Winter well-and-truly struck Melbourne last week.  It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a “proper” winter, cold and drizzly, requiring stew and stodge to keep the inner fires burning.

Last Sunday I wanted a cup of tea and a pikelet or  two.  Warm liquid, a delicious stodge! While I was mixing up a batch, I noticed the organic oats I’d bought a few weeks ago.  Hmm.. Oaten Pikelets?  yes please.

I cooked the whole batch, and froze the extras which became my “toaster porridge” during the week, toasted, served with some poached quince and yogurt.

So good, I made a batch today purely for breakfast purposes!  I also added some spelt flakes.  for extra wholegrain goodness.

Makes about 10 toaster-sized ovals.

1½ cups rolled oats

1 cup spelt flakes (or use all oats)

¾ cup SR flour

½ teaspoon baking power

¼ cup caster sugar

¾ cup milk

2 eggs lightly beaten

90g butter, melted

splash of vanilla extract

pinch of salt.

In a food processor, whiz 2 cups of oats &/or spelt flakes until they are fine.  Add them to a bowl, with the unprocessed oats, the flour, baking powder and sugar.  Stir together. Melt butter gently.  Add eggs and butter and half the milk, stir to combine, adding extra milk as you go.  You want a thick consistency like cream.  It’s hard to tell how much milk the oats will soak up, so you may need to add more/less to make a good pouring consistency.   Add vanilla and salt to taste.

Stand at least 20 mins, adjust consistency.  Heat a heavy bottomed frypan over a medium heat.  Swirl some butter in a cook the pikelets until golden brown.

Freeze between pieces of freezer wrap and toast to serve!

Am I a fan of the “grunge” styling?   I’m not sure I am.  All that has changed is the letters that spelled out the previous tenants name – Tugra Restaurant – midnight haunt of hungry cabbies, have been removed. The colour is quite hideous in my opinion.  But being next to the bike path I guess the local taggers will just cover whatever they did do, so perhaps it’ a wise choice?

I think my favourite time was the day I dropped in by myself on the way home for a Negroni, some salumi and a few bits and pieces with a glass of wine.  It was quite early, so the staff weren’t running around all over the place, and I sat at the bar which meant I could always get attention when I needed another glass of wine.

Negroni and Lupini

My tasting plate (olives $11)

Salumi selection $15

Bread and EVOO

The view across the bar

Pan-fried caciocavallo with tomato salad $12

Another of our visits has been blogged already by my friends over at Eat Our Way Up High Street Project

Unfortunately, each of the fours times I’ve been there the bill has been incorrect.  Sometimes in their favour, sometimes in ours.  I hope they settle in the front of house systems soon.

They continue to be very busy, and I’m not sure if it’s going to be a place I visit regularly.  The noise level is too high for me to have a decent catch up conversation with friends.  The kids will get restless waiting for food and it can be hard to get someone’s attention to order that second bottle of wine.

On the other hand, it is on the tram line home, and a quick visit for a glass of wine and main will be tempting, especially if I am there by myself.  And I am quite possibly addicted to the friend cauliflower.

I think the local families will continue to flock to it.  The food is good quality and tasty and the wine list is interesting. For me though – it will remain a “sometimes” restaurant.

Other recent visitors:

MelbourneGastronome

The Age

So, have you been? and what did you think?

Supermaxi

305 St Georges Road

North Fitzroy

9482 2828

“Arty” shot of the back wall – decorated with condensed & evaporated milk cans, huge Horlicks cans, Milo cans and the like.

We ordered three dishes to share, Ban Cheng Kui $4, Satay Chicken $8 and Roti Planta $4.50. The Ban Cheng Kui came first, and well, as it is a sweet crepe filled with coconut (kaya?) and peanuts, that was a bit weird. It was pretty yummy though – the outside crispy and the filling not too soggy. Just how I love my crepes!

The Roti was delicious and hot, with a fantastic flaky texture. They make them to order and it was amazing to watch them spreading the dough very thinly before cooking them crispy. The sides were a chilli sauce and a laksa-like sauce.

The chicken satay were again freshly cooked and very flavoursome. I liked the sides of cucumber and red onion. The presentation is definitely functional rather than “cheffy”.

To drink – we couldn’t go past the Root Beer Float. (well – who could?)

