Rooftop Bar and Melbourne Aquarium (Thursday Hedonism Part I)

What started off as a quick lunchtime excursion to the Melbourne Aquarium turned quickly turned into a wild and wanton day where I accumulated so much intelligence on both places I have frequented in the past but also new venues that can easily turn into favourites. I am looking forward to detailing these experiences and posting them over the next three days.

The latter part of the afternoon turned into a relaxing session at the Rooftop Bar which is located at 252 Swanson Street, Melbourne inside the formidable Curtin House. A dodgy old lift is prepared to take you to the sixth floor slowly and when you emerge onto the rooftop after climbing an additional set of stairs I immediately wondered why I hadn't been here before.

Some pints of beer and cider were ordered and it was quickly served in plastic pint glasses. The lady behind the bar had attitude, but the good kind of an attitude that you would expect in a trendy yet relaxed setting. Hipsters languished at the various tables and I overheard one speaking about bogans that have deviant sex lives whilst rolling cigarettes. They seemed harmless enough. Portable heaters adorned the area and I happily took up a perch next to one and as the minutes turned into hours I found myself getting closer and closer to the warming device.

They have a lunchtime menu and were promoting a $12 burger that has two patties. I believe for $15 you can purchase one with chips. After having a quick lunch at the Meat and Wine Co in Southbank earlier, I wasn't hungry but I am intrigued by their menu and I will be returning to sample it and of course enjoy some beer, the sun if it is out and the always interesting Melbourne skyline.

This is the first part of a three part post. The second part can be found here. The third part here.

Rooftop Bar
Link to review
Level 7/252 Swanston St Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9654 5394
no web site
My Rating: 14.5/20
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Quality: 3.5/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Comment: Relaxed and great view



Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com

At the time of this writing, 94% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon liked this place. I can understand why and fully agree.

View from the Rooftop bar, taken with my Android phone as the sun sets.

Before making the journey to the Rooftop bar, and even before lunch, I spent a couple of hours at the Melbourne Aquarium. Not only did I have a "buy one get one free" entry coupon in my Entertainment Book, but I was keen to visit and see the penguin exhibit. I had not been to the Aquarium in a decade since I first visited Melbourne as an adult with my mate Andrew and I was also keen to see how it changed.

The penguin exhibit is amazing. I could spend hours just looking at the King Penguins waddling around and observing how they socialise with one another. There is both an enclosure that is filled with snow and some rocks that the King penguins seem to like and another area where there is water that the Gentoo penguins fancy to swim in. Both of the areas are connected and when they walk down the hill from one section to another, frequently they will take a bit of a tumble and slide down it which reminded me of the first time that I snowboarded as a teenager. The penguins certainly were not stressed and when I left the exhibit, neither was I.

King Penguins at Melbourne Aquarium. Photo taken with my Android phone. This is a must-do experience before eating or drinking in the area.

The Pier Restaurant, Queen Lear, Shane Watson Returns to QLD

Not long ago, after a particularly long and pressured day where I earned my money professionally for a change, I decided to meet my learned friend and counsel at The Pier Restaurant in Port Melbourne for food and beverage. After spending nearly twelve hours uninterrupted in front of this laptop on my uncomfortable chair, I decided that it would be best to walk to Bay Street in Port Melbourne just to restore my sanity so I followed the footpath that follows the tram line, braved the cold and ended up on a bar stool ordering a Carlton Draught about thirty minutes after my journey began.

Traffic had delayed my drinking buddy so I had a chance to chat with the barman about the building and other places in the area, including the old Beaconsville Hotel where David Hookes was bashed and killed by the bouncer a few years back. After another thirty minutes and two Carlton Draughts later, my learned friend turned up. He was in the mood to celebrate as he had just gotten a client off the hook in some court matter so he ordered a bottle of champagne. That bottle was consumed after we moved outside under the heat lamps so he could smoke and bang on about the law. After we drank the Veuve Clicqout and he smoked a pack of cigarettes in about 23 minutes we retired inside for some food.

It was a Wednesday and the restaurant was very quiet. As we had spent so much time outside carrying on like pork chops, the kitchen was keen to get our order as it was obvious that they wanted to close it. My first starter was the French Onion soup which was very salty and tasted like something that I would get out of a can from the local Coles. I then had the soft shell crab tacos. For those of you that have read by previous blog posts will know that I have a particular affinity to Mexican influenced dishes and seafood where soft shell crab is one of my indulgences. The kitchen got the soft shell crab right and there was a fair amount to eat but it was nearly impossible to eat in the taco, which was a flour shell, without it falling all apart. I thought it was a noble attempt at something different and I would return for this dish and some more beer at the bar. The steak that I finished with was a steak. Nothing special. It probably cost $4 at the CostCo and was being sold for around $30. The service was efficient and friendly however rushed because they wanted to close off the restaurant area later in the evening. Given the proximity of The Pier to the beach (for the lack of a better word) I would return to utilise the services of the bar, perhaps enjoy a few more soft shell crab tacos when the weather warms up a bit and have pleasant conversation with mates but I will not be rushing back to the restaurant with so many other options in the area worth exploring.

Perhaps it was because I enjoyed a few "Ranga" beers (for red beer, they were very tasty) at the MTC bar before Queen Lear commenced last night, but I felt pretty tired. There were a few sick people in the audience, one older woman had a bad case of bronchitis and with the distraction of the sounds of the doctor's surgery around me along with my own fatigue, it was hard to become engaged in the dialogue at first. As I was not familiar with this particular Shakespearian tale, it was rather hard to keep up with what was going on as I was missing out on listening to dialogue as the woman behind me attempted to cough up her lung and uterus. I am not sure if it was because it is a three hour play with a twenty minute intermission or because the other theatre goers were experiencing the same angst but after the intermission, at least 50 people did not return. The last act did answer many of the questions that I had and filled in the blanks. There was a moment when the lady in front of me looked like she was going to faint as I noticed her gasp and hold her face when one of Queen Lear's daughters was having Gloucester tortured and his eyes removed with a sharp object. As the second eyeball thudded on the stage floor, I thought she too was going to go down hard but that was not the case. Perhaps the lesson learned was to attend Shakespearian plays that cost a fair amount of money in the summer months when people tend not to have the flu. The forthcoming performance of "Helicopter" looks interesting so I will be attending that next month.

