Friday Evening at the Kent Hotel

On a balmy Melbourne summer evening, such as the one we had last Friday, a drink and a meal at the pub is a pleasant way to end the working week.

Having arranged to pick up a Flexicar on Friday evening after work, just across the road from the Kent Hotel, I thought it a good opportunity to try dinner there. However after making a booking at the hotel and then reading reviews of it, it was with some trepidation that I approached the hotel. I shouldn't have been. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals.

The menu at the Kent Hotel is quite extensive, offering a large range of entrees and main meals, desserts and specials board listing several extra dishes, including a seafood platter for two ($45) on the night we were there. To start with we ordered chicken polpetti and the fried saganaki with a gherkin and rocket salad and horseradish dressing.

My entree arrived as three large, chunky polpetti studded with pinenuts in a tomato sugo. I liked these but they didn't have the 'wow' factor for me. Don't get me wrong, they were good but I have very high standards when it comes to polpetti and often make them at home. Polpetti need to be absolutely amazing for me to swoon about them.

It's hard to go wrong with fried saganaki with its salty, chewy and squeaky taste and texture. However I found the side salad of gherkin, rocket and horseradish dressing a slightly unusual, even a weird combination (gherkins and horseradish, together?). I think S. enjoyed it though, even if he did say the horseradish dressing was somewhat underwhelming.

Our main meals were the stars of the evening. I ordered the parmesan crumbed veal scallopine and received a generous serve of three pieces of succulent and moist veal, cooked to perfection. These were sitting on a bed of steamed and sliced kipfler potatoes and a colourful mix of fresh, crunchy green and yellow beans, finished with butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Overall, I thought this was very impressive for a pub meal.


S. ordered the beer-battered Rockling with shoestring fries and a pickled onion and chilli salad. He was served two pieces of perfectly cooked Rockling in a crispy, light beer batter (did they use rice flour for the batter?) that was still moist and tender. The shoe string fries were good and crunchy, and the tartare sauce had a delicious tang and a decidedly home-made look about it. The only let down was the ordinary salad said S., but he did not let that get in the way as he tackled the entire plate with relish!

The Kent Hotel is somewhere we wouldn't hesitate to go to again. The meals were delicious, generous sizes and very good value, service was attentive and friendly throughout the evening. With a sunny aspect overlooking Curtain Square, it's a pleasant pub in which to enjoy a meal.

What we had:
Fried saganaki, gherkin, rocket and horseradish dressing $14
Chicken polpetti, tomato sugo $9
Beer battered fish fresh market fish (rockling), shoestring fries, pickled onion and chilli salad $22
Parmesan crumbed veal scallopine, kipfler potato, green & yellow beans, chargrilled lemon $27

The Kent Hotel
370 Rathdowne Street
Carlton North
9347 5672 ‎

Local Hero - the Abruzzo Club

When friends visit us in Melbourne and want to eat Italian, we steer them away from Lygon Street, as they generally suggest, and take them to the Abruzzo Club in East Brunswick. It's a gem. We like it so much that we held our wedding reception there! It may not have the glitz and newness of its larger sister in Epping but it has the heart and soul of an old-style Italian restaurant and serves exceptionally good Italian food with an Abruzzese influence.

The 'Gran Sasso Restaurant' at the Abruzzo Club is one of our favourite local restaurants and we enjoyed a very fine meal there last Tuesday. One dish we always order when we go there is the home-made gnocchi. It's the best in Melbourne. Yes, that's a big call but I stand by it. Light and fluffy, it's like eating clouds. I first tasted their gnocchi when I pinched a piece off my then three year old niece's plate. An ignoble action to be sure but it was the start of a love affair that hasn't ended yet.

A close up picture to show the deliciousness of the gnocchi!