The drinks took a while to come, but when they were delivered staff explained that the fizzy drink was fizzier than they expected and they had had trouble “dealing with it” – with a wide grin on their face and an honest apology. The staff seemed to be relishing the steady stream of customers not long after opening, and I would guess, having more space between the tables and lower requirements to move customers on than at the sister restuarant in Chinatown.

The fit out is modern and clean and situated as it is on the QV square it looks out on to the (fake I guess) grass area outside. If they could stop smoking in the outside area it would be a nice place to sit in the sun and enjoy a Malaysian style coffee, or dessert, or snack.

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak
Level 2, Shop 11 QV Square
QV Building

9654 2682

Apparently New Year’s Day is their busiest day of the year and they don’t take bookings for it. We seem to often end up here on New Year’s Day, but didn’t have to wait long tonight. Just a few minutes wait under the tree then we were offered an outside table.

One thing I dislike about outside dining in Melbourne is that people smoke at outside tables. They can’t smoke inside restaurants or bars, but they can if a restaurant is set up “properly”. Thankfully, Donnini’s isn’t set up in a way that allows patrons to smoke while sitting at the table. Yay I say!

JB was taken by the Springbay Mussel soup; 3 lovely big mussels in a tasty tomato broth, with just a touch of chilli.

I started with tomoto, basil and mozzarella salad.

I was pleasantly surprised; like I said, I seem to have to always remind myself about the commitment to quality here, I don’t know why. I was expecting some (hopefully) ripe roma tomatoes, with rubbery mozzarella and some generic olive oil. What I received was 3 or four varieties of tomatoes, thinly sliced, coated with a verdant “grassy” olive oil, crumbled “real” mozzarella, and sliced basil; perfectly season, perfectly delicious!

Then we shared one of their delicious, thin crust pizzas – this time topped with leek and pancetta.

Oops! almost forgot the photo as we tucked in.

$70 for two with one glass of wine, and one mineral water.

Worth every penny!

Donnini’s
320 Lygon St
Carlton VIC 3053
(03) 9347 3128

Between Faraday and Grattan.

I’ve never been a real fan of the site Embrasse occupies in Drummond street, not now, and not when it was Mrs Jones, nor 312. It’s a bit of a strange room being square rather than rectangular, it feels like it’s been cut off – and that there is more fun happening “out the back”. I think it’s a difficult size to create some “buzz” as well, although not funereal as it has been described, it was a bit introspective the day we were there. Eventually a loud party of four walk-ins filled the table in the middle of the room and gave all us couples something other than each other to look at.

At any rate, we were there for the food. Nicolas Poelaert was recently named our Young Chef of the Year, and I was a bit surprised to find some quite “mature” food on our plates. What do I mean? I mean subtle flavours where the produce shines, not the technique, and the guts to have a plate of vegetables as a main course. We wavered a bit about trying the degustation or not, but decided to go al la carte.

Arty shot of the amuse bouche.

(Sorry, I think it’s time for a tripod)

Selection of root vegetables, mushroom / ink crumbs, 62C egg and wood Sorrel

The egg is cooked for 1.5 hours and the texture of the egg is soft, but the yolk doesn’t run. JB declared it delicious.

Confit Pork Belly, asparagus, apple, gingerbread, wild alliums, oxalis flower.
By far the prettiest dish of the night, I loved the subtle garlic flavour and the tang of the oxalis. I have eaten a lot of oxalis lately. I must get on to the weeding!

Wagyu and onion tart with korean black garlic, black sesame, bread sauce and nasturtiums.
Or maybe this was the prettiest? The onions made a pattern that reminded me of Japanese paper. The meat was a fantastic colour, and though I’m not a huge wagyu fan, it was very flavoursome.

It would seem that I have forgotten to take a picture of my own main…very strange.

I ordered the meli melo of vegetables, sprouts, herbs and flowers, herb emulsions, perhaps because I knew it was one of the signature dishes, perhaps because I was pining for Mugaritz, perhaps because it was spring: and spring vegies are delicious. And it was a delicious. The vegies were perfectly cooked, asparagus, broad beans, carrots, something that might have been taro or manioc? zucchini, snow peas, many tasty little non-beasties. It was perfectly light and flavoursome and left room for dessert.

