Category Archives: Places we like to eat at

Pier 35 Bar & Grill

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Pier 35 Bar & Grill, 263-329 Lorimer St, Port Melbourne. Phone: 9646 0606

It’s a bleak, bitterly cold Melbourne winter’s day, so undoubtedly there are better times for visiting Pier 35 Bar & Grill.

But as it turns out, for a school holiday treat that is affordable and tasty, our visit could hardly be bettered.

For starters, the place is nice and warm!

And it’s classy, with very good service, in a way that we don’t come across too often in our trawling of the western suburbs.

Even better, a big ship cruises past just as our meals arrive.

The waterfront vistas are unremittingly grim and industrial, but even that strikes us as a change of scenery worth savouring.

Pier 35’s menu gravitates towards Italian food and steaks, with an assortment of other influences.

Main courses generally hover between the mid-$20s and mid-$30s and up to the mixed grill for $48.

We, of course, hone right in on the lunch menu, which has a longish list of meals for $14 and is available seven days a week.

The line-up includes fish and chips, calamari salad with red capsicum pesto, and grilled lamb skewers with cabbage salad, pita bread and tzatziki.

The BLT is described as “classic” yet comes with chicken – which strikes me as something of a contradiction.

I’m unsurprised Bennie orders it anyway – it’s a winner, too.

The chips – there’s just enough of them – are crunchy and good.

The chicken looks like it should have that nifty charcoal flavour. Not so, says he, who describes it as “just chicken”.

The bacon, though, is of high quality, there’s lots of it and it’s well cooked.

Good, thick bread, mayo, lettuce, tomato – I put it to Bennie that this is probably the best BLT he’s ever had.

He doesn’t disagree.

Ordering seafood pasta from a $14 menu may seem like pure folly, so I’m very happy to announce that my seafood spaghetti “with market fresh seafood, garlic, white wine and basil” is fantastic.

As you’d expect, there’s only a modest amount of seafood – a couple of fat prawns, two smallish mussels, some salmon, a chunk of calamari, some other fish of a broken-up and indeterminate nature.

But it is indeed very fresh, as well as beautifully cooked and delicious.

But the best part is the pasta itself – it’s immersed in a sauce that is decadently, almost obscenely, oily; there’s garlic overkill that is nevertheless just right; fresh tomato bits add texture; and, best of all, all is imbued with a delightful wine flavour.

No basil to speak of, but I’m a long way from complaining – I love my lunch.

Pier 35 presents as a really cool option for western suburbanites looking for a change from injera, pho or curries.

And, based on our lovely budget meals, could be that the more formal side of the restaurant is worth a look, too.

Check out the full Pier 35 menu here.

Pier 35 Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon

McKebab

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McKebab, 49 Gordon St, Footscray. Phone: 9317 9132

It’s not precisely, literally a hole in the wall, but McKebab has that sort of vibe about it.

This tiny kebab shop is situated next door to a convenience store, with both of them sitting on the ground floor of what is otherwise as a spectacularly ugly building.

Across the street is the pokies pub known as the Powell. Across Ballarat Rd, but still on Gordon St, is a foodie strip – a fish and chip shop, pizza place, Korean noodle hang, a couple of Indian eateries – that seems forever to be waiting for that magic spark.

It seems that often in the west, and no doubt elsewhere, businesses and their operators must make do with situations, locations and premises that are presented to them, that are affordable.

In this case, we suspect that what presents as a simple kebab joint has the capacity and knowledge to present more home-style cooking of the Turkish/Iraqi family that runs it.

We wish them well if that is the case.

Certainly we enjoy our brief visit and the friendly service we receive.

As we take one of the two tiny interior tables, we strike up a conversation with two blokes at the other who turn out to be senior players for the same rugby club for which Bennie plays. Like him, they too have enjoyed success earlier in the day.

It is the home-style dish that draws our eyes and impresses the most.

Well, impresses me the most anyway.

As we’re returning from a friend’s birthday party in Hoppers Crossing, Bennie is already quite full of party pies, sausage rolls, saveloys and chips, and would prefer to be at the burger place up the road anyway.

Later in the week, buddy!

We order “green beans, rice and salad” ($9.90), with the main protagonist turning out to be fasolea.

This is a fantastic, tangy dish of green beans tomato, capsicum, what is described to me as an “Arabic herb”, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

The beans are, of course, very tender, but I find the whole thing delicious.

The tabouli is a tad too dry and onion-y for us, but the rice is fine.

The house-made turshi – pickled turnip – is fantastic, salty, bitter and crunchy.

We order as well four felafel balls, which are freshly made and good, with an inwardly greenish hue and a smooth, ungranulated texture.

The hummus that accompanies is smooth and mild of flavour and the bread – housemade, too – is like a cross between Lebanese pita and Turkish bread.

No doubt because of their location – students above, boozer across the road – the McKebab folks face heavy demand for your typical kebab options.

But we hope they hang in there with some more home-style fare.

Roxy Kebab Cafe

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Roxy Kebab Cafe, 801C Ballarat Rd, Deer Park. Phone: 8390 1007

Roxy Kebabs – doesn’t sound too flash, does it?

But as with so much else about western suburbs eating, looks are deceptive.

This Turkish establishment was noted down for close-to-immediate investigations after being spied while perusing the Deer Park shopping strip as part of Consider The Sauce’s visit to the new Chef Lagenda.

Seeing a bunch of fellows slurping up lamb shank soup has that sort of effect upon us.

School is out early for the start of the holiday break, so up the road we head, having a strong hunch the place will rise above its daggy name and humble exterior.

That it does.

Roxy Kebab Cafe is a small operation but all the expected goodies seem present and they’re doing wildfire trade on this Friday lunchtime.

Looks are deceptive, too, with the lamb shank soup, one of three – there’s also lentil and tripe varieties available.

The small serve ($6), with fresh Turkish bread, would do nicely as a light meal.

The opaque surface hides heaps of marvellously tender globs of shank meat and the broth flavour is strong.

