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The Yogo Gorilla

19 Apr

M Yogo
Shop 9
Pier Point Road
Cairns QLD 4870
+61 7 4051 0522
www.matureyogo.com/

It seems that our friends up in Cairns are really into fusion fine-dining – and proud of it too. Within a one kilometre radius, there is a French-Japanese fusion restaurant, M Yogo; an Ezard-style Western/Asian eatery at Reef Casino, Tamarind and a pretty-much-anything-Asian-goes restaurant in the form of Hanuman at the Cairns Hilton. One balmy evening, we decided to give the local fusion fare a go, but which one?

It was still too muggy and hot for Hanuman’s famous curries, and we didn’t particularly feel like going to the tawdry casino to eat so M Yogo it was. I thought M Yogo was a pretty funny name for a fusion restaurant, but it turns out that the head chef and owner, Masa Yogo, named his restaurant after himself. What amused me even more was that the restaurant used to be called Mature Yogo, an even more unusual name, before the first word was shortened just to ‘M.’ I was told that this restaurant first started off on the Gold Coast in the late 90s where Yogo won heaps of awards, including the Queensland Restaurant and Catering awards and the AGFG. A few years ago, he presumably got sick of the ‘Coast – understandably so! – so he shifted his restaurant north and it’s been happily sitting at the Cairns marina ever since.

We showed up to our 8:30pm booking on time, to a restaurant half-filled with patrons who were nearing the end of their dinners. We were directed to a table outside, so that we had a perfect 180 degree view of the marina under the moonlight. The intimate restaurant may be one of the more sophisticated restaurants in Cairns city, but it still retained that lovely Queensland casual atmosphere and warm hospitality that made all diners relax.

The menu itself was several pages long, filled with delicious-sounding French dishes with Japanese twists on them. And because we’re in Cairns, seafood is obviously a recurring theme though steaks also make an appearance. Marty and I decided to go all seafood, but which dishes to choose? Well, I knew I wanted this one particular dish which had mud crab, scallop mousse, barramundi and abalone all on one plate (Whoa! Hardcore!) but Marty was less certain. In the end, he asked the lovely Japanese waitress for assistance and as charming as she was, we had a bit of difficulty trying to understand her sweet, thick accent.

She suggested a dish called ‘chizzz-zzolo’.

‘The what?’ Marty looked at her.

‘Chizzzz-zzolo!’ she said with a sweet smile.

‘I’m sorry, can you please repeat that?’

‘Lizzzz-zorrro!’

I was also scanning the menu to see what she might have meant, but I couldn’t find anything that vaguely resembled what she said. Finally, she peered over Marty’s shoulder to look at his menu and pointed to a dish in the pasta section. ‘That one!’ she exclaimed.

OHHHHH, risotto.

Well, Marty isn’t in the habit of ordering risotto at restaurants but hey, if the lovely waitress said it’s good then it MUST be good!’

I started off with a serving of lightly-torched fresh Tasmanian salmon and cauliflower & mixed olive ragout ($16.50). The salmon was perfectly cooked; it was so plump and tender that I could have sworn that Mother Nature gave the fish an injection of natural botox. On its own or even drizzled with a simply soy mirin dressing, it would have tasted amazing. However, with the cauliflower and mixed olive ragout? It didn’t quite have that level of magic. The cauliflower and olive ragout just didn’t seem like it belonged there at all. I understand the attempt to create ‘fusion-ness’ but it shouldn’t be at the cost of taste and cohesion.

I was also perplexed by Marty’s plate of ‘chef’s selcted three variation amuses’ ($12). On it was a little blob of foie gras on a toasted brioche, a piece of salmon and cream cheese roll and a goat’s cheese, tomato and basil tart. Marty is not at all a fan of liver so he wasn’t going to like the foie gras at all, while I thought it was nice. The tart was surprisingly cold, and the filling perhaps a bit too bland for our taste. Meanwhile, the salmon and cream cheese roll may have been lovely in all its simplicity but it wasn’t ground-breaking.

This is my steamed mud crab and scallop mousse wrapped in barramundi with abalone, hollandaise and cream sauce ($34.50). On paper, the dish sounded epically delicious, even though it sounded a bit ew-yuck-turducken. I did, however, set my expectations too high for the dish did not induce foodgasms. The steamed mud crab lacked the natural sweetness that usually comes with fresh Darwin mud crabs so I could only assume that they used the Queensland mud crab which, from an economical point of view, was fair enough. I couldn’t really taste any scallop in the mousse, while the barramundi meat was not only dry but the naturally muddy flavour of the flesh overpowered what would have been a sweet and delicate filling that would have went nicely with the creamy sauce that was beautifully accentuated by hints of abalone. Wrapped in a simple crepe, the dish could have worked well but noooo, because we’re in Cairns, they HAD to use barramundi left, right and centre, didn’t they?

Marty didn’t particularly like his creamy seafood risotto ($26.50). The rice was undercooked, for starters, and the very fragrant saffron influence[sic] sauce was gluggy. The seafood might have been fresh (tiger prawns, squid and scallops) but in the end, they would have worked much better in a paella especially given the use of saffron to flavour the dish. I did like that the mushrooms added a bit of earthiness to the dish which was otherwise, not-so-good in execution.

We both wanted to like M Yogo. We thought the service was friendly and efficient – and we had a soft spot for Miss Chizzolo. For a city that plays it ‘safe’ when it comes to fine-dining, I welcome chef Yogo’s ambition and his restaurant appears to be a breath of fresh air to the Cairns dining scene. Unfortunately, we either came at a bad time, chose the wrong dishes or Yogo is perhaps a bit too ambitious. Perhaps reducing the number of dishes would narrow the restaurant’s focus down, and consequently better-executed dishes will be made. Until then, I think I’ll be heading to tacky Reef Casino for dinner or bravely eating rich curries in humid 30 degree weather the next time I’m in Cairns.

M Yogo on Urbanspoon

To Kill A Mocka’s Pie

18 Apr

Mocka’s Pies
Shop 34/ 9 Grant St
Port Douglas QLD 4877
+61 7 4099 5295

We had been looking forward to the Port Douglas portion of our trip, not so much for its supposedly amazing beaches or its ridiculously good-looking pool of geriatric residents but for the food. Award-winning restaurants such as Salsa’s Bar and Grill, Sassi Cantina and Watermark were on our list, as was Nautilus, where diners could enjoy their lemon myrtle spanner crab potsticker dumplings in a rainforest setting. Unfortunately, a number of circumstances prevented us from enjoying the very best of Port Dougie cuisine. For one thing, half the restaurants on our list were CLOSED for the rest of summer. Secondly, we didn’t spend too long in FNQ (though given how I am seemingly dragging my FNQ posts along, it may appear to be the case) so we couldn’t even afford to spend more than half a day in Port Dougie. Finally, we arrived in Port Dougie, after spending the morning and afternoon hiking in the Daintree area, at an awkward time in the afternoon, 3:00pm, when most of the restaurants had shut down after lunch and would not open again until dinner.