As a former pastry chef at Circa and the original Vue de Monde I was expecting a decent stab at dessert here. We weren’t disappointed by “Choclate parfait, meringue, chocolate crumb, sorrel granita”

The “mushroom” tops were the chocolate parfait, soft and with a jelly-ish texture, they reminded me of a non-frozen gelato. The stalks were meringue, and the granita was (the now ubiquitous) sorrel. The dirt was crumbled cake and it was the one part of the dessert that I wasn’t enamoured by.

So now to the elephant in the room, the service. There’s been a bit written about the service recently; we found it a tad overly-keen, friendly, perhaps a bit inexperienced, but with good hearts and especially with the young man who helped us choose our wine, passion. Young Chef of the Year, Nicolas Poelaert introduced himself towards the end of the meal and we spoke about Le Chateaubriand and his friend chef Inaki Aizpitarte. Nicolas hasn’t eaten Inaki’s food, so good blogger that I am, I pulled out the camera and showed him the photos from our recent meal. (that’s a bit weird right? But it happened). It certainly deserves to be full on a Friday night.

We’ll be back to see how this young chef develops, and hope that like Shannon Bennett, for whom Nic worked across the road where DOC is now, we will be proud to say one day “I remember when…”


Embrasse
312 Drummond Street
Carlton VIC 3053
03 9347 3312

I do hope this market picks up a bit, it wasn’t really what I would consider “up to speed” yet. I really didn’t like being accosted by GetUp! on my way there… go inside and have a stall and I’ll come see you if I want to folks.

The grounds of the school are quite well set up for the market, and to sit and have a coffee and a bit of breakfast, but the coffee was pretty ordinary, made with Coles UHT milk which was a HUGE step down from Schulz’s Organic Fresh Milk as we get at Abbotsford and Collingwood, and the beans were quite a mild roast.

The collection of stalls was a bit eccentric, but as it was the first market I can only hope it picks up. They were also quite sparse.

There was:
Ross Creek Garlic (who sold Garlic)
Honey
Lamadre Bakery
Olive Branch Preserves
Pud for All Seasons
A loose leaf tea seller
Little Creek Cattle Company/Killara Rise Lamb (from NSW!)
A Gozleme and turkish bread seller
Lockton Farm Gourmet Sausages (Chicken, Cheese and Asparagus sausages? Gourmet Pizza Sausages? Madras Curry and Cheese Sausages? I could go on but…urgh)
Marie’s Natural Herbs ‘n’ Stuff
Meredith Cheese
Flower seller
A Chicken shop
Someone selling stonefruit I think
A Market Gardener
Picanha Premium Beef
and perhaps a couple more?

There weren’t a lot of names on the stalls, and I missed the little bios that a lot of the Farmers put up at other more established markets. I used inverted commas in the first paragraph as there didn’t seem to be a lot of farmers – more of the value added stuff which isn’t what I look for at these markets.

But there was some good and some truly weird…

Now the dumpling stall took my fancy – I like dumplings! But I was disappointed to see only dim sims, hear the stall holder say ” well you can steam them, but they are much better deep fried” and then read the name of the stall..Wun Hung Lo? They’re kidding right? Seriously not impressed with the attempt at humour I’m afraid.

Then there was the scarf lady…seeing as it was more than 30 degrees yesterday that seemed really incongruous. Good thing it drizzled this morning I guess.

Then there was these guys – Michael and Jo, Red Bean coffee beans.

They were the suppliers of the beans in the aforementioned bland coffee, they asked me how it was, and I told them it was pretty bland, I blamed the milk – they blamed the roast the coffee makers had chosen (which they called a “girlie” roast). They sold me some Brazilian rainforest alliance beans. These two are ex-construction industry who have taken up roasting their own beans to make the kind of coffee they like to drink. I liked them, they were chatty (always a good sign at a market) and passionate about what they were doing. (You need a sign for that marque though lads!)

So…not a great start I’m afraid for this market, but hopefully things will improve with a better mix of stalls. Or maybe they will pitch themselves at the “Sunday Shopper”, buying those little indulgences. I certainly couldn’t do my weekly shop here – or even buy ingredients for a whole meal. But I’ll be back to see how they are progressing.

North Melbourne Farmers’ Market
1st Sunday every month (except January – second Sunday)
North Melbourne Primary School
210 Errol Street
North Melbourne
Inseason Markets

They are opening their farm in Sutton Grange as a slow food event.