Our soup is also rather fatty, so a hefty squeeze of the lemon segment provided is definitely required.

To make up the rest of our $20 lunch we go with the small meal of the day ($13), with both lamb and chicken from the spit, chilli and hummus dips and salad.

There’s no rice but it’s a goodly sized serve nevertheless.

In order of impressiveness …

The salad is beaut – a crispy, fresh concoction of lettuce, green, onions, cabbage, carrot, parsley and – quite probably – more.

It may seem odd to rate salady bits as prime in a visit to a kebab joint, but for us these sorts of places are as much about the trimmings and condiments as they are about the carnivorous aspects.

The chilli dip is tangy and crunchy and fab – and it’s of only mild disposition, meaning we can (just about) slather it on the bread like a normal dip.

The lamb is tasty and tender. The chicken is a bit bland for me, but then I generally find it’s always so.

The hummus is fresh, creamy and smooth but seems almost shockingly devoid of flavour.

Still, all up this has been a most satisfactory kebab shop lunch.

Stepping outside, we step right next door for a fun visit to Hollywood Costumes.

Even though it’s clear we’re not in there as paying customers, the staff could not be more friendly and welcoming.

Bennie checks out the long rank of Superhero Costumes with an expert eye, though we also note with approval the presence of Ghostbusters and Spongebob garb.

We make a diversion on the way back to the car for a stupendously generous $2.90 cup of berry gelati and a cafe latte and hot chocolate at Pane e Latte, just behind the shopping strip, thus rounding out a most excellent Deer Park adventure.

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Vy Vy

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Vy Vy, 318 Racecourse Rd, Flemington. Phone: 9372 1426

THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED.

The exterior signage says: “Vietnamese, Chinese & Malaysian Cuisine.”

But the internal furniture and fittings give the game – if that’s what it is – away.

This is a Flemington favourite with a Chinese lineage that attempts dishes from other Asian traditions.

And mostly, we’ve found over the years, it does an excellent job – so much so that for us and many regulars, it is preferable for Malaysian food to its far more lauded neighbours around the corner in Pin Oak Crescent or just up the road, or even right next door.

Oddly, for this mid-week dinner, that proves not to be the case – what we get are good plates and bowls that are nonetheless full of food that is only loosely Malaysian as filtered through a Chinese kitchen.

But tonight we care not a whit for authenticity.

It’s cold, we’re hungry, football practice has been long of duration.

Even more auspiciously, just as we’re about to order, a supreme example of humanity enters the restaurant to hand me the $20 note I’d left dangling out of the ATM across the road.

We salute you, Sir!

Our shared lobak ($5) has none of the usual vegetable texture from the likes of carrot.

This is just about all pork of a sublimely chewy kind and, as always, we love the crunchy, crispy tofu outer.

This is a very meaty entree!

Bennie is absolutely adamant – in the face of advice based on infinite wisdom from his dad – that he wants to order the satay fried beef noodles.

Thankfully, our bubbly waitress, Tiffany, talks him out of such a course on the basis of high levels of spiciness.

Instead, he gets hokkien fried noodles ($11.50), which goes down a treat – its array protein keeps the lad happy, while the profusion of greenery mollifies his father.

He rates it a high 8.5 out of 10, but it’s very much a toned-down version of the Malaysian hokkien mee – less dark, less lusty, just less.

Much the same could be said of my beef curry with noodles ($10).

The menu describes the curry as “rendang”, and such has been the case on previous visits.

But not this time – there’s no coconut to speak of and the gravy is soup, and a pretty runny one at that.

The meat is good, but a little on the fatty/gristly side. And I wish I’d gotten hokkien noodles instead of the rather dreary egg noodles I get.

But – surprisingly – the dish as a whole kicks goals.

I love the high chilli levels and plentiful amount of bok choy.

Certainly a curry bowl in which the sum is greater than the parts.

We’ve been here too often to be even slightly deterred by an oddly “un”-Malaysian experience.

As she shows us before and after photographs of her splendid work as a make-up artist, Tiffany tells us that the family business was one of the very first Racecourse Rd eateries.

They’ve been in the current premises for more than 10 years and before that inhabited the building a couple of doors down that still houses Chop Chop and a few others.

Besides, sometimes there’s an awful lot to be said for formica, tiles, smiles and equine artwork.

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Chef Lagenda

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Chef Lagenda, Shop 9/10, 835A Ballarat Rd, Deer Park. Phone: 8358 5389

Why on earth order a vegetarian laksa?

Well, I can think of a couple of really good reasons, actually.

For one thing, to get more than just the single piece of eggplant that customarily accompanies laksa soup/noodles of the chicken or seafood varieties.

For another, sometimes – and just like most carnivores of various kinds I know – I just feel like vegetables.

My Chef Lagenda vegetarian laksa ($8.90) scores highly in both regards.

My TWO pieces of eggplant are magnificent – larger than is usually the case, slippery, tender, tasty and with a luscious smokiness.

The laksa broth is very creamy and of only mild spiciness, but has fine depth of house-made flavour.

There’s vegetable galore – bok choy, broccoli, bean sprouts, along with plenty of chewy leather-skinned cubes of tofu sopping with gravy juices.

This Chef Lagenda is, of course, a sister restaurant for the establishment of the same name in Flemington, the one that often seems as famous for its symbiotic and/or competitive relationship with its neighbour, Laksa King, as it is for its food.

The Deer Park joint’s menu is mostly the same as the one in Flemo, but there seems to be a whole lot more room here – perhaps because it’s a single room, as opposed to the Crooked House dynamics in Flemington.

When I visit for lunch it’s only the second day of operation.

The manager, Francis, tells me that while this lunchtime is slow, on opening night they were 70 per cent full without any advertising at all.

Meanwhile, whatever tricks I’d played on my mind – if not my digestive system – by ordering a non-meat dish are soon brought undone. 

