Tag Archives: Melbourne

The Grand Tofu … again

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Fried squid tentacles ($6.80) at The Grand Tofu.

The Grand Tofu, 314 Racecourse Rd, Flemington. Phone: 9376 0168

It’s been a pleasure attending the first rugby practice for the new season.

Bennie has dug being with his teammates again and running the drills.

The location – Footscray Park below Victoria University – lends itself to heading in various directions for a quick feed before heading home.

Bennie favours Ebi, but I persuade him Flemington is the go by mentioning that friends have tipped us that the fried squid tentacles at The Grand Tofu are hot.

After our recent and first post from there, I have been a little surprised and also gratified to learn – from comments left, other reviews and the tentacle recommendation from two former work colleagues whose family always has a firm grasp of the Flemo eateries – The Grand Tofu is widely regarded as a beaut spot that is more than holding its own with the famous alternatives around the corner in Pin Oak Crescent.

We’re happy to pursue the matter further.

After parking, we pass one of the few non-Asian eateries in the area.

We find it impossible not to glance at the dips combo an inner-city hipster with a Hitler moustache is eating at a window table.

He glares at us.

Much to my surprise, Bennie is largely unmoved by the tentacles – but his dad loves them.

The batter is unoily, crunchy and beautifully seasoned; the tentacles themselves are right on the good side of the chewiness concept.

Beware though – this a big serving, much bigger than it looks in real life or in the photo above.

Really, Bennie and I could share these and a single bowl of noodles for a perfectly filling meal.

Bennie goes for the yong tofu – six pieces, noodles, soup for $10 – his first experience with this particular eating experience.

He rejects the combos available and chooses his own – no surprise he steers strongly towards the meatier dumplings and away from the stuffed vegetables.

At first, this kind of meal seems just right for the lad – hey, it’s just like yum cha for one, right?

But he tires of it quickly and even leaves a couple of the dumplings uneaten. A case of too much of a good thing, perhaps?

His dad chooses the Penang king prawn noodle soup ($12.80).

This is good and a huge serve, but it strikes me as a tad uninspired.

The broth is suitably prawny, though the two fat beasties themselves are a on the doughy side.

Given the price, though, I suspect there are plenty of Grand Tofu dishes that’ll be more to my liking on future visits, while Bennie will definitely want the BBQ pork dry noodle next time around.

We’ve tried too hard, but that lessens not our affection for this establishment.

Bennie’s experience with oysters is minimal but his eyes glitter as spectacular, fiery serves of flaming lemon grass oysters are carried to adjacent tables.

And perhaps this’ll be the place to come when we feel like splashing out on chilli mud crab.

Returning to our wheels, we notice that the inner-city hipster with the Hitler moustache is talking to a lady friend at an outside table.

And having just about as much fun.

The Grand Tofu 3 on Urbanspoon

New Footscray IGA – a quick tour

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Supa IGA, corner Albert and Paisley streets. Phone: 9396 1404

Our first ever visit to the new IGA – one part of the site that used to be Dimmeys/Forges – gets off to a sour start when I almost get into a somewhat heated argument with the Seventh Day Adventists manning a booth outside.

Luckily, I pull myself up with a stern admonition – “life is too short for this BS” – and head inside.

We are wielding a shopping list of very modest length, so check the whole place out – right around, and up and down every aisle – before we start throwing items in our basket.

The store is done out in urban-industrial, which would be a tad oppressive if it were not for the incredible prevalence of colourful products of Asian derivation.

Truth is, many of the Asian products seem to be of the highly packaged and processed snack food variety.

I’ve been told my sniffy disdain for such fare renders me thoroughly unfit for residence anywhere in Asia, particularly Japan.

So be it!

That said, in many ways this supermarket is a typical IGA – especially when it comes to non-food items.

This may be the only Australia’s only IGA sporting live seafood tanks, but I know there are supermarkets of other persuasions who do likewise.

The non-live unfrozen seafood range seems quite good.

On the other hand, the deli counter and bakery sections do little to impress.

The fresh produce selection seems pretty handy, but hardly offers staunch competition to nearby Little Saigon Market.

The fresh meat range seems particularly lame on this Saturday afternoon

All of which makes us think this may only be an occasional stop for us – when we’re in the area, ready to shop and figure and we can cover all our bases there.

We find bargains though.

There’s broccoli at $1.50 a kilogram, for instance, and Zafarelli pasta at $1 a 500g bag.

From the endless range of Asian sweets, savouries and frozen lines, Bennie chooses a Meiji Yan Yan Double Cream.

This turns out to contain biscuit sticks and strawberry and chocolate sauces to dip them into.

He loves it, of course, but tells me the ratio of sticks to goop is out of whack, and that he has to resort to scooping out the rest of it with his fingers.

Life’s so bloody hard sometimes!

VU Halal Kitchen

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"Baba-ghanouj" plate at VU Halal Kitchen.

"Baba-ghanouj" plate at VU Halal Kitchen.

VU Halal Kitchen, Building M, Level 0, Victoria University, Footscray. Phone: 9919 4300

Given the radiant brilliance of some of our Middle Eastern adventures lately – particularly at Coburg’s Abbout Falafel House and Al-Alamy – the surprise isn’t that the newish VU Halal Kitchen doesn’t quite match them but that it delivers a good and worthy shot at it with very similar prices.

I’d first stumbled across VU Halal Kitchen after trying out Cafe Noodle House, which is situated in a nearby campus building.

Subsequent attempts to try the campus Middle Eastern fare were thwarted by the festive season, catering commitments and the end of the academic year.

Now, in early March, Team Consider The Sauce is on the job and mighty hungry.

