Din Tai Fung (Melbourne)

The infamous Din Tai Fung has finally opened its doors to Melburnians this week. And did it live up to the hype?

Having eaten in a few of their branches around the world including their original Taipei restaurant, the Melbourne branch has lots to improve. There wasn't a proper waiting system. Customers were given a number and menu and told to come back and check every so often. Somehow one would think Din Tai Fung (Melbourne) would have learnt a few tips and tricks from their other branches before opening here.

Queuing up for good food has become the norm in Melbourne but the wait time has to be accurate or take one's contact number and call  when the table is ready. Tip for you, Din Tai Fung (Melbourne) - you better under-promise and over-deliver and not the other way around. Going back twice and being told to come back a third time with no guarantee of a table is not acceptable.

Service: :star
Quality of food: -
Value for money: -

Type of venue: Taiwanese

Worth a return visit? No.

Address: Level 4, Emporium, 287 Lonsdale Street

 

Burch and Purchese Sweet Studio

South Yarra is certainly spoilt for choice when it comes to dessert options and Burch and Purchese will not disappoint. The cabinate display is so tempting that numerous impulse purchases have been made. Their various spreads are pretty good too but don't have much of a shelf life so it would be good if they made smaller jars for singles or couples. 

67% Madagascan Single Origin Chocolate and Tonka Bean Eclair  - Chocolaty but not overly sweet due to the high quality dark chocolate used.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star

Type of venue: Dessert

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 647 Chapel Street,  South Yarra VIC 3141

 

Entrecôte

Entrecôte is a French steakhouse located on Domain Road opposite the Botanic Gardens. Loved it! Wonderful service, food and decor. You have a few options for entree and dessert but main is a simple choice between the ever popular steak or a veg/pescatarian option. Limitless sliced baguette, fries and salad is a nice touch. Just a shame we didn't have dessert this time. The heated outdoor seating looks cosy enough for dessert and drinks.

French onion soup ($17.90) - Served with gruyère crouton, the soup had a light onion flavour and wasn't too salty. Perfect with the gruyère.

Steak Frites ($39.90) - Grilled Hopkins River Porterhouse, frites, sauce maison au berre et aux herbs. Accompanied with limitless crispy thin fries and soft leaves - radish, walnuts, Dijon vinaigrette. Steak is cooked to order and had it medium rare. Delicious! Had an extra serving of salad and it was so satisfying.

Salmon Confit ($39.90) - Tender and perfectly cooked salmon. Simple and delicious.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: French. 

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 131-133 Domain Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141

 

Lucky Penny

Those who are after a quick brekkie or lunch in South Yarra will certainly get their fix at Lucky Penny. A smallish cafe but with consistently good drinks and food available. This time we had:

Pork belly roll - Apple coleslaw, sriracha mayo, crackling (AU$14) - We reckon they make some of the best rolls out there. Served on soft Turkish bread, the filling is very generous and great to have when you are feeling particularly famished. All the flavours work well together as you have sweetness and crispness from the apple, spiciness and richness from the mayo, and the crunch from the crispy crackling.

Fried cauliflower - with hummus, coriander, cashew cream, a poached egg and charred bread (AU$16) - Perfectly cooked cauliflower, they are slightly charred on the outside and so meltingly soft. Generous serving that goes well with the poached egg and cashew cream. A great veg option.

Service: :star :star :star :star ½
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star

Type of venue: Cafe

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 481 Chapel St, South Yarra VIC 3141

 

Tenmatsu

Tenmatsu is a must try for those after a superior tempura restaurant in Tokyo. Located just outside Mitsukoshi-mae station, we were seated at the counter while the chef prepared an amazing meal for us. Choose from several set options. We had:

Entree - didn't quite catch what the hostess mentioned but she asked if we wanted something seasonal as an entree and we said yes. It was a wonderful seafood appetiser, fresh and tangy, and certainly got the tastebuds going.

Take set - 6 pieces of tempura: shrimp, fish, vegetables (¥5400) - Substantial tempura set with fresh ingredients, you get an extra serving of fish compared to the Ume set. You get to choose your own vegetable tempura from a basket of goodies and the shrimp is prepared fresh in front of you; still alive and kicking. The tempura batter is light and crispy and expertly fried.

Ume set - 5 pieces of tempura: shrimp, fish, vegetable (¥4320) - Good amount of tempura courses and very good value. As mentioned, you get pretty much everything that the more expensive options have.