The big news in Queensland is that Shane Watson is going to be put back together to play for the state 20/20 team. I don't see why this is a big deal in the cricketing world. Because of his national commitments and the fact that he is nearly always injured, how many 20/20 games do they really think that the man will be playing? There was an additional passage in the article that states it is good for the Brisbane 20/20 team as his wife, Lee Furlong, is a sports reporter and will take an interest. The only time that I remember her taking an interest was in the Boxing Day test a couple of years ago when Shane got his second century. For an opening batsman and so-called "all rounder" one would think that having two centuries over a period of eight years playing on and off (mainly because of injury) for the national team would be demonised a bit more. They drop other players for doing much more so once again we get to build up for a summer of cricket on false hopes created by the media where our under-performing national team looks to be trashed by the South Africans.

A few weeks later I visited The Pier once again and had a better experience. That blog post can be found here.

I can be found on Twitter on @epicurean3006

My Mexican Cousin + Napoleon @NGV and Internet Dating

Earlier I needed to go to the Melbourne Theatre Company box office and secure tickets for tonight's showing of Queen Lear. I thought I would get around to using a voucher from the Entertainment Book and given the cost of an adult ticket is $95, it is great return on the original investment of $65 for the book. The last Shakespeare adaptation that I saw was Julius Caesar at the Sydney Opera House. I would have enjoyed this more if the schools hadn't forced their teenage charges into attending the show. The teenagers caused such a disturbance you could even tell at a point that the actors were pissed off. So I am looking forward to a civilised evening and being I have never seen a play put on by the MTC before, I am quite excited.

Next to the MTC is an innocuous looking place called My Mexican Cousin. I hadn't eaten anything since my feast of unknown sewerage in the Qantas lounge last night so I was quite hungry and given it was late in the afternoon I was surprised that they were still serving food when I rocked up. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am in Melbourne which is much more service oriented compared to Sydney so I should not be surprised they were more than happy to entertain us. Some interesting artwork and murals adorn the wall. This place has a creole influenced menu and a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce on each table. The bottle claims that one drop is enough to add sufficient heat and spices to any dish. I ordered a Po' Boy with soft shell crab. It was awesome. I ended up using 20% of the bottle of hot sauce though as let me assure you one drop is not enough. Three "Mountain Goat" bottles of beer were sufficient to wash it down. I will come back again to not only enjoy another Po' Boy, but also try the ribs and gumbo. The service was very friendly and enjoyed having a laugh when I told bad jokes. Decent music played in the background and I thought the place was pretty cool but not in the hipster-trendy way.

My Mexican Cousin
Link to review
Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank VIC 3006
(03) 9686 3389
http://www.mymexicancousin.com.au
My Rating: 13.5/20
Service: 3.5/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Quality: 3.5/5
Value For Money: 3.5/5
Comment: The bottles of spice are not hot enough



Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com

At the time of this writing, My Mexican Cousin has 61% positive feedback on Urbanspoon which is rather concerning because the food, service and ambiance is just so damned good.




Over beers, I reflected on the Napoleon exhibition at the NGV with my dining companion. I attended it on Bastille Day which was fitting and despite it being a very crowded (by human beings) exhibit, I enjoyed the artwork, the maps on display, Napoleon's throne and some of the other relics from such a bygone era. As you travel around the exhibit, your memory is refreshed on French history, including the demise of Louis XVI, the rise of Danton, The Reign of Terror and of course the Napoleonic era. There were some parts of the exhibit that seemed to be filler, but considering the tickets were $10 each since it was Bastille Day, I thought it was worth it. Now I not only want to re-read A Tale of Two Cities but want to indulge in some French food.

Ultimately moving the conversation away from civilised topics like art, food and causing mayhem, we reflected on internet dating as the more Mountain Goat was consumed. One mate that I caught up with briefly yesterday in Sydney seems to be addicted to meeting ladies on eHarmony.com.au. He always has a good story and in fact abandoned me at one point in the Forbes Hotel last night because he needed to meet one of his finds. He goes on dates with new women as often as I dine out and/or drink so that is saying something. I was reflecting that this gentleman tends to prefer to meet women at one particular wine bar that has a large window in the men's toilet. Should he get bored or decide that she is "not the one" he will excuse himself to the toilet and then climb out the window and leave. I would think that telling someone that "they are NOT the one" would be easier, or just be crass and just enjoy each other's company on a physical level, but with this gentleman, nothing is ever that easy. This is why he remains single, and although a successful individual, I am not very surprised. Before he found this "perfect" wine bar and the large window, he was known to escape by going out the front door of a venue commando-style on his stomach almost like a newborn baby crawling towards a shiny object. Pretty amusing stuff if you ask me.

Ozeki Sushi + Qantas/Virgin/Jetstar Sydney Lounges + No Pram Policy at Caffe Panette

Despite having the best of intentions of making a blog post yesterday, I was distracted by meetings and being social as I took a whirlwind one day trip to Sydney. It was a long but productive day and although I was dreading going to Sydney, I enjoyed myself. Perhaps it was because the sun was shining for a change and people just seemed happier. I could have used the Blogger application on my Android phone but I thought I would reserve the first mobile post for something really special or amusing.


The highlight of my trip was lunch at a sushi train in Chatswood called Ozeki Sushi. In a way, it is degrading to the restaurant to call it a "train" but I need to describe it somehow. They offer some of the best quality fish that I have ever had at a "train" style restaurant, the staff are all very friendly and the chef is happy to provide salmon sashimi in bulk at your request. If you are in the Chatswood Chase area, check it out. Reviewers on Urbanspoon seem to agree with me also with 82% of them liking it at the time of this post.





