Anzac Weekend, Amalfi Pizzeria Ristorante

Holidays and long weekends usually keep Adelaide city pretty quiet. We took advantage of this and went in to try Amalfi Pizzeria Ristorante on Frome Street. Even if this restaurant is just a short walk from our apartment, it took us this long to try it because its always full when we do drop by.

I've read about Amalfi years back, and have always been curious to try their offerings. They have a menu of traditional favorites from pasta dishes, wood fire oven pizzas and mains varying from seafood to lamb. The interiors of the restaurant are kept simple, first things you will notice are the open kitchen and large chalkboards with the day's specials.

For our first visit, we started with garlic bread and an order of their black mussels cooked in a broth of stock, garlic and chili. This is a favorite of mine from the Philippines and was looking so happy to see it in their menu and was hoping it was close to the one we order in Boracay Island. It was, and according to Mart, may even be better! The broth is salty and tasty and great to soak the garlic bread in! The mussels are perfectly cooked, still tender and easy to eat.

We then moved on to our Cardinale pizza - toppings include prosciutto, bocconcini, basil and mushrooms. The crust was really good and tasty with the perfect thickness and crunch. The toppings did not overwhelm the pizza and the ingredients used were of very good quality.

For dessert, we had an order of their tiramisu. From our whole meal, this is the most forgettable part. We did not enjoy our dessert because it was a bit dry and I missed the creamy mascarpone cream you usually lick of your spoon when having tiramisu.

Sans dessert though, it was a great dining experience and we'll definitely be making ur way back and work our way through more items in the menu!

'Till the next post!

Sharlyn

Menu

Garlic Bread - $4.20

Cozze Aglio Olio - Black Mussels steamed with garlic olive oil, parsly, chili and fish broth, $15.40

Cardinale Pizza, $ 24 / 15.90

Tiramisu

AMALFI RISTORANTE PIZZERIA

est 1981

29 Frome Street City East End

www.amalfi.net.au

Lunch MON-FRI

Dinner MON-SAT

Growlers at the Torquey Esplanade

Capping our great ocean road adventure, we looked for a nice place to have our last lunch in Torquey and chanced upon Growlers.

The restaurant had a nice al fresco area in the front yard of the building and has great views of the beach across the street. We were drawn in by a very full breakfast crowd and charming set up. Unfortunately, we were too late for the breakfast menu so we decided to just have some coffees and wait for the lunch service to begin.

Of course Mart had the wagyu rump steak, served with chips and side salad and I decided to keep it "light" with an order of their Ceasar's salad. Our food came and portions were generous. I enjoyed my Ceasar's salad, I like that I could taste the anchovies and loved the poached egg in the dish. I was very full with the portion that was served, and was happy that the salad was my main dish. Mart's rump steak was very tasty and tender (much better than the other steaks we've had in our Victoria trip). Other items to note in their menu are the coffin bay oysters, wagyu burger, seafood stew and portalington mussels.

Growler's is a very family friendly restaurant with a very wholesome menu we look for when we're on holiday. It was a great find and I'm glad we made the stop. Consider Torquey as your base for a Great Ocean Road adventure - there are quite a number of surprising finds in this town.

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Wagyu Rump Steak, $22

Ceasar's Salad, $18

add Grilled Chicken, $26

Contact information taken from www.growlers.com.au:

23 The Esplanade
Torquay    3228    VIC

Open 7 days
for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Phone : 03 5264 8455
fax : 03 5264 8034
email : growlers4@bigpond.com.au

The Wineries of Yarra Valley Victoria

While in Melbourne for a week long holiday, we decided to take a day trip to the Yarra Valley Wineries. After a scenic hour drive out of the CBD we had so many activity options in the area. We decided to plan our day visiting 3 vineyards - Fergusson Winery, De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate and Domaine Chandon.