While we understand the business requirements that dictate the food cater to a broad base of students, you’ll be unsurprised to learn we ignore completely such fodder as the burgers, parmas, pastas and the like … although those seem to be the choices of the few other customers there are.

After being told several times the dips came with “Turkish bread” only, what turns up is a pleasant surprise.

"Hommus" plate at VU Halal Kitchen in Footscray.

"Hommus" plate at VU Halal Kitchen in Footscray.

The trimmings aren’t quite as substantial or sparkling as we get in Coburg, but they’re much appreciated anyway. Both kinds of pickles are commercial but lovely and crunchy.

The terrific bread is made on the premises.

I subsequently am told by VU Halal Kitchen proprietor George that it’s oil-free, which helps give it a nice chewiness when fresh and not unpalatable crunchiness when an ancient half-hour or so old.

The “baba-ghanouj” plate ($7) is the star of our lunch, the dip itself being redolent of smokiness, lemon and garlic in about equal measures. Very good!

The “hommus” plate, at the same price, is not as impressive, with the dip sporting a blandness  that makes it seem like a wallflower.

Spicy potato curry pie at VU Halal Kitchen.

Spicy potato curry pie at VU Halal Kitchen.

We order the spicy potato curry pie ($4) out of sheer curiosity and are a little disappointed. As you’d expect, it’s quite a lot like an elongated samosa – except that the curry potato stuffing is very much at the outer extremes of mildness. It’s OK.

Dressed zaatar pizza at VU Halal Kitchen.

Dressed zaatar pizza at VU Halal Kitchen.

The dressed zaatar pizza ($4.80), too, suffers by comparison with the superior equivalents available at our usual local haunts – but not by much.

After lamenting that our otherwise incredibly vibrant westie food situation lacks an Al-Alamy or an Abbout Falafel House, I am gratified to learn from George, who is of Egyptian background, that VU Halal Kitchen in fact boasts an Al-Alamy connection.

That operation’s Ahmed is overseeing the kitchen affairs here in a supervisory role, which hopefully augurs mightily well for the future.

Falafels are in the near future, as will be  – I fully expect – a degree of tweaking and improving.

A western suburbs place serving Middle Eastern food that goes beyond pizzas and kebabs needs to be encouraged.

George, by the way, highly recommends the awarma (minced meat cooked with scrambled eggs, $10) and shak-shooka (scrambled eggs mixed with tomato, onion and cheese, $10) – both served with aforementioned bread and pickles.

Two more points …

Given the possibility the bar set-up of which the kitchen is part may be otherwise needed for a function, we strongly suggest phoning an hour or so before your planned lunch … just to make sure.

And the drinks situation is far from ideal – extremely small bottles of soda pop and Mount Franklin water all clock in at $3. But then again, this is a bar – rather than a campus cafeteria.

Abbout Falafel House

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Falafel plate at Abbout Falafel House in Sydney Rd, Coburg.

 

Abbout Falafel House, 465 Sydney Rd, Coburg. Phone: 9350 4343

My falafel plate is breathtaking in its awesomeness.

It costs $10.

Food, in my world, simply does not get any better – at any price.

Even better, my faith in the eternal goodness of falafel – shaken somewhat earlier in the week – is emphatically restored.

It’s easy to miss Abbout Falafel House.

It has an unremarkable facade and is flanked on either side by several kebab shops.

But what makes me persevere is the endless stream of people trying to get a table in the dining room that adjoins the food preparation/takeaway area.

When I discover how good the food is, and why the place is so popular with many folks who are obviously regulars, the five-minute wait dodging staff members coming with empty plates and dishes and going with full ones seems a mere trifle.

Even if I am wedged between a tiny wooden table in the front area and one of the drinks fridges.

This is not a kebab house.

The fare is almost all vegetarian of the Lebanese variety – but it’s exceptional.

There’s dips and labneh and foul, all of them served with beaut trimmings.

My six falafel balls are amazingly unoily, true lightweights and terrifically tender – although some may find them a little under-seasoned.

The labneh and “hommos” are likewise state of the art, sprinkled with parsley, paprika and olive oil.

The pickled cucumber slices and turshi – pickled turnip – are sour and crunchy in their own different ways, just as I like ’em.

The pickled chillis are sour, too, although with a nicely mild kick.

The olives fall somewhere between green and black, and are fine.

The two pita breads arrive fresh out of the oven, plumped up like bladders and emit a puff of steam when punctured.

How good is that?

As much as I love our west, I have to concede it lacks a place just like this or Al-Alamy.

Abbout Falafel House is open for lunches only seven days a week.

Abbout Falafel House on Urbanspoon

World’s longest lunch

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This, the first ever guest post at Consider The Sauce, was written, photographed and produced by our pal Daniel, winner of the two tickets provided to us by Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and the Bank of Melbourne. Thanks for taking the time!

The first thing that grabs your attention about the World’s Longest Lunch is the logistics: 1,200 people enjoying fine dining along the Yarra, across from the Melbourne’s Olympic Park precinct. A table that seems to stretch forever. And today, after Melbourne’s rolling wet weather, a perfect day by the river.

It was a three-course seasonal meal, covering:

* Entrée: salad of Harrietville smoked trout and autumn fruits (Simone’s Restaurant).

* Main: free range turkey thighs, tomatoes and tomatillos and Mexican flavours with a salad of avocado and succulents (Sunnybrae).

* Dessert: Rhubarb vacherin (Annie Smithers’ Bistrot).

Therése and I shared the meal with Almost Always Ravenous and other charming foodies. If you ever wanted proof of Melbourne’s sophistication and obsession around food, one of our food and wine festival events should provide that 😉

We found the entrée excellent. The main was fine but turkey isn’t my idea of a captivating meat (like duck). Dessert was a nice combination of rhubarb, cream and meringue: good texture, perhaps a bit more meringue would have been nicer.