“Ever wondered how a certified organic dairy goat farm, with cheese production, really works? This slow food event will be a hands on experience. Be prepared to get down and see how the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Activities include: farm walk with goats, building better soils with compost, feeding goats, tree planting and much much more. Lunch included, bring your own
plate, cup and cutlery. Booking essential.”

Come and meet the girls and the goats and support some of our most committed farmers and cheesemakers. They really are making a difference.

Sunday 4th October
10am – 4pm
$50 for adults, $45 Slow Food Members and $15 for kids (human)

Bookings: Simon 0421 458 891 of conviviem.leader@slowfoodcentralvictoria.org.au

But, tonight I was on a mission, to eat steak. That doesn’t quite explain while all three of my companions also chose steak, but it did give us an idea of consistency across the table.

La Luna has forged a reputation in presenting good quality steak, aged on the premises, and an interesting range of house made charcuterie. They run offal nights fairly regularly and have great appeal to the Friday afternoon “steak & red” business-man brigade.

There were 7 starters on the menu, some house made sausages, soup and an interesting octopus salad, with one vegetarian option (double baked cheese soufflé – safe to say this is not a house that worships the vegans.) There were also specials of oysters from Coffin Bay and Quail.

The wine list here tends toward the boutique and interesting, and the martini’s are pretty darn good. We started with a Delatite 07 Riesling.

The “Hand-cured sliced meats, pickles, olives EVO and bread” ($20.50) really was designed to be shared, but this wasn’t mentioned when we ordered it and three other starters. So I didn’t *have* to share and I gobbled quite a bit of it up. There were several salami’s, some proscuitto, porcetta, ham some cornichon and sliced pickled onion, olives and toasted bread.

The “Smoked Salmon with brioche, apple cucumber and caper salad” ($18.50) was voted best entree the table for it’s salty, sweet, crunchy, dense, creamy tart combination.

Quail wrapped in house made pancetta with a salad that included hazelnuts and shredded cabbage and beetroot. Delicious.

We ordered 2 medium rare rumps and one medium, and one medium rare porterhouse ($38.50). The steaks are dry aged on the premises and come with mash and pepperonata. So – this is the main game, and I was a bit disappointed I’m afraid. The meat was good, but not as good as I have had elsewhere, including from my own butcher. Maybe I expected too much, but this is where their reputation was forged. The steaks were all cooked the same as far as I could tell. so either they didn’t want to cook one medium (not for me!), or they forgot.

We drank a bottle of Syrahmi 07 Shiraz on recommendation, and even though we were told that we could hand it back if we didn’t like it – we didn’t, and we didn’t. I think we just chose badly as we know it’s a subtle shiraz and probably not the best match for seriously beefy beef.

Deserts got a bit serious, with the non-drivers “tucking in” to a Desert Cocktail featuring coffee, vodka, tia maria and kahlua ($14.50)

Whilst I was under-whelmed by the vanilla creme brulee with sesame tuille ($14.50) which was smooth, but nothing really special and needed another flavour.

I love La Luna, but perhaps it needs a holiday and a refresh of it’s spirit, it felt a little bit lost this night.

(Apologies for the photo quality – I will adjust in due course)

La Luna Bistro
320 Rathdown Street
North Carlton Vic Australia

Ph +613 9349 4888

The Gasworks Farmers’ Market brought us baby leeks and coriander to round out the filling, and the Prahran Market Tour from a few weeks ago turned up some chicken stock.

I whizzed the chicken then put it in a medium sized bowl. The processor then took in the coriander leaves, stems and roots and the baby leeks. If I’d remembered to get some ginger it would have gone in as well. Mix the green paste with the minced chicken, one egg white, a heaped teaspoon of cornflour, tablespoon of sweet chilli, some five spice and dried ginger powder.

Mix this really well until it all hangs together. Teaspoons in wonton wrappers. I boiled some in the soup, steamed some over the soup and had some gyoza style for entree.

The soup was simply chicken stock, some water, some sesame oil and corn. Poured over a pile of cold shredded chicken, finely sliced celery and coriander leaves.

That’s the downside of cooking for two! Still I’ve had a good fix!

Hmmm….yes – I get unsolicited food photos. Yes – they sometimes aren’t technically of food!