It has been over a year since I flew with Jetstar however when they are offering a round trip ticket from Melbourne to Sydney for $90 which includes the credit card booking fee, it was hard to ignore the deal. They got me where I needed to go on-time which is saying something. They even moved me to an exit row and gave me a free can of Heineken on my return journey which was surprising.


Over the last two years, my loyalty to Qantas was destroyed. The constant delays, industrial action, apathetic staff, horrible lounges and disgusting food that was on offer caused me to switch my loyalty to Virgin Australia. Although I let my Qantas Club membership lapse since I no longer actively try to fly with them, I had a one time use pass for the Club, which I used yesterday whilst waiting for my flight at Sydney Airport.


As I did not enjoy a formal dinner in the Sydney CBD, I decided to eat what was on offer in the lounge. I knew they would have cheese and some sort of salami. As usual the cheese looked to be about twelve years old however when matched with the salami and a constant flow of Coopers Green, it was edible. Even though I haven't been in the Qantas lounge in a year, they still are serving some other sort of slop. I have no idea what it is but there were some potatoes in it. Some of the food that they have on offer is mysterious and even though I am a hedonist, I am not stupid enough to try it without knowing what it is.


One of my worst experiences eating out was at Mexico in Manly but the worst food I have ever had was on one particular Qantas flight. They served some sort of sandwich with olive spread and a mystery meat. I nearly had to spew. I would say that it smelled like the sewer but it would be an insult to the sewer.


It wasn't long after that horrible experience that Virgin Australia offered me a couple of lounge passes. I was amazed at how clean the Sydney lounge was and what food was on offer. I could actually identify everything and they had on offer and they were providing bottles of Asahi at the time. It was a calm experience unlike the Qantas facilities which resemble Taronga Zoo.


Over the last year I changed my credit cards so they would earn Virgin Australia points and have been enjoying the Virgin lounge on every trip as access is included if you fly Business with them, which is a great experience. I was so happy with what they consistently provided that I sent them web feedback saying so. As much as I like to tell people tales of woe when it comes to service, I do enjoy identifying winners and Virgin certainly is one.


Finally I chuckled when I read that Caffe Panette in Port Melbourne has a no pram policy on the weekend. I am going to have to check it out and support them as restaurateurs who take a stand against prams (and children) for the benefit of the safety and the comfort of the other patrons are my heroes.

A Tale of Two Rockpool Winter Truffle Dinners

After choosing not to eat at The Station Hotel yesterday, I was thinking about the Rockpool Winter Truffle Dinner that took place last August 2011 at Rockpool Sydney. Truffles have been on my mind since they appeared as if magically on my fois gras at The European last week. The three shavings were a pleasant surprise but they did not placate my sick obsession for the stinky fungus.


Strangely this morning, The Rockpool Group e-mailed its list where announcing that there would be another Winter Truffle Dinner on 26 July 2012 at Rockpool Sydney.


Last year Rockpool evangelised that each diner would be provided 150g of truffles amalgamated across the various dishes with matching wines for the modest sum of $500 per person. Not surprisingly the announcement this year did not articulate the quantity of truffles that would be provided but the cost has dropped to $360 per person. The respective menus are being provided below.


2011 Menu ($500/pp)

Truffle congee with dried tree mushrooms, bamboo fungi, preserved eggs and truffle ketchup

~

Abalone, drunken pigeon, truffle and potato salad

~

Truffle infused egg with rich man’s brioche, Iberico ham and shaved truffles

~

Salt baked lotus- wrapped truffle chicken, celeriac and truffle mille feuille with kachai and truffle vinaigrette

~

Truffle trifle

2012 Menu ($360/pp)


Queensland spanner crab with truffle, broccoli and Jerusalem artichoke
N.V. Agrapart & Fils Grand Cru  Blanc de Blancs Champagne, France

Truffle congee, bamboo pith, preserved eggs and truffle ketchup
2009 Emmerich Knoll ‘Loibenberg’ Smaragd Gruner Veltliner, Wachau, Austria

Goat’s cheese and truffle layered lasagna, leeks, endive and Jamon Iberico
2010 Huet ‘Le Mont’ Vouvray, Loire Valley, France

Abalone, drunken pigeon, truffle and potato salad
2009 Bindi Wine Growers ‘Original Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges, Victoria

Brioche doughnut with truffle infused egg and braised short ribs
2004 David Franz ‘Benjamin’s Promise’ Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia

Truffle trifle
2009 Domaine des Bernardins Muscat de Beaumes de Venise,  Rhone Valley, France




The drunken pigeon and truffle trifle are making a return and I thought those dishes were amazing. From what I recall, my dining companion, Daniel, actually thought there were too many truffles in the Trifle, if that is possible. I thought of eating them off of his plate but thought it would be considered rude.


Last year I was seated next to Simon Thomsen, the food and beverage writer. I had a few interesting conversations with him but when he realised that I was not in the industry, and just a purveyor of fine food and beverage, he didn't seem to want to know me. My mate was seated next to Joanna Savill, who is the director of Crave (or at least she was last year) Sydney Food Festival. She is lovely and I quite enjoyed speaking with her. We were never able to agree as to why with cooking shows so popular and the whole notion of "celebrity chef" being such a prominent theme on television and even in people's lives these days that the Rockpool Winter Truffle Dinner wasn't attended by more members of the public. At least half of the guests were "industry types" which I thought was interesting and a bit boring at the same time. Of course at $500 per person I can understand why the typical My Kitchen Rules viewer would not be beating down the door of Rockpool to attend. I am also fairly confident that the all of the industry types at this dinner did not pay for it.


