Good times collective #11: Melbourne must-eats

Even as a not-so-common visitor to Melbourne these days, there are places and dishes that are almost quintessentially Melbourne from a Sydney perspective, as I'm sure there are the other way around - though perhaps less so with various restaurants and trends capturing stomachs in both states.

Fried eggs with jamon, figs and potato tortilla from Hardware Societe, Hardware Street, Melbourne

The hype around CBD laneway cafe Hardware Societe doesn't seem to have died down at all, if my last two visits to Melbourne are anything to go by.

Always turned off by the usual breakfast queues, I was pleasantly surprised on a Thursday morning with no queue but still a jam-packed venue including a shared communal table.

Fried eggs with jamon, figs and potato tortilla from Hardware Societe

Breakfast at Hardware Societe is no light affair. With Spanish and French influences throughout the menu, breakfast is a little more glam than your standard cafe breakfast and quite irresistibly so.

Spanish jamon cured ham and a wedge of potato tortilla made an appearance alongside in-season fresh figs and a scattering of pumpkin seeds in a gorgeous spin on breakfast eggs and toast that was as gourmet as it was filling.

Herb roasted mushrooms with twice cooked gruyere de comte souffle from Hardware Societe

Even more rich was the vegetarian dish of buttery, herb roasted mushrooms atop seeded toast, with watercress and two fluffy cheese "souffles" finished with a herbed creme fraiche; certainly one of the richest, and ultimately deliciously filling vegetarian meals I've had to date.

Bills burger from Huxtaburger, Fulham Place, Melbourne

There's yet to be a burger joint in Sydney with the name and following of Huxtaburger in Melbourne, which has three venues throughout Melbourne and avid, die-hard fans. The CBD outlet, hidden in a laneway and backing out into a food court, is licensed and with indoor and outdoor seating.

It's a more of a scoff-and-dash venue, which is fine by the hungry devourers of the all-Aussie Bills burger featuring a fried egg and bacon with the juicy beef pattie, and beetroot and a pineapple ring in addition to lettuce and tomato - a burger doesn't get much more Australian than that.

Rudy burger with chipotle fries from Huxtaburger

After a holiday standard breakfast; that is, a relatively huge one, I could only manage a kids-size burger. And large fries but only because they were of the nostalgic crinkle-cut variety, tossed in a lightly spiced chipotle seasoning.

The cute Rudy burger on a shiny mini burger bun with a beef pattie, lettuce and tomato was a classic burger with both tomato sauce and mayonnaise. For a proper meat hit, though, go the full size.

Tam Tam ramen from Fukuryu Ramen, Corrs Lane, Melbourne

Melbourne's a little behind Sydney on the ramen game - while we can virtually turn any corner in the city and inner suburbs and find a great ramen joint (post coming next week on the new, second Ippudo in the Central Park complex, Broadway), it's not quite as easy in Melbourne.

Fukuryu Ramen is located up a couple flights of stairs in an aged laneway building, but once you're up there, it's like any other brightly-lit fast food restaurant. Order at the front and get a neat little tracker, rather than a buzzer, that alerts waistaff to your seating location once your food is ready for table delivery.

Offered in regular or large size (adults aren't allowed to order the kid's size - I tried), the mildly spicy, red-hued 'Tam Tam' ramen featured chasuhu roast pork slices and nori seaweed sheets propped up against the side of the bowl, as well as half a googy-yolked egg and pork mince through the soup. The broth had a fantastic smoky umami-ness that strongly encouraged one to finish the entire bowl of soup.

Miso ramen from Fukuryu Ramen

There wasn't quite the same depth of flavour in the miso ramen which had a chicken and fish based broth. It came with toppings of buttered corn, shallots, nori, chashu, egg and oddly, also some of the minced pork at the bottom of the bowl. While it was decently rich with miso, it wasn't the best miso ramen I've ever had and not nearly as good as my neighbouring bowl.

Sweet potato fries with Vietnamese spicy chilli mayonnaise from Lord of the Fries, Flinders Street, Melbourne

I'm actually yet to visit the Lord of the Fries outlet in Sydney, but happily divert to the store near Flinders Street station every time for a hit of fried potatoes - or in this instance, sweet potato.

