk...

If you want a toasted sandwich you have to ask for a jaffal or tell them to put it in the sandwich press...

For christ sake... jaffal is the brand of one of the machines... cripes!

Thursday 30 August 2007

The Horn - Ethiopian

Now before you say anything, I'm gonna have to say that all those Ethiopian cook book jokes that you know may as well be thrown out!

Nugget's out of town, so It's my job to take up the husbandly duties and make sure that Kat is sufficently entertained.

Kat knew these ppl who knew these ppl who had started up this Ethiopian restaurant round the corner from both our houses, so we thought it would be a great idea to go and check it out.

We organised to meet at Cavallero, because one knows that you need to lubricate the food passages before a meal and one also knows that Kat and I are a big fan of a bevvy or two... Cavallero deserves a post of it's own and I don't want to distract you so for now I'll skip over it and move onto the meal.

We made our way to The Horn and were graciously greeted by Peter and taken out back to the relaxing Jazz soaked restaurant. We decided to sit in the covered outside area as we both like to smoke while drinking... Such a bad habit, I must quit...

Blessed be the warm winters in Melbourne, out door eating is always appropriate and it makes tipping down Ethiopian beer all the more appropriate.

Kat ordered a Meat and Vege combo. The dishes came out in this four pronged candelabra type dish. We both got plates with injera, a rolled up spongey bread sort of like a fat pancake. You ate it by getting a bit of the vege or meat, putting it on the injera and then ripping it off and eating it, all using your hand.

It was soooo tasty, the atmosphere was great and the company was also great. A band started to play but we had our fill and were off...

Being the lovers of fine alcohol that were are, we couldn't help but go back to Cavallero. I was checking out the cocktail menu when the dishy bartender came up and gave me the cocktail menu that is about to be released in the next week or so... I was going to order a Mule, a drink that Sharkey had introduced me to a week earlier, but I spied a modified Mule... It was a mix between a Mule and a Mojito, my two favourite drinks! Ahhh, another summer drink... I can't wait for summer.

Roti anyone?

'Hey Namita, feel like roti?'

We roped in Glenn and were off...

We found Roundhouse Roti on Gertrude Street months ago... I was on a cleansing diet at the time and stood salivating at the window wishing I could eat roti, but having to deny myself that pleasure due to the cleanse... God knows why I do them...

Any Hoo, we used to all pile on down there at lunch, usually we are a group of 10 or more, and chow down on the rotis... yuummmmm....

I have always been happy with the rotis but todays was really nice, I had the Murtabak, it's filled with lamb and egg and has a curry dipping sauce... I think that since being open they have refined the roti's and they have definitely improved with time and practice.

A nice vibe and a tasty treat. Try them out good for vego's and meaties.

Atomica - The best coffee in Melbourne!

Now I am a self proclaimed coffee snob, well actually my friends call me that more than use it to describe myself, so who am I to argue...

In my humble (stop coughing) opinion I think that Atomica make the best coffee in Melbourne. If you think someoneelse makes better coffee let me know and I will go and check it out.

Now, I have been frequenting Atomica on and more off for the last 7 years and for the first 6 I thought that there was way too much tood going on in the shop. To be frank I don't think that I'm the only one who thinks so! Hell they have a news paper article up on the wall saying so.

But once you get over that, their self roasted beans and perfectly brewed coffee will get you addicted and back for more.

One of my many guilty pleasures is a long black with one to go and a freshly baked muffin. All their food is freshly cooked daily, on premises.

I'm always there every second thursday around 8:45... See you there!

Wednesday 29 August 2007

Borsch, Vodka & Tears

Well... Melinda wandered into the area where I sit this afternoon and asked 'What are you doing tonight...?' Well it doesn't take much to get me to go out and I do love to eat and drink out, so I said 'hey... Let's do something...'

We decided that we would go somewhere we hadn't been for a while, south of the river was our destination. In Melbourne there are two distinct areas, north of the river and south of the river. The river I'm talking about is the Yarra.

On the south side of the river you have St Kilda, South Yarra and Prahran. Traditionally you might say that there is more money on the southside, the people who live there definitely like to think so. The north side is a bit more down to earth and grungier, I'd say it is a bit more artistic and hippy too. As for the money, it's Australia and all inner city suburbs are affluent.