Across the table was Guillaume Brahimi of Bistro Guillaume and Guillaume at Bennelong fame. He has to be the most down to earth person that I have ever met "from the industry" and is quite an interesting guy. My experience at this dinner was enriched because of his presence as he is indeed a raconteur. His guest was Yves Camdeborde from Le Comptoir in Paris who also seemingly was on the French version of Masterchef. My French communication skills have degraded ten fold over the years so although I was able to eavesdrop and pick up most of the conversation that he was having, I wasn't able to add to the conversation much. My mate Daniel was able to articulate that he was going to be in Paris not long after the truffle dinner and made arrangements to get into contact with his restaurant, which he did and ultimately visited when he was in Paris. Daniel said that the experience at Le Comptoir was one of the highlights of his life and exceeded his expectations. It is not too often that I am jealous, but I still am that he was able to experience Le Comptoir whilst I abused wine at Cowper Street Wharf.


Daniel did ask me today if I want to go to the next Rockpool Winter Truffle Dinner at the end of the month. I am keen but feel as if I will be disappointed since I was promised 150g of stinky fungus last year and this year they are staying quiet with respect to the quantity on offer. I would hate for a great memory be bastardised by something more current however I do have a dangerous addiction to the truffle and it will take something a bit more dramatic than living in Melbourne to miss this event.


You can follow me on twitter now... @epicurean3006


Rockpool was my favourite restaurant in Australia from 2002 until 2005. That is when I discovered Circa, The Prince and Rockpool was dethroned from my "best of" list. Regardless of special events, I have always been a fan of Neil Perry's flagship restaurant. I did have one bad experience though in 2005 when an incessant amount of swearing was taking place in the kitchen that was clearly audible in the dining room. I pointed this out to the service manager and he didn't seem to give a stuff and was rude to me. Because of this, I abandoned the degustation that I was enjoying at that point, paid the bill and left the restaurant. I did not return for three years. I still like the restaurant but I am a fan of "voting with your feet" after some unremarkable experiences. I do agree with the 81% of reviewers who like this place on Urbanspoon and have kept a keen eye on this restaurant as it devolved, morphed and then evolved again recently.

Station Hotel in Prahran, Banksy "Artwork" Destroyed

I read an interesting article in The Daily Life today entitled "Are Restaurant's A Waste Of Money?" that is worth checking out. I agree with the author for the most part. Before the GFC, I would spend with reckless abandon at restaurants and I used to brag (perhaps I am still bragging now, I am not sure) that I went to Vue De Monde 24 times and spent in excess of $1,000 each time as a minimum, sometimes per person. Now since I seem to be more interested in true value for money and the experience, I have learned that you can not easily buy these things. It is in fact easier for an experience at Vue De Monde to go pear-shaped when spending that sort of coin as the smallest thing can ruin your night. Once my degustation experience was nearly ruined because I was insistent that Daniel McPherson's table was getting better service then mine. It is amusing to think about the conditions in retrospect. In the future I will be detailing my experiences at Vue De Monde, but for now, I will write about simpler things.


The area around the Station Hotel is a bit trendy, a bit hipster (sadly) and sometimes a bit weird. It is handy to have the station so close but with that comes the "element" as my old man would call it. It is only a short walk to the wall that was recently altered by workers that effectively destroyed the Banksy rat artwork. A photo is provided below.

The Banksy "Rat" which was destroyed by workers installing new pipes.

Yesterday I met my learned friend and counsel at The Station Hotel in Prahran. I expected the place to have more beer on tap after reviewing their website but I was able to quench my thirst on James Boags Draught whilst watching Anthony Mundine beat the crap out of some American in the ring in Las Vegas. They also have a "Who Wants To Be A Millionare" machine. I haven't seen one of these since I was at the Tuxtoth Hotel in Glebe. If you answer the 15 questions you can win $20, so we played that for a while. Perhaps it was the vast amount of beer consumed but we could never get to the last question. Although I didn't eat there, I agree with the 78% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon and like this place.

Station Hotel
Link to review
96 Greville Street  Prahran VIC 3181
(03) 9810 0072
www.stationhotel.com.au
My Rating: 10/20
Service: 1/5 (bar service)
Ambiance: 2.5/5
Quality: 2.5/5
Value For Money: 3.5/5
Comment: The usually broadcast pay per view sport


Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com


At the time I made this post, 79% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon liked this place.

Shark Fin Inn and Lake Mungo

Readers of this blog know that I enjoy my cheesy Australian horror movies. Sometimes the cheese pairs perfectly with the food and in the case of "Crush" which I reflected on the other day the perfect match would have been some three star mince in $1 Coles pasta with a side of tasty cheese. 

Yesterday I screened a flick from 2008 called "Lake Mungo" and if attributed to a fine beverage that is available at The Waiting Room or Der Raum, this unknown and obscure Aussie psychological horror should be matched with something spectacular on the level of what is offered at Vue De Monde. I never heard of this film back in the day but considering in 2008 "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was ranked #2 in world-wide earnings, I am sullen and disappointed in humankind. Why people would actually pay money to see the latter when this brilliant movie was produced domestically and could not achieve any takings is a mystery to me. It really makes Paranormal Activity (insert version) look foolish and I encourage anyone that is reading this to find this movie and watch it if you fancy the genre if not a great use of television time.


As I leer out the window at the Crown Casino, I am a bit annoyed that punters are enqueued for pork buns at the Shark Fin Inn takeway outlet in the food court. Not to be confused with the proper restaurants (yes, there are two) that are located on Little Bourke Street, this is not a place to be ignored late at night and makes a fantastic substitution for the dodgy kebab (think Ali Baba in Southgate) or Maccas in Freshwater Place as a reasonable and tasty alternative to mediocrity. If you are at Crown Casino in the wee hours, take a few minutes to count your winnings in the food court and enjoy a pork bun at the Shark Fin Inn takeaway outlet. The quality nearly matches its big brothers in the CBD.