Darkly fried, the sweet potato chips alternate between crunchy and soggy, enriched with the 'Vietnamese' sauce - a lightly spiced mayonnaise.

Ninjabread martini, Section 8, Tattersalls Lane

An outdoor, converted shipping container bar pumping with music in a Chinatown lane is quite the concept and Section 8 seems to pull it off effortlessly. Downstairs from other nearby bars, I assume the noise isn't an issue - how un-Sydney - and while sangria jugs and beers seemed the popular choice, I was completely and somewhat unexpectedly delighted with my Ninjabread martini.

Vanilla vodka featured with a touch of cream in the shaken cocktail that seemed to lack a real ginger hit, but it was the gingerbread crumb rim that won me over in the decidedly 'yum' cocktail.

Jia zhang noodles from Camy Shanghai Dumpling, Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne

After a drink or two, the allure of cheap dumplings and noodles nearby in Tattersalls Lane is hard to resist. The well-priced menu and brusque service go hand in hand, and there's even an all-you-can-eat option for the seriously hungry.

The meaty, saucy jia zhang wheat noodles are fabulous for booze-soaking, and general eating too. The generous bowl of dry noodles is topped with a fine pork mince and finely chopped other ingredients in the Asian bolognaise-like sauce, with Chinese greenery on the side.

Pan fried pork dumplings from Camy Shanghai Dumplings

The crisp bottomed pan-fried dumplings are also people-pleasers, with a unique situation where the dumpling wrapper is just as good as the juicy, porky filling. With vinegar sauce and a touch of chilli, these are the kinds of dumplings that I could just eat forever, for the rest of time.

Hot and sour soup from Camy Shanghai Dumpling

The generosity of serving sizes continued with the hot and sour soup, served searingly hot and thick, jam-packed with tofu, bamboo shoots and other goodies in a well balanced vinegary and chilli soup base.

Xiao long bao from Camy Shanghai Dumpling

The only disappointment at Camy Shanghai Dumpling were the xiao long bao soup dumplings which were quite terrible and even worse than the frozen, steam-at-home varieties. Cooked in a too-small bamboo steamer, the dumpling skins ripped and lost what little soup they held while the filling flavour was so mediocre that even vinegar and soy sauces couldn't help.

I always feel like I need a salad week or two after an eating and drinking weekend in Melbourne, but it's all about the balance and the good times afterall.



 

 

Good times collective #10

We're in the 'racing towards the end of the year' portion of 2014 now, and already the diary is filling up with so many social and food events that before we know it, it'll be time for festive decorations with the jolly man in red.

But before then, there are birthdays (some 31sts, a 1st and an 80th!), hen's dos, weddings, festival season and some big ol' venue openings - better get ready for some good times.

Lamb ragu pasta at Cafe Sopra, Bridge Street, Sydney

When I stick to the tried and true favourites at Cafe Sopra, I'm never disappointed. The maccheroni with rich, tomato-ey lamb ragu - served as one of the set menu banquet items - is a winner; perhaps the closest to knocking off my favourite of the pasta with crushed peas, Italian sausage and pecorino cheese.

Grilled salmon brown rice bowl at Dragon Boy, World Square, Sydney

While the majority of cheap-eats-seekers at Dragon Boy in World Square are probably there for the udon noodles, which are cooked immediately in front of you and served canteen style with tempura and kakiage fried vegetable fritter options, I like exploring the non-udon options.

A donburi bowl of brown rice topped with several thin slices of aburi torched salmon, a few healthy-looking mixed leaves and a cherry tomato is about as guilt-free as it gets, disregarding the squiggles of obligatory mayonnaise and brown sauce.

Antipasti board at Le Pub, King Street, Sydney

In an underground space that was formerly a questionable Irish pub, Le Pub on King Street (also accessible from York Street) is now pretty bang-on for a city pub.

The Parisian-styled Aussie pub and bistro does mains sub-$30 and a great charcuterie board with rillettes, saucission sec and terrine - or whatever else the kitchen has whipped up in house - with remoulade, cornichons, pickled vegies and plenty enough bread which is such a rarity.

A variety of steamed dumplings at yum cha at Golden Unicorn Chinese Restaurant,
Maroubra Road, Maroubra

I rarely crave yum cha these days. Perhaps it's to do with the fact that I always overeat at yum cha and feel ick afterwards, or that I can't stand waiting for a table.