Overall: we didn’t feel it was value for money food-wise (editor’s note: Daniel means, of course, if it had been the case that he’d actually had to pay!), but the affair was well-executed and a lovely experience dining by the Yarra in temperate weather. Plus it was my birthday, so a memorable occasion 😉

Much thanks to Kenny for enabling the experience!

Pandu’s – an update …

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UPDATE (July 29, 2012): Review of the new Pandu’s is HERE.

Dropping into the site of the new Pandu’s in Barkly St, I find the man himself in the house.

He’s a little reticent about having his photo taken, but couldn’t be more friendly and is happy to show me around.

And I gotta tell you – the place is looking a million bucks.

He tells me he actually had ritzy expansion plans for the former site in Buckley St well advanced before the rail link developments nixed them.

The new site entails a hefty increase in rent and a major investment – as these photos indicate.

Inevitably, this will involve higher prices for his take on Indo-Chinese tucker.

However, the prices at the old joint were rock-bottom cheap and he assures me his new price tags won’t be in the same ball park as those of a somewhat similar establishment up the road apiece.

Pandu is aiming for a late March opening date.

There’s going to be nooks, crannies and booths all over the place.

Incredibly, all the furniture is being crafted and constructed on-site.

The new restaurant will boast an Indian-style barbecue – not quite Tandoori cooking but with some of those elements. Sounds like a heap of juicy, marinated meats and vegetables to me!

This space (above) will be the site of the new kitchen.

In this area will be a waterfall and fish pond.

A sister blog for Consider The Sauce

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FIND IT HERE

Originally, I envisaged Consider The Sauce might combine both the foodie themes for which it is now famed AND my musical loves.

However, as I climbed the steep incline of learning about blogging and its dynamics, I realised that would be muddying the waters.

As well, it seems – perhaps for the first in my life and perhaps only in the short-term – I am all “written out” when it comes to music.

For more than a decade now, it’s been part of my routine, upon rolling out of bed, to feverishly log on to the likes of the now defunct Blue Note bulletin board and forums at places such as Jazz Corner and Organissimo for endless, often fiery and frequently hilarious talk on all manner of music, along with politics, sport, religion and food. And, not infrequently, all at the same time!

The pleasure, enlightenment, wisdom and friendship I have been blessed with by being part of these conversations has enriched my life immeasurably.

Yet, as with others, the need is less pressing these days – indeed, as of today, it’s been about two weeks since I checked into the big O.

At the same time, though, doing Consider The Sauce has not only heightened my awareness of the food culture of the Melbourne’s greater western suburbs – it has done likewise for the western suburbs in general.

This, of course, is a very fine thing.

But along the way Bennie and I are coming across things, people, places and scenes that tickle our fancy, make us think and reflect or burst out laughing that simply don’t fit within the Consider The Sauce framework.

Of course, some of them have been getting a run here anyway – a car atop a shipping container in Tottenham, some apologetic graffiti in Sunshine and the like.

But now it’s time for these snippets of western suburbs life to have their own home at a sister blog to Consider The Sauce.

Called Snap West, its aim will be to post a photo a day of some of aspect of western suburbs life that has caught our eyes or turned our heads.

A photo a day doesn’t sound like a lot, but I’m sure there’ll be times when it’ll the last thing on our minds and quite a hassle.

Yet oddly enough, I have a hunch that it’s the snaps taken in those sort of circumstances that may end up being the most evocative.

Perhaps unlike Consider The Sauce, there will be no great ambitions for this new blog.

Hopefully, it’ll just simply unfold and evolve.

If folks visit and comment, that’ll be very cool.

If not, well that’ll be OK, too!

PS: I reckon the Vertigo theme of Snap West is gorgeous! How about it for Consider The Sauce?

Peko Peko

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Pop culture shrine, Japan-Taiwan-style, at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

Pop culture shrine, Japan-Taiwan-style, at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

Peko Peko, 190 Wells St, South Melbourne. Phone: 9686 1109

Peko Peko is tucked away in a back street near the junction of Domain and St Kilda roads.

This is a surprisingly large part of South Melbourne that seems to go largely unnoticed by the rest of Melbourne – unless we’re whizzing along Kingsway or headed for the South Melbourne Market or the gardens.

But, of course, it’s teeming with life and people.

Yes, a stack of office workers of various kinds, but there’s also a lot of apartment blocks hereabouts.

For those reasons, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised by the presence of lovely Asian joint like Peko Peko here.

But I am.

Perhaps that can be put down to lingering memories of a previous life spent working amid the eating blandness of the Southbank neighbourhood just up the road.

Peko Peko is done out in nice Asian cafe style.

It’s comprehensively packed for this week-day lunchtime, and I suspect it’s the same at night.

It’s menu is long and varied, though it concentrates on dishes of Taiwanese and Japanese derivation and has items that broaden their base quite a bit.

The prices surprise, too. The average price of the many main meals seems to be about $10-12 – no more than you’d pay for similar food in the CBD or the west.

The serves are big and generous.

The entrees include more than a handful of spring roll variations, as well as Peko Sausage (“unique house-made  Taiwanese sausage”).

Curries all seem to be of the Japanese persuasion, while main meals can be had as either in bowls or in Peko Boxes, which turn out to be the familiar bento boxes of laminated legend.

My lunch companion chooses one of the left-field dishes – Singapore noodles ($10).

Singapore noodles at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

Singapore noodles at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

She’s had it before so knows well what she’s getting into, and enjoys it accordingly. It seems more stuffed with goodies than most of its kind.