After frequenting the Shark Fin Inn (both locations on Little Bourke Street) a few times over the years and most recently as a substitute for seeing Bluejuice at the Hi-Fi and a mate's birthday party, I can attest for the fact that it is quality yum cha. The place is packed all of the time. The carts crash into you with impunity. The buzz affects you more than a fly in Sydney in October. The chicken feet, pork buns, duck, calamari and prawns will put a spell on you that will be as potent as anything Harry Potter can. As you look around you will see the venue is frequented prominently by the Chinese and some of the best advise I was ever given with respect to Chinese food... if the place is packed with Chinese, it must be good. How often do you see the Chinese at Hungry Jacks?

What I discovered is if you manage to avoid the duck, despite it being awesome, a table for two can escape for under $50. Now that is what I call value. Don't waste your time ordering beer as it will take ages for it to be delivered. Enjoy the Melbourne tap water, stuff your face with everything that comes delivered on the carts which arrive as frequently as the city circle trains and enjoy the best of what China Town has to offer. Afterwards head directly to Manchuria or Croft Institute if you stumble outside in the evening.

Shark Fin Inn
Link to review
50 Little Bourke Street  Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9662 2681
http://www.sharkfin.com.au
My Rating: 14/20
Service: 2.5/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Quality: 4/5
Value For Money: 4.5/5
Comment: Saturday afternoon yum cha



Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com

At the time of this post, I fully agree with the other 81% of the reviwers on Urbanspoon who liked this place.

The Waiting Room, Chicken Adobo Tacos and Fifteen Burned Down

After I signed the lease for my unit in Southbank, I wanted a refreshing beer to take the edge off. I had just removed around $8k from my savings account and signed my life away to live in a city where I knew only a few people both professionally and personally. Given the majority of my friends are in Sydney, I knew it would be an interesting year to say the least and now that I am coming up on the three month anniversary to the day since I relocated from Sydney, I have not regretted it once. I still reflect back fondly on the day of the lease signing and then almost by fate stumbling across The Waiting Room located inside the Crown Casino complex on the Queensbridge Street side.


Over the year I received the monthly newsletter from the Rockpool Group and I read about The Waiting Room however I was never too inspired since I just thought of it as a bar at the casino. In fact when I stumbled into it on the first fateful day, I didn't even know I was in The Waiting Room and just another sideshow unnamed casino bar off the entrance to the area where you check-in to the hotel in the foyer.


I was quickly greeted by the enthusiastic and friendly staff and opted to take up residence at a barstool since I was drinking on my own sadly this day. I immediately noticed that they have my favourite beer on tap, Lord Nelson Three Sheets, which is a Sydney iconic micro-beer and flogged mainly at the Lord Nelson Hotel Brewery in The Rocks. The Lord Nelson was my "local" whilst living in Sydney and I was very excited to say the least to see it on tap in this bar. I spent four hours in this bar drinking and telling tale tales. I felt like the the staff at this place were the first to welcome me to the neighbourhood.


Over the next few days and weeks I would return to The Waiting Room with other purveyors of the fine food and drink. Neil Perry has put together a very interesting bar meal that is mexican-influenced. Most notable is the chicken adobo taco which compliments the Lord Nelson Three Sheets very well. The spicy chicken wings and calamari are also winners. They even manage to put together a chicken mole taco that is actually pretty special. The reviewers on Urbanspoon seem to agree with my positive feelings for this place too.





After visiting the Essential Ingredient in Prahran earlier in the week, I picked up some cans of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce. They also flog proper corn tortillas so my intention was to re-create the chicken adobo tacos that were being sold at The Waiting Room. I came across the recipe on the Sydney Morning Herald website strangely and was saddened to learn you need a pressure cooker to make this concoction. As I do not own one, I went back to basics. I poached 500g of chicken breast in a wok for a little over an hour. I then added the chicken breast and the can of adobo and chipotle chillies in a bowl and cut and mixed everything together. I then crushed up two two avocados and lightly grilled the tortillas. I spread the avocado on the grilled tortilla and then added the shredded chicken with adobo and chipotle chillies. It turned out to be one of the easiest taco dishes that I have ever made and one of the most tasty by far. Who needed Neil's recipe and the pressure cooker. Ingenuity and common sense wins again in the end.


I was also surprised to learn that Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant was destroyed because of an arson attack some time ago. I always wondered why this place was no longer trading and how Tobie Puttock ended up on My Kitchen Rules. It follows in the dark shadow cast by the owners of the Swagman Restaurant burning it down in 1991. Such colourful trivia to know in Melbourne does make my day a bit more interesting.

The European and Foie Gras - The Vexed Problem Known As "Lunch"

Lunch has always been a vexed problem for me. Where to go, what to eat and can I really be bothered are the questions that I ask myself daily.

Along with the epicurean emo, I ventured out of Southbank yesterday with a desire to fill my stomach with food and beverage. After strolling along Little Bourke Street, Hardware Lane and Collins Street, I found myself entering the Charles Dickens Tavern however we quickly left when the epicurean emo stated that he was not hungry. I assumed that he was not hungry for pub food and since I had no cash on me to purchase a tasty beer, we departed.

After dodging traffic, trams and construction on Little Collins Street, we made our way up Little Flinders Street past the always busy Chin Chin, Coda and Papa Goose and finally took refuge in The European on Spring Street. I have dined at this restaurant and enjoyed many bottles of wine there over the years and have always left satisfied. A feeling of disgust came over me when I realised that I have lived in Melbourne for nearly three months at this point and never bothered frequenting this place for lunch though as it has always been a personal favourite.

Truffled duck liver pate and pate de foie gras was quickly ordered along with a French syrah. Although only 25g of foie gras was presented, the amount of brioche that accompanied it along with three shaved black truffles melted in my mouth. The consternation experienced earlier from departing the pub evaporated as quickly as the syrah in my glass so I had to have a refill. When it gets warmer, I look forward to having a few relaxing lunches at this venue outside so I can watch the comings and goings at parliament.