First stop for us was lunch at the Fergusson Winery's Restaurant. Their website enticed me with an offering of a provincial menu and I was expecting a menu of comfort food. We started with a calamari salad, this dish didn't look too impressive in appearance but was tasty.  Mart per as his usual steak - they served their porterhouse with a cream muscat sauce with mash and greens. The meat could have been more tender for my taste, and the cream muscat sauce was not too much to my liking - but Mart didn't complain and ate it all up! For myself, I was very happy with my choice - I got my comfort provincial special with the Ned Kelly's famous chunky beef pie...yum! The meat was tender and so tasty - braised in their Ned's Cabernet Merlot and mixed in with an onion gravy, served with chips on the side. 

Not too far away, was our next stop - De Bortoli. First impression of De Bortoli was excellent. They have such beautifully kept grounds which house their restaurant Locale, their cellar door and cheese shop. We were there for the cheese - so as to be able to try a bit of everything, we went with a tasting plate of 5 cheeses ranging from manchego, dolce gorgonzola to soft goat cheese. Armed with our tasting plate, we make our way to some tables in the picnic area over looking the vineyards. This makes for a great afternoon for families - of course the wine consumed in these areas must come from their cellar door. 

We end our little road trip with some bubbly at Domaine Chandon. One of the more popular stops in the Yarra Valley, expect to be with some tour groups when you visit. But the facility has quite a bit of space stretching over the patio, the Green Point brasserie and tasting room. Given a chance to come back, I would like to try their menu, the restaurant looked very impressive and the dishes coming out of the kitchen looked very good. Unfortunately, by this point, we were so full and only wanted to have a coffee before the drive back. 

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Fergusson Winery

De Bortoli

Domaine Chandon

Breakfast! The Pancake Parlour

When in Melbourne, you will not miss an ad or two for this institution - The Pancake Parlour. The branch we visited is located along busy Bourke Street and is opened earlier than the surrounding shops and department stores. A good start to a busy day of shopping!

Their menu is typical of most pancake/breakfast places offering pancakes with all the possible sides, coffees, and every other comfort dish you can think off. We decided to get a short stack of pancakes with eggs and cheese kranskys. For my short stack, I decided to try their buckwheat option and Mart went with the traditional buttermilk pancakes. I have been looking forward to finding buckwheat pancakes as these were my favourite back in Manila. Pancakes have the option to be served with your choice between butter, cream or ice cream. They also have pure maple syrup for an additional charge.

Our orders came and the portion sizes did not disappoint. The buttermilk pancakes were light and savoury. I was pretty happy with my buckwheat stack, not as good as Bizu's in Manila, but a good option to have. The surprise stand out in our meal were the cheese kranskys - it was very tasty and cooked very well.

If you find yourself in Melbourne and want to your day with a good breakfast, I would definitely recommend a visit to The Pancake Parlour. It is also a good place to take the kids - check out the giant chess set and magic mirrors! For free stacks - check out coupons in Melbourne tourist brochures.

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Contact information taken from: http://www.pancakeparlour.com

The Pancake Parlour Restaurant
Centrepoint Arcade,
Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne.
(Down the escalators, between
Sportsgirl & Jetty Surf)
Phone: 9654 1893

 

OPEN 7AM EVERY DAY
SUNDAY - THURSDAY TIL 10PM
FRIDAY & SATURDAY 'TIL MIDNIGHT

Lygon Street Melbourne, La Spaghettata

You cannot visit Melbourne and not hear about Lygon Street. Located in the Carlton area, Lygon Street presents itself as Melbourne's Italian District. Chic boutiques, delicatessens, and designer shops dot this street in between the numerous pizzerias, bakeries and restaurants. It's impossible to take it all in with just one visit, the options are just endless!

I really wanted to try the pizzerias - Tiamo and Papa Gino's seem to be the most popular. Unfortunately, there were just too many people that night.  The volume of patrons outside these two places have really gotten me curious. It was such a busy night, so we made our way further down the street and consulted the iphone app - Uraban Spoon which led us to a little place called La Spaghettata. As we made our way, we passed numerous people trying to reel us into their own restaurants - that gets a little too in your face at times but it gives this street its character, I suppose.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, you find a generous al fresco area leading up to the street front.
The clientelle were mostly couples and families having a nice dinner together. The way they decorated the place is quite rustic, and felt like stepping into someone's home. We decided to go for pasta that night - Mart with his usual spaghetti with meatballs and me with my Tortellini with cream sauce. I usually order the stuffed fresh pastas, since I would probably never make these at home.