Yours truly goes for menu item No.1 – Pork Chop Addiction ($12.50), described as “traditional Taiwanese deep-fried pork cutlet, served w. pickled cabbage”.

Pork Chop Addiction at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

Pork Chop Addiction at Peko Peko in South Melbourne.

The spring roll – hard to tell if it’s filled with pumpkin or carrot or both – is just OK.

The salady, cold beans are wonderful, tossed in – I’m guessing – some sort of sesame dressing.

The cabbage pickles lack any sort of pickle punch.

The deep-fried pork cutlet is heart attack material – and there’s a huge amount of it.

It’s crispy and nice, with a flavour that comes down to – I later discover – salt, pepper, garlic and five-spice. It’s also on the fatty side.

Still … a fruit salad dinner for me beckons tonight!

Peko Peko is a bit out of the way for us, but I have an inkling we may return – Bennie will love the pop culture shrine at the pay point and I’m learning he’ll eat just about anything, no questions asked, if it’s in one of those bento boxes.

Peko Peko on Urbanspoon

Golden Grill Turkish Restaurant

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Felafel plate at Golden Grill Turkish Restaurant in Werribee.

Felafel plate at Golden Grill Turkish Restaurant in Werribee.

Golden Grill Turkish Restaurant,  38 Station St, Werribee. Phone: 9741 7101

A dry argument, dry like wine?

Neither, but this is a story of dryness.

Golden Grill in Werribee had been on the radar for a while.

Somehow, I’d picked up the vibe that this was more than just a quickie kebab joint.

But every time, for quite a while there, I was in the vicinity, it was closed.

Today I’m in luck.

A bunch of uniformed chaps are bustling through the fag end of the lunch hour.

The marinated meats in the display at the front look succulent, as do the displayed sweets.

Out the back, Golden Gill becomes a real-deal Turkish eatery.

There’s lovely wooden furniture of a certain age – not antique, but not shiny new either.

There’s travel posters of Turkey – a couple of which I even recognise from them playing a similar role in our beloved Footscray Best Kebab House.

Also adorning the walls are newspaper clippings about the restaurant and photos of staff posing with happy customers.

It’s all good, it’s all familiar and it all augurs well.

So, as you can see, I am most favourably inclined towards Golden Grill.

So what goes wrong?

I order the felafel plate ($15.90).

Before then, however, I indulge in one of the place’s stuffed vine leaves ($2.50).

This is big and hard – making me think that for once it may have been better to have my dolma cigar heated through.

But all is fine once I’m into the eating of it – the tomato-infused rice has that distinctive, familiar tang. It’s delicious!

The felafel plate price is quite high, but I figure the gauge will be in the results.

The felafal balls themselves are large and also quite hard. The flavour is fine. But – oh dear – they are so dry that eating them becomes a jaw-taxing chore.

Perhaps my eggplant dip, which has no smokiness but a nice garlic/lemon thing going on, will help ease the way?

Nope.

Claggy is the word.

If it’s possible for a dip to be dry, then this is dry.

I turn for help to the salad bits and pieces – which include some tabouli.

All is crispy, crunchy and fresh – but unadorned to the point of austerity.

My meal cries out for some moistness – specifically a generous hand with the olive oil and lemon juice.

Maybe next time the gorgeous-looking marinated meats spied on the way in!

Golden Grill Turkish Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Al’s Yarraville expansion

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That top bloke Al Fresco has enlarged his Yarraville options with the opening recently of a triangular outdoor space by Alfa Bakehouse.

The area – featuring more than half a dozen tables of various kinds – is adjacent to the outdoor dining area of Wee Jeanie.

The Wee Jeanie staff tell me their communal dining space incurs no council fee as its on their property.

Alfa Bakehouse presumably has paid the going rate for their much larger area.

And, again presumably, any Wee Jeanie customers having the temerity to attempt to enjoy their repasts at the bakehouse facilities would be greeted with a degree frostiness at best and a request to remove themselves at worst.

Still, it all looks rather lovely, doesn’t it, what with the trees and all?

Even if – as with the Ballarat St closure – the grass is fake!

Coconut House

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Coconut House in Elizabeth St, Melbourne.

Coconut House, 449 Elizabeth St, Melbourne. Phone: 9329 6401

Long before Consider The Sauce became a reality and changed our lives in so many ways, we had been sometime visitors to Coconut House and enjoyed some cracking meals along the way.

About the time we started blogging, though, we had a few meals that weren’t bad but barely passed as average.

It seemed then, and sadly still does now, the place is a victim of its own success.

It seems an obvious foodie magnet – cheap Malaysian dishes delivered in their hundreds and thousands in a place packed at just about all times for a price that, even now, finds just about every dish priced at just under $10.

But we had noticed a diminution in our Coconut House experiences – the already frantic and somewhat haphazard service became a case of furrowed brows all round and the food started becoming sloppy and quite often barely warm.

No one expects fine-dining elan in such a joint, but too many rough edges simply drives down the enjoyment levels until you wonder what you’re doing there in the first place.

All this occurred about the same time as I was starting to spend quite a lot of time checking out other blogs and reviews, so I knew we were not alone.

While there were and are plenty of raves for this popular place, by and large the collective opinion seems to be that it’s a hit-and-miss affair – with the accent on the misses.

So it goes … our Sunday lunch does nothing to improve our opinions.

The opening of a second premises a few doors down – to which meals are ferried – does not seem to have alleviated the cramped, chaotic feel.

And the staff still seem to be working so very, very hard that they almost seem to impart an air of joylessness.

All this would be fine if the food was really first-rate.

But it’s not.

I’d love to be able to say our lunch was super or even just plain old good – but in truth it was average verging on mediocre.

The menu has grown since our earlier visits – there’s a variety of claypots and even some Thai dishes.

