Category Archives: Places we like to eat at

Spice Bazaar Cooking School

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Spice Bazaar Cooking School, 79 Victoria St, Seddon: Phone: 9687 2659

We’re at Spice Bazaar in Seddon for a Saturday cooking class and we’re both pretty excited about that.

Today’s subject, mezze and tapas, is not one perhaps that would’ve been our first choice, given Jill and Patrick cover such things as Moroccan, African, Persian, Greek, South American, French and Italian food.

But it turns out for the best – the recipes we cook are mostly simple with a twist of complexity here and there.

The food they help us and our fellow classmates prepare all has something of a “wow” factor, with only a single dish falling a little short. And even that tastes real fine – it just doesn’t have the desired “look”.

We met Jill and few weeks previously when we pressed our noses against the Spice Bazaar windows as a class was in progress.

She came out for a chat and a deal was done – a cooking class for the Consider The Sauce crew in exchange for a story and photos (full disclosure below).

But now it’s show time!

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Having discussed the subject the previous night, Bennie and I place our ourselves in different groups – basing our decision on the same reasoning that dictates it’s usually not a good idea to have parents teaching their kids how to drive.

So he’s in with Mick, Steve and John, who gain an extra helping hand from Jill.

I’m with Luke, Zoe, Deb and Viv.

The pace is so intense that we barely get to know our fellow classmates, but working side by side so companionably with these food-digging strangers is undoubtedly a high point of our day.

Another for sure is working in a big kitchen in which there is a never-ending supply of knives, bowls and gadgets, with a plastic tub nearby in which to toss items needing cleaning.

We start with the entrees.

Bottled green olives have their pepper stuffing removed using toothpicks before they’re re-stuffed with two mixes – one of onion, seasonings and marchengo cheese; and another of onion, seasonings and anchovies. It’s fiddly work but fun.

Then the olives are coated in flour, dipped in beaten egg, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.

This is my first experience with deep-frying, and I’m surprised how easy it is.

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Prawn fritters are made using chick pea flour, paprika, a little chilli, fresh coriander.

These are shallow-fried using olive oil, and they, too, come together really well.

Patrick has already boiled a couple of octopi.

Our two groups marinate those suckers with olive oil, garlic, sherry vinegar and smoked paprika before they’re flash-fried for a few minutes.

Then it’s break time – and time to eat what we have so far prepared.

Wine bottles are opened as we dig in.

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The prawn fritters are sensational, have a great chilli kick and are more than a little familiar – the besan flour is what we get ordering onion bahji and pakoras when we go Indian.

The fried green olives are salty, crisp, ungreasy and superb – the equal for sure of similar olives we have on occasion ordered in eating houses.

The marintaed baby octopus fails to delight either of us. It’s well done but we find it just too oily and rich, perhaps because of the sherry vinegar. Maybe we should’ve immediately reached for some lemon segments.

By this time I’m feeling like a nap, but there’s no scope for malingering here.

We’re on to the main courses, two of which hardly pass as mezze or tapas. But who cares?

Two salads … one of orange, fennel and black olives; another of roast red capsicum, anchovies and capers.

Then there’s tagine of chicken cooked with pomegranate molasses and a spice mix called ras el hanout.

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For me, the most fun is preparing the paella using whiting, mussels, prawns, saffron, other seasonings and (of course!) rice.

I have eaten plenty of paella previously – but not, I suspect, particularly good paella.

This Spice Bazaar paella experience is so engrossing and gratifying that I’m keen to have a crack at home. After all, I know I can turn out fine jambalayas.

As with jambalaya, the arborio rise we use in our paellas doesn’t need constant stirring in the risotto manner.

And our group certainly achieves the prized crusty, crunchy bottom layer of rice sticking to the paella pan.

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Just before sitting once more at the dining table, we all help prepare the blackened Portuguese tarts, pouring the real-deal custard we’d prepared earlier into puff pastry shells.

Then we’re once more we’re eaters rather than cookers.

Bennie loves the chicken tagine most, but I find it a little too sweet for my taste.

The paella is easily the best I’ve ever eaten – delicious!

Though perhaps a couple of our classmates with hands-on Spanish paella experiences to boast of may not rate it so highly.

I am so full I only manage a nibble of both salads, but all our food looks and tastes fine.

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As we await our tarts, Patrick and Jill regale us with some humourous stories of classes past.

Hens parties during which many bottles of bubbly were consumed before the cooking even started.

A pyromaniac with a gleam in his eye giving over-the-top blow-torch treatment to a cream brulee – and then complaining about his cream brulee being burnt.

And so on …

Finally it’s tart time … sadly, due to vagaries of oven temperatures, these don’t look the part.

But, oh my, they certainly TASTE  the part.

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We leave happy, very full and a little on the exhausted side, fully reckoning a Spice Bazaar cooking class is as much fun as you can have in four hours.

The class has been skillfully well-paced and between them Jill and Patrick really inspire their pupils.

Check out the Spice Bazaar website for details about classes and various other activities offered by Spice Bazaar.

On Saturday, March 2, they will hold an open day from noon to 3pm to coincide with Seddon Festival – drop in for “a look at the cooking school, have a chat, or enjoy a tapas plate for $7, and wines by the glass”.