Bowl of rice with tendon (¥2700) - Shrimp, veg and fish pancake tempura served on top a bowl of rice. It was accompanied with a tendon sauce on top and was quite tasty.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Japanese,  Tempura

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 1-8-2 Muromachi, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-0022

Broadsheet Restaurant

Went to the Broadsheet restaurant at about 11 a.m. today. It wasn't very busy which was quite surprising. After all, food markets and the like have always been very popular. It is on from the 5th of June to the 2nd of Aug with a separate day and nighttime menu. We had:

Toasted Reuben sandwich on dark rye with corned brisket, sauerkraut, Swiss and Russian dressing from Five Points Deli (AU$17) - Generous, juicy and tasty. Well done and it certainly makes us want to check out Five Points Deli.

Quality of food: :star :star :star :star ½
Value for money: :star :star :star :star ½

Type of venue: American, Sandwiches,  Deli

Worth a return visit? Yes.

 

Roasted yellow duck curry with jasmine rice from Coda (AU$24) - Simple duck leg curry. However, a bit too sweet and would have loved a bit more of the spice mixture to come through. Also, there was nothing else in the curry; just the meat and sauce. Surely some vegetables would have gone into the curry? Disappointed with it.

Quality of food: :star :star  ½
Value for money: :star :star ½

Type of venue: Modern Australian, Fusion

Worth a return visit? No.

 

Satu Produk

Satu Produk Durian (literal translation being One Durian Product) is located in Melbourne's Chinatown. As its name suggests, the star of this place is all things durian. We were here prior to its grand opening and also recently. The menu now has English on it too. Perfect for durian lovers or those interested in trying this fruit. We had:

Durian, Durian Ice Cream and Coconut Jelly - A cold durian dessert with shaved ice, durian, durian ice cream and coconut jelly. Sweet, slightly milky and quite a nice durian flavour throughout. Wish the shaved ice was smoother and not as chunky. A nice change from the usual shaved ice dessert options out there.

Durian Pancakes - Thin crepe with durian and cream filling. You certainly can't miss the durian aroma and flavour in this. Quite light and nice.

Service: :star :star :star :star  ½
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star ½
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Chinese Dessert

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 206-218 Bourke St, Melbourne 3000

 

Gion Maruyama

Gion Maruyama (Two Michelin Stars) is an amazing Kyoto-style Kaiseki restaurant. The service was excellent and we were in our very own private room enjoying multiple courses filled with seasonal ingredients. Chef Maruyama was kind enough to prepare the live Ayu in front of us and fresh Ayu has a watermelon scent. We spent about AU$650 but the amazing service by the kimono-clad hostesses, Chef Maruyama and the wonderful atmosphere was completely worth it.

All the dishes were carefully prepared using local seasonal ingredients. They not only looked wonderful but tasted amazing. We had:

Tea and Japanese bamboo wine followed by sakizuke (first dish served in Kyo-Kaiseki) to whet one's appetite. 

The sakizuke was slices of raw sea bream, horse beans and carp eggs dressed with miso sauce, vinegar and Japanese mustard.

Next came sushi rice containing sea bream and pepper-tree leaf wrapped in bamboo leaves, sushi rice containing conger eel and ginger wrapped in oak leaf and other side dishes to symbolise a good start to the May Festival.

After that, we had a soup bowl filled with wonderful seasonal ingredients like Japanese tilefish, plum, pumpkin and hen-of-the-wood mushrooms. It was also accompanied with a sashimi dish comprising of sea bream, toro and cuttlefish. It was the best toro we have ever had but sadly we got too excited and forgot to take a photo of this course.

The main dishes were then prepared by Chef Maruyama. The Ayu (swimming around just seconds ago in front of us) were expertly prepared and even deboned. They were prepared several ways including with salt and sour knotweed sauce, soy and sake.

It was accompanied with broiled bamboo shoot and grilled rice-balls among other things.

This was then followed by a Japanese shabu shabu dish of clam and tofu in a ponzu sauce.

We also had a hollowed out Japanese mandarin orange containing fried scallop, leek, mushrooms and asparagus, and some beef with sweet sake and ginger as well as an out-of-this-world wonderfully sweet tomato.

The final course before dessert comprised of miso soup, rice with sea bream (wonderful fish aroma and taste) and Japanese pickles.