For by this time, unsurprisingly, Francis and her enthusiastic staff have twigged that I am writer, reviewer, blogger or some other sort of busybody.

So I am presented with a complementary sampler plate of the house-made roast meats.

Now, I may be able to summon a sufficiently straight to face to claim that had I been asked if I wanted this freebie, I would’ve replied in the negative.

But when the goodies are already right in front of me?

No way, Jose!

And I’m ever so glad.

Roast duck, roast pork, crackling pork – all really good, smoky, salty, tender. Better, in fact, than most places that specialise in such meaty goodies.

I gobble it all up yet am unable to finish my huge serve of laksa.

And FWIW, I doubt very much that anything I am served is in any way different from what is served to any other customer.

I see no reason that Chef Lagenda shouldn’t be riotously successful.

For starters, as far as I’m aware it’s the only Malaysian restaurant for 10km in any direction – maybe even 20km.

For another, and based on what I have for lunch, the place comes with the already well-established Chef Lagenda reputation for consistency and quality.

Locals are no doubt wildly happy about this opening.

As for the rest of us, it’s worth the trip.

For the time being, and very much so when compared to Flemington, the car parking is a breeze.

Before hunkering down for lunch, I’d strolled the entire Deer Park strip and was gratified by the potential riches I had noted – including a couple of classy kebab joints, one with a killer-looking lamb shank soup and chilli dip; an interesting and cheap Viet/Chinese  off the main strip; and a fine-looking deli. 

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Ras Dashen

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Ras Dashen, 121 Nicholson St, Footscray. Phone: 9687 3293

For a day off – the first of two in a row – it’s been a helluva day so far.

My nerves are rattled.

It’s taken me three goes – and three separate documents – to fill in the Working With Children Check correctly and with no messy scrawl-outs.

I’ve still got a stat dec to acquire.

As well, the world – or at least the newspaper part of it that’s such a big part of my life but may be so for not much longer – seems to be entering its End Days.

That’s common knowledge, it’s true, but it seems to be gathering momentum.

I need a blanky, some comfort food, some lunch – and the exquisite pleasure of writing about it afterwards.

Ras Dashen provides me with splendid succour.

121 Nicholson St last made an appearance in the guise of the nice but short-lived Baraka Restaurant.

Somalian food has given way to Ethiopian, with Ras Dashen – I’m told it means “mountain” – having been open about seven months.

It seems like less time than that I’ve been aware of the change, but time is flying.

There’s new furnishings and I feel right at home in the bright, cheerful ethnic cafe atmosphere.

The smiling, gentle and hospitable welcome I receive for Monday lunch is as important as the food.

The menu has many of the usual suspects – tibs, foul, “khey wot”, kitfo – but I know what I want.

I want soup.

Is there soup?

“Yes.”

“What kind is it?”

“Beef rib.”

“That’s what I want.”

I am offered a choice of bread or injera.

In the interests of maximum comfort factor, I choose the latter.

My soup ($10) arrives with one each of regular and wholemeal injera, along with a little bowl of chilli paste.

I’m often surprised that in all the coverage Melbourne’s African eateries receive there is so little mention of the soups that are available – based on our experiences, they’re certainly among the high points.

And this is an excellent one.

If you were to judge it on the vegetables – carrot, onion, celery and more – you’d be excused for thinking it not much different from a Western-style meat/vegetable broth.

But the result here is unmistakably African.

It’s there in the peppery tanginess and the random slices of fresh green chilli.

It’s there in the heady, intense and flavoursome broth that soaks up the injera so well.

My soup bowl has four bits of beef rib, with some meat sticking to them and more juicy, tender morsels doing magical stuff independently.

There’s just the right amount of meat to provide hearty fare without seeming like too much of a Monday midday carnivore.

This all makes the world seem like a much less threatening place as I go about my business.

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Wholefoods Cafe

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Wholefoods Cafe, 2 Baylie Place, Geelong. Phone: 5221 5421

Spending some time in Wholefoods Cafe in Geelong is, for me, like being in an echo chamber.

Long before I plonked myself down in Melbourne, I had immersed myself in a sort-of hippie scene that started in Dunedin during my school days, was nurtured in London even as many of us were simultaneously embracing punk rock and its more caustic love children, and became firmly entrenched in Wellington.

Truth is, almost all my mates were and are too young to claim true hippie status, but we ran with it anyway.

Yoga was big – or, in my case, tai chi and a deep involvement in Tibetan Buddhism that has continued to have profound influence on my approach to life long after I became disenchanted with the baggage that went with it.

Patchouli oil was hot and the pretty much the whole gang – of both genders – sported hairy armpits and legs.

The parties were wild.

It was during this time that I started my long love affair with Indian vegetarian cooking.

It is no doubt extremely immodest of me to say so, but my recollections are that my efforts in that regard were far better than what was generally being eaten.

The food was awful!

Brown rice casserole, anyone?

We cooked with woks, but in our utter and complete ignorance, would chop up the onion, throw it in the wok, then chop up the next vegetable, throw that in … and so on.

The results were, as you can imagine, nothing like the flash-fired wok food we all eat today.

More like mucky, mushy stews … edible is about the best that could be said.

But mostly the memories are fond, so I have no hesitation about wallowing in the nostalgic vibe Wholefoods Cafe summons up in me.

It starts with the mandala signage outside and continues inside with the lovely burnished and creaky wooden floors and the wholefoods takeaway section out back.

The noticeboards have signs for share accommodation, budgies and zumba.

But – oh yes! –  there’s all sorts of people flogging the likes of reiki, shamanic hoop drumming, meditation of various kinds, compassion exercises and worthy causes and belief systems too numerous to list.

(Time out here as Kenny cranks up a Grateful Dead CD …)

The deja vu continues with the menu:

Thus it is that in a happy and reflective mood – and, for once, with time to spare in a Geelong working day lunch break – that I look forward to my meal.

Moreoever, having scoped the place out some time ago, I am intent on sampling their “dahl”.