Bennie and Kenny were non-paying guests of Spice Bazaar, who provided us access to one of their cooking classes in exchange for coverage on Consider The Sauce. Spice Bazaar neither sought nor was given any say regarding the content of this post.

 

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Penn Thai

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Penn Thai, 208 Somerville Rd, Kingsville. Phone: 9314 5556

Penn Thai occupies the same space formerly occupied by She’s Thai.

The new management has spruced the place up a bit, we find the service and welcome a real positive and,  judging by the number of takeaway orders going out the door, they’ve already won many friends.

For my part, expectations are modest – along the lines of a good feed of wholesome, tasty suburban-style Thai food without the edginess or adventure that some of our more funky Thai-loving buddies habitually pursue.

But there’s a wrinkle here – one that shows the food doesn’t have to be explosively great for it to be part of a most excellent eating out experience.

You see, Bennie has mentioned his ever growing interest in Thai food several times in the past few weeks – so I am only to happy to encourage him.

And he really, really loves our mid-week dinner.

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In our attempts to have a broadly based meal, we do something that would no doubt make true Thai food cultists grimace – we order soup with tofu.

But our tom kha ($6.90) is fine, if a little on the mild side. Bennie loves the tangy broth, the chewy tofu actually adds a certain meatiness to proceedings and there’s stacks of other lovely vegetables.

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Satay chicken skewers ($5.90) are ordered solely with Bennie in mind.

Perhaps the glee with which he greets the rest of our meal indicates it’s time to start giving these a miss on future outings.

They’re OK, but I find them a little dry and tasteless.

But then, I always do.

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Massaman beef curry ($14.90) is the big hit of the night.

It’s runny, sweet and delicious.

The meat is superbly, fall-apart tender and minus fat or gristle. The spuds are equally good, while the peanuts and a few strands of carrot and red capsicum add texture.

“This is fantastic,” Bennie mumbles around serial spoonfuls.

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“Steam mix greens with oyster and sesame sauce” ($4.90) are good but as plain as can be. Lacking personality of their own, they quickly become just another element of the curry.

Penn Thai is open seven days a week and does home delivery.

 

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Cajun Kitchen

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Cajun Kitchen, 136 Elizabeth St, Melbourne. Phone: 0413 501 561

Cajun Kitchen is situated on a busy segment of Elizabeth St that has a plethora of joints such as Lord Of The Fries.

It looks the fast-food part so I am trying to keep my expectations realistic.

Regardless of whether I get cajun food here or, more cynically, “cajun food”, an affordable, reasonably tasty lunch will do me fine.

But it’s not easy.

Jambalaya is dish made OF rice, but here it’s a stew served WITH rice.

The best Mexican food I’ve ever had was produced in New Orleans.

But tacos in Cajun Country – Lafayette, New Iberia, Eunice and the like?

Not so much.

But Cajun Kitchen has tacos and even “cajun wraps”.

I do some research by asking to see the various sandwich meats residing in covered metal containers, and even sweet talk myself into a small sample of the gumbo.

It tastes rich, spicy, delicious and ungumbo.

So I go the po’ boy route.

I order my sandwich “dressed” in the New Orleans manner ($10.90) – that is, with tomato, lettuce and dill pickles, hold the coleslaw, thanks.

It’s pretty good, too.

Not a great sandwich, but a fair effort. Sloppy, but not too much so.

The bread is all wrong – long enough, but just not enough breadth.

Maybe that’s due to cost factors. The rents around are no doubt steep and overall the Cajun Kitchen pricing seems reasonable.

But the roast beef is juicy and flavoursome, and the dressing participants just right.

I’ll be up for trying other items on the Cajun Kitchen menu when I’m in the vicinity again. Even if the po’ boys would draw snorts of derision from the citizen of New Orleans.

 

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Rickshaw runners wanted …

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VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR 2014 RICKSHAW RUN, TOO! SEE HERE.

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The Rickshaw Run has rapidly become a lauded tradition of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

The run takes guests on a tasty journey around Footscray central that takes in Little Saigon Market, making rice paper rolls, live music, a hawker stall and a six-course feast.

Unfortunately, this year’s event is sold out – but there is another way you can participate.

Become a rickshaw runner!

While the Rickshaw Run takes about three hours all up, actually pulling of rickshaws involves about 20 minutes.

The event is held every evening from March 1 to March 11, with daytime sessions on weekends.

A free meal is offered after each session to volunteers.

There is also a need for need for marshalls to facilitate people in and out of restaurants.

Interested?

Contact Ben on 0434 100 567 or president@footscraytraders.com.au

Feasting in Footscray media launch

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Council communications officer Georgie explains injera to some newbies.

Feasting in Footscray media launch @ Konjo Cafe & Restaurant, 89 Irving St, Footscray. Phone: 9689 8185

It’s a little odd to find that my first experience of an Ethiopian coffee ritual is part of a media-laden photo op.

But that’s OK – I enjoy learning about the history and traditions of Ethiopian coffee, and the significance of the various accoutrements, anyway.