The lady who used to make the gnocchi retired nearly two years ago. Apparently she had arms of steel. She would come in weekly and make a huge batch for the restaurant. We only found out because we had a run of visits to the restaurant in which every time we tried to order it we were told 'they had run out'. Then one day a waiter let it slip that the gnocchi maker had retired. We were nervous. When would it return? Would it be as good? Finally it returned and while I have to say while there is a slight difference in the quality, it's still good, damned good. It's still the best.

On Tuesday we shared an entree serve of the gnocchi with napoli sauce. The gnocchi were as light as ever, covered in rich and smooth sauce that was without any acidity. A great start to the meal.

Just so you understand how delicious the gnocchi is - it's all gone

For my main meal I ordered the Coniglio, rabbit braised in a white wine sauce served with steamed broccolini, potatoes and polenta. This was a generous serve of rabbit covered in a vegetable reduction. It was delicious and flavoursome, a reduction of finely chopped vegetables that was a perfect complement to the rabbit, which itself was tender although surprisingly the meat got a bit chewier closer to the bone. I enjoyed this dish very much.

Coniglio

There's always selection of specials available at the Abruzzo Club. How many will depend on the day you dine there. As we were there early on in the week there was just a couple and S. chose one of these, the rib-eye steak cooked medium rare. It came out with the standard range of vegetables, including the delicious baked potatoes. The steak was cooked to perfection with the monster piece of rib eye tender and succulent, helped no doubt by having the bone left in.

Rib-eye steak

We really enjoyed our meal, as always, and will be back again in the near future. The outside of the Abruzzo Club itself is unattractive, a squat non-descript two storey building constructed some in 1970s (I think). However do step inside, you won't be disappointed. There is a moderate wine list, mostly from the Taylor Ferguson range and some Italian wines. The menu has recently been simplified and I am a little bit disappointed by this as some of my favourite dishes, such as the spatchcock, have gone but the quality of the food has not suffered in anyway. The restaurant offers authentic and very good quality Italian dishes that you should be finding on Lygon Street, Carlton, but won't.

The Gran Sasso Restaurant is often host to large family gatherings although you are just as likely to find a solitaire diner there being attended to by one of the friendly waiting staff. If Aldo is working he is sure to amuse the kids with his range of tricks and funny noises. I haven't seen him for while though, I hope he hasn't retired.

Entree size gnocchi with napoli sauce $18.90

Coniglio $30

Rib-eye steak $28.50

Abruzzo Club
377 Lygon Street, East Brunswick
9387 5955

Coburg Cool - The Post Office Hotel

Battered potato moons

The hot and humid weather really isn't any inducement for either of us to cook, so it was to the Post Office Hotel that we went for dinner on our way home from work last Thursday. We've enjoyed a few bar meals here since they opened in around the middle of last year but are yet to try the restaurant. I really enjoy the atmosphere of the Post Office Hotel. It attracts a diverse crowd from people with young children, extended families taking their Nanas out for lunch, local shopkeepers and residents as well as the hip blow-ins. Well, what do you expect when Tex Perkins is one of the co-owners. Let's hope it stays diverse and welcoming.

The bar menu is not extensive offering six mains, sides, a couple of desserts and one or two daily specials that are chalked onto the blackboard over the comfortable, curved chesterfield. However what it offers is an interesting and delicious middle eastern twist on your classic bar meals. We've now tried most of the mains now and last week it was the scotch steak with green beans, nuts and sour cream, and the POH parma with rocket and onion salad that we went for.

The scotch steak was lovely and tender, generously topped with a green bean salad full of dill, parsley, hazelnuts and pinenuts. The tang of the sour cream provided a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the steak. 'Full of flavour?' I hear you ask. Yes it was. Deliciously so.

The parma was a cut above the usual pub chicken parmagiana, with a nicely-sized chicken breast covered in a variation on the classic Napoli sauce, melted cheese and served with a tasty side salad of rocket and a tangy pickled onion. The parma rested on some sliced cucumber and those delicious potato moons (more of which below). In terms of taste, the chicken was moist, with not too much sauce and just enough cheese to cover the chicken without smothering its flavour.