As the phone was not ringing hot, I wandered into the Cricketer's Bar at the Windsor Hotel after I was done cleaning my plate of foie gras. I quickly learned that there was no ATM in this bar, so a quick exit was made. After wandering the laneways looking for an alternative and also a Westpac ATM, we found ourselves at the Ponyfish Island Bar which is a hidden gem under the pedestrian footpath connecting Flinders Street Station with Southbank. A thirst quenching Carlton Draught was enjoyed here before getting the hell out of the cold and into the warm embrace of PJ O'Brien's at Southgate. All of these venues made the lunch dining experience even better and made for a great afternoon.

The European was later visited during a weekend of debauchery when I needed to entertain an out-of-town visitor late on Friday night. Their professionalism never disappoints and my musings can be found here, including the other venues that were visited during that weekend of hedonism.

The European
Link to review
161 Spring Street  Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9654 0811
http://www.theeuropean.com.au
My Rating: 15.5/20
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Comment: Awesome wine list, always buzzing



Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) blogspot (dot) com
web: http://www.epicureanofsouthbank.com

When I updated this post on 15/09/12, 87% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon also liked The European. They have great taste.

Howard the Duck (Peking Duck Recipe Inspired by Flower Drum)

Part of being a well rounded epicurean, or to use a cricket term, an "all rounder" (which Shane Watson is not) means that you need to be able to cook food and prepare beverages at the same standard that you come to expect in decent restaurants. In the case of Beppi's in Sydney you really only need to learn to eat with rodents off the floor and hold your stomach in pain all night but for us civilised epicureans we demand quality, cleanliness and of course taste.

On occasion, I decide to cook. Yesterday was a good day as I was awaiting feedback from a client who is travelling. Also it is raining raining in Melbourne, what better way to spend the afternoon than cooking, drinking and telling tall tales.

After experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to Peking Duck and proper pancakes in and around Sydney and Melbourne, around a month ago I undertook a task to make the dish myself. My first attempt was spot on, so yesterday I attempted my second one and in conjunction with the epicurean emo, a suitable amount of food was prepared and beverages consumed. My offering will be inspired by the Flower Drum in Melbourne and also what surprisingly is served at Mr Chow's Chinese Restaurant in Millers Point Sydney.

Anticipating the "day of the duck" I ventured to the Costco in Docklands to purchase a bird. I was very disappointed to discover that they sold out. I wandered around New Quay and Docklands only to be told by many shop keepers that they do not sell duck. One had no idea what a butcher was and one thought I was crazy.

Sadly for my savings account, this meant that I need to make a journey to the Prahran Markets. I really fancy these markets especially since there is an Essential Ingredient in the complex. I tend to go a bit mad around all of the fresh produce however I I vowed to keep focused and get what is required for the relaxing lunch and dinner and home and even went so far as to leave the credit cards at home so that Gail Kelly did not end up winning in the end.

I found a 2.5kg duck from the poultry butcher. The wrapper vaguely reminded me of the one that is sold at Costco however for $22, it was good value. The last duck that I purchased was a mere 2.2kg runt but I believe i paid around $16.

Some yellow fin tuna was purchased from the fishmonger. Lunch will be a yellow fin tuna tartare that is inspired by one of my many visits to FINS Restaurant in Kingscliff on the Tweed Coast of NSW. I always joked when I would frequent this restaurant that it was my favourite restaurant in Queensland. The servers would would bemused and advise me that I was in NSW, just south of the Queensland border. I would respond and say "exactly" and give a wry smile. For those that live in Queensland, including my learned friend that attended Movida with me, we know that the fine food and beverage scene has indeed evolved in Queensland (Brisbane) over the last few years but it still has a fair way to go. I would always look forward to by periodic jaunts across the border into NSW to attend FINS and enjoy everything on offer, multiple times, whilst living in Brisbane. Lunch is inspired by their tuna tartare entry which I would eat not only as an entry but also as a dessert. It is just so good! Now I am motivated to book a flight to Byron and get my arse back there to celebrate the new season. It is hard to leave Melbourne though unless I really have to.

The following is a timeline on how I went about preparing this duck.

11:15 AM - Undertake a journey to the Prahran Market. Enjoy a bottle of Asahi. Purchase a duck and other ingredients. I also ventured into the Essential Ingredient to pick up some corn tortillas and adobo for some tacos that I intend to make tomorrow.

12:30 PM - Open another Asahi and commence the preparation of the duck. The full recipe includes:

1. A 2.2kg-2.5kg duck
2. (4) tablespoons of honey
3. (4) tablespoons of sherry
4. (1) tablespoon of white vinegar
5. Spring onions
6. Sesame oil
7. Hoisin sauce
8. 1/2 cup plain flour
9. (2) tablespoons of corn flour
10. 1/4 cup milk
11. (2) eggs
12. (2) tablespoons of butter

• Remove the duck from the package and clean it with warm water,
• Fill a wok with six (6) cups of water and bring it to a boil,
• Add four (4) tablespoons of honey, four (4) tablespoons of sherry and one (1) tablespoon of white vinegar and allow the mixture to boil for a minute,
• cut the tips of the wings (at the elbow) off of the duck and dispose of the parts,
• Place the duck, breast side down in the wok. Spoon the liquid over the top of the duck and continue the task for about 10 minutes. This allows the duck to become moist and absorb the sherry, honey and a little of the white vinegar,
• Turn the duck over and let the back of the duck rest in the wok for a few minutes,
• Remove the duck and hang it up so it can dry. As I can not conveniently hang the duck up anywhere in my kitchen, I let it rest in a large bowl. If you are able to hang it up, do so. Make sure that all of the water is out of the cavity,
• Let the duck dry for around six (6) hours.