Dessert was a simple but excellent end to the night. We had bracken-starch pastry, shaddock, strawberry and banana sherbet.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Japanese,  Kaiseki

English menu: No menu. Omakase.

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 570-171 Minamigawa, Gionmachi, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto

DOC Pizza and Mozarella Bar

DOC Pizza and Mozarella Bar is our go to place for delicious pizza and other Italian favourites. We have been to all their different locations and tried almost everything on the menu including their special pizzas. This time we had:

Pizza with free range eggs emulsion Pecorino Romano and guanciale (AU$25.90) - One of two specials on the board. We have had this before and it is essentially a carbonara pizza. Yum! The cured pork cheek is salty and crispy and all the ingredients go so well together. As always, a perfectly made pizza.

Radicchio salad with shaved fennel, DOP gorgonzola and balsamic (AU$14.90) - A wonderfully fresh salad. The blue cheese adds a slight saltiness and creaminess to this salad and the sweetness from the balsamic goes well with the bitterness from the radicchio.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Italian,  Pizza

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 135 Victoria Ave, Albert Park VIC.

 

Pop-up Dessert Bar

All dessert lovers will appreciate what Anna Polyviou has to offer at her latest 'Pop-up Dessert Bar' at the Shangri-La Hotel (Sydney) . Her carrot cake was crowned the 2014 Australian Dessert of the Year and also featured on Masterchef AU on Monday 25th May.

Carrot cake,  apricot and carrot gel,  praline cremeux and yellow graffiti (AU$8.50) - This isn't your traditional carrot cake. The carrot cake base has a really good carrot and walnut flavour and I think I could eat that on its own. No cream cheese on the cake but the praline cremeux compliments it very well.

Get your hands on this quick. Available until 15th June.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Dessert

Address: 176 Cumberland St, Sydney NSW 2000

Hiraso

For those after a Nara speciality which is sushi wrapped in persimmon leaf (kakinoha sushi), Hiraso is definitely the place to go to and there are many set lunches to choose from. We had:

Yaezakura set (¥3785) - A very substantial set consisting of Nara's speciality dish as well as sesame tofu, side dishes, grilled Ayu, chagayu (tea based porridge), Japanese Pickles and Japanese sweets. The deliciously sweet Ayu had been boiled until soft, then lightly grilled so it can be eaten from head to tail, bones and all. The Chagayu was light and we really enjoyed the roasted rice tea flavour.

Mahorobo set (¥2300) - Consists of a side dish, sesame tofu, kakinoha sushi, sashimi, miwa soumen and seasonal dessert. This set certainly showcases the delicious persimmon leaf wrapped sushi that this region is famous for.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star 
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Japanese, Nara specialty

Worth a return visit? Yes

Address: 30-1 Imamikado-cho, Nara

Aqua S

If you are after a pretty looking ice cream to take photos of,  then Aqua S is the place for you. However, if you are after some good quality ice cream to satisfy your sweet tooth, this definitely isn't the place!

I ordered the sea salt and espresso ice cream and a cloud of candy floss as a topping. The sea salt ice cream was slightly salty and sweet and I couldn't figure out if it was meant to be savoury. The espresso ice cream was too sweet and I was left with a funny after-taste. A very generous serving of candy floss but it was tasteless.

Service: :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star

Type of venue: Dessert, Ice Cream

Worth a return visit? No.

Address: 501 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

 

Mr. Wong

If you are after excellent Chinese you can't go wrong with Mr Wong in Sydney. It serves up beautifully delicious Chinese fare in a classy environment. Our only bug bear was they got our order for a small crab fried rice wrong and didn't do anything to fix it. They still charged us for the beef noodles and a large one at that. We had:

Sichuan style wagyu beef carpaccio with chilli oil and Chinese doughnut (AU$21) - A good upsell by our server when taking our order. Turned out to be an excellent choice as it was simply delicious. Slightly spicy, you can taste everything on this dish. Just make sure to get a little of everything in each mouthful.

Crispy eggplant with fish fragrant sauce (AU$24) - This is how perfect crispy eggplant should be. Beautifully crispy, it is a slightly oily fish but tasty indeed.

King crab and sweet corn fried rice, trout roe and crispy conpoy AU$22) - This is what we ordered but sadly did not get. Rice would have been a better option with the dishes we ordered and the small size would be perfect for two. We did see another table receive theirs and it looked wonderful.