Regular visitors will know that I am never happy about paying upwards of $10 or more for a bowl of lentils when we do such a fine job of cooking them and their pulse cousins various ways at home.

But today I’m relaxed about that, too.

I am expecting a bowl of hippie-style dal (mildly seasoned, unoily) – as opposed to Indian-style-dal (highly seasoned, oily).

Here, customers order at the counter.

The wait seems long, but maybe that’s because I’m standing and the staff seem very busy.

Given my number and taking a seat at one of the communal tables, another longish wait ensues, but I’m happy reading the various newspapers on hand.

What I get for my lunch is a $9 bowl of … hippie-style dal with trimmings.

It’s lovely – and just what I expected and desired.

The dal is smooth and goes down easy.

The yogurt is creamy and even the smear of what I think is commercial chutney works a treat.

The pappadam is crunchy and grease-free.

It’s been more years than I can recall since I had brown rice, but here its nuttiness is the perfect foil for the rest of my meal.

Wholefoods – cafe, shop and catering – has been around for what I am told is “decades”.

These days it’s an arm of Diversitat, so is deeply embedded in its community, offering training and cooking courses and the like.

If I lived locally, it’d be a regular part of my routine … for all sorts of different reasons.

Whole foods on Urbanspoon

Dappa Snappa Fish Cafe

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Dappa Snappa Fish Cafe, 203 Nelson Place, Williamstown. Phone: 9943 4109

There are only hazy memories hereabouts of the days when fish and chips resided at the cheaper end of the cheap eats spectrum.

These days a decent F&C feed will always cost you more than a bowl of pho just about anywhere you go.

This situation is exacerbated in my own case because – creature of some habits that I am – ordering F&C without coleslaw is something of which I am simply incapable.

In this case, a minimum serve of coleslaw costing $5.50 nudges the cost of my lunch – including  a can of soft drink – above $16.

I know, I know – $5.50 for coleslaw? Sounds a bit steep, doesn’t it?

But I have a hunch about this salad.

It looks good.

It tastes better.

A whole lot better.

Fact is, this is the best F&C shop coleslaw I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

It’s stupendous in its perfection.

Perfectly dressed, crunchy but not too crunchy – I’m almost giggling with the sheer enjoyment of it as I slurp up every last shred of cabbage.

The chips are fine in an old-school way and hot, but receive a healthy shake from the salt dispenser.

The fish – blue grenadier – is better again. Of a good size and with a nicely crunchy batter, the fish flesh is juicy and very flavoursome.

The tartare sauce is almost as good as the coleslaw – delicious, fresh and creamy.

This is a winning fish luncheon.

Dappa Snappa boss man Mehmet has been open only a couple of weeks when I visit.

He’s enjoyed a ripper Queen’s Birthday Monday, but is mostly hoping to survive the winter by looking forward to bumper spring and summer crowds.

I reckon he’ll do fine.

There’s F&C alternatives at either end of the Nelson Place food strip, but smack bang in the middle – where he is – there’s much food that is awful, over-priced or both.

Mehmet’a joint is done out in typically breezy fish cafe style, with exposed bricks on one side and a cute seaside scene on the other, and plenty of seating inside and out.

While our immediate neighbourhood continues to lack a sit-down F&C establishment, Dappa Snappa is likely to receive multiple visits from us.

I’ll be interested to hear of Bennie’s verdict on the hamburgers.

Bonus points, too, for the provision of real crockery and metal cutlery!

Dappa Snappa Fish Cafe on Urbanspoon

Someone?

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A few years back, I regaled – hopefully not too longwindedly – a new friend with a rundown of my exploits through the years.

Hitchhiking all over the US on first leaving NZ; many subsequent visits to New Orleans and South Louisiana to dig on the music and food; eventually interviewing many musicians and cooks; toting old stoves from Copenhagen to London, renovating them and setting up shop in Camden Market to flog them; working on newspapers all over New Zealand and, more latterly, Melbourne; a half-dozen heady years as Entertainment Editor and Jazz Writer with the Sunday Herald Sun; 20 years doing a weekly radio show on PBS-FM.

My friend said: “You’ve led an interesting life!”

He was right – I have.

But much to my surprise, and dadhood aside, doing Consider The Sauce has topped everything before it.

The past two years have been a fulfilling and thrilling adventure.

The downsides have been zero; the upsides more plentiful than can be enumerated here – although many of them have been referred to in reviews and stories along the way.

But I have always seen Consider The Sauce as also playing a role in my more professional career.

Not in the “monetised” sense – more along the lines of “a blog is the new resume”.

In that, it has done its job.

The word is out, friends and contacts have been made, CTS has become integral to both who I am and what I do.

There’s has even been some gratefully accepted direct income – thanks mostly to the fine folks at GRAM magazine.

But it’s not enough to pay the bills.

***

The newspaper industry that has been a part of my life for so long is being overwhelmed by hurricanes of change that are sweeping over the media industry in general and, indeed, the world at large.

While I’ve always written at the various newspapers for which I have worked, my principle role has been as what’s called these days a production journalist or, often still, a sub-editor.

Our ranks are being ruthlessly thinned.

Of necessity, those who specialise in the design and construction of pages are being retained.

I have much experience under my belt in that regard, but more by happenstance than anything else have found myself these days pursuing – and greatly enjoying – what I think of as “word wrangling”.

Untangling scrambled syntax so that writers say what they mean and mean what they say; making sure someone’s name is not spelt two or three different ways in a single story; getting the tenses right; punctuation, too; dreaming up ripper headlines and captions; making sure there’s no loose ends; making reporters, writers, columnists, reviewers – and the publications (and, these days, websites) in which their words are appearing – look great and sparkle.

The various media proprietors continue to say they value these attributes in the pursuit of “quality journalism”.

But actions speak louder than words.

Having found what I thought was a home of sorts at the Geelong Advertiser, where the journalism has been of a high standard and the product one of integrity, things have become shaky with blinding speed.

The looming pear-shaped scenario is not without hope.