Deputy mayor Grant Miles gives a speech.

So does food writer Allan Campion.

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While all that is going on, Misra is in the rear room getting the Ethiopian food ready for the guests.

The launch is based around the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event Cultural Blend: The Origins of Coffee and Ethiopian Spices.

But there are several other Footscray events in the festival that are likewise either cheap or free – check them out here.

The food laid on by the Konjo folks is sensational – fresh, diverse, incredibly tasty.

Included are two dishes I’ve never before come across – one made of kale, another of beetroot.

Some guests dabble; some don’t bother at all.

Seeing as it’s clear some of this great stuff is going to go uneaten, I have no hesitation in making a freeloading pig of myself.

Makes me wonder why CTS has enjoyed just a single, solitary meal here previously!

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Ms Baklover in paparazzi mode.

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If you’re going to a be a reporter for The Star, you may as well wear Star Shoes! (Hi Charlene!)

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Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Taqueria

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Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Taqueria, Highpoint, Maribyrnong. Phone: 9988 1401

We attended the opening night of Guzman Y Gomez at Highpoint to take advantage of and really enjoy the free burritos.

We’ve been back several times since.

But this unusual – for us – Sunday dinner trip feels a little different.

We’ve been unable to decide between his preferences – spicy Asian or Indo-Chinese in Footscray – and my own for something a little less familiar, further afield and/or blog-worthy.

We pull over for a quick tactical discussion and then we’re happily off to Highpoint.

And we’re not going because other chores have taken us to Highpoint.

Nor is it about Bennie’s dad giving his son an always desired fast-food experience.

No, we’re headed this way because we really, truly do enjoy the food here.

This seems something of a revelation – who would’ve thunk it?

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The guacamole (plastic tub) and corn chips (paper bag) cost $5 and are super.

It seems a little surreal to be eating something as fresh and tasty as this gorgeous, chunky guacamole amid such a typically fast-food ambiance.

The corn chips have changed and no longer have such a distinctive thickness or texture. These are still good and crunchy, though. They appear to be unsalted – but we prefer that over too much salt.

And we love them not only dipped in the avocado dip but also in the zippy, smoky, complementary chipotle Tabasco (plastic tub).

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Bennie gobbles up his beef quesadilas ($8.50, cardboard tray) with gusto and relish.

They appear to be a bit skimpy on substance to me, though.

Especially when compared to the house burritos.

Indeed, so good and hefty are these that I have long since abandoned the full-size models for the “mini” version.

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My “mini” pork chipotle burrito ($6.90, cardboard tray) is fantastic.

The pork is tender and not so spicy, while the rice and black beans are in just the right proportions.

And as with the avocado, so it is with the cheese in my burrito – who ever heard of eating cheese in a fast-food joint that has really good, significant flavour of, um , cheese?

We treat ourselves to a couple of Jarritos – Mexican cola for him, guava for him. And even these seem a pretty fair deal at $4 each in light of the amounts charged at franchise joints for regulation non-fancy soft drinks.

We reckon Guzman Y Gomez is superior to a similar operation at Southern Cross station and another that has been hitting the west lately.

 

Yarraville Festival 2013

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Yarraville Festival, Yarraville, February 16, 2013

It’s hot and getting hotter.

Maybe that’s why every other stall on Anderson St and surrounds seems to be very big on hats.

There’s a lot of friendly and familiar faces and food around, such as the lovely ladies at St Nicholas Orthodox frying up their loving batches of syrupy dough goodness.

One new wrinkle is the freshly shucked oyster being offered at the pub for $1.50 a pop.

Sadly, I’m done food-wise by the time I notice them.

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From the stall being manned by the staff of Kawa-Sake at the river end of Andrson St, I grab a good chicken yakitori skewer and really, really good mini Japanese pancake.

Nearby are three poorly distributed stalls serving up paella, two of them being run by local businsses.

But I get a $10 serve from the one providing their rice in cardboard containers, having already been dismayed somewhat by the amount of plastic being used and discarded at the festival.

I scoot back to the Kawa-Sake stall to eat it, being granted permission to grab a small table and stool in the shade.

Thanks, Lucy!

My paella is nice, with a tang and plenty of seafood, chorizo and chicken, and it’s a much bigger serve than it appears.

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In leafy shade near the train station, I stop for nice natter with Ross and Breda at their Garden Honey stand.

We’re not honey eaters in our home, but I think it an intriguing hoot that these folks are producing salable quantities of bee juice … in Kensington.

So expect a story on how they do it some time soon right here at Consider The Sauce.

At one of the Ballarat St stages, there’s a whole lotta love for a group called Mother.

This virtually all-chick aggregation with a token bloke does classic ’70s rock.

Just a covers band, you say?

Well, yes … but this lot stomps it out with such passionate glee that for a while there they make me and many others true believers.

Loud, crunchy and swaggering, their music is just the right distance below the pain threshold in terms of volume.

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There’s a handful of paunchy, black T-shirted fans down front getting RIGHT into it.

During a certain Led Zeppelin song, these air guitar cats do the famous guitar solo note perfect.

Check this band out if you see them playing near you – they’re hot!

Let it rock!