But Bennie and I stick with our regular faves, mostly to see how Coconut House is faring these days – one blog discussion I remember stated that management were aware of customers complaints and disenchantment, and were working to fix the causes.

Bennie has his egg noodles with BBQ pork and roast chicken.

The noodles arrive in one big clump and are barely warm. It takes some effort to untangle some of them and toss them around in the soy-based sauce. Drab is the appropriate word.

He likes the pork – but then, he always does.

His chook tastes pretty good to me but he’s not impressed.

He doesn’t touch the egg – not his go even when they’re not dyed dark.

The rice part of my chicken rice is overwhelming in it garlickness.

Is this a normal variation of this great dish?

I’ve never been to Malaysia, nor any other part of South-East Asia where I might order chicken rice, but I’ve enjoyed many, many versions all over Melbourne and I’ve never come across “garlic rice”.

In any case, the garlic flavour is so powerful – in an unappealing way – that it lingers hours after we arrive home.

The chicken is beautifully tender and expertly devoid of bones, but gosh it’s lacking any kind of chooky flavour at all.

Or maybe it’s being shouted down by the “garlic rice”!

In both meals, the chilli mash accompanying is the best of our lunch.

The soup, we both find, is uninspired, with oil slicks and mushy peanuts.

I suspect much of Coconut House’s appeal and rampant popularity can be attributed to its clever variations-on-a-theme menu.

If we return, however, I’ll be sure to order one of the usually reliable laksas.

In the meantime, while they may not have the same innovative menu configuration, there are five places in Flemington where much the same food can be had – of higher quality, at similarly low prices and in a less harried atmosphere.

Coconut House on Urbanspoon

Ajitoya, Seddon Festival

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Hillbilly llama at Seddon Festival, 2012.

Ajitoya, 82 Charles St, Seddon. Phone: 9687 1027
Seddon Festival 2012, Harris Reserve, Seddon

Decisions, decisions …

The final cricket match of the season seen off, we are left with three delicious prospects for the remainder of our Saturday.

There’s the famed multicultural celebration called the Pako Festa in Geelong.

But a voluntary drive to that city when so many are mandatory means that idea is likely to remain a mere flicker of possibility.

There’s a more monocultural celebration going at the junction of Lonsdale and Russell streets in the Melbourne CBD.

But finally, especially given the rising temperature, we settle – much to Bennie’s satisfaction – on our local Seddon Festival.

A short, sweaty stroll up Gamon St and we’re there.

We’d already decided that in case the festival’s food offerings do not appeal that it’s best to have a Plan B ready to roll.

The fest food stalls seem more like snacky territory than the lunch proper we are desirous of.

Plan B is Ajitoya.

We had reviewed Ajitoya just a day or so after it opened, and have been back for a few meals since.

We’ve enjoyed seeing the place evolve and grow courtesy of soulful Facebook updates.

It’s time for another look.

Due to the heat and appetites of only medium stature, we stick with basic lunch orders rather than $16-21 sets.

Zaru soba at Ajitoya in Seddon

Bennie had some weeks earlier absorbed my enthusiasm about the cold Japanese noodles served here so has no hesitation in ordering the zaru soba ($13).

He loves it to pieces, merrily dipping the superb noodles in the soy-based dipping sauce into which he has stirred wasabi and spring onion slices.

There is something paradoxically both exotic and plain as can be about this dish, and it’s a winner for sure on a hot day.

Can I tell you how much I love my son and what he’s achieving?

In recent months, he’s gone from being a non-lover, non-eater of capsicum and tofu to happily eating just about all forms of both – and has even taught himself to use chopsticks, as he does here!

His father improvises by ordering miso soup ($4) and a trio of salads ($9).

Trio of salads and miso soup at Ajitoya in Seddon.

The miso soup is fine, the salads are something else again.

They are listed as …

Lightly shredded chicken salad with wasabi dressing.

Buckwheat soba noodles with pickled mustard greens, mayo and spice

Leafy hijiku with lightly fried tofu with daikon ginger vinaigrette.

OK … the chicken salad also has cabbage along with soy/tamari in the dressing; and the noodles have little or no pickle flavour, but do have a tingling chilli hit.

But I adore the way the three salads, and their distinctive dressings, work together – marvellous harmony!

This is another light and great meal for a hot day.

Ajitoya’s Adam tells me he’d have the whole counter cabinet chockers with salads if he had his way, but customer demand dictates sushi rolls remain a mainstay of the business.

I vote for more salads!

He also tells me he and Maya have learned to avoid too constant scanning of what different folk are saying about them at Urbanspoon. Yes, it can do a head in.

One customer, for instance, posted a review there on her mobile saying the food was fine, “but a bit pricey for what you get”.

Other customers have told them their prices are too cheap!

Looks, it’s true a short drive away you can get pho and the like for significantly less than you pay here.

At the same time, though, there are four places within a couple of blocks where you can pay quite a lot more for restaurant food.

Perhaps it’s the very cafe, if very chic, vibe or the display cabinet of sushi rolls that leads people to expect big serves for under $10 here.

Whatever … we have no issue whatsoever with the pricing, especially given the quality and presentation of the food, along with the service.

Ajitoya … don’t think of it as a cafe. This is a Japanese restaurant serving restaurant-quality Japanese food.

Back at the festival, the heat is killing and things don’t seem to have gotten any more lively.

The lawn expanses, subject to the full blast of the unrelenting sun, are unpeopled.

Shade is at a premium.

Everyone is doing it hard – including the panting inhabitants of the animal farm.

Even the music has a sort of desultory, “can we really be bothered with this?” air about it.