To complement our mains we ordered a side of battered potato moons. These are very moorish, having had spices added to the batter, either the middle eastern seven spices or ras el hanout, definitely some cinnamon in there, which gives them a lovely, fragrant aroma. They always go very quickly.


We both ordered the only sweet dish on the menu - sticky fig pudding with hot coffee syrup. This was an excellent dessert, far above what you'd expect to find on a bar menu. The density of the pudding was light but satisfying and perfectly complimented by the coffee syrup, which added a touch of sweetness without over-powering it. A small dish of sour cream on the side provided a bit of cream and tang. It was very good.

The serving sizes at of the bar meals may be considered a bit small by some. I have read some complaints about this on reviews elsewhere. Serving sizes do seem to have increased since we started coming here, that is, there is more salad and vegetables put on the plate, meaning that you don't have to order sides to bulk the meal out. However, the quality of the ingredients used and the resulting dishes more than make up for any complaints about serving size.

One other thing I would add about a bar meal at the Post Office is that it is not necessarily a cheap night out. The cost of all the dishes, plus a couple of drinks, can all add up very quickly. It is worth it though if you are looking for something above the ordinary in your pub meal.

Some other reviews to consider - Where's the beef?

Scotch steak with beans, nuts and sour cream - $20
POH Parma with rocket and onion - $20
Battered potato moons - $10
Sticky fig pudding - $15

The Post Office Hotel
229-231 Sydney Road
Coburg
9386 5300

Suburban Surprise - Bussaracum Thai Cuisine

When people disparage the suburbs and the people who live in them, I always think to myself 'What a wanker'. Most of us come from the suburbs and eventually return there, after a stint of inner city cool and shared housing hell during university and early working life. Restaurants like Bussaracum are a reminder that the suburbs are not the soul-less wasteland that some may think.

Over the Christmas season we have been catching up with family and friends, and the Tuesday evening after Christmas saw us catching up with a friend in Ivanhoe at Bussaracum Thai Restaurant. Bussaracum specialises in a style of Thai cuisine known as 'Royal Thai'. Rosemary Brissenden, in her excellent cookbook South East Asian Food, tells me that Royal Thai cuisine has its basis in the court of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, an area north of modern day Bangkok, which was open to foreign trade. South Indians and Malays involved in foreign trade settled there, bringing with them the spices of their trade, coconut milk and chilli from the Portuguese.

Bussaracum sits atop the first floor of a brown, institutional-looking brick building on Upper Heidelberg Road that was probably built in the 1970s, quite an unprepossessing location for such a wonderful restaurant. We arrived around 8.30pm for dinner and were treated to views of a beautiful sunset across the Melbourne skyline. The suburbs hide little gems like this and the focus on Royal Thai cuisine lifts Bussaracum above its suburban counterparts.

To begin with we ordered a trio of dumpling-type entrees: Puak Sod Sai, Khao Krieb and money bags.

Puak Sod Sai

Khao Krieb

The taro pastry wrapped around the minced chicken, prawn and mushroom of the Puak Sod Sai was quite delicious and provided an interesting texture that hinted at chewiness as you bit into it. The lurid green colour of the Khao Krieb was both off-putting and mesmerising. Filled with minced pork and crushed peanuts, the outer pastry was soft and sweet from the drizzling of palm sugar. This was our favourite of the three - something very different from what we were expecting that offered interesting flavours and texture. The money bags were a familiar item and while the crispy pouches filled with minced pork and chopped water chestnuts were well prepared, they didn't match the deliciousness of the other two entrees we ordered on the night.

For mains we again ordered three dishes: Cha duck, deep fried squid with spicy salt and Takrai. Given that all three of us were still in a post-Christmas food coma this was perhaps a little ambitious however, we gallantly made our way through the dishes.