But it behooves me to explore all other options.

***

I believe Consider The Sauce shows what I know to be true about myself – I am hard-working, dedicated, honest, passionate, reliable, imaginative, professional and trustworthy.

And not without talent.

Talent just waiting to be utilised in a righteous cause.

My CV can be examined here.

The email address – all one word – is kenny cts blog at g mail dot com

Third Wave Cafe

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Third Wave Cafe, 189 Rouse St, Port Melbourne. Phone: 9676 2399

Earlier this year I had a nice lunch at Third Wave Cafe, loved the meat-filled blintzes, wrote it up for Consider the Sauce – and even saw that piece get a run in GRAM Magazine.

In the normal course of events, that may’ve been the end of it – Third Wave being close-by but nevertheless a little out of our normal way, over in Port Melbourne – until next time, someday, maybe, never.

Except for one thing – the Russian salad with chicken and bread mentioned in that story stuck in my mind.

So when gleefully debating the subject of location for catch-up with Catty from Fresh Bread, this seems like a natural spot midway between her South Melbourne base and ours in Yarraville.

I’m awful keen to try that Russian salad and I reckon Bennie’ll love those blintzes, especially after I describe them to him as being like “bolognese wrapped in pancakes”.

Catty, too, is sufficiently intrigued and up for it.

Unfortunately, in the interim months the prices have risen by a not insignificant amount.

They’re not now exorbitant at all, but we feel bound to have our opinions of our lunch choices coloured by them.

Bennie’s meat blintzes – the ones I had for $16.50 but which now cost $17.90 – struggle to impress him, though I suspect some of his apathy is induced by the eye-rolling tedium of having to listen to his two adult companions bang on about stupid blogger stuff.

He eats it all anyway, sour cream, everything.

Catty likes her mushroom blintzes well enough – though they’re heavy on the cream – but seems a little underwhelmed.

My Russian salad is rather good – quite a good-size serving and much less heavy on the dressing than I expected, to the extent it is quite a crumbly mixture.

The chicken is tasty mixed in among the regulation peas, carrot, pickled cucumber, eggs and potato.

But the “artisan bread” turns out to be two very meager semi-slices.

This perhaps would’ve been all good and well at the old price of $13 – but at the tag of $14.90 it’s seeming a bit of a stretch.

Look, it’s not often we talk about prices at any length here at Consider The Sauce.

We generally either cop them or not.

And it gives us no pleasure to be discussing them right here, as it’s obvious the Third Wave Cafe really are into their food and coffee and no doubt instituted these changes because they felt they had no choice.

But to us, they have indeed changed our perspective – a few dollars here and there has made a difference.

Out three light meals, a coffee and a hot chocolate see us paying a bill of $59.30.

I dug the hell out of talking blogger shop with Catty, though!

Third Wave Cafe on Urbanspoon

Java

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Java, 12 Ballarat St, Yarraville. Phone: 9687 7508

We’ve been long enough in the west by now to feel entitled about claiming nostalgia rights.

Well, if not nostalgia, at least the reflective gift to long-time residents of being able raise a wry smile about “the way things used to be” or to simply marvel at the changes taking place around us.

My own first visits to Yarraville involved train journeys from St Kilda or the CBD to the Sun Theatre, which in those days still screened black-and-white and noir classics from decades long gone, as the Astor does still.

Oh, how I wish the Sun continued to do likewise!

I know it’s lovely having our cinema set-up a few minutes’ walk away, but its line-up hardly varies at all from those available elsewhere.

We remember, on moving west, that Java was a simple and funky cafe that sometimes did service for coffee and babycinos but was also often erratic and frustrating.

That IS nostalgia, for Java has been a different operation – and different style of operation – for many years.

Whenever we’re in the vicinity, Java seems to be going great guns, selling all the usual breakfasts and meals of a kind that don’t seemed to be offered specifically by many of its competitors but which we suspect lack any kind of focus at all.

Could it be that Java’s “popularity” is a chimera fostered by overflow from the more loved options nearby?

On the basis of a long overdue Consider The Sauce meal, we’re inclined to think so.

Being neither of us hearty of appetite, we agree to share the beef burger ($16.50), which turns out to be an affordable light meal for us pair.

The chips are adequate in number but are not hot enough and not crunchy enough. They all disappear fast anyway.

The burger patty is nice and fat, leavened with some carrot and onion, and best thing going on our plate.

The trimmings do not inspire.

The salad, tomato and onion bits are OK, but the egg and bacon fail to provide any flavour lift or contrast at all.

On the specials board when we visit are Thai chicken curry ($16.50), beef stroganoff with jasmine rice ($14.50), beer-battered fish, chips and salad ($14.50), and roast beef, salad and chips ($200.50).

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Chick pea salad

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Like most folks, I’d normally use chorizo sausage when making this sort of salad.

But I just happened to have a segment of the superb Polish sausage available at Slavonija Continental Butchers in St Albans, so …

As with so many dishes, this can be made ahead of time. In fact, it needs some time – a few hours at least – for the flavours to combine properly.

But avoid refrigerating unless saving leftovers for the next day.

INGREDIENTS

About half a cup of dried chick peas, soaked overnight

Sausage – chorizo or Polish

Two small tomatoes

Small Lebanese cucumber

About a quarter of a small red onion

Flat-leaf parsley

Small amount of lemon zest

Lemon juice

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

METHOD

1. Boil chick peas until soft; drain and let cool at least a bit.

2. Slice and fry sausage in a little olive oil. Later use pan juices to fry pita bread for eating with salad.

3. Put sausage in with chick peas in a bowl.

4. Slice and chop cucumber, chop tomatoes, add both to the salad. Best to find a balance in which the pieces are a bit bigger than the chick peas – but not too much bigger.