Nevertheless, we spend an enjoyable couple of hours taking it all in, talking to friends we meet and just generally hanging out.

Food-wise, we make do with a yummy $5 serve of churros with chocolate dipping sauce from the nice people at Sourdough Kitchen.

ajitoya on Urbanspoon

Win tix to World’s Longest Lunch …

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As part of a promotion in which Consider The Sauce is participating with the Bank of Melbourne, we have two tickets to give away to the World’s Longest Lunch – on Friday, March 2, from noon at Alexandra Park, Alexandra Ave, South Yarra.

What a cool prize – these hot Melbourne Food & Wine Festival tickets are worth $135 each!

Our competition is open to Consider The Sauce email subscribers and Facebook friends.

All you have to do is reply to this post and tell us, in 25 words or less, what is your favourite western suburbs eating joint and why you dig it so much.

No entries will be accepted after 6pm on Sunday, February 26.

The winner will be announced on the morning of Monday, February 27.

The judge’s decision will be final and no correspondence will entered into!

Read more about the World’s Longest Lunch here.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention … we’d love the winner to take a bunch of photos of their grand lunch and write a post for Consider The Sauce, but we won’t make it mandatory!

New Seddon supermarket: Update

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It’s open – see a rundown of our first visit here.

Hot Wings

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134 Ferguson St, Williamstown. Phone: 9397 0146

Want to know what Australia eats on a Saturday night?

Forget your fancy pants cooking and lifestyle shows, glossy magazines, newspaper reviews, food guides and food blogs.

Sit, instead, at one of the few inside tables at Hot Wings in Williamstown at the start of rush hour … and watch an amazing, ceaseless flow of customers come and go.

These are not groups of teens fuelling up for a night of movies or mayhem, or couples of any age grabbing dinner on the way home from a day out.

Nope, almost without exception these are parents popping in to grab obviously family-sized meals for family-sized families.

Think of this same scene unfolding at all the good chicken shops across Melbourne, then Victoria and then Australia – it’s amazing to contemplate.

There’s no doubt this is spectacularly unhealthy food.

But I doubt it’s any worse than, say, fish and chips, which seem to have acquired a patina of righteousness in the past decade or so, or the unfood of the franchises.

I doubt even that a chicken shop feed is much more of a no-no than the kebab and dips approach, or the whole five-course deal at a French establishment.

In any case, these places are hugely popular – a mainstay, for better or worse, of the Australian family food routine.

I’d love to know more about them.

When did they start? Where did the inspiration come from?

Are there equivalents in other countries, apart from the fried chicken of US fame?

You still find quite a broad spectrum of people running such businesses, but my impression is that these days they are dominated by folk of the Chinese persuasion.

And then, too, there’s hybrids – chicken ‘n’ pizzas, chicken ‘n’ burgers, chicken ‘n’ F&C, chicken ‘n’ kebabs, chicken ‘n’ the lot.

There’s nothing hybrid about Hot Wings – it’s a classic of the genre.

It’s all here – the scalloped potatoes, deep-fried chicken if you’re perverse enough to desire such, the gravy, the salads.

A couple of the salads look like they’ve been mayonaised to death, but there’s a decent looking Greek salad and even – wow! – a tabouli.

When the mood strikes me for this kind of food – about once a year – I prefer to head for the shop in Racecourse Rd, Flemington, or some other place that does eat-ins with metal cutlery and real plates.

But as I chow down at Hot Wings, I have no regrets – as what I experience is a peak chicken shop meal.

Timing is vital in visits to such food outlets.

If, when you enter, a new batch of chips is on the way and the final, bedraggled remnants of the previous lot are sitting there looking unlovely, head for the door … walk around the block or go somewhere else.

Tonight, I’m in luck – the chips are fresh, hot and wonderful.

The downer of having to use plastic cutlery is substantially decreased by the juicy quality of my half bird – even the deepest part of the breast meat is moist, requiring no help from gravy or such like.

This, in my experience, is a rarity.

As is coleslaw that is neither gloopy with or drowning in mayo.

That said, this one doesn’t quite back up its good looks – it’s plainly on the dull and bland side.

Cheese kransky @ Andrew’s Choice

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Bennie's goes the snag at Andrew's Choice in Yarraville.

Andrew’s Choice, 24 Anderson St, Yarraville: Phone: 9687 2419

Plans for a more elaborate and distant post-cricket lunch have been nixed by some scheduling clashes, so we keep it simple, cheap and very close to home.

I know there’s plenty of folks who swear by Andrew’s and their meats, snags, hams and other goodies.

We’re some-time customers only, based solely on their rather steep prices. Mostly frequented for a treat only by us, though I do love their taramasalata.

The Saturday fry-up of cheese kranskys, a close relation to the sort of weekend sausage sizzles offered by the likes of Bunnings,  is another matter entirely.

There’s nowhere to sit and no soft drinks available, but the price is right – $4 a pop.

For him, one with Original Chutney and the browned onions sitting to one side of the grill.

For his dad, one with Original Chutney and mustard. The onions look a mite sad-sack to me.

Our lunches are served not in buns but in thin-sliced white bread.

The bread falls apart. The condiments quickly spread to the paper serviettes.

Our lunches are delicious.

Personally, I could do without the cheese.

I know there’s snag purists who think cheese shouldn’t have anything to with kransky or any other form of sausage.

Apart from as an extra, of course.

Bennie loves the cheese. Loves the onions, too.

He loves the way these sorts of snags go “pop”!

A quick stop at the greengrocer and we’re home inside 20 minutes.

The Grand Tofu

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Yong tofu goodies at the Grand Tofu in Flemington.

The Grand Tofu, 314 Racecourse Rd, Flemington. Phone: 9376 0168

A more recent review can be found here.