Golden Unicorn Chinese Restaurant sort of has the south Sydney yum cha market cornered (for now) with its weekend queues forming down a flight of stairs onto Maroubra Road.

For a suburban yum cha outlet, Golden Unicorn definitely delivers with some steamed dumpling options even the Chinatown restaurants don't have. The smaller room and waitress rounds also means the food tends to be hotter and fresher.

Fish burger from Rockpool Bar & Grill, Bridge Street, Sydney

Ahead of Neil Perry's Burger Project opening in World Square, I could almost lay claim to having had one of his takeaway burgers already.

This crumbed fish burger from Rockpool Bar & Grill was ordered with the intention of eating it at the bar - until work beckoned. So, with a bit of foil and a carry bag, this desk lunch of crumbed flathead fillets with an iceberg lettuce leaf in that classic Rockpool burger bun was, and still is, hard to beat.

Sambal sting ray from Sinma Laksa House, Anzac Parade, Kingsford

I think I had sambal stingray at almost every hawker centre we visited in Malaysia. It's not all that common back home here, but it is available at Sinma Laksa House.

Smothered in spicy sambal sauce, a ray wing is grilled to a brown burnish and served simply with more chilli sauce. The stingray texture is like that of most flat fish: soft and smooth with easily manageable bones, while the sambal and chilli provide all the flavour and heat that's needed.

Here's to this awesome end of the year and plenty more good times yet.





 

Gungnam Spoon style Chinese

I was a bit saddened to discover one day that my favourite little northern Chinese eatery in Hurstville had disappeared, and in its place stood the oddly named Gungnam Spoon.

Easily one of the flashiest fitouts on the street, the bustling late lunch crowd seemed to indicate that Hurstville's main road is ready for a more modern food offering, even if it's still Chinese.

Pork and prawn wonton soup from Gungnam Spoon, Forest Road, Hurstville

With a dumpling craving that couldn't be swayed by the popular whole grilled fish offering that seems to be a signature dish of Gungnam Spoon, I had some of the best wonton dumplings I've had for a while.

Filled with a super-tasty coarse, pink mixture of minced pork and the occasional prawn, the egg pastry-wrapped wonton floated in a flavoursome broth topped with strips of omelette and seaweed, both adding flavour and texture.

Pan fried pork dumplings

The crisp-bottomed pan fried dumplings had a similar pork mince filling; perhaps even tastier than the soup dumplings. With exceptionally thin house-made pastry and vinegar dipping sauce, these went some way in easing the pain of losing a former favourite eating place.

Mapo tofu

However, there was pain to be had in the mapo tofu which we ordered with a side of steamed rice. It looked the goods on first appearance; a generous serving of tofu cubes with minced meat in a shiny, chilli-spiked sauce.

The first mouthful alerted us to the abundant presence of whole Sichuan peppercorns, literal handfuls of them. With more burning than numbing, it was painful eating as well as meticulous picking out of the peppercorns to get through the dish. Soy bean milk was also called for.

Leaving the restaurant a bit sweaty and pained, there was enough on the menu to tempt me back another time for Gungnam Spoon style Chinese cuisine.

Stuck to the favourites at Seabay Handmade Noodles

I get stuck with ordering my favourite dishes sometimes, none more obvious than when I'm having northern Chinese food.

With a large, enticing menu at Seabay Handmade Noodles in Burwood, I found myself gravitating towards the cucumber salad, pan fried dumplings and zhajiang noodles – which is precisely what we ordered.

Cucumber salad from Seabay Handmade Noodles, Burwood Road, Burwood

The generous cucumber salad was slightly different to what I'm used to (and the one I've started to make at home) but no less satisfying and refreshing.

With tomato wedges as well as smashed pieces of cucumber, the vinegar dressing leaned towards tart, with soy sauce and chilli aromas following close behind, garnished with shallots and coriander leaves.

Pan fried pork dumplings

The pan fried pork dumplings at Seabay looked the goods with thin dough wrappers cooked to golden bottoms. The minced pork filling lacked a little on seasoning – perhaps a flavour on top of pork, like sesame, ginger or coriander, may have elevated the little parcels of pork.