5. Slice slivers of red onion and place in salad.

6. Roughly chop about a quarter of a cup of parsley and throw in salad.

7. Season with salt, pepper, lemon zest.

8. Dress with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. This salad requires a lot of dressing.

9. Let stand for at least a couple of hours.

10. Eat with pan-fried pita bread.

11. Try to avoid getting sausage grease on computer keyboard.

Amasya Kebab

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Amasya Kebab, 134 Nicholson St, Footscray. Phone: 9687 7032

So enamoured have we been with Footscray Best Kebab House that it has taken more than a decade for me to take its competition, Amasya Kebab, around the block for a spin.

It proves to be a good move on a day when I feel like a change from habitual patterns and routines.

Amasya may still stand in the shadow of its near-neighbour just up the road apiece, but it’s swell to know there’s a handy alternative nearby for when the crowds at FBKH are too intense.

Amasya is shiny, white and bright – but nevertheless welcoming and a nice place to stop for a while.

It has much in common with FBKH – a lunchtime crowd that encompasses the widely diverse hues and style habits of Rainbow Footscray, the happy buzz of being a family-run business and the Turkish travel posters among them.

As well, the menus are pretty much interchangeable, and there seems to be only minor differences in the pricing.

My small meal of the day ($12), lamb only, does indeed look on the modest side.

But it fills me up plenty and the quality is there.

There’s no rice, but that’s more than compensated for by the large serving of lamb.

This is not crispy, crunchy, salty as I dig it, seeming to have come from a part of the spit recently carved for another customer. It’s still fine, though, being tender and tasty.

The salad bits and leaves with a lemony dressing are good but without much distinction.

The yogurt/cucumber dip is stiffer than normal but does the job.

The chilli dip is the big hit – it’s every bit as good in terms of lip-smacking tang and crunchy delight as that found up the road.

Excellent!

The bread is fresh, warm and typically wonderful.

We have tried the Amasya pies before – and they’re recommended, seeming to have more filling and less bread than those found in other Turkish places.

Amasya Kebab on Urbanspoon

Sunshine Charcoal Chicken

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Sunshine Charcoal Chicken, 3 Alfrieda St, St Albans. Phone: 9364 5310

Now look here, I’d be rather cross if you folks started believing there’s some sort of group-think going on with food bloggers.

Well, believing there is more of it than is found in all sorts of endeavours involving the inter-action of human beings.

Reading other blogs is supposedly part of blogging itself.

Truth is, though, I love checking out what other people are up to.

Sometimes – when I’ve nothing to gasbag about myself – I spend a whole evening reading other blogs, leaving a few comments along the way.

One thing that has struck in becoming familiar with this wonderful new world is the rampant individuality and the personality that blogs generate.

This seems especially so of the 20 or so Mellbourne food blogs I admire most and follow the most religiously.

More specifically, I’m quite amazed about how little overlap there is between Consider The Sauce and the blog and blogger with whom we have most in common – Footscray Food Blog and its boss, Ms Baklover, whose work we adore.

Considering myriad mutual interests, including but not restricted to geography, this seems rather miraculous.

The number of places both blogs have covered would be well into double figures but equally well short of three figures.

I reckon that says a lot about the foodie riches of Melbourne’s western suburbs, don’t you?

But sometimes the obviousness and rightness of something cannot be denied.

So …

The very day Footscray Food Blog writes about the Sunshine branch of an outfit called Sunshine Charcoal Chicken happens to be a day off for yours truly.

Lunch is not only on, it’s mandatory – and preferably one I can bang on about.

The St Albans’ outlet of the same outfit has long been on the CTS wishlist.

And I need to harvest some photos for Snap West …

So … a meandering drive to St Albans and back is just the ticket!

And thus, for the first time ever, CTS and FBB write on the same organisation on the same day, albeit about different shops.

(Editor’s note: As Ms Baklava herself point out below, this was actually the second time … but still. For such sloppy attention to detail, the author has been docked a week’s pay!)

I really like this Alfrieda St chook emporium – it has a lovely lived-in feel and four tables.

During my lunch visit, the place is pretty damn busy with chicken-loving regulars and locals.

They sell two kinds of chicken – regular Aussie-style charcoal chook and what they refer to as Spanish chicken, which means Filipino style.

The latter are butterflied and marinated, and a whole flock of them have just entered the in-house tanning salon as I arrive.

A quarter bird of either will cost you $4 and a half, $6.

I go Filipino-style, of course, that being the whole purpose of my visit.

Bonus points to this joint for providing real cutlery and crockery, which according to Ms Baklover is not the case at the Sunshine food court outlet.

The chips are fresh out of the frier but a little disappointing – I’m not quite sure what the problem is, as they’re hot and nicely salted. Maybe the problem is all mine.

The breast meat is too dry, but not disastrously so.

The meat around the various bones is much, much better – top class, in fact.

The flavour is rather mild. There’s an expected sweetness and my tastebuds tell me there’s a significant garlic component as well.

The coleslaw is heavy on the gloop factor but the cabbage and carrot ingredients are fresh and crunchy.

It’s a really good chicken lunch I enjoy, so this place is likely to be the subject of return visits by father and son.

I’m partial to regular charcoal chicken, but it’s cool that there’s this tasty alternative in St Albans AND Sunshine.

And on the way back home, doing the CTS Westie Prowl, I discover an Argentine bakery in Derrimut! It’s closed but I’ll be there the next day for sure.

Sunshine Charcoal Chicken on Urbanspoon

Indi Hots

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Indi Hots, 82 Hopkins St, Footscray. Phone: 9687 4626

Indi Hots has moved house – but only a few doors up Hopkins St to No.82.

The new place has more of a restaurant feel to it, as opposed to the utilitarian canteen vibe of the previous one.

All else seems to have remained the same – food, clientele, service and welcome.

In my first test drive of the new premises, I do what all my fellow patrons are doing and order a biryani.

My understanding is that biryani is a special occasion, celebratory rice dish that is extremely unlikely to be found in its full-blown glory in restaurants regardless of any price scale.

Maybe one day I’ll be invited to a Hyderabad wedding …

In the meantime, and within the confines of commercial realities, my Indi Hots biryani is as good as I can recall enjoying.