Restaurant experience or eat-and-run?

That’s what hungry hordes descending on Flemington may ponder, particularly if they find full-to-overflowing the fabled Laksa King and the already storied Chef Lagenda, both just around the corner, but still desire Malaysian food.

They’re likely to find themselves entering The Grand Tofu, being well fed in a beaut joint and deciding that Plan C is the preferred option after all.

I suspect that’ll certainly be the case with us.

At Laksa King, in particular, they try to do the right thing by having a staff member you to your table, issuing menus, returning to take your order – the whole nine yards, which is fine really.

But, honestly, sometimes all I want is a bowl of something. Now.

Actually, describing The Grand Tofu as an eat-and-run place is a little unkind as the routine is pretty much the same – but there’s an ease and immediacy about it that I dig..

Sure, there’s a wall of those photos and a robust lunchtime crowd that appears to agree with my positive assessment.

The place is kitted out with nice dark-stain furniture, mirrors and hand-written specials notifications on paper.

But the smiling service is every bit as obliging and efficient as that of their two famous neighbours, the prices appear to near-identical and The Grand Tofu appears to have all their bases covered … and more.

For there’s a lot to try here.

As well as lobak on the entree menu, they have dumplings and entree-size soups of four denominations for about $4.50

As well as all the expected noodle, rice, soup and curry offerings, there’s the likes of Penang king prawn noodle soup ($12.80) and even butter chicken ($16.80) – described as deep-fried chicken w/ chef special sauce”.

Gosh – what’s that all about, I wonder? Indo-Malaysian?

Yong tofu with curry sauce base at The Grad Tofu in Flemington.

And then there’s the yong tofu lineup, which I choose to constitute my lunch in honour of the place’s name.

The glistening, glowing spread is all made in-house, I am assured.

You can go with one of three pre-chosen combos of six pieces each to go with your stock, curry or tom yum soup and noodles.

Or you can be real daring and go custom-built.

Both versions cost a fine $10.

Which is what do by ordering lightly fried pork and seafood ball, seafood stuffed eggplant, chicken dumpling, prawn dumpling, stuffed chilli and chicken-stuffed doughnut with curry soup and rice noodles.

As you can see, I erred on the side of naughtiness in ordering, but I doubt the vegetable options here are any more healthy than the meat or seafood alternatives.

In any case, they’re all good.

The dumplings all have a nice sogginess going on by  the time I get to them.

I leave the eggplant until last, only to find it’s cooked wonderfully in the soup and is slippery slithery delicious.

The curry soup is no great shakes, but I’m heartened by finding a curry leaf, which I hope denotes it’s a house-made brew.

Besides, I get a nice kick from the stuffed chilli, which is both spicy and juicy.

The rice noodles are a nice alternative to the egg noodles I usually have with this sort of fare.

This a big meal – I don’t finish the noodles or soup.

I’m dead keen to return here with Bennie in tow – I like their style.

The Grand Tofu 3 on Urbanspoon

Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe

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Wok action at Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe.

 

Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe, 157 Rathdowne St, Carlton. Phone: 9347 1739

This restaurant has closed down.

Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe was among my first – maybe even the very first – experience with Asian cheap eats in Melbourne.

The place had been around 10 years before that, too – they hung their shingle out 10 years before I ever stepped through the door, opening for business in 1976.

Nothing has changed.

Oh sure, the prices have crept up – but you can still get a brilliant feed for $10.

The kids have grown up, but the main couple who run the place – he over the woks, she running about taking care of all the other business – seem as ageless as their restaurant.

I suspect there are locals who have been eating here – or taking away – on a weekly basis for decades.

There’s no doubt others, too, such as myself who once lived nearby, have moved on and out, but who still find it worth the drive.

The welcome is wonderfully friendly for all.

There are only three tables – two that can seat four at a pinch, and another that handles two diners.

Better, though, are any one of the half-dozen or stools at the bar, from where you can watch all the cooking action unfold.

It’s such a fixture and monument to great food – in my mind and doubtless the minds of the many loyal customers – that I find it extraordinary that there are no reviews of any kind for it at Urbanspoon and that I am able to find only one other blogger who has written it up.

The “Chinese” in the eatery’s name is a little misleading – yes, they do heaps of straight-up noodle dishes that can be described as Chinese, as well as won ton soups and so on.

But they also do the likes of mee goreng, Hainan chicken rice and laksas.

But here’s the thing – and what make this place and its food so darn magical …

Regardless of the original national identity of any of these dishes – Malaysian, Singaporean, whatever – the folk at Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe do them their way, with individuality and personality, and caring not a whit for any traditions.

It’s almost as if this family restaurant has lived happily since its opening in its own space, going about its business in its own way as the city – and its food – has changed.

Just for instance …

The Singapore fried noodles – which I’ve been led to believe have only the most tenuous with Singapore in the first place – here come with a great brown dollop of peanut sauce on top that is quite unlike anything you’ll find in a Thai restaurant.

Similarly, the Hainan chicken rice is utterly like anything I’ve eaten under that name anywhere. Though, based on my one experience with it, I wouldn’t recommend it anyway.

One of fellow diners is eating a laksa that is a lurid yellow instead of the golden brown you’re more likely to find in Flemington.

Bennie loves the longish snack menu for one simple reason – they’re almost all deep fried!

Poppiah, sui mai (pork and beef), won tons, stuffed bean curd and more – they’re all good.

My two won tons (70 cents a pop) and a beef curry puff ($2.20) are sooper dooper crispy crunchy and astonishingly oil-free

This is a place of long-held routines, so I suspect that just about all those who come here have their favourites and mostly likely wouldn’t even think of ordering anything else.

For me, that’s the beef curry with noodles ($9.80).