Given that everyone else in Port Douglas seemed to be having a siesta at around the same time (or maybe they, too, were taking holidays elsewhere), most of the shops, bars and other attractions were closed. And it was too hot for the beach. Not wanting to bum around for three hours, we decided to see if we could find at least one café that was open before we drove back to Cairns city for dinner.

Alas, on the same street as Sassi Cantina, there was a pie bakery, Mocka’s Pie, with multiple stickers and awards on its window indicating that they were the real deal. We both love our pies and furthermore, Martin’s curiosity was piqued when he saw that they served ‘kangaroo pies.’ Despite the fact that we didn’t come to Port Dougie for pies AT ALL, we nevertheless decided to give this place a go. I mean, we both had to eat!

To Marty’s disappointment, they had run out of kangaroo pies so he settled for a steak and bacon pie instead (approximately $4). He declared the pie to be okay, but nothing worth shouting down the Captain Cook Highway over.

I’m a fan of chicken pies so I decided to grab the chicken and vegetable pie (also approximately $4). Like Marty, I wasn’t overly delighted with what I got. Sure, it was alright but I’ve certainly had better pies, even at various coffee chains around Melbourne. Given that these coffee chains serve ready-to-heat pies from a particular wholesaler, you know that I’m saying something when I say that Mocka’s supposedly homemade pies don’t taste any better. The filling was not only tasteless, there was a questionable amount of chicken in it and the pastry was not at all crispy.

We also decided to split a mini-sized crocodile pie ($2.50). None of us are particularly fond of crocodile but hey, this is FNQ and we had to eat crocodile at some point. Now, the only other time I’ve had croc was at some Chinese restaurant when my then-boyfriend at the time, Adam, decided to order crocodile in XO sauce ‘just to be different.’ I remembered the texture being a cross between fish and chicken and while it was certainly an interesting experience, that dish did not make me love crocodile meat. Eating this pie reaffirmed my stance towards crocodile – it was like eating chicken, but it smelt like fish. And the filling they used was tasteless beyond belief. Marty didn’t particularly like it either. Thank goodness we only ordered a mini-sized pie.

We left Mocka’s feeling disappointed because we thought the pies were not any better than the ready-to-heat pies they sell at various coffee shops in Melbourne, and certainly not worthy of winning any awards. To be fair though, I think our disappointment somewhat heightened because we didn’t really get to appreciate Port Douglas as others have in the past so we were already in not-so-good moods when we entered the store. I guess if I had to thank Mocka’s for anything, though, it would be to thank them for reinforcing my belief in how yucky crocodile meat is!

Mocka's Pies on Urbanspoon

Vivo La Vida

14 Apr

Vivo Bar and Grill
49 Williams Esplanade
Palm Cove QLD 4879
+61 7 4059 0944
www.vivo.com.au

On our FNQ trip, Marty and I had planned to explore some well-regarded eateries north of Cairns city. With the exception of very few dining gems in Cairns, the city is NOT really known for its fantastic dining scene if places such as Barnacle Bills and The Raw Prawn reign supreme when it comes to luring diners on the Esplanade. Hence, I made it a priority to make day trips out to the Northern Beaches and Port Douglas to sample the area’s finest seafood. As luck would have had it, though, ALL the places I wanted to visit just so happened to be closed for the summer (Nu Nu, Palm Cove and Nautilus, Port Douglas to name two). Thus, our choices were extremely limited *sad face* Thankfully, Vivo Bar and Grill in Palm Cove, only 25 minutes from Cairns city was open. We were heading up to the Daintree Rainforest that day so we decided to make a stop at Palm Cove for some fuel of the breakfast kind.

Cairns does not have an actual beach (no, the lagoon does NOT count) so those wanting to go to the beach will drive to the Northern Beaches. At 8am on a Thursday morning, Palm Cove was surprisingly very quiet. I’m not sure whether it was because all its residents had nicked off for the summer or whether it was way too early for people to be up (I’m guessing the former because I’ve known Queenlanders, in general, to be early risers). After a short stroll down the quiet beach, we walked into Vivo.

The Colonial-style building that houses the award-winning bar and restaurant looks more house-y than restaurant-y with its cool timber interiors and intimate courtyard. As much as we would not have minded sitting inside, the warm morning breeze, the view of the beach and a cute little dog beckoned us to a table outside.

While Marty ordered an affogato ($6 – what is it with Queensland and expensive affogato?!), I ordered a latte ($3.80). I was delighted to find that my coffee tasted amazing – as in, not just amazing by Queensland standards but amazing amazing. The coffee had more body than Elle, thanks to the full cream organic milk that they used and the beans so sweet that no organic raw sugar was needed. Yep, the default sugar used here was raw AND organic. Nice.

Marty also couldn’t resist ordering a smoothie. While I liked the sound of the sunrise smoothie, their ‘secret mix of seasonal tropical fruits blended with a dash of coconut milk’ ($7), Marty decided to ignore my suggest and go for the banana smoothie instead (also $7). Prick. Why didn’t I just get my own smoothie? Quite simply, I thought it would be just too much. Anyway, the smoothie was made out of local bananas blended with milk, local organic yoghurt and tropical bush honey. It was the perfect drink (or meal, for those who like breakie on the go) for such a warm morning.

Rarely do I come across a menu where literally every single thing sounded amazing but this was the case as Vivo. I liked the sound of the local tropical fruit salad, which was topped with roasted pistachio, toasted coconut and organic yoghurt, as well as the buttermilk hotcakes, which came with bananas, mascarpone and maple syrup. In the end, my savoury (as opposed to sweet) tooth prevailed and I chose the mushroom breakfast ($16).

Two slices of toasted ciabatta hosted some spinach leaves, slow-roasted tomatoes and thyme-roasted field mushrooms. Everything was then held together by a lovely pesto dressing and melted taleggio cheese. It was deliciously earthy, creamy, crunchy, tart, chewy and oh-so wonderful. I could not have asked for a better breakfast.

Meanwhile, Marty chose his default breakfast: the eggs benedict ($19). Instead of ciabatta, his dish came with two thick slices of vienna and on them, free-range organic poached eggs drizzled with a lemon hollandaise and matched with spinach and smoked salmon. He declared it delicious. I also loved the addition of the lemon in the hollandaise as it broke down the creaminess of the sauce.