It may not have all the bells and whistles of the “real thing”, but it at least conveys the impression of being a close, if slightly impoverished, relative.

My Special Hyderabadi Goat Dhum Biryani costs $13.50 and comes with curry gravy, runny raita that I have come to love, half a hard-boiled egg and a can of soft drink.

The plentiful goat meat is not really tender but easily edible. Surprisingly, and happily, only about half of it is on the bone, the rest being just meat.

The spice level is sneaky.

What at first seems quite benign mounts steadily as I eat so my brow is sweating by the end.

It’s a fine thing because I am not only robust of appetite but also in one of those moods when some kick-arse spicy food is just the ticket.

The rice is oily in a nice way and interspersed with fresh coriander and lovely strands of fried brown onion.

With the egg, gravy, raita providing variety of flavours and textures, this is a beaut feast.

As ever when I order biryani, I find there’s simply too much rice for me to eat – but I’m surprised nonetheless how much of it I tuck away.

Indi Hots remains a cool and reliable place for a cheap, quick and tasty Indian feed.

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Rockfish

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Rockfish, 3/46-48 Edgewater Blvd, Maribyrnong. Phone: 9317 3474

We feel quite well served when it comes to hamburgers OR fish and chips.

When it comes to hamburger AND fish and chips – that is, our preferred combo of the former for him and the latter for me – things are not so rosy.

Ripples is fine but Moonee Ponds is a bit of stretch for the spontaneity and instant gratification that seems to go with this kind of food.

Could be then that Rockfish could become our regular haunt when the mood is upon us.

It’s part of a food precinct that has sprung at Edgewater, about midway between Highpoint and Footscray. There’s also Thai and Malaysian eateries and a specialist dessert place joining other outlets that have been there a while.

Happily, there seems to be heaps of parking.

Rockfish is a straight-up fast food joint that’s clean and sparkling and has two tables inside and outside facilities, too.

We order, for our Sunday lunch, our “usual” – burger with the lot for Bennie, fried fish of the day and coleslaw for me, chips to share and a can of soft drink.

Our chips are thoroughly excellent – salted just right, unoily, crisp, perfect.

There’s far too many of them, though.

We got a medium order ($4.50) when a small ($3) would’ve done. We wish we had been asked.

Bennie is entirely happy with his burger lot ($7.50).

He tells me he really likes the fact his meat pattie has a crispy exterior.

He also later, when pressed, says it’s a “10 out of 10” job.

His more hard-nosed dad advises taking that assessment on board with caution, but still …

The coleslaw ($3.50) is quite unusual by the usual standards of such places.

The vegetable components are fresh and crunchy.

The mayo dressing is neither too gloopy and gluggy or too runny, one of which is almost always the case.

In fact, the dressing is quite sticky and adheres to the vegetables really well.

I find it a bit on the dry side, though, but Bennie like it, which is a plus.

My fish ($6), flake, is of modest proportions, but the batter is fine and sticks to the fish.

The fish itself is divine – lovely and juicy and flavoursome.

In terms of containers and implements, we are provided a mix of real crockery, plastic and cardboard.

On the one hand, we envy the locals here having such a competent fish and chip shop close at hand.

On the other, it’s no bad thing we have to think about such fodder and then drive to obtain it, lest such fare become more than just an occasional treat.

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Dolcetti

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Dolcetti, 223 Victoria St, West Melbourne. Phone: 9328 1688

Despite having a deep fondness for Dolcetti we don’t visit as often as we would like.

Perhaps that’s because when we’re in the West Melbourne/Victoria Market neighbourhood we are, more often than not, seeking something savoury and substantial.

Dolcetti is not big on the savouries, although on our latest visit we note there are some good-looking pizzas on display.

When we do visit, what we do get are superbly authentic Sicilian-style sweet treats.

Moreover, they’re delivered here with a lightness of touch and delicacy and refinement of flavours we rarely encounter elsewhere.

Happily, this day’s lunchtime chores have been well taken care of by the simple expedient of doing the Bratwurst Boogie down the road at the market.

So we are most certainly up for a heaping serve of sweet satisfaction of the more aesthetic variety.

Bennie stays true to form by requesting a simple old-school canoli of the chocolate/vanilla persuasion ($3.20).

Quizzed by his dad, he is a little noncommital about its merits.

Maybe because he does get tired of being required to pass judgment on what, after all, is mere food … to be enjoyed, or not, as the case may be.

He does, however, seem well pleased.

Based on my sneak taste of the two custards, such an outlook is spot on.

I go for one each of  ciascuni ($2.20) and buccelatti ($2.40) .

The former has fig, walnut, orange and honey wrapped in an open snake of superb short pastry.

It’s rather plain, only mildly sweet and entirely delicious.

The buccelatti also has fig, orange, honey and walnut, along with chocolate and raisins, but the end result is substantially different, with a more chunky filling.

The citrus component is much more pronounced and does an erotic belly dance with the chocolate.

This is so good, so outrageously perfect, I buy two to take home just so Bennie can enjoy the same taste hit later in the evening.

Bennie says his hot chocolate is good; my cafe latte is better than good.

As ever at Dolcetti, we leave with food senses utterly romanced but tummies and purses in no way tested.

Visit the Dolcetti website here.

And read a cool story about Dolcetti and Marianna DiBartolo in the magazine Italianicious here.

Dolcetti on Urbanspoon

Sushi boat docking at Yarraville

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LATEST UP DATE (JUNE 7) HERE.

Picking up dinner makings, Bennie and I spy activity in one of the shops at the slightly dowdy end of Anderson St in Yarraville.

What was once a furniture store now has a papered-over window above which we see paper lanterns of Asian derivation.

Of course, we enter to get the low down.

Inside, we meet Lucy, one half of the couple that will soon be opening a restaurant called Little Tokyo.

Scheduled for a June 21 opening, it’ll have all the usual Japanese stuff like miso soup and tempura.