Cha duck

I'm a big fan of duck and my choice of the cha duck was a dish composed of boneless duck stir fried with capsicum, wild ginger, young peppercorns and aromatic sweet basil in a purportedly mild chilli sauce. 'Mild' it was not! While quite delicious, the heat was described by my friend as 'hitting you in the face' and continued to build in your mouth long after you had swallowed it down. So be prepared!

Deep fried squid with spicy salt

The deep fried squid with spicy salt also included garlic and chilli, though with no where near as much heat as the cha duck, and was served on a bed of iceberg lettuce. There was a lot going on in this dish and the iceberg lettuch provided a fresh and crisp counterpoint to the saltiness of the squid.

The takrai, sliced chicken with coconut cream, lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and aromatic dried chilli was by far the favourite main course for all of us. It was perfectly balanced, showcasing the subtlety of the spices used and not overpowered by the coconut cream. This was the one we all returned to and the first to be finished.

Takrai

I didn't drink alcohol on the night but in retrospect a Singha beer or two would have helped calm the mouth down after the cha duck. Desserts are also available but we were too full to try these. Service was attentive on the night. I was very impressed with Bussaracum and highly recommend it. We are planning our return there already.

Entrees: $8-12
Mains: $16-28

Bussaracum Thai Cuisine
223 Upper Heidelberg Road
Ivanhoe

9497 4650

No. 96: A new era...Breakfast at Milkwood

The Route 96 tram terminus in East Brunswick sits at an intersection that has been 'deep cool' in waiting. Over the years, a motley collection of shops have stood either vacant or variously housed an eclectic assortment of businesses: the silver top taxi club, 'psychic rainbow', the museum of experimental art, a pizza shop and a tattoo parlour. It always looked a little forlorn and forgotten to me when I passed through on the 508 bus. But that was many years ago and times have changed. There are now three cafes, the Lomond Hotel seems busier than ever and 3RRR sits on the corner of Blyth and Nicholson Streets. The renaissance has begun in earnest.

Milkwood sits directly across from this terminus. It was with some excitement that I went there last Sunday for breakfast, as S. has been riding his bike over to the Route 96 of a morning and grabbing a coffee (and occasionally a cake) at Milkwood before jumping on the tram to go to work. He's been singing its praises for weeks now.

First, let me get out the way the things that I didn't like, because there's actually a lot to like about Milkwood:

- My knife and fork being set back to front. Etiquette dictates a correct way to set tables and position the cutlery. I wish this was adhered to more regularly.

- A hair in my food.

- The noise levels. The white-washed brick walls look fab. But with no sound insulation, a high ceiling and wood floors the noise level made it difficult to hear others.

- Snow pea shoots used to garnish my dish. Why do people persist in using these? They're fibrous, chewy and tasteless. And so...90s.

Now, to what I did like - the food. I had a special, smashed peas & broad beans with mint & pecorino on sourdough with poached eggs. What a wonderful spring breakfast dish! So flavoursome and fresh, I could simply have had the peas, broad beans and mint mixture on toast and I would have been happy. I wanted more, I wanted to keep eating it and eating it, rapturous in its simplicity and flavour. The poached eggs had rich, golden yolks. Perhaps they could have been a little more runny, but this is a small quibble.

S. had the ricotta pancakes with coconut, banana & honey yoghurt. These were served as a generous stack of three, large and flecked with toasted coconut. The yoghurt provided a tangy contrast to the fluffy, light pancakes and the sweetness provided by the honey and bananas.

The service at Milkwood was attentive and friendly. Coffee orders were taken the moment we sat down (the coffee used is Coffee Supreme). A query from me about their gluten-free bread was followed up immediately and I was informed that it was an artisan bread. In a conversation after our meal with another staff member, querying whether we had enjoyed it, we were told that it came from Fatto a Mano on Gertrude Street, Collingwood. It was delicious. I'll be visiting this bakery sometime in the coming week!