As we waited for our dishes we entertain ourselves by checking out the many plates hanging on the wall. Each plate has recipes of the pasta dishes they serve in the menu. We started off our dinner with bruschetta with prociutto and boconccini. The dish was pleasant, using fresh and well dressed ingredients.  We were hoping for homemade bread though (we're getting spoiled!).  The pasta dishes came soon after, and are quite generous in portion size. Mart's dish had lots of meatballs and that certainly made him happy with his choice. My tortellini was good, cooked well but I was expecting a bit more with the cream sauce.

La Spaghettata is a good place for a quiet dinner, but it did not really wow me over. I suppose the hype about Lygon street did not help this cause because I had terribly high expectations. But I'm all for second chances and look forward to coming back and exploring more of what they have to offer!

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

La Spaghettata Restaurant

• 238 Lygon St
  Carlton 3053 VIC
• Phone: (03) 9663 6102

Doing the touristy thing and fast food! Think Asia

When you're on holiday, you're bound to do the touristy things, especially if you're new to a town or city. And for one reason or another - you will find yourselves needing a quick meal because of your hurried agenda or dwindling budget. And the solutions are usually going to the ever reliables - Hungry Jacks, Mc Donalds, Subway or KFC. This is how we found ourselves when we were touring Melbourne over the Easter break.

At a certain point though, you just want a break from the junk food and crave for a home cooked style hot meal. Enter - Melbourne's amazing new food courts. May it be in the Southgate River Side Food Court, QV Mall's Urban market or Crown Casino's Entertainement Plaza - you will find a huge selection of international food kiosks serving up hot meals ranging from the day's roasts, to wraps, to pizzas, to rice meals, coffees and desserts.

An instant favourite of ours was Think Asia! It was a rainy night in Melbourne and after a day of sight seeing and lots and lots of walking we find ourselves in the Southgate.  I'm immediately drawn to Think Asia's cook to order menu. Items we tried are the Char Kwey Teow (noodle dish) and the Hainanese Chicken Rice (reminiscent of our time in the street kiosks in Singapore) and we weren't disappointed. In fact, the chicken rice was quite yummy - that we had it for a second time over at Crown's Entertainment Complex a few days after. With an average price of $10-12 per order, the quality of food and value for money can't be beat!

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Food kiosk at Southgate 

Char Kwey Teow & Hainanese Chicken Rice

Location information from website:

http://www.thinkasia.com.au

Crown Casino
Shop 37 Crown Entertainment Complex
Phone 9686 1766

Collins Place
Shop 52 Collins Place
Phone 9663 3238

Southgate
Shop G26 Southgate Riverside Food Court
Phone 9696 3398

Easter break in Melbourne, The Butcher's Grill

Melbourne is known for celebrity chefs and fine dining restaurants - but the options can be quite overwhelming for guests to the city. There are streets and streets of cafes, bistros, pubs and food courts to explore. For this pick - I used the good old fashioned city brochures!

The Butcher's Grill has 2 city locations, one on the very busy Bourke Street and one by the Docklands. Since our hotel was a stones throw away, we decided to visit the Bourke Street location. We got there a tad shy of 12 noon and found the menu by the door. They had a promotion for tuesdays, where they slash your bill by 50% on certain selections from their menu. I must admit - that was the draw for me, and the promise of a steak lunch for Mart. The restaurant features Australian meat and a Mediterranean style of cooking.

The interiors of the restaurant was quite elaborate with chandeliers and ornate wall decorations. It projected an old world charm, quite a contrast to the stark interiors of most new restaurants we find these days. Since we were early, we were able to be seated by the window with the view of the trams going by. We noticed though, after a bit of time in the restaurant, that there seemed to be no one else but us making us guess that this place was more for the evening crowd.