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White Guy Cooks Thai photo shoot

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White Guy Cooks Thai photo shoot, Yarraville Station

Previous posts here and here.

This was just around the corner and about a block away, so I thought I’d pop down just for a look-see – so no big-deal post here.

The shoot was for the RMIT MBA alumni newsletter.

Had me a prawn slider – it was beaut!

However, I stand firm in my affection for these guys – the vibe is great, the food is neat and, I believe, reasonably priced.

As Ms Baklover has pointed out, it’s a fun alternative.

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Altona Beach Bites

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Altona Beach Bites, 137 Esplanade, Altona. Phone: 9398 1444

Alongside a range of your regulation soft drinks, there’s bottles and cans of Lemon & Paeroa in the fridge.

The blackboard specials line-up includes kumara fritters.

On a wall there is a number plate-style sign that says: “Kia Ora.”

Below it is one of the handwritten variety saying: “Uncooked mutton birds in brine.”

Yes, this is Kiwi territory – so naturally I feel right at home for lunch on a sunny day right next to Altona Beach.

The place used to be called Altona Ice, but has been run for the past couple of years by Kristen and Marty, the latter being the New Zealand factor.

It’s a cheerful old-school fish and chippery that also does souvlakis, burgers and even mussel chowder.

There’s only a single bench seat and no dedicated interior seating for eating.

There are, though, a handful of outdoor tables, and happily the one that is being shaded from the sun becomes vacant just as my lunch number is called.

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My outdoor lunch is most excellent – and certainly a lot more toothsome than the pallid impression cast by my photo would suggest.

The very good chips are old-school, too, and of uniform crispness.

The calamari rings ($1 each) are actually “calamari rings” – that is, surimi-style, processed relatives of seafood extender.

I used to get a bit sniffy and even angry about this kind of thing, but since researching surimi last year I’ve mellowed.

These are well cooked and taste fine, though I’d prefer to be informed when I order.

In any case, Kristen later tells me that they often do have real-deal calamari on the go.

My butterfish ($5.80) is superb and delicious in every way. This is state-of-the-art battered and deep-fried fish.

It’s bloody big, too!

Encased in good batter that adheres really well, the fish is mild of flavour and both delicate and firm.

I suspect Altona Beach Bites probably gets a bit insane on sunny weekends, especially in tandem with the adjoining ice-cream parlour, so mid-week visits are probably the go.

Funny thing is, I have no recollection of what Lemon & Paeroa tastes like.

And I have no desire whatsoever to refresh my memory – even if the stuff is “World Famous In New Zealand”.

 

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Quang Minh Tet Festival 2013

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Quang Minh Tet Festival 2013, Quang Minh Buddhist Temple, Braybrook

This was widely advertised as an all-day new year celebration, but when I dropped in mid-afternoon there had not been a lot going on.

So now I’m back for the finale and the whole joint has been transformed.

It’s odd being out so late at night – a reminder of just how much the nightbird days, when 10pm was the earliest I would be stepping out on a Saturday night, have been put behind me.

There’s a not unpleasant discord between the austere temple buildings and the gaudy, noisy delights of the sideshow alley attractions.

I am fascinated by the varied attire.

Virtually all the men and boys in attendance are dressed casually through to sloppily.

I see only one elderly gent in a suit and tie and another much younger fellow sporting a sports jacket.

Some of the females have gone casual, too, but overwhelmingly they’ve made a big effort – there’s stacks of vividly colourful traditional attire, as well as the likes of sequinned mini-skirts and physics-defying high heels.

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The best part of being here is just … being here.

I’m not expecting to eat.

But if I do, I expect it to be from the range of snack-type goodies being sold in the covered outdoor area near the main entrance.

I soon find out, to my very intense pleasure, that need not be the case.

Following my nose and the crowd, I end up in what amounts to a bustling, noisy and joyful mess hall.

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Everyone there is tucking into big bowls of soup noodles, so I do, too.

The soup noddles, costing $8, look like pho but are, of course, vegetarian.

Thus the broth is mild by comparison – good thing I load up with chillies and lemon juice.

I dig the multiple and large chucks of sweetish, chewy mushroom and I’m fine with the tofu slices.

The two kinds of meat substitute – one is, perhaps, “beef” and the other, um, “meatloaf” – are a little less appetising.

But I slurp the whole lot up anyway.

Because this meal is supremely enjoyable in a way that has more to do with circumstances, a certain place and time, and the young Vietnamese adults with whom I share a table.

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Outside, the outdoor food area is jammed packed to virtually unnavigable status.

A lot of incense is being burnt and a lot of prayers are being said.

I discover that Vietnamese festivals favour ear-splitting volume just the same as do their Croatian and Albanian variants.

On the stage near the main entrance, singing gives ways to speechifying.

Much of this is done in Vietnamese, but I’m surprised to hear one English speaker indulge in a bit of politicking about the federal election.

Then it’s back to Vietnamese for the countdown to the fireworks.

What a magnificent racket!

Many “ooohs” and “aahhs” later, I’m heading back to my car, with the smell of incense having given way to the equally pungent aroma of fireworks continuing to be gleefully set alight by the homeowners near the temple.