It was a wonderful breakfast that filled our tummies up so that we could face a long day of exploring, hiking, swimming – but not to the point where we were even the slightest bit bloated. Hooray for fresh, local and predominantly ORGANIC produce. The view, the friendly service and the fact that we were near water (despite no sea breeze) also contributed to the awesomeness of this meal. As we were getting ready to pay the bill, I decided that I couldn’t leave without trying the sunrise smoothie. I asked the waitress, who had been sweet and lovely to us the entire time we were there, if I was able to grab it ‘to go’ and was glad when she said that I could. Although the menu said that the contents of the smoothie was a ‘secret’, Vivo’s website says that it contains banana and pineapple (hey, this IS Queensland after all) but I could also taste watermelon and a little bit of passionfruit. Blended together with a little bit of palm sugar and a dash of coconut milk, I sipped it blissfully in the car on the way to Mossman.

Vivo was undoubtedly the best place we visited during our trip to FNQ and we’ll definitely be back for more when we return. We don’t know when, but we know now NOT to book trips while half of FNQ’s restaurants have shut down for the summer! Then again should this be the case the next time we go, I will happily have every single meal at Vivo. No biggie.

Vivo Bar and Grill on Urbanspoon

I’m Raw

12 Apr

The Raw Prawn
The Esplanade Centre
101-103 Esplanade Street
Cairns QLD 4870
+61 7 4031 5326
www.rawprawnrestaurant.com.au

Two weeks before I was due to fly to Cairns, my friends Sean and Kate came back from a holiday there. Both arrived back in Melbourne with stories to tell and places worth going to. In particular, both of them would not shut up about this one restaurant, The Raw Prawn, which was apparently a must-go-to destination. In fact, they loved it so much that they had 3-4 lunches there in the space of five days! And it wasn’t like there was shortage of places for them to visit. The Esplanade, where the restaurant sits, is home to many eateries of various persuasions and their hotel was within walking distance of other places that they could have gone to if they wanted to avoid the tourist-ridden Esplanade.

Our time in Cairns was already very limited and we had filled our days with so many activities that free time was virtually non-existent. Could we squeeze in an extra meal at this supposedly amazingly restaurant? We didn’t think so. But as luck would have had it, we somehow managed to work up an appetite very late one night and decided to stroll along the Esplanade for some food. None of the available dining options really appealed to us so when we ended up at the front of The Raw Prawn, we decided to go in.

Sean suggested going there for lunch because they had a lunch deal where you can get two courses for $22. There was no way we could squeeze in a lunch here so sadly, we missed out on what may have been a great value meal. While the price of the mains seemed reasonable (they averaged $25), I was extremely glad to see that they did have a $35 for two courses thing happening for dinner, with about four choices for each course. I signed up for that while Marty, surprisingly enough, decided that he wanted to eat light and decided to go for two starter-sized dishes in conjunction to the dozen oysters Kilpatrick we were to share.

Unfortunately, the menu was very extensive and so Marty had difficulty choosing his dishes. While most dishes were seafood-based (as are most offerings in Cairns), protein in the form of chicken, beef and natives such as kangaroo, emu and crocodile were available. In addition to a pork belly starter, Marty was eyeing the Aussie game sampler which consisted of smoked crocodile, emu and Cajun-spiced kangaroo ($19.90). The problem, though, was that he doesn’t like crocodile, has had kangaroo numerous times and only really wanted to try the emu (which, as we found out, came in the form of sausages). After a quick check from the kitchen, the waitress told us that the restaurant was happy to give them a small serving of emu sausages for a fraction of the price. That sounded good to us.

With drinks in hand, I went about texting Sean. ‘I am at the Raw Prawn now – this BETTER be good!’ Just as his reply came through – ‘I said to go for LUNCH not dinner!’ – our oysters arrived. Ignoring my pleas to order half a dozen, Marty decided to go the entire dozen ($31.90). Sadly, these weren’t the best oysters we’ve had; the bacon bits were burnt which spoilt what could have been a decent oyster starter for that price. Disappointing.

Then my entrée, the salt and pepper calamari, arrived. The chopped pieces of fresh squid were lightly battered in semolina and were, to my surprise, so beautifully tender and delicious. It was a dish that I could eat non-stop if I was given an entire kilo of it – yep, that yummy. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the ‘Thai salad’ which was advertised as containing wombok, capsicum and coriander but instead, contained handful of raw bean sprouts, a few shreds of wombank and crispy fried shallots - virtually no coriander - and could hardly be considered fresh. Meanwhile, the roasted chilli and lime dipping sauce would have fared a little bit better if they didn’t put so much fish sauce in it.

I was also unsure whether to like Marty’s crispy pork belly. The default option came with a Japanese mushroom salad and sesame dressing ($17.90) but for an extra $4, you can get scallops as well; from the photo, it is clear which option Marty chose. The squares of pork belly were crispy, as the dish’s name suggested, but lacked the requisite fatty and gelatinous goodness. It was a shame, because the sticky honey soy glaze would have gone down well mixed with all the lovely fatty goodness! I was also expecting great things from the salad because it combined two things I love: mushrooms and sesame. Surely they couldn’t mess this one up? Sadly, they did. Not only that, there was no attempt at cohesion – hell, the scallops, the mushroom salad and the pork belly could have been served as three different starter dishes and no one would have batted an eyelid. And as an aside, what the hell is up with Queenslanders and their obsession with putting bean sprouts in salads? Not just Cairns folk but also Gold Coastitutes? The mind boggles…

I chose the sirloin steak for my main but immediately regretted my choice when I saw it. In hindsight, I should have chosen a seafood dish such as the grilled barramundi with roasted kipfler potatoes, asparagus and avocado salsa. Hell, even the weird-sounding the sautéed tiger prawns in garlic and pepper cream sauce and rice would have been better than a tasteless 300g steak that was more medium than medium-rare, and a ridiculously salty port wine jus. The chips weren’t cooked too badly, but they did have that nasty smell that only foods cooked in stale tallow could have.

Meanwhile, Marty’s emu sausages didn’t really do it for us. They were gamey as one would expect, and surprisingly very salty. A bit of sweet onion jam did diffuse some of the saltiness as did an overload of herbs (namely sage and thyme) in the sausage meat but it was a dish that we wouldn’t be rushing to order again.

In the end, we were both disappointed with The Raw Prawn and could not understand why Sean and Kate loved it so much. It could be because we were unfortunate and ordered the wrong dishes or it could be because they have bad taste in foods – but I know the latter is not necessarily the case for they’ve recommended decent restaurants to me before. Sean did make a distinction between going there for lunch, and not dinner, because it’s cheaper at lunch and therefore, better value for money. However, it doesn’t mean that one should expect any less at dinner. Raw Prawn? Raw deal, more like it!