Crispy fried Balmain bugs with spicy salt (AU$38) - Delicious salty bite sized morsels served golden and crispy.

Hong Kong style stir fried rice noodles with wagyu beef,  bean sprouts and garlic chives (large AU$28) - A good version of this but the large size was way too much for two especially with the other dishes ordered. Because it was oily as it should be, it did not go well with the other oily dishes we ordered.

Service: :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star  ½
Value for money: :star :star :star :star  ½

Type of venue: Chinese

Worth a return visit? Yes

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Address: 3 Bridge Lane, Sydney 2000

Le Renaissance

One of my favourite cafes in Sydney. Great coffee and macarons. 

Rosewater and mandarin & milk chocolate macarons (AU$3 each)

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star 
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: French, Bakery,  Dessert

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 47 Argyle St, The Rocks NSW 2000

Butagumi

Butagumi specialises in tonkatsu and is about a 10 min walk from Roppongi Station. The menu is easy enough to follow; just choose based on how rich or flavourful you want it to be and whatever is available is highlighted in green. We had:

Croquette (¥350) - Crispy on the outside and deliciously creamy on the inside as it should be. The price is per piece.

Japanese sausage (¥600) - Certainly a high quality sausage served quite simply with a side of seeded mustard and pickles. Looks simple but tastes amazing.

Kagoshima-junsui-kuro-buta (¥3600) - Rich option from Kagoshima prefecture. It was nice but certainly drier and more steak-like. Required more chewing effort.

Meishan-ton (¥3800) - Super rich option from Ibaraki prefecture. So tender it melts in your mouth. Very rich and flavourful.

All sets come with miso soup, rice, slice cabbage and Japanese vegetable pickles. You also get a small appetiser to share and wonderful service as you do throughout Japan!

Service: :star :star :star :star :star 
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Japanese,  Tonkatsu 

English menu: Yes.

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 2-24-9 Nishiazabu, Minato, Tokyo 106-0031, Japan

#lategram #gastronomicgemsintokyo

Nakamura Tokichi

Nakamura Tokichi located in Kyoto Station is a popular dessert cafe offering plenty of green tea desserts sure to satisfy one's cravings. We had:

Matcha milk zenzai (¥871) - rice flour dumpling and sweet beans. Served in a bowl, the colour of the green tea soup was amazing. Smooth and slightly sweet, the red beans and rice flour were a nice textural element. It also came with a small side dish of pickles which we suppose acts a bit like salt and chocolate, helping to bring out the sweetness.

Nakamura's tea (¥481) - 7 blends of tea. Comes with an instruction sheet on how to have sweeter or more refreshing tea. It comes down to the temperature of the water and the sweeter tea (made by warm water) was nicer in our opinion.

Service: :star :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star 
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star

Type of venue: Japanese,  Green tea,  Dessert

English menu: Yes.

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: Suvaco JR Kyoto Isetan, 2nd and 3rd fl. (in front of the west ticket gate of JR Kyoto Station)

#lategram #gastronomicgemsinkyoto

Brother Burger and The Marvellous Brew

After coming back from a couple of weeks away in Hong Kong and Japan, we were craving something Western; meaty, rich and cheesy.  Brother Burger and The Marvellous Brew in South Yarra opened recently and we were excited to give it a go. The restaurant itself is quite large with comfy booths and seats with an open kitchen. We had:

Hot stuff (AU$14.80)- 100% Wagyu beef patty, double bacon, cheese, house-made pickles, mustard-mayo and chilli jam - Certainly one of the better burgers out there. The patty was cooked perfectly medium rare, the bacon crispy and it was cheesy and juicy. A few slices of jalapeño on the side was a nice touch.

Royal blue (AU$15.80)- 100% Wagyu beef patty, blue cheese, bacon, house-made onion jam, pickles and ketchup - If you like blue cheese, this burger is certainly for you. Strong blue cheese flavour throughout and again, the patty was cooked perfectly. Delicious!

Thick chips (AU$5.60) - This was the small size and it was enough for two or three people. Very nice chunky super sized chips. Will try the onion rings next time.

Service: :star :star :star :star
Quality of food: :star :star :star :star :star 
Value for money: :star :star :star :star :star 

Type of venue: Burgers

Worth a return visit? Yes.

Address: 560 Chapel Street, South Yarra