6:30 PM - Preheat the oven to 180c. Fill a drip tray or drip pan with about 5cm of water. Grease a baking rack with olive or canola oil. Place the drip pan or drip tray at the bottom of the oven. Place the duck breast-side up on the baking rack and place in the oven above the drip pan and begin baking the beast. The idea is that as the duck cooks, it will drip into the tray. The added water in the tray will keep the oven very humid and the duck thus moist. Bake the duck in this position for 40 minutes.

6:35 PM - Cut the tips off of the spring onions and then cut the stalks off of the actual onion. Cut the onions lengthwise twice so each onion will result into four thinner onions. Place some ice cubes and water into a bowl and place the cut spring onions in the ice water and place in the refrigerator.

6:45 PM - Time to make the pancakes.

1. Combine the flour, corn flour, 1/4 cup water, milk, eggs and (1) tablespoon of butter in a food processor and process the mixture until it is smooth. Pour into a jug and let stand covered for 15 minutes.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush in the remaining (1) tablespoon of butter. Pour a tablespoon of the batter into the frying pan and spread it to form a pancake. Cook for 2 minutes and flip and then cook for another 1 minute. Repeat this process until all of the batter has been used.

7:10 PM - Flip the duck on the tray. Be mindful that when you pull out the baking tray the duck will no doubt drip on the floor so pull the drip tray and the baking tray out at the same time to avoid a mess. Let the duck bake with its breast down for 30 minutes. Continue to make pancakes. Drink a beer.

7:40 PM - Flip the duck yet again. It should be breast-side up now. Drink a beer.

7:45 PM - In a bowl, add equal parts of hoisin sauce and sesame oil and mix. Depending on how you prefer the taste, you may want to add a bit of water to the sauce however experiment until you find a consistency that you fancy.

8:10 PM - Inspect the duck. It should be golden brown by now. It would be wise to keep an eye on the duck after you flip it the second time as all ovens act a bit differently. Once the duck turns golden brown, it is time to remove it from the oven. Open another beer and begin the process of carving the duck.

8:30 PM - You should now have a carved duck, pancakes, a hoisin/sesame sauce and after removing the spring onions from the refrigerator, you can combine all of the ingredients into the pancakes and have an awesome dinner.

I was distracted by the beverages and the awesomeness of the duck so I forgot to take photos this time. The photos below are from the same recipe and process from when I tried this originally last month:

Movida Aqui - Faster Than The Speed of Sound

I was looking forward to my trip to Movida Aqui, located behind the NAB tower at 500 Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD for some time. On multiple occasions over the past few months I sat outside the restaurant and enjoyed tacos and beer at Paco's Taco's which is also owned by the Movida Group in the courtyard. I have thought that Movida Aqui would make a good location for a relaxing lunch so it was with great expectation and pomp and circumstance when a mate was visiting from Brisbane that we booked and presented ourselves to the restaurant for a tour de force.

A custom that my Dandy Warhol's loving mate and I had before enjoying a relaxing culinary experience at lunch in Brisbane was to have a cheeky pint somewhere before fine dining to warm us up. Well, in Brisbane, there usually was no reason to get any warmer so lets just say that the pint was required to get in the spirit of the afternoon.

We decided to meet at The Irish Times on Little Collins Street at 11:45 AM as our booking at Movida Aqui was made for 12:15 PM. The look of consternation, if not disappointment was evident on my face when the barman stated that they can not serve alcohol until noon. This was an attack on tradition in the same way gay marraige would seemingly impact traditional marraige if you listen to some. Not to be outdone, we scoured the area looking for another watering hole but in the end we retreated to the restaurant on time, sullen and quite thirsty, not having satisfied our prerequisite for dining.

Our assigned table was in the back corner which in my opinion was one of the best seats in the house. This allowed us not only to see what was going outside in the laneway, keep an eye on the ever-changing weather (and laugh at those running from the wind and rain) and also keep sight of the entire customer base in the restaurant.

The server proved to be very efficient, thrusting menus at us as soon as we were seated and also pointing out the specials. We educated the server that we were intending to have a relaxing lunch, had no requirement to leave at any particular point and we would be ordering slowly and enjoying a fair amount of wine between the orders. This routine seemed to be out of the ordinary and we were repeatedly asked to place an order, any order, just to get it into the computer.

What I found to be queer is how quickly dishes were brought out as soon as they were placed into the computer. Given the "efficiency" if you look at it positively, a lunch time diner could plough through many dishes and a bottle of wine in an hour considering the dishes seem to be pre-made and also considering the efficiency of service.

I would return to Movida Aqui however I would not intend for the visit to be a long affair. There are some dishes and obviously wine that I was not able to try on the last visit and look forward to the next occasion where I can power through the food and beverage with impunity. A quick visit is actually preferred now considering the availability of restrooms, which are also explained in my e-mail to the restaurant.

As articulated in the e-mail which I am pasting below after the scoring, was sent to Movida after my experience and articulates why extremely long relaxing lunches should be experienced elsewhere. 

Perhaps being ushered out of the restaurant and not being allowed to languish there for a few more hours was good in retrospect. We were able to visit Bar Americano and Der Raum to round out the day before the footy started. It turned out to be a relaxing affair indeed.

Movida Aqui
Link to review
500 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9663 3038
http://www.movida.com.au
My Rating: 14.5/20
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Comment: the food is worth coming back for


Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com


When I updated this post on 15/09/12, 85% of the people that reviewed Movida Aqui on Urbanspoon liked the place also.

To: 'info@movida.com.au'

Greetings,

I have had Movida Aqui on my list to visit for a while especially since I recently relocated to Melbourne from Sydney. One of my best mates in Sydney always raves about it and I have always been keen to visit especially after reading the good press. After spending a few lazy relaxing Friday lunches at Pacos y Tacos and knowing that I needed to find a venue for a mate that was visiting from Brisbane, I decided to make a booking, which was scheduled for Friday 29 June 2012.

Generally speaking I found the experience pretty good. It was on par with expectations and I was pleased that the architecture afforded a more casual and relaxing dining experience in comparison to the property on Hosier Lane.