The Raw Prawn on Urbanspoon

I Would Do Anything For bún bò Huế

10 Apr

Pho Viet
Orchid Plaza
24 Shields Street
Cairns QLD 4870
no phone

Tonight, I’ve reverted to writing about Queensland (particularly Cairns)… again. ‘What?’ I hear you say, ‘I thought you were done with that shit.’ Well, no. I’ve only covered about 1.5 days worth of eating, with a couple more days to go. So same deal, here. Those who aren’t booking trips to FNQ should look away for the next two weeks or so; those who are interested in hearing about Cairns-style Vietnamese cuisine, crocodile pies and Japanese-French fusion food, stay tuned!

I’ve been eating a lot of Vietnamese food lately so it seems fitting that this post will be about a Vietnamese kiosk, Pho Viet, Marty and I stumbled across while taking a detour from some place (probably Woolies) to some place (probably our hotel). In a sterile shopping plaza that contained as much life as a square mile of Utahan desert, we saw orange! We saw Vietnamese writing! And we saw photos of noodle soups! Wah!

It was an awkward time of day (4pm) and neither of us were dying of hunger. But to resist not sampling Cairn’s finest – and probably only – source of Vietnamese food? That would be a foodie sin, especially for us Vietnamese-food-o-philes (is that a word? No? Well, I just made it one, heh). We originally decided to split a bánh mì thịt (Vietnamese pork roll) but at the last minute, Marty decided to also order a bowl of bún bò Huế (lemongrass beef noodle soup).

This is what a $4.90 bánh mì looks like. In Footscray, you’re likely to be knifed in the throat for charging that much for a pork roll but hey, this is Cairns and we knew we had to assess this place accordingly. Plus, it was served cut-up on a plate, and with a SMILE from the owner too. You wouldn’t get THAT in Foots-crazy!

The first thing we noticed was the bread: it wasn’t your typically awesome crusty-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside Vietnamese bakery-type bread roll. Rather, the texture was halfway between that of a sourdough loaf and a stale baguette from Woolies. They say that the bread is what makes or breaks a bánh mì and nowhere have I seen a finer example than here,

The bread was hard, inside and outside, and obviously stale. Things were already off to a bad start. As for the filling? It was alright, but the cold cuts of pork meat tasted blander than anything I’ve had on Hopkins Street, and so did the pâté. While I could understand that it would not be cost-effective for the owners to set up a separate bakery just for making bánh mì, I would have thought that a bit more effort would have gone into the filling.

In contrast, the bún bò Huế ($10.90) was a LOT better. In fact, I will go so far to say that it was surprisingly good and jam-packed with flavour; it was probably one of the more flavoursome BBHs I’ve had. They didn’t skimp on the slices of pork, beef, noodles, the unfortunate blob of pig’s blood (something that both Marty and I just can’t eat) and the lemongrass. Oh yes, they were VERY liberal with the lemongrass – something which a lot of restaurants fail to do, which is surprising because, uh, lemongrass IS a key ingredient in bún bò Huế. While it wasn’t Dong Ba quality, it was nevertheless still amazingly full of flavour with the right amount of spiciness. Marty even went on to say that it was the best bowl of BBH he’s ever had in Queensland (not that that’s saying much though). We didn’t even blink at the slightly-higher-than-average price they charged for the bowl, too.

Despite the nasty tropical North Queensland wet season weather outside, our BBH went down a real treat. I guess this was also due, in part, to the fact that we had a ‘no frills’ breakfast and lunch onboard the vessel that took us to out to the reef. Thus, can you imagine how GOOD the BBH would have tasted after a day trying not to get seasick, spitting out saltwater, eating cut-up fruits and sandwiches, scuba-diving and snorkelling? OH HELL YEAH!

Although by no means a Cairns institution, Pho Viet would definitely be a place I would go to the next time I’m in Cairns and have a craving for a steaming bowl of bún bò Huế. Now, if the Vietnamese place near Martin’s place actually start marking half-decent Vietnamese noodle soups (apparently they don’t), then we’ll be in business!

Komeyui Together

8 Apr

Komeyui
396 Bay Street
Port Melbourne VIC 3207
+61 3 9646 2296
www.komeyui.com.au

Every now and then, I leave work early to attend appointments, go to uni and run errands. It’s a pain in the arse having to do them but on the bright side, leaving in the middle of the day does have its perks. If I’m ultra-efficient on the day, I’d have all my chores done before lunchtime which means that I can find a nice place to have lunch at. The last time I managed to do that was a few weeks ago. It was a lovely autumn day, and I had not only visited my GP, attended to boring uni stuff and blitzed through a job interview (for a temporary casual job to fill my evenings, my Saturday afternoons and my bank balance with) but did all my grocery shopping too. With time to kill until it was time to meet Dave for after-work nibbles, I decided to bus it to Bay Street, Port Melbourne.

Despite having worked a stone’s throw away from the suburb a few years back, I had actually never explored the gentrified bayside suburb. But because Melbourne’s new gem in the Japanese dining scene, Komeyui, is actually in Port Melbourne, I decided that that was a good excuse to make the very short trip to postcode 3207.

Although Komeyui does a roaring trade during the dinner hours, it’s also open for lunch albeit with a limited menu. While sushi, sashimi and rice balls dominate the lunch menu, set menus containing the obligatory elements of rice, miso soup, a small side and pickles plus your choice of hot mains are also available. I liked that each dish on the menu came with a comprehensive description; for example, they explained that their Berkshire pork katsu was a ‘deep-fried, bread-crumbed Berkshire pork cutlet.’ Even their description of the humble miso soup was comprehensive – ‘traditional Japanese soup consisting of miso paste and dashi stock made from dried bonito and dried kelp’ … but did we really need to know that the rice was ‘cooked carefully with traditional Japanese rice cooker’?

I took a seat at the bar, a few spots from a lone Asian businessman who was the only other diner that day. From what I’ve read about this place so far, the fresh sashimi was king while the hot dishes, not so. The chef’s omakase was apparently worth exploring but unfortunately only available for dinner. In the end I chose the set menu, with the sushi and sashimi combination as my main ($35). Because the sushi/sashimi platter was considerably more expensive than the other mains, this set menu did not contain any rice, pickles or side dishes. They did, however, retain the bowl of miso soup.

