The Tea Room @ NGV

Address: Level 1, National Gallery of Victoria International, 180 St Kilda Rd Melbourne VIC

Trading hours: 10am-5pm (closed Tuesdays)

I am a real sucker for trendy tea places, and while at the NGV it was difficult not to stopover (since I was going to be there for hours).

Pictured below: A funky tea set...

I ate this phenomenal 'baked' sandwich: the Croque Monsieur. This is essentially a sandwich, with melted cheese & ham between 2 slices of white bread, topped with melted & hardened cheese on the outer layer. This simple culinary delight is baked in the oven for warmth & texture - I do have random cravings for it. It's like a warm, fresh cheese & bacon roll - only sandwich version and more tasty because of the proximity of flavours (Pictured below).

RP's Hungarian Pastry

Contact details:

Arpad Szalontai
Gabriella Meichl

(02) 9567 9640

Email: rpspastry@yahoo.com.au

I was visiting a fair and came across this Hungarian pastries stall. They claim to be made from organic ingredients. It doesn't appear they have a shopfront for this, so if you have run out of things to eat, you might want to give them a call or email and see where they will be next.

Below: Slice of some sort of cake/biscuit. On the left, walnut flavour. On the right, poppyseed flavour.

Below: Looks like a doughnut but it is actually non-oily. They make it by toasting dough on a rotating cylindrical steel rolling pin. Then they take it out of the oven, and dust with almond & sugar mix (also available in other flavours such as chocolate, hazelnut etc).

I really enjoyed the second pastry - the exterior is hard and cruncy, while the interior is white and fluffy. The best part is that it is not overly oily like a doughnut or pretzel. Very unique!

Palace Chinese Restaurant

Shop 38, Level 1 Piccadilly Tower, 133-145 Castlereagh St, Sydney
Phone: 02 9283 6288
Fax: 02 9283 6566

Website: www.palacechinese.com.au

Note: You can get all-day parking for $7 (enter from Castlereagh St) if you spend $40 or more - see website for full details.

I was taken here by my well-travelled friend (who also suggested Ramen Kan) for Yum Cha.

For those who are not familiar with the term, "Yum Cha" is a Cantonese (Chinese) phrase that literally translates to "drink tea".

Yum Cha is a broad term used to describe a brunch (usually served between 10am-mid afternoon) consisting of small trays/plates of appetisers ("dim sims"). It is an event for family members and friends to catch up and grab a bite to eat and usually consists of an extremely noisy environment where people sound as if they are arguing over the top of each other, and which could last for several hours.

Featured below are some of the savoury appetisers available:

Above: Dim Sims - pork, shrimp & vegetable dumplings wrapped in a soft & cooked noodle-esque pastry. Best eaten with chilli sauce.

Below: Vegetarian Spring Roll - unique textured soy-based pastry with vegetarian fillings usually consisting of soy-imitations of meat, shiitake mushrooms and other vegetables. This version at Palace is particularly tasty - you don't notice it is vegetarian at all! Best dipped in "gip jup" which is like a vinegary soy sauce.

Below: Duck & mushroom steamed dumplings - Not a lot of places make duck meat dumplings so I thought I would try here. The mushrooms they use are not shittake or button mushrooms, but those champignon mushrooms. The pastry is a thin, semi-translucent rice shell.

Below: Beef meatballs - I don't usually like these because some restaurants make it with too many shallots & chestnut which I dislike, but here the meat almost melts in your mouth! Best served with "gip jup" sauce as well.

Desserts: The normal Yum Cha savoury food is good, but quite generic at Palace. What makes them stand out, is the dessert!


Above: Tofu-fa - a smooth bean curd pudding with light sugar water to sweeten.

Below: (must try!!!) Lychee pudding - I am not usually a fan of pudding but I am totally sold on this one - there are actual lychee pieces in this pudding giving it a cool, refreshing taste and texture - coupled with sliced strawberries gives it a unique tang! The cream it is served with gives it a creamy, smooth flavour that is melt in your mouth...

Below: Mango pudding - which is really quite liquidy. Filled with decoco jelly, sago balls and other typical asian jelly concoctions.

Below: Chocolate mousse - a foodgasm delight! The chocolate flavour is rich, and not overly heavy or too sweet, and its fluffy texture is to die for.

Below: Strawberry mousse - not dissimilar from the chocolate mousse but definitely more fruity in flavour - tastes almost like a lolly! Usually strawberry flavoured desserts are quite light, but this is definitely a potent strawberry flavoured one (probably a little on the artificial side, which tastes great and makes you feel like a little kid again).


A tip is to eat yumcha slowly... I got too excited ordering that we loaded our tables with food but everything went cold very quickly, where small steam dishes need to be enjoyed exactly that - steaming!

Oh and make room for dessert! :)

Wakefield Park Cafe (or cafeteria)

This is a totally dodgy post. But I have a massive confession to make, and that is, their beef burger (either on its own, or with the lot) is the best I've ever had.

It is the optimum combination of beef and greasiness that mixes perfectly with the various other fillings that can include up to pineapple, bacon and a fried egg if you order the lot.

I obviously don't come here often, but there's really not much else happening in Goulburn which isnt at least another 15 minutes drive away from the track, so if you happen to get dragged along there you should definitely check it out.

