Hello and welcome to another Food Friday, this week is a little different to usual as, well, I’ve been rather lazy this week and I haven’t been doing much cooking. I have, however, been doing a lot of eating. A lot of good eating. I ate very well indeed… So here is part two of a special holiday edition here is my little food-focused guide to Melbourne. Enjoy.
Melbourne is described as being the most European city in Australia; in travel guides this refers to its wide boulevards, trams and old(er) buildings. However, the city is also famous for its Tapas restaurants and craft beers, which all help Melbourne live up to this European reputationd. However, we manage to take a fantastic food journey across the world, whilst staying in this fantastic city…
Starting in Spain (sadly despite trying we weren’t able to get a reservation in one of the famous Movida Tapas chain. This is due to the first week of January being holiday time, where most melbournites leave the city for the beach, unlike Sydney, there aren’t hundred of beaches near by) we were able to dine on Tapas down at Melbourne’s own beach resort – St Kilda.
Located on the cosmopolitan Fitzroy Street (a mix of backpackers and tourists), whilst disguised as a restaurant, like any Spanish place, Pelican is just as much about the wine as the food and indeed in some cases the wine is much better.
The popcorn chicken with tarragon & lemon dipping sauce was a bit scrappy and the patatas bravas a little generic, but the warm beetroot salad with truffled pecorino & watercress was excellent and the pulled, spiced lamb with fennel seed flatbread to die for. The service and welcome (ok the waiter was Scottish) was great, in all, recommended.
Heading east from Spain to Italy, our best meal of the trip (and maybe in the top ten of all time) was found on the same street as our apartment (the excellent Punthill Grand). An unassuming place Da Noi doesn’t have a website, nor a menu as such but instead offers a tasting menu with which you put your dinner in the hands of the excellent kitchen.
No menu at Da Noi ever the same, specially designed every day with fresh produce from their farm, this might be a brave choice, but a really rewarding one nonetheless. The food was simple, from grilled green beans and beetroot with baked muscles and skate, to mushroom ravioli with veal, to grilled lamb chops and salad, finished with a trio of desserts, but every course was exceptional. Da Noi might not be a budget choice but it deserves its price tag.
Our next step eastwards was easy as the city has a plethora of Lebanese inspired restaurants and hidden down in the depths of Windsoris a little treat – Mama Ganoush.
Taking the Spanish approach (again) Mama Ganoush offers a range of sharing dishes, from hummus to traditional tabouleh salad to grilled quail in garlic, turkish chilli & fresh thyme and cabbage rolls of ground lamb and rice with minted tomato salsa.
They also do a selection of larger mains, but we stuck to sharing. If you need more persuading, Mama Ganoush is owned by the brother of famous Melbourne chef Greg Malouf (Malouf’s Mezza).
As for Asian food (a staple of Australia life) with one of the best names for a noodle bar ever (guess what they wanted to actually call it?) MoPho Noodle Bar, situated in a little laneway off Yarra Street behind South Yarra station comes highly recommended. The chef/owner is famous for his stints at other famous restaurants (yadda, yadda) but all you need to know is the plates are huge, the noodles are great and they do endename beans (my favourite). Great if you are staying in the rather fancy Chapel Street for somewhere a little more down to earth.
They say coffee in Melbourne is a way of life…and with coffee comes the coffee shops which there are hundreds. My tip is to search out the quirky and unique, avoid the laneways – where it is fun to people watch, but the price is jacked up.
1000 £ Bend is located in the city centre on Little Lonsdale Street and is described as a place to eat, drink, write, draw, relax, ponder, experiment, listen, watch, evolve, enjoy or as I put it, just sit back on a comfy couch, drink good cheap coffee and watch the fish. There is also a thriving craft beer scene in Melbourne, but the best Australian beer still has to be Little Creatures.
However, whilst the brewery is actually out in Western Australia, Little Creature’s have a dining hall on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. The barn of a building is great for big parties (the pizza’s look great) but just as fun for couples popping in for a few beers. Exported to the UK god-knows how many years ago, the Pale Ale is a well respected and enjoyed craft beer, but LC also does an excellent cider (Pipsqueak) and golden ale (Bright Ale) and amber ale (Rodger’s). The Bright Ale went down a treat.
After all that eating and drinking we had to do a bit of wandering around the famous laneways, took a few trams and of course enjoyed our view from the balcony!
One of Melbourne’s famous laneways
The view from our balcony over the city
On a tram…
Have you been to Melbourne, any other recommendations?