As soon I took out my soon-to-be-replaced camera, head chef and owner Motomu Kumano, who was at work behind the counter, asked me if I was a photographer. ‘Har-har, I wish,’ I replied, which made him laugh. As a graduate of Tsuji Culinary Institute, one of the finest culinary schools in Japanese, and as a former chef at Melbourne’s Kenzan, chef Kumano certainly knows his stuff. He left Kenzan not too long ago, and opened up Komeyui only last year to showcase his skills.

Komeyui’s food philosophy is to use the freshest possible ingredients, an attitude more restaurants need to adhere to. Another philosophy that the restaurant follows is the idea that food should be shared with family and friends – but that’s not to say that Komeyui discriminates against solo diners if their friendliness is anything to go by.

 

It didn’t take long for my miso soup to arrive. With nary a trace of MSG, my broth had a gentle touch yet still strong on the dashi. Probably one of the better ones I’ve had.

Next, the waiter presented a complimentary serving of chawamushi (Japanese steamed savoury egg custard). It was totally unexpected but greatly appreciated nevertheless. Rarely do I come across chawanmushi that’s decent in Melbourne so I wasn’t expecting much here. To my surprise, I was blown away. It was amazing. The egg custard was so delicate and so amazingly silky. Digging deep into the fragile custard, I uncovered chicken pieces, bits of shiitake mushroom, a gingko nut and a large piece of prawn. And the best bit? All the dashi, with just a slight level of sweetness, that held everything together. It was fantastic.

On the side, I also ordered an omusubi (Japanese rice ball). All rice balls are equally priced at $4 and there is a decent list of flavours to choose from. I had difficulty choosing one so I got the waiter to recommend me his favourite. He suggested the grilled salmon one, which sounded fine to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for this rice ball. I was expecting generous chucks of grilled salmon in the middle of the rice ball but all I got was a ball of sticky rice… and what looked and tasted like salmon floss in between the grains. The sad thing was that the so-called grilled salmon bits were few and far between. I knew I should have chosen the tempura prawn one instead.

Thankfully, that was the only downer I encountered during my meal. My sushi and sashimi combination was made up of nine pieces of sashimi, five pieces of nigiri sushi and six pieces of maki sushi – and it was wonderful. The sashimi – kingfish, tuna and salmon – were among the freshest I’ve had in Melbourne. Fresher than Shoya? Well, on par, but better value for money which therefore makes Komeyui’s sashimi better. I savoured every bite. Meanwhile, the nigiri sushi pieces were also fantastic. Along with the obligatory salmon and tuna, there was also John Dory, squid and scallops. Mmm, sweet succulent scallops. The maki sushi pieces were also great, though I did wish every single piece did NOT contain salmon.

After saying goodbye to chef Kumano and the waiter, I stumbled into the bright, harsh daylight and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Bay Street. As a result, I discovered half a dozen eateries to add to my ever-growing ‘to eat’ list and walked out of Noisette French bakery with two boxes of pastries (another story for another time – maybe). Although I’ve been told that the hot dishes at Komeyui are only okay, I will still go back for the omakase experience, more sashimi and three more bowls of that awesome chawanmushi.

Komeyui Japanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

The Reader

7 Apr

Reading Room Café
Building P
Victoria University, Footscray Campus
Footscray Park
88 Ballarat Road
Footscray VIC 3011
+61 3 9919 4091
readingroomcafe.com.au

Ah, it seems it’s been forever since my last entry – and given that it was a week ago, it is a long time in the land of food and caterpillars. I’ve not pissed off to Queensland again but rather, slaved away on a copy-editing assignment that I only managed to finish an hour before submission time. Phew! I’m six weeks into this subject, Editorial English, and while I might still not know the difference between an em dash and an en dash, I hope that this subject will help me write better blog posts – hah!

A few weeks ago, Aaron and I travelled across town to Footscray for breakfast. While we’re both Vietnamese foodophiles, we weren’t actually going to postcode 3011 for phở but rather, a meal with more of a Western flavour. And this time, we weren’t headed to our usual haunts on Hopkins Street but instead, to Victoria University. Now, what on EARTH would compel us to wake up early on a Saturday morning to have breakfast at a university café? And one that’s quite a distance away from our respective houses, too?

For the Pop-up for Charity initiative at Reading Room Café, that’s why. Starting this weekend, and running for eight weekends, the popular campus café will cease serving your usual sandwiches and rolls that weekday diners get. Instead, weekenders will get an Ingo Meissner-designed menu (he of St Ali, Outpost Café and Fitzrovia fame) and coffees courtesy of Sensory Lab and Small Batch Auction Rooms. And the best bit? A percentage of proceeds will go straight to charities around the area.

Before opening up to the general public though, Marz from the café invited me and a guest to dine at the café. This not only gave me a chance to get to know more about the initiative, but to also provide constructive feedback to the team prior to the official opening. Given that fellow bibliophile, Aaron, and I were going to spend that afternoon exploring second-hand bookstores, we decided that a breakfast stopover at Reading Room Café was certainly very fitting.

Our walk from Footscray Station to the university led us to develop a ferocious appetite. Despite having a printed campus map on hand and despite the two of us being reasonably good with directions, we ended up having a bit of trouble finding the café. After ending up at some sports oval (god, we’re such chumps), we did an about-face and FINALLY, found the café. It wasn’t in the most central location but then again, most cafes in Melbourne aren’t usually.

O HAI, ADRIAN!

After a very warm greeting from Marz, we sat at a table outside so that we can soak up some Vitamin D from the autumn sun. I ordered a latte (below, $3.30) made with ‘chompy’ beans courtesy of Sensory Lab. The beans, which came from Indonesia, emitted pleasant caramel and dark chocolate undertones, which worked well with the milk. Aaron, however, felt that this flat white tasted a bit ‘burnt.’

The café’s menu is evenly divided up between traditional breakfast offerings such as eggs and lunch dishes such as pasta. I liked that the entire menu was available all day long and on a normal day, I would have so ordered the broccoli and tomato orecchietti but I had spent the last three lunches eating spag bol so I decided a break from my favourite carb-based food would do me good. The dishes, which all had cute bookish names such as Bircher in the Rye and As You Like It, all sounded fantastic. Bonus points were also given for not naming any dishes Breaking Dawn or anything from the moronic Twilight franchise. When I asked Marz what she would recommend, she pointed to the Coco Bananas (toasted banana bread topped with fresh bananas, lemon curd ricotta and toasted coconut) and The BFG (brioche French toast with crispy bacon, candied walnuts and maple syrup), both of which sounded amazing. Instead, I ended up ordering the Great Expectations because I’m more of savoury kind of girl and well, Charles Dickens is pretty cool.