Despite the noise, the space at Milkwood is bright and airy. It is a small space and can get busy on the weekend (I think I counted six tables inside, some bench space and a couple of tables outside). The food makes the most of seasonal produce in a very small kitchen. The staff are welcoming and service is attentive. Importantly for me, they offer gluten-free options so I can enjoy a wheat-free meal or sweet treat. It is a very enjoyable cafe in which to enjoy breakfast or lunch, or grab a coffee and snack before getting on the tram to the city.

If you go, do the right thing and catch the tram there. Parking is difficult in the area. And don't forget that the Route 96 is one of National Geographic's Top 10 tram journeys of the world. We will definitely be going back to try some more of their breakfast offerings.

Smashed peas & broad beans with mint & pecorino on sourdough with poached eggs - $15

Ricotta pancakes with coconut, bananas & honey yoghurt - $13.50

Coffee - $3.20

Milkwood

120 Nicholson Street

East Brunswick
9380 4062

While you see a chance, take it...breakfast at Pope Joan

It almost didn't happen, for a couple of reasons. First, we weren't intending to go to Pope Joan for breakfast. We were driving down Nicholson Street on our way to somewhere else when we passed by and saw there was only one table occupied. One table occupied in the hottest cafe to open in the last 12 months. Ok, I exaggerate. There were two tables occupied and that was it.

Second, there were milk crates out the front. Bloody milk crates! I'm not sure when it became acceptable to expect people to sit on milk crates and pay for their meals, but I'm not having any of that designer feral palaver. I used milk crates for furniture when I was a poor student. I'm not paying to eat on them now I'm earning a decent income (and hence I will not go to 'A Minor Place' while milk crates continue to be used for seating).

On closer inspection it was clear that the milk crates were being used for tables, and topped with 'marble', no less. Well, as long as I don't have to subject my delicate derriere to such indignity that's ok then.

Now, enough of the ranting and to the food.

S. had the Corned beef bubble and squeak with celeriac remoulade, toast and fried egg. He said "...inside the beautifully crumbed croquette, the filling was soft, salty and tender. It contained pumpkin, carrot, potato and (he thinks) parsnip. The creamy remoulade tempered the saltiness nicely". The egg and toast were, of course, delicious.

Excited to see a rice dish on the menu, I ordered the kedgeree. I must say I thought it was slightly lacklustre. While the high quality of the ingredients was apparent, it didn't have the spicy 'bang' I was looking for. The rice was generously flecked with salmon and mackerel and topped with creme fraiche, fried onion and mint. Mixed into the dish the mint lifted the dish but not enough to give it the 'wow' factor I was looking for.

'Where's the egg?' I wondered. A kedgeree should have boiled egg. I'm sure it said 'egg' on the menu, but maybe not. Bad note taking. Mea culpa.

The hummingbird cake was a treat to behold. The pale lemon icing provided the perfect backdrop for the light green pistachios and the toasted coconut to dance upon. Moist as a good hummingbird cake should be but not stodgy as they sometimes can be, the fruit flavours were perfectly balanced and not overpowered by a sugary sweetness. One of the best hummingbird cakes we have ever eaten, with this category of cake being a special interest of S.

The soft chocolate tart was superb. It had a mild bitter chocolate taste, was sweet but not cloying and the consistency of a brownie. However, it wasn't heavy or stodgy as brownies can sometimes be, it was light and satisfying with just enough 'goo' in the middle to make it moist and a little bit chewy. It was, and this is a big call, the best chocolate cake/tart I have ever had. Yes indeed. I'll stand by that statement. It was perfect.

Pope Joan we thought you were over-hyped but now we love you. With one blip to report (being the kedgeree) we can't find much else to fault. The service was attentive and friendly, the British-Anglo focussed breakfast menu evoked comforting memories of childhood and the coffee was good. The cakes were a standout. The quality of the ingredients is high and we spied a veggie garden down the back. Ample seating indoor and outdoor is available. Enough has been said about its industrial setting so I will say no more. We will definitely be going back.