There are 2 cafes on the Wakefield Park track, one of which I've never seen open. The one I'm talking about sells hot food, drinks, icecream and some very narrow assortment of potato chips.

This is by no means a gourmet feed, but something different and random I picked up in my food travels.

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

Address: 544 Marrickville Rd Dulwich Hill, NSW 2203
Phone: (02) 9560 9900
Fax : (02) 9560 0055

Website: http://www.crust.com.au

Note: There are several other locations & franchises. See website for full details.

For a pizza chain that can afford to shut down for a day or more a week, I would say that they are doing quite well - and that is reflected in the price of their pizzas. They are by no means cheap ($19-$22 for a large pizza) but the fresh ingedients, variety and taste is definitely worth it!

I love the texture and thinness of the pizza base (not too thick, not too thin) and their willingness to push beyond traditional pizza flavour boundaries! They make meat, chicken, vegetarian, seafood healthier choice pizzas and calzones (like a sealed pizza).

Highly recommended:

Sweet Chilli Prawn - Marinated tiger prawns, fresh capsicum, shallots, bocconcini, sweet chilli sauce base topped with fresh basil leaves and snow pea sprouts (foodgasm!)

Peri-Peri Chicken - Portugese style chicken breast fillet, shallots, roasted capsicum, caramelised onions, bocconcini cheese, zigzagged with peri-peri sauce

Crust Supreme with chilli - Smoked ham, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, fresh capsicum, Spanish onions, pineapple, Kalamata olives - and you have to ask for the chilli!

Others:

Meatball pizza (pictured below) - Homemade Italian meatballs, roasted capsicum, Spanish Onions, sundried tomato, bacon, bocconcini topped with basil and Napoli sauce (tomato based)

After eating Crust pizza, I find it very difficult to eat from the likes of other fast-food pizza chains full of snap-frozen, bland tasting toppings. Get a real pizza - go to Crust!!!

Grill'd (Grilled Healthy Burgers)

Address: 124 Oxford St Bulimba QLD
Telephone: (07) 3399 5522
Website: http://www.grilld.com.au

I first tried this chain while in Melbourne - my friend took me to the Chapel St restaurant and it was fantastic, healthy food and great value.

While in Brisbane I stumbled across an advertisement for this particular new opening, so rushed off there for lunch because it had been awhile! The location and this trendy new burger place is just a part of the cosmopolitan setting that Brisbane is slowly getting in tune with. This scene actually reminds me a lot of Melbourne!


Pictured above: I ordered the Big Queenslander (aka Mighty Melbourne depending where you are) - grilled 100% lean beef, tasty cheese, trim bacon, free range egg, slices of beetroot, salad, relish & herbed mayo. The perfect amalgamation of flavours...

They also make chicken, lamb and veggie burgers.

Must try: Grill'd Hot Chips - thick cut chips with sprinkled with a herb mix

Sadly, they only have stores open in most of QLD and VIC at the moment, and only one in NSW in Newcastle.

Sydney Cove Oyster Bar

Address: No.1 East Circular Quay, Sydney

Telephone: (02) 9247 2937

Trading hours: 8am til late, 7 days

Website: http://www.sydneycoveoysterbar.com/

Situated in one of Sydney's prime locations and tourist attractions, this is a venue best enjoyed in summer. I have heard a lot of things about Oyster Bar, and since I walked past it I thought might as well give it a whirl.

For Entree:


Kilpatrick Oysters grilled with julienne bacon & worcestershire sauce (pictured above): The restaurant is advertised as an "oyster bar" so it seemed reasonable to order their featured dish. I've never been a fan of oysters myself, until I tried Kilpatrick oysters. These were substantially sized, yet I feel that I was still tasting that metallic zing, and shell more than the bacon & worcestershire sauce. Might have something to do with the larger size of the oyster and having more metals, and needing to be supplemented with extra flavour to mask the unpleasantness usually associated with oysters. I managed to convince a non-oyster eater to eat this - who seemed to enjoy it more than me, so that was a feat in itself.

Below: Wagyu Beef seared in wasabi & sake with soba noodles, green papaya, asian herbs & ponzu dressing. This sounded way exotic and tantalising on the tastebud so naturally I had to try it. The wasabi and sake was hardly recognisable in this dish, the Wagyu very thinly sliced and hidden through the soba noodles but otherwise an interesting dish.


For Mains:


Above: Kecap Manis Duck breast with sautéed Chinese cabbage, water chestnuts & shitake mushrooms. This was my main, and the duck breast was fantastic. They left the skin on, but it was a breast fillet (quite substantially sized) sliced on its width. Meat was juicy and tender and the sauce was very tasty - pity it went cold so quickly because of the weather and harbour wind!
Noodles were a great compliment, absorbed all the sauce which gave it extra flavour.

Below: New York Cut Certified Angus Sirloin with roasted French eschallot (onion), stuffed tomato on garlic & thyme mash. This steak was fairly well cooked. It was ordered medium and came out medium so I was quite impressed! It was quite nice, but I was too busy focussing on my duck I didn't give this dish much attention at all.


Unfortunately I had the pleasure of dining in the middle of winter in this open, alfresco dining restaurant situated in the middle of the harbour so despite being kept warm by the outdoor gas heaters, our food went cold very rapidly. I would suggest that it would be more popular in the summertime to enjoy a nice glass of wine, and sample some of Sydney's best oysters.