Meanwhile, Aaron chose the Eggs Hemingway, essentially eggs served any way (naw, cute!). The default option was to have it served on buttered toast with tomato relish but for an extra cost, you have to option to customise. I was secretly hoping that Aaron would request some slices of Tasmanian oak-smoked salmon so I could be all ‘Haha! Old Man and the Sea!’ but to my disappointment, he chose to add a side of dry-cured bacon ($13, including the eggs). Aaron loved his breakfast – he especially noted the extra generous serving of bacon, something that he rarely sees at other cafes.

I expected, well, great things from my Great Expectations ($13.50), a breakfast piadina with scrambled eggs, shaved ham, tomato and Gruyere cheese. In hindsight, I should have gone for one of Marz’s suggestions so that Aaron and I could sample a sweet and a savoury breakfast, instead of eat two savoury options, both of which had scrambled egg in it. Don’t get me wrong, my Great Expectations was fantastic but y’know, food envy. Especially since I later found out, from Adrian’s friend, that The BFG was nothing short of OMG-NEW-ORDER-LIVE-AMAZEBALLS (no, I still have NOT recovered from that gig!). Facepalmfacepalmfacepalm! But anyway.

 The first thing I noticed was that they were extremely  generous with the scrambled eggs. While this would normally be seen as a good thing, I found it a bit too much. Yeah, what is wrong with me?! Toning it down, though, would have made the already-filling piadina perfect. Apart from that, it tasted amazing. The wonderful combination of cheese, egg and ham – with bits of tomato and spinach to break things up perfectly – made for an extremely comforting meal; it automatically put my own tomato, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches to shame. In fact, both Aaron’s and my breakfasts were THAT filling – and yummy – that we did not feel the need to eat lunch during the day. This was despite the fact that we did cover a lot of kilometres (and bookstores) on foot, too.

While our plates were being cleared, a lovely young waitress asked us if we would like anything else to eat. I thought it was pretty generous of them to ask us that, especially since we were dining as guests of the café, but we had to say ‘no’ because we were that full. I did, however, oblige to a shot of Japanese cold drip coffee. Given how I fell in love with that stuff in Cairns a month ago, I was keen to taste Sensory Lab’s version. The coffee was good but I’m afraid that this cold drip coffee had the misfortune of having been tasted after Caffiend’s all-too-amazing brew, which will probably never be beaten in taste – at least in Australia, anyway. This version was slightly stronger in taste than Caffiend’s brew, and perhaps a little bit sweeter but at the same time, more acidic. This made it a little bit harder to consume on its own, though I would imagine that a bit of condensed milk and ice would make it taste fabulous.

I thought we were just about done here, but then Marz HAD to be a darl and supply us with more treats. This time, a selection of sweet baked goodies from the oven. Aaron and I shared a decadent chocolate brownie, a mini carrot and walnut cake and a passionfruit tart. Shared? Nah, man. Aaron could only manage a single brownie before resigning while I finished off his share. Now, I’m no sweet tooth but despite that and despite being full from the breakie, I still managed to finish all the sweets. They were THAT amazing. The brownie, although rich, was small enough so that I could enjoy its richness and chocolatey-ness without suffering a sugar comatose while the carrot and walnut cake was mellow. My favourite of the lot, however, was the passionfruit tart, which had a base that wasn’t overly thick, and a filling that was delightfully tangy. Loved it.

Marz encouraged me to fill out a feedback sheet while we were nibbling on our sweets. I didn’t really have much to bitch about. The service was fantastic – quick and friendly – and the food was pretty good. The only things I had to made a comment on, though, was the amount of egg in my piadina (but that was just me being difficult) and an ampersand being in the wrong place on the menu (but that was just me being a grammar nazi).

As we were leaving the campus, Aaron and I kept saying how we wished that our respective universities had decent cafes like that. Okay, so being a student at Melbourne University means that I am within walking distance of Lygon Street and whatnot but hey, what excuse does our student union have for not putting semi-decent eateries ON campus? The students of Victoria University should consider themselves lucky for they have always had access to the best phở and kebab joints in town … and now they have this for eight weeks! Now that I’ve been to Vic Uni, I will definitely make a special trip to study – oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be back to try their BFG! Heeeh-heeeh!

Disclaimer: Aaron and libishski dined as guests of Reading Room Café.

Reading Room Cafe on Urbanspoon

Ixnay on the Touché Hombre

29 Mar

Touché Hombre
233 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
+61 3 9663 0811
http://www.touchehombre.com.au

Another week, another bloody opening of a new taquería. It’s a craze that’s sweeping through Melbourne like a Mexican wave gone while at the ‘G and quite frankly, I’m starting to get sick of it. A few years ago, good taco hard to find in Melbourne (no, Taco Bill does NOT count). These days? There are Mexican restaurants everywhere, and as of late most of the new ones happen to be taquerías. Pretty soon, there will probably be more Mexican restaurants than there are actual Mexicans living in Melbourne. Now, if all taquerías were like the much-lauded Mamasita or the new baby in Gold Coast’s food scene, Guzman Y Gomez, then this would be a good thing.

However, my friends and I have found that most taquerías in Melbourne fail to meet our admittedly probably too-high expectations. So when Dave and I went to Touché Hombre last Thursday, we weren’t expecting much. Surprisingly, we actually enjoyed ourselves and if anything, our meal there restored our faith in this so-called Mexican wave. Occupying the space that used to be J-Pub Shogun, Touché Hombre opened rather tentatively just under two weeks ago. In order to gauge initial public reaction, they only opened from 5pm Wednesdays to Sundays to begin with. But now that things have settled, they’re now extending their opening hours, opening their doors at midday, seven days a week.

Dave and I both arrived at Touché Hombre just after 5pm, like the punctual lame-os we are. We were told by the guy at the door that they had not yet opened for the night (they needed to debrief their staff), but would let us in as soon as they were done. It was a windy evening so I was annoyed at having to stand outside in the cold, while the staff did their debriefing in a corner far, far away from the front waiting area (so it wasn’t like we could eavesdrop anyway). Thankfully, though, we were let in shortly after and shown to a seat by the window.

Unlike the soft-spoken and casually funky J-Pub Shogun, Touché Hombre is all about 1980s Los Angeles taco culture: loud, cheeky and full of attitude. Sitting inside the taquería, you’d think that you’re in The Valley as opposed to the Melbourne CBD. Heck, I almost expected Nicolas Cage’s ‘Randy’ to strut right in, leather jacket and all. This place ticked all the right boxes: a bar using recycled wood from the old Princes Pier to inject a little bit of history into the place, and a DJ that spun tunes when the sun went down for a lively atmosphere. I also loved the little touches that made Touché Hombre cool – the neon signage, the arcade game machines; even its motto ‘Heroes de Medio Caparazon’ was totes awesome (that’s ‘heroes in a half-shell’ in Spanish, how clever is THAT?). I wasn’t sure about the bouncer-looking-dude who stood outside the door, though. Please, this ain’t The Roxy, bitch!