After a quick browse of the menu, we decided to go for the rump steaks (there are limited steak cuts included in the tuesday 50% off promo and I couldn't pass up the offer). We were offered some bread at the table and after a few moments we got our steaks, medium rare over some mashed potatoes and a mushroom sauce on the side. The meat was tender but I was expecting more flavour full meat, I guess I set the bar high for a Melbourne restaurant. I suppose the choice of cut also made the difference, perhaps the wagyu or other more prime offerings would have been able to deliver that. Serving sizes were pretty substantial, enough to fuel our day of exploring around the city.

To be quite honest, more than my steak, I thoroughly enjoyed the desserts more! We decided on the mango jelly panna cotta served with grapes and almond tuille and the rich chocolate ganache served with chocolate ice cream.  The panna cotta was creamy and fresh, while the ganache was rich with a surprise crunch through its layers. Both desserts were a perfect finish to a pleasant lunch. Through our meal, service by the staff was quite good, I guess it helped that there were only 2 couples dining that day. Don't get me wrong though, I gathered that the Butcher's Grill was a popular restaurant as there were streams of inquires for group reservations and functions ranging from corporate meetings, special birthday celebrations or the after office crowd looking for a hearty meal.

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Signage on Bourke Street

Restaurant Interiors

Menu Cover

350g Angus Rump Steak with Mashed Potato

$36.00

* Mushroom sauce - $5.00

Chocolate Ganache with Chocolate Ice Cream

$15.00

Mango jelly Panna Cotta

$13.00

Contact information and pricing taken from :

http://www.butchersgrill.com.au/

Butchers Grill, Meat & Wine Cellar

Phone:	03 9639 1222
Address:	141 Bourke Street, Melbourne Vic 3000
Hours:	Lunch: Monday - Friday, Dinner: Monday - Saturday
License:	Fully licensed and BYO* BYO available to bookings of up to 6 people. Wine & champagne only. Corkage of $10 per bottle applies. Not available on special event days.
Cuisine:	Mediterranean
Features:	Private Dining Room - "Alexander" Mediterranean style open grill, wall of boutique wines
Functions:	Available for group bookings, private functions & events
Chef:	Jay Soon

Mart's Birthday Cake - Cocolat's Caramel Craze!

It's my husband's birthday and I wanted to have a special entry for his favorite cake - birthday or not!
My husband has a major sweet tooth - and his latest favorite from the Cocolat line up of fab mud cakes is the Caramel Craze!

The description from their website: "A mouth watering, rich, moist, dense caramel fudge cake smothered in chocolate ganache". Bliss!

Happy happy birthday to you honey! ;-p Thank you for all our food adventures!

'Til the next post!

Sharlyn

Caramel Craze by Cocolat

Dessert Cafes

283 Rundle Street
Adelaide 5000
(08) 8232 6133

Level 2
Adelaide Airport 5950
(08) 8234 3661

Outlet shopping and Burger Monster

The best burger in world history. That's the claim BURGER MONSTER made - and it was enough for us to give it a try. Located in Harbour Town in the Docklands of Melbourne, Burger Monster is found among a row of restaurants facing the Southern Star Observation Wheel (currently closed).

You can build pretty much any kind of burger with the menu staples and extras from their menu board. There is a beef and chicken option for the patty and toppings range from cheese, avocado, pineapple, beetroot...etc.

Unfortunately the claim was too good to be true. My cheeseburger got to me a touch too cool for my liking (as I do like my food piping hot-especially when it's supposedly made fresh) and I found that the bun was just too big for my burger patty. I suppose the big bun is ideal for those who pile on the toppings - but for my cheeseburger it was just too much. The taste of the burger was pretty average - to be honest I cannot remember anything special about it apart from the size. Surprisingly the one that saved our meal was the chips!

"Til the next post!

Sharlyn