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Brimbank Cup

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Brimbank Cup, Keilor Park Soccer Club, Keilor Park Recreation Reserve, Stadium Drive, Keilor Park

The Brimbank Cup is a beaut community soccer event that features clubs and teams of a wide array stripes and genders from a broad swathe of the Melbourne’s western suburbs.

However, despite the rainbow-hued nature of the event, I am not expecting the food available to be equally diverse.

Hoping maybe – but not expecting.

Truth is, by the time I get to Keilor Park Soccer Club, my appetite is sufficiently robust that I’m pretty much up for anything – even that turns out to be your regulations sports club pie, chips, hot dog, whatever.

We all – players, family and friends, club officials, kids, police officers and many more – do a whole lot better than that.

The canteen is selling your sports club fodder, but a barbecue is all fired up and its crew are doing brisk business in some serious food.

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Steak sandwich? Nah.

Hamburgers? Hey, they look pretty good.

Chevapi roll? Hell yes!

After two of those babies – lettuce, tomato, hold the onions, no sauce, thanks – I’m a very happy chappy, and all set to enjoy the footy proceedings and mingle with the hordes.

Before I do, I secure a coffee from the clubrooms bar. It’s a surprising procedure:

“Can I get a coffee, please?”

“Yes.”

No question as to what type, milk required, how much sugar, if any.

But my cardboard cup of lovely coffee represents $3 well spent.

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Just before the exhibition match between the coppers and a World XI, the police band commits a brazen musical crime by performing a highly synthesised version of a certain Asian novelty pop hit.

Throw them all in the slammer, I say!

And ABC film crew asks me for my opinions about the sports corruption brouhaha; I duly give them some not very original thoughts.

I offer to waive my normal high-three-figure appearance fee if they give Consider The Sauce a plug on that night’s TV news.

They laugh.

The Brimbank Cup continues tomorrow (Sunday, February 10), with an exhibition game between FFV and celebrity sides at 1.30pm, the women’s final at 3pm and the men’s final at 5pm.

Check it out – it’s a hot and it’s free.

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UCAN Cafe

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UCAN Cafe, Altona North Community Library, corner Millers and McArthurs roads, Altona North. Phone: 9391 7929

UCAN Cafe, tucked away in the Altona North Community Library, is a low-key cafe and catering business set up “to provide a career path for those in the community who have a disability”.

The cafe’s siting – wedged between two wings of the building – hardly seems auspicious, but it’s a lovely sunny morning, for once I’m out and about for breakfast and I snag an outdoor seat.

Nor does the cafe itself look anything flash – if you’re looking for a westie new wave hipster vibe, look elsewhere.

Of course, none of that matters to me – I’m far more interested in my first coffee of the day and whether it’ll cut the proverbial mustard.

It does.

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One very fine cafe latte, slowly enjoyed as I read one of the newspaper thingies for whom I used to work and grabbed with a wave of approval by the librarian in the adjacent and just-opened-for-the-day library.

The cafe does the kind of food it looks like it may do – muffins, wraps, sandwiches and so on.

But there’s a few more substantial items on the menu, which you can check out at the UCAN website.

As well, daily specials of the soup and salad variety are scrawled on the tall glass doors that lead to the outdoor seating area.

My avocado with tomato salsa ($6, top picture) is a light breakfast treat.

I really appreciate the use of a lighter kind of bread – in this case two slices of nicely toasted and slightly chewy casalinga – rather than the sourdough that is usually utilised when avocado comes to breakfast.

The avo slices are perfectly matched with the light salsa that has just the right degree of oiliness and vinegariness.

I summon another cafe latte, which is just as good as the first. Like its predecessor, it’s not that strong but has great depth of flavour and achieves the neat trick of being neither tepid enough to down in a single swallow nor too hot to drink.

Excellent!

I’ve enjoyed my brief visit to this rather surprising but worthwhile Altona hideaway.

UCAN Cafe is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4pm.

 

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OMG, OMG, OMG …

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It’s open – see review HERE.

We love the pies and pizzas we eat or buy at a couple of places in the west.

But we have long lamented the lack of a more broad and deep Middle Eastern food experience in the western suburbs.

In particular, we dream of the sort food provided by the likes of Al-alamy and Abbout Falafel House in Coburg – not full-service Lebanese restaurants complete with multiple kebab offerings, but instead offering an array of pies, pizzas AND divine dips served with pita bread, terrific salads and condiments such as salty, crunchy pickles and olives.

And all at super-cheap prices.

Well, now it seems as though those dreams are soon to come true.

Seaside Flatbread Cafe will be opening in “about two weeks” on Borrack Square, near the corner of Millers and  McArthurs roads, Altona, and tucked in behind Millers Inn.

That’s the word from a fellow named Sem, who I talk to as the fit-out work proceeds.

He seems a little bemused at the intensity of my curiosity, but when I gesture at the window art – containing images not just of pies and pizzas but the full ranges of dips, salads, falafels, pickles and more – and ask if that’s what his shop will deliver, he answers in the affirmative.

Yes!

There’s even pictures of the sort of gorgeous house-made flatbread served at Abbout that is served like a blown-up bladder, emitting steam as it is torn open.