It was too early in the evening for shots of tequila, we so decided to go light on the drink. As Dave ordered a beer (a bottle of Rosita Artesanal pale ale, $11), I went straight to the cocktail list. The list may not be extensive but the ones that appear on the menu look good – and come with witty names. While I liked the sound of the La Paloma (pink grapefruit, blood orange and orange Colombo liqueur with vanilla sugar drops and scented straws, anyone?), I decided to get the Mexican beer cocktail. Called the ‘Michelada Bitchin’, it contained Tecate (Mexican lager), salsa, and chipotle puree ($9). Served in a salt-lined chilled jar and finished with a fresh lime and ice, it was a neat little package. If you’ve been to Mamasita, you ought to have some idea what this drink is like (it can be an acquired taste) but for others, don’t expect it to be a sweet and syrupy cocktail. It’s salty and it’s HOT.

The fatty lamb ribs (five for $8) was the first dish to arrive. Although fitness junkie-Dave eyed this dish on the menu with a bit of apprehension, he agreed to share this with me. Each rib was fatty, as its name suggested, and coated with a sticky blend of merquén, cilantro (um, excuse me? We’re in Australia, we say coriander, mate!) and honey. We initially thought the ribs were too sweet but a generous squeeze of lemon fixed that and pretty sure, we were munching on our ribs, glorious fats and all.

Next, we had the ceviche ($12), a vibrant mixture of diced fish and mussels mixed in with cilantro coriander, chilli, red onion, tomato and guacamole. On the side were some tortilla chips for dipping. It was delicious. The ceviche was fresh and amazingly zesty, while the chips were not your standard supermarket variety, but a thicker version which prevented them from getting too soggy. Even Dave, ever the sceptic, had to concede that Touché Hombre’s version was better than Mamasita’s.

Like all good things, our chicken tostaditos came in threes ($12). Each round tortilla chip was topped with a lovely mixture of spiced chicken, mango jam, toasted sesame and chipotle mayo. Each mouthful was piquant, sweet, salty and spicy – absolutely delicious. At this point in time, I was talking away, neglecting my food, and didn’t touch my first tostadito until much later. Amazingly, the tortilla chip remained hard, despite the density of all the ingredients piled on top. Nice.

We then went for one taco each. Priced between $6 to $7, each taco comes with interesting flavour combination, mixing both old world and modern ingredients together. I was bemused to see the absence of any plain beef options (the only beef option on the menu was the meatball one… yes, meatballs in addition to the fried tofu filling. In saying that, I did like the sound of the breakfast taco which had omelette, Eggmont cheese, beans, avocado and salsa in it.

I settled with the de pascado (fish) taco ($7). After eating fish tacos for the first time at Wahoo’s in Surfers Paradise – THE single worst thing I’ve ever had in my life – I wasn’t expecting much from this taco. However, I was impressed with Touché Hombre’s version. Gone were the frozen basa fillets and hello to crispy battered fresh whiting with pickled cucumbers, capers and shallots. As I did with my tostaditos, it did take me a while before I got around to eating it (I should either stop talking or eat faster, or both). However, the fish still remained beautifully crispy and the soft taco shell did not get soggy at all. Loved it.

Dave went for the de morcilla, an ambitious combination of blood pudding sausage, piquillo peppers, pico de gallo and soft egg aioli ($6.50). I was worried that the flavour dynamics would be way off, but Dave assured me that his taco was just fine. It was flavoursome and verging on rich, but thankfully the light pico de gallo (salsa) defused a bit of the richness coming from the sausage and the aioli. In fact, he said, it was better than anything Paco’s Tacos have made. So there.

Earlier on, Dave had been thinking of ordering a second taco but surprisingly it wasn’t necessary. Instead, we decided to order some ice cream ‘sangas’ which is pretty much all they have for dessert. That was fine with us, but what flavours to get? We couldn’t decide between the three that was available, so we chose a tasting plate that gave us all three for $18. We reckon that was pretty good value, given that each ice cream sandwich is $7.

From L-R: rice pudding & cinnamon, chocolate & chilli peanut cookie, and dulce de leche.

 

On paper, the chocolate and chilli peanut cookie sounded the most appealing and indeed it was delicious, without being overly rich. However, the one that actually stood out for me was the rice pudding and cinnamon one (below), the sanga that I would not have chosen if I could only select one.

The ‘bread’ was a biscuit (think chocolate ripple cakes) and the filling, a caramel parfait mixed with rice pudding and cinnamon sugar. It was beautiful. The parfait had a slight salty edge while the rice pudding created an interesting texture which made the whole thing a delight to eat.

Meanwhile, Dave loved the dulce de leche sanga, which was filled with strawberry parfait, pistachio and dulce de leche. I would have liked this one just as much as the rice pudding one, but for the way the strawberry parfait a lot like those strawberry wafers you get at Asian grocery stores – and I’m not a fan of that artificial strawberry taste.

What originally started off as a post-work nibbles and drinks session ended up being a dinner for we ended up getting ridiculously full. I guess you’d want to be if you were paying around $40 per head for little snacks and drinks. While that would be considered highway robbery in California and Texas, this is MELBOURNE (ah bloody Melbourne) and $40 is, unfortunately, pretty standard. Hell, given how crappy some of the other (similarly-priced) taquerías are, I think Touché Hombre are doing something right. While I won’t be quick to recommend this place for a cheap dinner, I can can certainly see myself coming back for nibbles and drinks after work or even a post-dinner dessert. I can see the Mexican wave dying down in the next year or so, but I can’t see Touché Hombre shutting down any time soon. Now that’s  a reason for all of us to shout, ‘Cowabunga!’

Touché Hombre on Urbanspoon

This Charming Soufflé

26 Mar

The Smith
213 High Street
Prahran VIC 3181
+61 3 9514 2444
www.thesmithprahran.com.au/

My final MFWF express lunch session for the year was with Jen, this time at mod-retro gastro-pub, The Smith. It was up to me to choose the venue for our long-awaited catch-up and I chose it not so I could incorporate Morrissey’s famous band into my title, but also because this is award-winning chef, Michael Lambie’s newest venture. Even though I didn’t have the best time at his previous restaurant, Taxi Dining Room, I still have respect for the dude for bringing his spin on modern Australian-slash-Asian cuisine. Plus, I had dinner there on a lousy night and probably just ordered the wrong dishes so I was willing to give this guy another go.