Miss S x
Wine and Love meme is a weekly Thursday post where bloggers review their week through whines (wines) and loves. It really was a wine week this week as I resorted to wine drinking last night rather than tonight – wine drinking on a Thursday always seems ok to me, what with it being Friday the next day. Anyways, you can check out other bloggers taking part here via Nora’s blog and my previous posts are here.
Wines
- It has been a really mixed up week this week, what with the joy of getting my adoption file on Monday, to finding out an address and phone number (!!) to sadness in finding out that potentially I’ll never get the chance to meet my mother, to the excitement of potentially of having a brother. It has been a total rollercoaster emotion wise and i’m not yet ready to write about it any fuller way than in a bullet point list like this – avoidance? maybe, but in any case I am taking a couple of weeks to think things through before I go back to the counsellor to start the next step.
- Despite trying my hardest not to use data in Australia, even going as far as buying a data package I still managed to get a £278 bill on my return. Orange are being wankers and refusing to help me with it. Looks like ill be leaving them at the end of my contract but dammit I wanted my iPhone 4s as soon as possible and ill have to search around for a new contract now. Any deals out there?
- B’s birthday was a complete disaster – firstly I bough him tickets to see Laura Marling (and a hotel for the night as the concert is in Glasgow) and it turns out to be the same night as his cousin’s 21st, then we go out for drinks and I get so drunk I throw up. Classy bird.
- I am still finalising the ring, after finding the perfect coloured sapphire yesterday we discovered that it had a small chip, back to the jewellers we go. It is still looking like 3 weeks before I get my dream ring. Hurry up. I know I sound like a spoilt brat with this one, what with the economy, people out of work, but surely I deserve a little princess like behaviour?
Loves
- I have rectified the birthday mess by instead buying B a pair of Folk blue suede shoes – which might even end up being his wedding shoes as they match my ring. Plus they had been reduced even further in price since I first looked at them, which I think is a small win in this whole mess.
- Despite the fact I hated organising my first wedding (my mum did it basically) I am loving having control over this one (ok with B too, luckily he has lots of ideas, most of them mad) and I am already enjoying getting inspiration. I have started a wedding board over on Pinterest which you can check out (with all my other boards) here. If you need an invite let me know, be warned Pinterest is addictive.
- Finally this weekend is looking fab – with a Burn’s supper with friends I haven’t seen in yonks on Friday and a wee engagement party/ birthday drinks for B on Saturday – I am looking forward to celebrating all over again. Cheers!
What are your wines and loves this week?
Miss S x
P.s Anyone want Laura Marling tickets for Glasgow on the 10 March?
After so many of you visited yesterday for my adoption post (phew – a lot!) I guess an update is required. However, I am still digesting some of the contents of my file, plus a major discovery just by looking in the phonebook (!!) well I am still deciding what to do. So, please bear with me whilst I ruminate on my next step.
In the meantime, I wanted to show you a few pictures of our newly decorated living room. So excited to (nearly) have it finished – just the new sideboard and a couple of new cushions to come. Ignore the empty fish tank, it will be filled once the sideboard is in as it weighs a ton!
We had the flat painted whilst we were away on holiday and thanks to B’s dad we have a new leather sofa, so we all we had to do was put up the pictures (Bob in particular) and buy a new sofa (Sater from Ikea – £200 – bargain) as well as a new cat armchair (also from ikea – £80 – spoilt brats) as well as install new lights.
Our pictures are mostly from Etsy. The Edinburgh print is a commission from BirdAve, although this is a similar one, the Bob card is from Weisenheimers (we just framed it) and the big Bob is from Art.com (I think). We also have another Bob print in the post from Modprintables – the lyrics of our favourite Bob Dylan song and what I think will be either a reading at our wedding, or even the first dance! I think as a couple we need to curb our Bob obsession – quickly – before it gets out of hand!
The new sideboard is currently being refurbished by Trash Furnishings. It’s from Morris of Glasgow (1950s) and it is being updated. Hopefully I shall have it in the next few weeks.
I may put up some other flat photos soon…people love having a nosy don’t they…
Back soon with an adoption update!
Miss S x
My stomach is tied up in knots, tied up with butterflies, the painful kind.
This is happening today.
4 months after I made the decision to take that first step, the time has come. I have no idea what I will find, how I shall feel. Whether there is anything at all in my adoption file.
I haven’t hopes, I haven’t expectations, and I haven’t a desire for all the questions to be solved today.
All I know is little steps. That is all I can do.
….and try not to throw up.
Wish me luck.
Miss S x
(Part 1 is here, plus you can read all my adoption posts via the adoption tag and thanks to the lovely people at Scottish Adoption for helping me with this)