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Chinese Spicy and Barbie Kitchen

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Chinese Spicy and Barbie Kitchen, 311 Racecourse Rd, Flemington. Phone: 9372 5218

Entering Chinese Spicy and Barbie Kitchen for a Sunday feast, we wonder why it’s taken so long for us to visit.

After all, this establishment has been around for a while now and, heck, we’ve tried just about every other eatery in the Racecourse Rd/Pin Oak Crescent vicinity.

No matter – we’re in the house now and up for dumplings and whatever else may eventuate.

In the days before Consider The Sauce, these premises were actually a regular for us in the form of a pretty good Malaysian/Chinese place called The Big Chopstix, which was followed by another rather nondescript Chinese joint and then (as far as I know) by the current Szechuan emporium.

The new look for the new business is rather wonderful, with all the bits and pieces finding a harmony that is unusual for this neighbourhood and the kinds of places we gravitate towards in general.

Lovely, heavy wooden tables of the rustic variety, overtly plump chairs, wall coverings and table adornments all work together.

We are handed two menus – one is a lavish affair with stacks of great photos of a dizzying array of dishes; the other is a more rudimentary single page of noodles, rice dishes, dumplings and a few others bits and pieces.

Reading the main menu is a drool-inducing experience.

There’s a lot of food here that we will find a little challenging on future visits – there’s a lot of offal, for starters.

But there’s also a lot of amazing looking dishes featuring ingredients we are more familiar with done in ways we’ve never before encountered – even in our previous experiences with Szechuan food, as limited as that is.

But on the basis of the two simple dishes we order for our lunch, future visits will definitely happen, and soon at that – they are truly fantastic.

We split our order, after conferring with the friendly waitress, between the two menus.

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Pan-fired chicken and prawn dumplings ($8.80) are superb – and illustrate vividly the folly we quite often commit by ordering dumplings of various sorts at places that don’t specialise in them.

These are a cut above the rest.

The upper pastry is soft and unchewy, the bottoms agreeably crunchy and the fillings – with the chicken meat stuffed into the inner curve of the prawn meat – of high and delicious quality, perfumed with just the right amount of ginger.

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Our second dish comes from the main menu – smoked pork spare ribs ($18.80).

It’s mind-blowingly good.

The meat comes away from the bones easily and is wonderfully tender. There are a few stray, tiny and dangerous bone pieces, though, for those looking to protect their dental investment.

Just as good as the ribs themselves is the accompanying mix of chillies slices, crushed and whole peanuts, green onion slices and no doubt a whole lot more.

This is quite similar to the spice mix we often get when ordering spicy chicken ribs elsewhere, but this is better – deeper, richer, more complex.

In her review, Ms Baklover says a lot of the food here is covered in a chilli-and-cumin blend, so that could be what’s at play here as well.

In any case, it’s all superb, with a quite high level of heat that is of the wonderful slow burn variety.

Chinese Spicy and Barbie Kitchen – what took us so long?

 

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Thank you …

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The first month of 2013 saw Consider The Sauce receive 16,580 page views – the highest ever, as illustrated by the above bar graph, which charts our history since the modest opening total of 91 in August, 2010.

Oddly enough, the last two days of January saw figures only matched for lowness in the past year or so by the likes of Christmas Day and Good Friday.

This trend looks like continuing, in the short term at least, and for once I am declining to fret.

I know well enough by now that the internet is a weird place.

And that Google, search engines in general, algorithms, weather patterns and a whole lot more can have effects that defy explanation by even the most savvy SEO “experts”.

None of it lessens at all the pleasure CTS continues to provide people and the satisfaction we continue to derive in delivering it.

Of course, 16,000+ page views represents far fewer actual visitors.

Some people visit our site for just a quick read of a single post.

Others, perhaps finding Consider The Sauce for the first time, can and do spend hours going through hundreds of posts – often in the course of a single visit.

Nevertheless, we can truly say we deeply appreciate every visit and every comment left.

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On a different note, it’s been a while but CTS has received another invitation to be provided a complementary meal in return for having us write about the experience.

In this case, it involves another of the trucks that are these days hitting the west big time and also involves what is pretty much Bennie’s favourite food genre.

Kudos in this case to those doing the inviting for getting the spelling of my son’s name correct.

Such is not often the case.

Maybe that should be our criteria for deciding whether to respond positively to such approaches.

In the meantime, like many other bloggers I continue to mull over the pros and cons of accepting such arrangements.

On the one hand, who doesn’t like copping a “free” feed every now and then?

On the other, for what is really a very small outlay the business owners concerned, providing the food is good and CTS story is positive, get coverage that is read by hundreds and eventually thousands of the very people who are likely to be most interested in their wares.

Not bad going for, say, $30 at the most.

Famous Blue Raincoat

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Famous Blue Raincoat, 25 Vernon St, Yarraville. Phone: 9391 8520

After a splendid Sunday roast experience, it’s a pleasure to be returning to the Famous Blue Raincoat for a mid-week dinner.

It’s “locals’ night” and we’re up for it.

The main dining room has had a holiday break reno and looks lovely with the early evening sun streaming in.