Oh, there is the west to, but that's a different story and I'm sure I'll go into that at some later stage.

I digress and I can feel another story coming on (I'll talk about International Wednesday next time I go to Jim's Taverna in Collingwood). I had been to Borsch, Vodka & Tears a couple of times before. It's a vodka bar with over 100 European Vodka's and Polish Cuisine. I had dined there once before and enjoyed some Borsch with dumplings, which you should definitely try, but more often than not I had been there for the Absyinthe and Vodka, which you should most definitely go and try.

We started with champaign cocktails, I had a blueberry version and Melinda had lime. They were sooooo good we were going to ask for jugs to go.

The were booked out so we got to sit at the Bar and eat, this was good, we had the best veiw in the restaurant and all the drinks and cocktails were made in front of us. This did have the effect of both of us wanting everything that was on the menu.

Instead of have a main, we ordered and shared a variety of tapas like dishes. I really do need to remember what I eat or make notes at the time cos I'm lost for words. We kept eating and ordering more dishes they were that good.

We had Apple Pie's for desert, Cinnamon Vodka with Apple juice, garnished with, you guessed it, Apple and Cinnamon. Perfect way to finish a meal.

I highly reccomend Borsch, Vodka & Tears for both drinks and food. But I would book if you really want to eat there, it's not abnormal to be turned away if you don't have a booking.

Summer Lunch

The weather here at the moment is just fantastic, my shoes needed some repairs so using my lunch productively I walked down to Smith St and enjoyed the sun.

I bought two California rolls, long ones, not the sliced up versions. Usually I get different kinds but the Avocado and Prawn ones looked and sounded so appealing. How wrong was I?

Dry and taste free... A totally underwhelming experience!

Yuk!

A bowl of museli

I'm bored of this museli, I need to get some fresh fruit to add to it.

The best museli I've had I got in New Zealand. It was organic, had no perservatives and tasted fantastic. I always get it when ever I go back home. I wish I could find it here.

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Ready Steady Cook!

One of my favourite cooking shows is Ready Steady Cook. I prefer the english version with Ainsley, he's great. In a pinch I'll watch the Australian one, I like the chef's but the host leaves a lot to be desired.

There comes a time when we can't be bothered going to the shop, or we are too poor to go, so I get all the food we have in the fridge and cupboards and lay it out on the bench... Then I brainstorm and come up with something. It usually works, tonight I ended up making a risotto like dish out of brown rice.

Here's what I did:
I cooked up some bacon and chicken thighs in some butter. I had stuffed up and bought thighs which still had the bone so I just cut of bits of the meat and chucked the bones in the mix, I thought it might add some flavour and could be fun to eat the rest of the meat off the bone... Sorry if you are vegan. I threw in some corriander seeds and other spices.

After the meat had cooked through in went the brown rice and some chicken stock. Probably too much stock but I thought it could end up being a soup if it all went to cactus. In went what ever vegies we had: broccoli, taters, spanish oinion (I like to use these oinions because the look prettier than the brown ones, you can blame Jess for that habit) and corn kernals. I think that was it.

Well it cooked and cooked and cooked... I was okay, definitely no where near the best thing I cooked and it tasted too corny. Eating the very tender meat off the bone was good and probably the highlight of the meal for me.

Bah!

Back to OqpO

So, I couldn't be arsed going out, so I decided to pop over to OqpO for something tasty then go back to the office and catch up on some stuff... Like this blog.

OqpO is this sandwich bar that opened up round the corner from work about a year ago. The place it's in used to be a Carribean, I'd been there about once. The food was good and the head waiter was a pisser, definitly a good place to go and get some food, but it was always empty! I don't think it ever had many people in it. So it closed down and it was no real surprise.

OqpO moved in and opened up. They had a big refridgerated display case with lots of toppings for sandwiches... Perfect for when I felt picky and wanted to specify exactly what I wanted in my sandwich. One day I was yakking with a friend outside the milk bar next to OqpO and another friend Michael (friend of Johnny's) came out of OqpO. It turns out that Danni who runs the place was friends of friends, so being the shy retiring type I went in there for lunch, introduced myself and made some new friends, I've been eating there ever since!