We both arrived at 12 on the dot for our lunch booking, to a quiet dining room that was smart, but not flashy. Elegant, but not pretentious. And modern, yet retro at the same time. The Smith may have been full of contradictions, both decor-wise and menu-wise (the menu could be best described as Asian-inspired, with a touch of French, Mexican and heavensknowswhatelse). Whether the menu will work, however, was something that we would find out very soon.We sat at a table in the back room, and received our express lunch menus ($35 for two courses, you all know the deal by now) along with the a la carte menu. We decided, for now, to stick with the express lunch menu, though some of the a la carte options did sound awfully good (kingfish sashimi with lime, chilli, toasted coconut and hot mint, anyone?).

But back to the express lunch. I decided to do the entrée-main option, while Jen did the main-dessert option. While sensible Jen, who drove in, chose not to have her wine, I happily chose a glass of Mount Langi ‘Billi Billi’ pinot grigio. It teamed up nicely with my entrée, the tuna tataki with pickled papaya salad and wasabi dressing. The fresh slabs of tuna were seared for less than it took for Jensen Button to complete a turn, before being placed lovingly on a pickled papaya salad. Although the dressing was probably more soy rather than wasabi, I could still taste subtle hint of fresh horseradish amongst all the mess. I was glad I chose this over the Cuban braised wagyu osso bucco, which probably would have been decent too but man, I was so sick of Mexican-influenced food…

It didn’t take long for The Smith to reach full capacity. I figured that half the people in the restaurant chose this restaurant because they also love The Smiths, while half just wanted to get away from the F1. In any case, our waiters were still very quick to bring out our meals, with full smiles and composure. See, we need more of this level of service in restaurants…

Jen’s main came in the form of a pan-fried snapper, King prawn wonton, oyster mushrooms and tom yum broth. I sampled a bit of her fish, which was perfectly cooked with nary an amount of dryness that plagues a lot of snapper that gets served at these sorts of places. The skin was crispy, which contrasted wonderful with the tender, flesh. The broth was delicate, rather than intense like a proper tom yum but it worked for the best as it meant that the earthiness of the mushrooms and the natural flavor of the fish were not drowned out.

My choice of protein was the crisp master stock chicken with wombok coleslaw and lime salt. I’m not normally one to order chicken dishes at restaurants for the fear of receiving something that’s been overcooked. However, I was blown away by how AWESOME my chicken was. A generously-sized breast fillet was crumbed, then fried KFC-style before being cut into halves and placed with shreds of wombok, chilli jam, lime salt and a gooey son-in-law egg. I was instructed to mix everything together so that I could taste an intense flavour explosion in my mouth and indeed, I did.

Wow! I could taste everything from lime to fish sauce. From chillies, to palm sugar. Combine them with a bit of tender chicken and some egg in one forkful and you have one helluva memorable dish. It was hot, spicy, salty, tangy and slightly sweet at the same time. Was there umami? Oh hell yeah! Loved it.

For dessert, Jen chose the raspberry soufflé with white chocolate sorbet. I wasn’t expecting much so I was surprised when I took a bit of the soufflé along with the sorbet… and tasted nothing but AMAZINGNESS. The soufflé was light and fluffy as one would expect, but I was not expecting the raspberry flavour to be that intense. It was insanely delicious, and easily the best soufflé I’ve ever had. Foodorgasm-worthy? Foetal position foodorgasm-worthy!

I finished off with a latte (no coffee for Jen though), which was alright. Pretty soon, we were both walking out, with happy bellies and smiles. For $35 p/h, we both thought the express lunch at The Smith represented excellent value. Fantastic service and generously-sized food that tasted amazing, wow. We’re both going to return for dinner or another Sunday lunch session very, very soon. Now, Heavens knows I’m miserable now for it’s 11:30pm at night and I’m craving a raspberry soufflé.

The Smith on Urbanspoon

The heat is on in Saigon Phố

25 Mar

Saigon Pho
106 Lygon St
Carlton VIC 3053
+61 3 9654 9653
saigonpho.com.au

I’m five weeks into a new masters course … and I’m loving it. I’m only doing one subject this semester and I only have to attend an evening class once a week. My campus is only a mere 10 minute tram ride from work, which makes it a breeze to get to. And it feels so damn good not having to read boring 100-page cases. Another good thing about going to this uni (and not the one I went to up until late last year) is that it’s surrounded by a handful of cheapie cafés and Lygon Street is only a stone’s throw away. I’m not usually one to rave about Lygon Street ‘Italian food’ but when you’ve been studying at a university in Clayton for so long, a campus that’s in the middle of nowhere, Lygon Street is a godsend.

Amongst the dime-a-dozen Anglo-Italian cafés and restaurants, gelati stores and Thai restaurants, there is Saigon Phố, probably the only Vietnamese restaurant on the strip. One might initially think that Lygon Street is a strange place to set up a Vietnamese restaurant but I think it makes sense: most people love phố, phố is cheap and uni students love cheap food. I, for one, am normally extremely hungry after my evening class and instead of waiting 45 minutes to reach home before I could eat dinner, I’d prefer to have a quick meal nearby before heading home. As such, cheap and quick options such as phố are ideal.

The restaurant is a simple, no-fuss eatery as are most Vietnamese restaurants. However, little touches such as a chandelier and timber floors make the restaurant stand out from other Vietnamese restaurants in Melbourne. It was a warm evening when I rocked up so I was grateful when a waitress immediately passed some ice-cold water to me as I studied the menu. Although phố is obviously the restaurant’s specialty, other Vietnamese favourites such as Bún bò Huế make the list.

I started off with a serving of prawn spring rolls (six for $7). Although I would have preferred to see little chunks of prawn meat (as opposed to the prawn being minced beyond recognition), I thought the filling tasted great. There was a decent amount of vermicelli in the mix, too. And the best thing? They weren’t too oily.

I enjoyed a small bowl of beef and brisket phố ($8.50). Although the broth did not taste as sharp as I would have liked, it was still tasty in that flat but mellow kind of way. Yeah, okay, so it was not completely free from MSG but it was still great. There was a generous amount of rice noodles, beef and brisket given the size of the bowl so I was happy. The bowl might have been smaller than what other Vietnamese restaurants would consider ‘small’ but it still managed to fill me up (then again, I DID manage to demolish six spring rolls…). It was definitely not the best phố I’ve ever had but by no means, the worse. And hey, keep in mind that this is Lygon Street. I’ll definitely keep coming back for as long as I’m still a student (which at the rate I’m going would probably mean forever, hah).

Saigon Pho (Carlton) on Urbanspoon

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