There are already several tables taken and reservation notices on more, but we’re very happy to step out back to the cool, charming garden area.

On locals’ night, a variety of meals are offered at $13.50 each – tonight, according to the joint’s Facebook page, the line-up is:

Moroccan lamb chops on a baby spinach, roasted eggplant and cherry tomato salad; chicken parma, fat chips and salad; steak, mash and onion gravy; butter chicken curry with basmati rice, roti bread and yoghurt; roast beetroot, walnut and goats cheese salad; and Raincoat burger with the lot and fat chips.

The fish of the day, we discover upon arrival, is blue grenadier on a Greek salad.

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Tonight I put my foot town about Bennie automatically ordering the burger, so it’s the chicken parma for him.

It’s a good one, too.

He likes the double layer of ham, the sauce is a little sweet and almost smoky, and the chicken meat is nicely crumbed and enjoyably moist.

It’s big for the boy – he doesn’t finish it

The chips could be adjudged a tad too salty, but otherwise they’re sensational – big, hot, crisp and entirely delicious.

I help myself to them with no protests from my offsider.

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I need them to offset the lack of carb-like heft to my lamb chop dish.

The eggplant I incorrectly assumed would play that role turns out to be little more than a few chewy wisps that could hardly be said to deserve such a prominent role in the dish’s description.

The rest of the salad is fine.

The seasoning on my chops – cumin? lemon? – is fabulous, but beyond that the pair of them present quite a challenge.

I understand that for an asking price of $13.50 there are severe limitations on what cuts of meat can be sourced.

But in the case of my two chops, only the round hearts of both are easily, enjoyably eaten. The rest – though equally tasty – requires much sawing with knife and gnawing with jaw.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing … maybe we’d have done better, food-wise, had I let Bennie do the burger thing. And maybe I should have gone for the fish, which I turned away from on the basis that we can and do frequently make Greek salads at home.

A funny thing though: Reflecting on our dinner on the way home, we agree we had a fine time, like the place a lot and will return.

It was locals’ night; we’re locals (even if we do live in another part of Yarraville); and we felt right at home.

 

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Dawat A Treat

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Dawat A Treat Indian Restaurant, 75 Pier St, Altona. Phone: 9398 8159

A non-meat thali for $14.90?

Sounds a bit on the pricey side to me … but I’m game, especially as Dawat A Treat is such a nice room in which to be contemplating lunch.

The rather anonymous frontage – the restaurant has been open only a few months but I have no recall what was here previously – gives way to a long, cool room.

The chairs are plush and comfy, and each and every table is crowned with a jolly, brightly coloured and ornamentally adorned parasol.

The long, regulation menu (no Indo-Chinese here) lists vegetable curry mains for about $15, meat varieties for $16-$17 and seafood for $16-$22, so the thali charge makes sense.

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My thali looks and tastes a treat, and is a joy in almost every way.

Crisp papadum joined by a fresh, moist naan.

Silky smooth spinach puree perfumed with whole cardamoms and a single star anise seed.

A bright mix of cauliflower, courgette, peas and potato in which the protagonists all retain a satisfying degree of bite.

A fabulous, smooth dal flavoured with curry leaves and mustard seeds.

All of the above seem to be of a spice level just a notch above mild. 

The only jarring note – and one easily discarded given the quality of the rest – is the overly sweet raita.

It’s only as I go to pay for my meal that I discover my fretting over a few dollars here and there has been misplaced if not completely out of line.

Because the $14.95 fee also covers the can of soft drink I have indulged in AND I’ve still got dessert to come.

For a meal of this quality and presentation, this is all starting to look like a bargain!

A single, gorgeous gulab jamun dumpling is a hot, plump and wholly scrumptious pleasure bomb residing is sticky syrup and topped with shredded coconut.

 

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Mo Jo La Coffee

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Mo Jo La Coffee, Cherry Lake, Millers Rd, Altona.

Laurence has been running his coffee service at Cherry Lake since September.

He tells me the business is going fine, to the extent he’s even pondering an extension into food realms.

A carpenter in his previous life, he built his very cool cart himself.

He’s open seven days a week and from around 6am on week days.

That’s when he gets good custom from the commuters; later on in the day there’s an influx of mum with babes and toddlers in tow.

The cafe latte he makes me is terrific – hot and strong.

The business gets its name from Laurence’s daughters – Moana, Joanne and Lauren.

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Over by the lake itself, I get talking to a trio gregarious fishermen.

Vladimir, Paul and Vladimir are all from Altona by way of Slovakia.

They tell me they’re trying catch the pest species carp.

When they then tell me it’s not unusual for the anglers hereabouts to pull in carp weighing six, seven, eight and more kilograms, I frankly and rather rudely express strident disbelief.

Surely they’re winding me up?

So Paul sends me over to examine the contents of a big red bucket at the fishing pozzie of some fellow fishermen about 20 metres away.

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Peering in, I am gobsmacked to see a still very much alive fish that is at least a foot and a half long!

The boys tell me that the carp they catch here make good eating, but that they remove the oily skins and that the fish does have a lot of bones.