I picked up a trash magazine, ordered a salmon and ricotta filo pastry and bam, lunch time dissappeared.

OppS

Some times you just wanna eat out...

I skipped my morning museli and went straight to OqpO for a croissant. Out of the blue I got a call from Johnny and it turned into a bit of a social catch up and gossip over a coffee.

It's funny how you just bump into people when your out on the street. Melbourne is such a social place.

Monday 27 August 2007

OqpO

Now I'm sure it's just because I started this blog and I'm really into writing about what I'm eating, that I'm going to talk about every meal I had today!

Morning tea comprised of a toasted Croissant with swiss cheese, tomato and french mustard. I really thing the swiss cheese and french mustard really to put the finishing touches on a delicous mid morning snack.

Dinner at Mark and Stephens.

Hmm is it Mark and Stephen or is it Stephen and Mark?

Well Mark is called Mark and Stephen shares the 14th of January for our birthday, decisions, decisions... Sorry Stephen, but I can't go past the name Mark. Hopefully he won't be too upset.

I used to live with Mark Torpy and Stephen Bennetts, I also lived with Trevor Bunny at the same time, but Mark and Stephen are together and Trevor is in New Zealand so it was a bit hard for him to be there.

Torpy messaged me in the arvo and invited me over for dinner, I jumped at the opportunity as they always put on a great spread! Although I was got the same meal two visits in a row, it was slow cooked lamb shanks which were fantastic so I didn't mind, Stephen took it a lot worse than I did. Bless his cotton socks.

Today's top temperature was 26 degrees celcius which is quite warm for winter, so I walked over to their place after work and picked up a bottle of Momo Sauvignon Blanc on the way. I've just looked it up and Momo mean 'the sibling' in Maori. One of my favourite wines, not to mention I like saying Momo for the Homo's.

Stephen broke out the BBQ and cooked some chicken thighs (my favourite part of the chicken, so moist and flavoursome), marinated in two different styles.

On the side was a lovely green salad (pity about the cucumber, but it was chunky enough to remove) and a very yummy mango and tomato salad!

We weren't allowed stick date pudding, so we had ice cream with Baileys, Milo, Honey and I slipped some almonds into Mark's as a surprise he he he...

I'll deffinitely be eating back here again, I guess I need to cook them something soon.

via Volare

Today's lunch restaurant was decided by a process of elimination...

I happened to be walking past a group of workmates at the right time and suckered into a game of elimination... Someone suggests a list of places to eat, then everyone takes turns at removing or adding a venue until we end up with one. Well we decided on a place then threw it out and decided to goto via Volare.

It was the $15 Parma and Beer lunch special that sealed the deal! In my homeland of New Zealand we didn't have the phenomina of the Parma while I was living there... So it's all a bit weird to me and I must admit that currently I'm not a fan!

A challenge... I must find a Parma that I like...

I was feeling like eggs for breakfast so I decided that I would have the 3 eggs on toast. I chose the healthy poached option over fried.

Alas... it is very hard to get nice soft runny eggs when you are out and via Volare was no different... It wasn't too dry and I didn't feel the need to throw it out so I ate it.

I'll go back there, thank god I liked the Lemon, Lime and Bitters!

It started with museli!

Well the day and I guess this blog, started with a bowl of museli!

Museli and Oat milk... None of that diary milk, we were never bought up on milk, I can stomach milk on my cereal if I have to, but the thought of drinking a glass of milk really makes me want to vomit... I used to be a fan of Soy, but I felt like I was consuming way too much soy, so I opted for Rice and Oat milk...

There is one question that does worry me, how on earth do you get milk from a soy bean, a grain of rice or an oat? I'm sure there is, but hope there isn't some dirty over processing of these items to produce something that seems impossible!

What I just ate!

Well, what's this...?

It's a blog on what I just ate... There will be reviews on great restaurants, there will be reviews on bad restaurants and there will be reviews on the bowl of museli I just ate for breakfast!

Each day I'm sure I will change my opinion on what is good for me and what is bad.

So let the fun times roll... If we're really lucky, I'll eat somewhere that gives the food poisoning and I can only imagine the fun storys that will come from that!

Hopefully I'll be able to rope some of my friends into writing a food blog too...

Eat up!