Eating Out, In - Menulog Restaurant Delivery Guide

I like to eat out, if I hadn't made that quite obvious already. I like to go to the restaurant, I like to look at all the other people at the restaurant, I like to look at the walls, I like to look at the wait staff... I really like to be served and not have to cook.

I also like to sit on the couch.

I discovered, quite by accident about a year ago, a Web site that allows you to perused the menus of local restaurant's online, make your selections, pick your payment method and place the order. Menulog Restaurant Delivery Guide, you are my salvation. For those days, where I can't be arsed cooking and I really can't be arsed going out to eat it is the perfect option.

Menulog Restaurant Delivery Guide removes the need to talk to anyone (we all have those days), it removes the need to leave the house (pick up can be such a drag when it's pouring down with rain) and it allows you to stare at the menu for as long as you want to work out what you are going to have for dinner.

Lately I have been using Menulog at least once or twice a week, I really have become reliant (lazy).

Some of the tricks that I have learned... If you want alcohol delivered, there are places that will do it. I'm not sure if you have to order food, but I usually do as I'm trying not to give the impression that I'm an alcoholic.

If I am dining with fussy eaters, i'll order starters from one restaurant and then mains from another. This was particularly helpful last week when I dropped the first delivery and the dog ate it, ten minutes later the next round arrived.

Menulog also has great incentives to order from new places, often you will get a discount on your first order. On top of that, there is a points scheme which you can use to redeem for vouchers which can be redeemed at certain restaurants.

You should deffinitely check out what is available in your local area.

I have been given this voucher code: BA5EFD

You can use the code to get $10 off your first delivery from participating restaurants (needs to have "accepts voucher" sign and be a minimum purchase of $20).

Vietnamese bakeries - Best eats!

So I'm not sure if it's the same in every city, but in Melbourne in nearly every suburb, Vietnamese bakeries have popped up like a plague of places to get great cheap food.

Their business model is high turn over cheap product. Generally they use bread rolls baked freshly onsite, they have a refridgerated baymarie with a variety of traditional salads and condiments. Of course spring rolls and dim sims are on the counter.

One of my favourite's is the Vietnamese pork roll, they put in a variety of types of process and sliced pork, lettuce, coriander, onions (sometimes crispy), pate, a soy like sauce and chilly (of course, I ALWAYS hold the cucumber). I know that it's probably not the best quality meat cuts, but it's cheap and tastes good.

Now the point of this post is to highlight N Lee Bakery on Smith Street in Collingwood. N Lee is always packed and thankfully there is usually at least six staff on hand to process all the orders. My latest N Lee favourite is the pork meat ball roll, it cost $4 and comes with Vietnamese salad, crushed pork meat balls and some of the sauce that it was cooked it in. Forget what it is and just eat it...

Noi Thai - Richmond Thai Restaurant

It was sort of spur of the moment when Oscar organised dinner with Mark at Noi Thai; one of Oscar's favourite Richmond Thai Restaurants.

I had been there for dinner a couple of years back, when it was under previous management. These days the decor is much more ‘schlick’, a booking is essential and it is so renown you’ll often the who’s who of Richmond dining there.

We got a chance to talk to the owner, Peter, who pointed out the gems on the menu (practically the whole thing) and a little bit of back ground on how the place ran.

Food first....? Hmmm, nope. Socialise first; Which is how I like my meals.

Noi Thai’s kitchen has limited cold storage space which is an advantage in a restaurant like this. It means that food has to be freshly purchased daily from local markets and shops. The vibe was great in the restaurant as there were parties, big and small engorging themselves and knee deep in conversation.

For starters we had bit of everything; Curry puffs, Oscar’s favourite... Dumplings, One of my current fads... Spring rolls, Everyone’s favourite... Needless to say, we were ready for mains in no time.

For mains we shared the Roast Duck Curry which is served in a coconut. I love my duck and this was no exception; the duck was tasty like duck is, they curry was fantastic and I even got to scoop out the flesh of the coconut it was served in. We also got the Massaman Beef Curry which was Oscar’s favourite.

I’ll definitely be eating back there again soon, I think Thai is moving near the top of the list of my favourite food styles.