It’s rare that in doing more than 200 posts for this blog that I’ve struggled to find the words.

But in casting about for the right ones to do this magnificent meal justice, I’m daunted for sure!

Like some dishes already mentioned, this a Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe dish – and one that is quite unlike any curry I’ve had elsewhere around town.

You could say it’s sort-of in the Malaysian tradition, but without the coconut.

But that doesn’t quite nail it, either.

The gravy is incredibly rich and deep of flavour, but not at all heavy. It has a bit more of spice kick than found in most Malaysian places these days, too

The many beef pieces are almost totally fat-free and fall-apart tender.

And fall apart they do, as the eating progresses, adding to the richness of the gravy.

Likewise, my couple of potato pieces are tender and soaked in the magic.

Three pieces of bok choy sit atop, but soon they’re swimming in it, too, along with some chopped lettuce and bean sprouts buried under heaps of slippery egg noodles.

It’s brilliant!

You can order this with rice if you so desire, and there’s fine chicken curry as well, but I find the bone factor tiresome.

But how stupendously wonderful is it that what could quite possibly be Melbourne’s best curry meal is to be found in a humble Chinese noodle joint?

Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe on Urbanspoon

Third Wave Cafe

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Third Wave Cafe in Port Melbourne.

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

Third Wave Cafe is a rather chic and appealing establishment a few blocks from the bustle of Bay St.

A casual glance may convey the impression this is just another nondescript inner-city cafe catering to workers of various kinds before, during and after their various employments.

Look just a little closer, though, and its apparent there’s a level of care and passion going on here – it’s in the various signs and it’s in the menu.

They’re serious about their coffee, they have a seriously good-looking line-up of paninis and – best of all – they have an interesting array of Russian dishes on offer.

I’ve been aware of this joint’s existence for a while, but have been in no great hurry to check it out.

But it scored a mention when I asked this blog’s Facebook buddies for suggestions of places to go for non-traditional breakfasting that goes beyond eggs-with-the-lot.

Breakfast is already done for today, but as Third Wave Cafe lies midway between a stimulating visit to Booktalk Cafe in Richmond and home, lunch is definitely on.

After I place my order, I feel a pang of regret as a couple of plates of Russian salad go passing by.

With the usual ingredients plus chicken and served with “artisan bread”, this looks seriously good for $13.

But my deal is done – meat blintzes ($16.50) it is.

Meat blitzes at Third Wave Cafe.

These look a little on the small side for the price, but I have a hunch that impression is going to prove deceptive and they’re going to reveal themselves as filling, if not hearty.

A bit like the looks of roti with curry at so many Malaysian eateries can slyly look skimpy!

I’m correct.

This is a really lovely lunch.

The blintzes and their filling are quite refined but at the same time quite filling.

The beef/pork mince is studded with very finely chopped onion and carrot.

The occasional whiff from the dill garnish and restrained dabs of the accompanying sour cream help every mouthful be an utter joy.

When my waitress asks how my lunch was, I truthfully and without hesitation say: “It was packed with awesomeness!”

The Third Wave blintzes also come in caviar, mushroom and cheese flavours, while other Russian items on the menu include borscht ($13.50), pelmeni (dumplings), syrniki (savoury pancakes, $14.50) and marinated shashlik ($20).

A Russian Sampler Plate of Russian salad, two types of blintzes (excluding caviar), meat dumplings and potato and mushroom torte costs $26.

I want to try everything … by the end of the week.

My cafe latte is pricey at $3.80 but very good.

The Third Wave Cafe website, including full menu rundown, is here.

Third Wave Cafe on Urbanspoon

Oliver’s Garden

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Oliver's Garden in Queen's Park, Moonee Ponds.

Oliver’s Garden, The Strand, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9372 0438

The kiosk in Queen’s Park in Moonee Ponds is such a lovely setting that I wish it was closer to home – or, leastwise, that we had something similar.

The last time we visited was with our pal Kurt on the midway point of a longish Sunday bicycle ride.

If memory serves, our meal that day was BLT, nachos and a burger. Without reaching any great heights, they all did their job.

And also went some way to nullifying the truism that Melbourne does food in its parks about as well as it does bayside dining.

Truth is, I’m not even sure kiosk is the right term these days, as the eatery in question is operating under the name Oliver’s Garden.

For this week-day lunch, I’m in a burger mood, so am none too hopeful – the online menu, found on the establishment’s website, lists none.

But I’m in luck – though the news it’ll come in a Turkish loaf is unpromising.

Burger at Oliver's Garden ($14).

Initial impressions don’t do much to bolster confidence, either, as the beef patty looks way too small for the bun. And the $14 fee is starting to look a little on the high side.

But the hands-on experience is a winning one.

The chips are crispy, well-cooked, hot and very fine.

The burger meat belies its size by being full of beefy flavour and pretty much in the right proportions to its sandwich colleagues.

The dressing of grated beetroot, dill pickle bits and dill mayo is nigh on perfect in a suitably burgerish way, as is the fresh Turkish bread.

This is a burger meal that rates in quality, taste and price alongside the likes of Grill’d and Burger Edge.

Though my tiny bottle of that Coca Cola stuff for $3.50 is outlandish.

Oliver’s Garden does a range of breakfast dishes, focaccias, salads and a kids menu that ranges from $5 to $9.

On the day of my visit, the blackboard next to the takeaway servery hole lists a bubble and squeak for $13 that sounds real nice. 

Whizzing to and fro on our various adventures, it’s easy to forget this place and its lovely surrounds – and that’s our loss.

Even on a crisp, overcast day there’s a leisurely ease around the place of mums and children and ladies lunching.

Oliver's Garden on Urbanspoon