Zhajiang noodes

The feature dish had to be the zhajiang noodles with the fresh, house-made pulled noodles. Cooked to a particularly chewy state, the noodles of varying thickness soaked in a flavour-packed bean sauce of minced pork, tomato, shallots and a requested chilli addition.

The julienned cucumber was great for contrasting texture and freshness when mixed into the noodles, while also cooling some of the chilli heat.

Quick and cheerful, Seabay Handmade Noodles delivered favourites that I'm stuck on – not for safety's sake but just because they're so darn good.

Harajuku Gyoza: Happy face dumplings

I love the way the Harajuku Gyoza menu gets diners in the mood: "You are like a hungry salaryman in a Japanese izakaya. You are thirsty and your appetite is big like Godzilla." All Japanese quirk and just a little bit of sense.

Harajuku Gyoza logo, Bayswater Road, Kings Cross

From Brisbane's Fortitude Valley comes this cute-as-a- button dumpling and beer joint, specialising in all manner of Japanese gyoza dumplings in the heart of Kings Cross, a couple of doors down from Hugos Bar Pizza.

While more a cutesy, recognisable name than anything representative of the Harajuku area in Tokyo, the Sydney outpost of Harajuku Gyoza has a fittingly fun fitout that’s all wooden furniture and colourful plates and service that hint at the sometimes crazy Japanese pop culture.

Sake being served

One unnamed type of sake is served chilled, with great ceremony and noise, traditionally into a glass sitting in a masu box to catch the overflow.

There's also Kirin beer on tap, beers by the bottle (including the pricey but one of my favourites – Hitachino Nest White Ale), Kirin's new Fuji apple cider and a few select wines.

Cucumber and miso salad

Food arrived pretty quickly after ordering, and you get the feeling it's really not a place to sit and linger over drinks.

We started, healthily, with a small salad of peeled, raw cucumber dressed liberally in a sweet, strong yellow miso soybean paste, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Gyoza condiments

Seated at the counter, we had a direct view to the gyoza cooking stations – both poached and grilled versions.

Made daily and then frozen to avoid sogginess, the meat and vegetable fillings wrapped in dough were either dropped into a boiling pot or lined up into a custom gyoza grill press with a fair bit of oil for crisp bottoms.

Grilled lobster tail gyoza 

We sampled the special of lobster tail grilled gyoza: thin, chewy and crisp wrappers with a coarsely chopped filling that somewhat resembled lobster in texture though less so in taste. From the condiments selection, I added vinegar sauce and chilli oil.

Poached duck gyoza 

From the regular menu we went with poached duck gyoza and traditional grilled pork ones – both versions unexpectedly meaty.

The duck gyoza were ideal poached, with a slight gaminess to the filling differentiating it from usual styles and quite tasty with the condiments.

Grilled pork gyoza 

Pork gyoza are about one of my favourite things in the world and it was probably high expectations that let me down.

As odd as it may sound, I found Harajuku Gyoza's pork variety too meaty, with insufficient cabbage and other seasonings – minced pork overload, if you will. The dough wrappers though, I adored and could eat on their crisp lonesome.

Tenpura eggplant

To more substantial but still izakaya style dishes, we started with "tenpura" eggplant: lightly battered, pre cut into wedges for easy eating. Soft and squishy within, the oily fried eggplant was served in a pool of a vinegary sauce.

Pork belly kakuni

An impressively-sized serve, the pork belly kakuni comprised four blocks of rich, braised pork belly in layers of fat and meat, the latter unfortunately dry.

It was heavy eating, even with steamed rice on the side, while an acidic condiment, mustard even, would have helped cut through the fattiness.

Harajuku Gyoza exterior 

We ended up having to take leftovers of the pork belly home, and it turned out a little better the next day. There wasn't room for dessert gyoza on this occasion, but that joins the basket I'd rarely touch anyway, along with dessert pizza.

They make no apologies for being an eat-and-run venue, and I can see a fair few spontaneous meals and dumpling cravings getting sorted at Harajuku Gyoza, despite there being better dumplings around town.

"It must be perfect or we get your sad face. We want your happy face," says the menu. It's gyoza and it's pretty darn adorable – you get the happy face.

Food, booze and shoes dined as a guest of Harajuku Gyoza.