One of the Vlads cheerfully informs me that if he were to reveal the secret ingredients of his bait balls, he’d then be obliged to shoot me.

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Pho Hung Vuong Saigon

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Pho Hung Vuong Saigon, 128 Hopkins St, Footscray. Phone: 9689 6002

Pho Hung Vuong Saigon is unquestionably the largest of Footscray’s pho joints.

Based on long observation, I think it’s fair to claim it’s also the most popular.

I base that claim on the simple fact Bennie and I never eat there … every time when in the vicinity and in the pho mood, the place is invariably packed, with every table taken and often folks waiting for a vacant one.

As well, our recall is that when the place is operating at its usual frantic and high-turnover pace, the service – indeed, the experience in general – can become somewhat frazzled.

What’s the appeal?

Well, when it opened at these premises, quite a few years back now, it did have a sort cafe-style vibe not found in its many nearby competitors.

These days, though, and size apart, it has so many of the usual accoutrements in terms of artwork and has such a lived-in feel that it seems not much different from all the others.

So … a mid-week and early-ish lunch beckons, there’s actually unused tables – so in we go.

Our orders are taken promptly and with a minimum of fuss.

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Bennie’s “pork chop, fried egg, shredded pork” ($10.50) really hits the spot.

As far as I can recall it’s the first time he’s eaten this dish – in my company at least.

But he barely pauses for breath as he more or less eats the plate clean.

The cucumber slices look a little, um, “tired” to me, and the usual pate slice is missing, replaced it seems by another chunk of chop meat.

The egg looks really good.

He leaves the soup until last, but he loves that, too, telling me it’s just right – which means, usually, not too sweet.

As I pondered my pho order, a little devil sitting on one shoulder was whispering, “medium, medium, medium”. The little angel sitting on the other was whispering, with equal vehemence, “small, small, small”.

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For once, I sided with the angels and that turns out to be a good move, as my small “sliced beef/sliced chicken” ($8.50) is excellent and plenty big enough.

The basil and chillis are fresh, the broth is crisp and packed with flavour and there’s more than enough meat, all of good quality.

And for once, I finish a serve of pho … almost.

Our lunch has been very good but no better than what is available at several nearby alternative establishments.

But nevertheless, we note that no doubt due to its rampant popularity the hard-working staff here are so busy taking care of business that there seems little scope for the smiling welcome and service we ordinarily receive at our most regular pho haunt.

 

Wabi Sabi Salon

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Wabi Sabi Salon, 94 Smith St, Collingwood. Phone: 9417 6119

A trip across town to visit Books For Cooks allows an opportunity to have a look at a neighbourhood that was once as familiar to me as any in Melbourne.

The area around the nexus of Smith and Gertrude streets in Collingwood/Fitzroy has certainly changed a lot since I lived in the area after moving to Melbourne in the late 1980s.

There’s not a trace, so far as I can tell, of the Eastern European vibe that was then a bit part of Gertrude St experience.

The area has even changed a bit since the end a few years back of a radio gig that saw me visiting – and eating – on a weekly basis for decades.

There’s an intriguing range of retail establishments.

And there’s eating houses – lots and lots of them.

And while there’s a few closed at Monday lunchtime, most are open and doing brisk business.

I choose one such and proceed to be knocked out by the quality of the meal that unfolds.

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Wabi Sabi Salon is a long-time Smith St resident and feels like it.

There’s no stainless steel here. Instead, there’s funky old floorboards, Japanese adornments on the walls and deep, cool shadows.

I’m tempted to say it feels like old, authentic Japan, but as I’ve never been to that country I’d be crapping on.

But you get the drift … it’s got a nice lived-in feel.

As with its neighbouring joints, Wabi Sabi is quite busy for a Monday, and as ever there’s a constant stream of regulars stopping by the counter at the front to obtain takeaway sushi rolls.

I vaguely recall a few concerns about service and lengthy waiting times from previous visits, but have no such problems this time.

I yearn for a lightish meal, so order the vegetable bento ($16). More than that, I do something very unusual for me – I order it with brown rice.

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My lunch starts with a very fine bowl of miso soup – studded with a lightweight quotient of seaweed and chewy tofu, it’s of just the right temperature and boasts intense flavour.

My bento (top photo) is even better.

In fact, it’s superb – and puts to utter shame bentos shoved out all over the city in the sort of cheap ‘n’ cheerful “Japanese” joints found in alleyways and food halls.

A crunchy, fresh salad of leaves with a few small tomato pieces and a smooth, creamy sesame dressing.

Two crisp gyoza-style dumplings that are both cold and delicious.

A small bowl of slithery buckwheat noodles in tangy dressing, joined by an even smaller serve of some sort of vermicelli matched with the same chewy tofu found in the soup.

Nutty brown rice topped with black sesame seeds.

And, finally and best of all, a wonderful stew of carrots, beans, lotus root, broccoli and several large chunks of incredibly lovely tofu, soft and silky on the inside and with slightly crusted outsides, all swimming in a light broth that is eventually mopped up with the rice.

I’m not too proud to request a spoon for just that purpose.

Check out the Wabi Sabi website, including full dinner and lunch menus, here.

 

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