My guest and I made it clear that we were in no rush and were happy to sample many plates and wines and make an afternoon of it. I always felt we were rushed to order something… anything… just to get something in the computer. I was also rather vexed at how quickly things would arrive after the order was placed. Sure, there are many people on a timetable but I would like to think if you announce your intention to spend many hours, which also includes many dishes and bottles of wine that the intention would be taken a bit more seriously. Given it is easy to spend eight hours at Grossi Florentino at lunch and ultimately be finishing your lunch during dinner service and the same amount of time, if not more, at Vue de Monde or even Attica if your intentions are announced, one would assume that such an opportunity for a restaurant to proverbially pick the customers pocket would be welcomed.

I suppose the only thing that truly vexed me is that there is only one cubicle in the gentleman’s lavatory. Upon presenting myself in there to conduct some urgent business (as I was still in the final stages of riding myself from the nasty flu) I needed to wait ten minutes for the cubicle to become vacant. What was surprising was one of your kitchen staff was using it. I am not saying that your employees shouldn’t be allowed to vanquish themselves of unneeded waste, but I would have thought there would be other facilities that they could use especially given it can become a critical path for your customers. Strangely I saw the same member of staff later still in uniform sitting at a table reading the newspaper whilst diners were still consuming. I thought this was out of character and unexpected for a restaurant of your calibre.

I thought that these curious events would be worth bringing to your kind attention.

Cheers

** no response has been received which is disappointing.

Beppi's, Rodents and Rihanna

Beppi's in Sydney has been fined $2,640 after inspectors observed "rodent activity" to say the least. The article is here. If their claim to fame is getting Rihanna to eat there, they should do the right thing and just cease operating. Just because Rihanna has no taste, some sort of romanticised notion that East Sydney diners will visit the place like lemmings until the end of days to eat rat shit is appalling. The place barely gets into the Good Food Guide with a 12/20. Hardly a culinary landmark. Just knowing that Rihanna (likes) the place is enough to turn off any true epicurean.

After visiting the Grill'd in St Kilda last week (again thanks to an Entertainment Book voucher) I would venture to claim that their premises is cleaner and serves better food. I think Grill'd would be excluded from the Good Food Guide though because of the nature of its business. So many decent restaurants fail because of the time and cost to keep them clean whereas some dive like Beppi's continues to trade is beyond my comprehension.

The Great Ocean Road

It seems as if the last week has not been an epicurean adventure but the opposite involving cheaper comfort food which although has been tasty, is a bit of a shame in a way.


My journey down the Great Ocean Road commenced in the Melbourne CBD and after a quick jaunt over the Westgate Bridge, I was on my way. Passing Avalon Airport, The Werribee Zoo, Geelong and Torquay brought back some great memories and made me happy to be living in Victoria finally.


The sun was shining and it was a cool 12c for most of the journey down the Great Ocean Road. I brief stop was made in Lorne for a chicken pie and coffee before continuing to Apollo Bay for a proper lunch if you call it that.


After spending a few minutes in the Apollo Bay Hotel, I knew that the food was going to lead to disappointment so we left and found a pub down the road that had a steak and pizza special. One can never be too disappointed with steak and pizza from a pub. It was also a calm venue unlike the Apollo Bay Hotel as there were not children running around.


One of the highlights of the drive on the Great Ocean Road was seeing whales in two different areas along the coast. They were close to the shore and seemingly have migrated from the Antarctic waters for the winter. I thought about my mate Adrian who is currently in Japan and whether or not he would sample the local whale on offer.


Having ventured down the Great Ocean Road a few times in my life, I was not too motivated to stop at the usual tourist traps and avoided the turn-off for the Twelve Apostles. Just driving the road on such a beautiful day was relaxing enough.


I found solace in a pub in Port Campbell. The AFL was on and the Carlton was cold. I was pondering if Port Campbell would be a good destination just to chill out for a few days in the future.


The journey by road came to an end at sunset when we arrived in Warrnambool and checked into the Quality Deep Blue Resort (formally known as the Sebel Deep Blue) which has always been my accommodation of choice when visiting the area.

Although I have consumed a few meals in the hotel in the past, I did not want to languish too long there so we wandered into town. A new arts complex has been built and the exterior reminded me of what Federation Square in Melbourne looks like. Besides "The Flood" with Helen Merrin commencing soon, Shannon Noll will be there in concert at some point. Across the road at the Whaler's Inn, they were advertising Timomatic as being the "talent" that would be visiting in the future. With the winter festival on that is themed for children, it is all happening in Warrnambool.


We found a table inside the local Taco Bill's next to the window so the local wildlife can be observed. We ordered a couple of margaritas in a 1.4L glass which caused a bit of a stir in the restaurant since they were just so huge and also was a tourist draw for those who walked past. I imagined small children telling their horrified mothers that they wanted a drink like what we had with the mother musing that after her boyfriend/husband/live-in drinks that much they resort to violence. What is truly horrifying though is learning that the 1.4L drink only has two shots of tequila in it. Many beers were had after this concoction was finished and before I knew it, the clock had turned past 11:00 PM and we had to wander back to the Deep Blue in nearly freezing conditions.


I couldn't get to sleep because the cricket was on and as usual we were getting our arse handed to us by the English. Brett Lee and Shane Watson complained about being injured most likely to divert attention from the fact that they provided a poor performance. What really angered me and prevented me from enjoying my slumber was seeing Micheal Clarke stand around in the field laughing whilst boundary after boundary was being scored. Later the cameraman cut to Mitchell Johnson who was tasked to carry drinks during this ODI, laughing and carrying on in the stands. Not only was the performance disgraceful, the team is just shocking.


With Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Carlton Blues and South Sydney Rabbitohs all winning their respective games this weekend, it made for a poor weekend for me and the sports that I follow so I was grateful to get out of Melbourne where I was only encouraged to watch the cricket and enjoy a relaxing weekend.