But it’ll also have a grill station turning out yakitori-style goodies.

And – get this! – the central feature of the joint, which will seat about 40 people inside, will be a sushi boat we see taking shape before us as we talk.

Lucy and her family live locally.

She tells me that despite the fact they’re Vietnamese, they’ve all had a long-standing love of Japanese food.

“We just want people to really enjoy the healthy food here,” she says.

Expect a pricing range that’ll go from about $4 for the cheapest entrée up to about $22 for the most expensive meal.

Lucy tells us their Japanese chef has come from Germany and that we should expect sushi that is “different” in a very good way.

And she says she and her husband have put a lot of time and heaps love into seeking out just the right furniture, fittings and decorations.

We’re so excited that June 21 seems like a long way away.

We tell Lucy to expect us hungry lads on opening night.

Who’s up for joining us?

Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Taqueria

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

So a Mexican fast-food franchise is setting out its shingle at Highpoint.

It’s opening day and they’re giving away burritos for four hours.

Bennie is as excited as all get out.

It’s a happening, it involves free food, it’s at Highpoint – and some of his school friends have been talking about it.

My own expectations are more measured.

I have dark visions of unruly mobs, security guards, burritos that are mini.

As well, footy practice has endured until 7pm, leaving us a bare hour of free burrito time.

On the other hand, who knows?

I have a sneaking suspicion that food of this kind may not be too much different from that of some of the fancier and far more trendy and expensive Latin American eateries blossoming all over town.

My fears are allayed immediately upon arrival.

There’s a party time atmosphere going on but there’s no mad mobs, the mariachi band is in full voice and happy to ham it up for the crowd, and our order is taken within a minute.

Sadly, because of the opening night bash, we are thwarted in our desire to run through the side dishes such as black beans.

All we can get are a guava Jarritos, some corn chips and guacamole – and a burrito apiece, of course – for a grand total of $9.

The corn chips are very nice – they seem to be unsalted and more like the cake-y variety supplied by Taco Truck.

The guacamole is really good – fresh for sure, and a nice coarse mix.

Hey, this is starting to be a fine time, indeed!

Our burrito number is called just a few minutes after our order is placed and Bennie is at the counter to grab it.

Beef guerrero (mild) for him, spicy chicken guerrero for me.

Our burritos are foil-wrapped, with soft tortillas inside.

I heartily appreciate the fact they’ve been so cannily wrapped that the juices never even get close to leaking out the bottoms – right until the last bite.

Unlike, for instance, your typical kebeb!

Bennie barely pauses for breath while downing his beef number with gusto.

I may hear the odd “Good!” or “MMMmmmm” in the eating process, but I certainly hear a loud affirmation after his work is done.

“I reckon that’s the best burrito I’ve ever had,” he opines.

When I get into my chicken job I find out why.

Putting aside any and all notions of authenticity, this is some really, really good stuff.

The charred chicken flavour comes through, and the black beans, cheese, rice, salsa and pico de gallo all work together really well. There’s a mild chilli kick, but not in every mouthful

I couldn’t be happier or more surprised.

Maybe even a little bit shocked.

Whether these will look quite as good when the full $10.50 is being charged, without sides or trimmings, remains to be seen.

I reckon they may well do so. They’re a pretty good size, even at that price.

This place replaces a branch of China Bar we will not miss in the least.

And its neighbours are the usual suspects of Pancake Parlour, La Porchetta, Nando’s, Grill’d and the like.

Providing they maintain the quality, I can’t imagine them doing anything less than brisk business.

We’ve had a ball on opening night and really enjoyed the atmosphere.

Check out of the full menu options at the company website here.

Guzman Y Gomez Mexican Taqueria Highpoint on Urbanspoon

honey & coco

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Honey & Coco, 42B Hall St, Newport. Phone: 9399 4493

It’s the neighbourhood immediately surrounding Newport train station that saw me renounce the use of public transport for my quasi-daily commute to Geelong.

Especially during the colder – and darker – months, the station and nearby shopping strips were grim, bleak and even occasionally forbidding and threatening.

In a more relaxed space on a sunny mid-week mid-day, the vibe is quite a bit more welcoming.

Not that this appears even now as a foodie destination.

There’s a range of traders doing most things most locals probably need, but it’s hard to conjure up more enthusiasm than that.

Perhaps the Thai restaurant? Prices pretty steep by our standards, but I have a hunch it’ll be a good one when – not if – we finally visit.

There’s two cafes of the urban chic variety – one either side of the tracks.

But the prices in one scare me a bit when I am only seeking a cheap and cheerful lunch.

And the other has a dauntingly high baby/toddler head count whenever I’m in the vicinity.

Which is how I find myself settling into Honey & Coco.

It has a slightly more utilitarian feel than its two immediate competitors, but it smells good, and the deal is sealed when I spy something on the menu that I find I want and didn’t even realise it.

The enticing aroma, I suspect, is emanating from the day’s soup special, vegetable, which the majority of customers are enjoying.

There’s a smallish range of filled Turkish loaves that look pretty good, while the muffins, cupcakes and so on seem standard.

But I go for the Greek salad.

It’s available with various protein additions at a price, but I keep it plain and simple, seeking a light, healthy, crunchy lunchy.

Surprisingly for lunch-on-the run cafe-type places of any stripe, my salad is made to order and from scratch.

It’s thus super dooper fresh – the cos lettuce is especially toothsome.

If there are things about it I’d prefer to be otherwise – plain olive oil instead of a balsamic dressing of some kind that stains the fetta cheese brown, the cheese itself too highly crumbled, kalamata olives I’d rather the stones were still in, the ’70s-’80s rock music – I’m prepared to write them off as personal preferences.

And at $10 with two segments of Turkish bread, it’s a good price for a big serve.

I’m happy with my lunch.

My cafe latte is even better – very good, in fact.

Honey & Coco has a down-to-earth warmth and welcome that has obviously earned the loyalty of the regulars who come and go as I enjoy my time there.

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