Kedgeree - $17

Corned beef bubble & squeak - $17

Coffee - $3.50

Cakes - $4.50 to $5.50

Pope Joan
77-79 Nicholson Street
East Brunswick
T: 9388 8858

Delicious Kitchen - that it was!

I hope that says Delicious Kitchen

The Quince Poacher moves to a new level. We're globe-trotting and in Hong Kong for four days for a short break. Hey, I know it's not that long but it's still a global city and one that offers up exciting experiences for anyone who likes food.

Delicious Kitchen is where we had our first meal on our trip to Hong Kong. Lunch to be exact. And while the restaurant doesn't push any boundaries in terms of its offerings, it is what you'd expect from a good Cantonese style restaurant. It's located in Causeway Bay, which is a shopping area on Hong Kong island. Delicious Kitchen's interior was what I'd call modern utilitarian, the 21st century's version of a 1950s Chinese cafe. Lots of surfaces that were easy to clean. The tables are a mock wood laminate, food and drinks are served in black and white crockery. We were seated on comfortable stools and overall it is quite welcoming.

The clientele when we walked in augured well. It was full of, let us say mature-aged Hong Kong ladies out to enjoy lunch. S. thought this a good sign and we weren't disappointed. Tea was swiftly provided to us when we sat down. We started with the fried pork chop. This was of a generous size and absolutely delicious. Covered in a honey glaze it was tender, juicy, sticky and sweet. For me, this was the stand-out dish. Spectacular in its simplicity. I will be going back for one more serve before we leave.



We ordered two pork dishes. The second was sliced pork with garlic, pepper and cabbage. This dish was more chilli than garlic pepper, nevertheless it was still very tasty - a generous plate of thinly sliced pork, cabbage, chilli and tofu covered in glistening chilli oil. It had a hot kick that wasn't over overwhelming and had delicious smoky undertones. S. quite enjoyed this, in fact he ate most of it before I could get to it!



The Yueng Chow style fried rice was for me fried rice as we know it - that familiar favourite of Cantonese style fried rice that is served in Chinese restaurants in suburban Melbourne. Only better. It contained a generous amount of prawns, slices of pork, cubed ham, beef brisket, lettuce and egg. The beef brisket was lovely, subtly infused with star anise. More salty than sweet, I quite enjoyed this dish and everything that went into it.


Crunch is one of my favourite textures and the deep fried wontons did not disappoint. Filled with spinach and plump prawns that popped in your mouth when you bit into them, the crunchy outer texture of the fried wontons provided the perfect contrast to this. These were served with a rich, smoky, red chilli sauce that was not overtly sweet and complimented the dish perfectly.


Finally, there was an incentive program that offered a free 'dessert' for purchases over a certain value. The dessert in question was a mashed red bean pancake. The pancake was deep fried, which added a savoury crunch on the outside and the red beans had only the merest hint of sweetness. It wasn't a taste our palate is used to. This was probably the least impressive dish we ate for lunch and was to our minds, better suited to a cup of tea in the afternoon than the end of lunch. But don't let this make you think this spoiled the meal for us - far from it. It was delicious!

What we had:
Fried pork chop
Sliced pork with garlic, pepper and cabbage
Deep fried wonton with chilli sauce
Fried Rice Yueng Chow style
Mashed red bean pancake

How much did it cost?

$HK247/$A40

Conclusion?

A delicious, slap-up feast for $A40.

Delicious Kitchen

9 -11B Cleveland Street

Causeway Bay

Hong Kong

My new favourite pizza

Antalya is my favourite local Turkish restaurant. It's literally around the corner and just down the road from us.

I'm not going to do a full review here. Nina Rousseau did a fine job of that last week in The Age. However, I will tell you about my new favourite pizza from there and show you some more photos of their food.

Mmmm, tasty potato salad

Last week for the first time I tried their marinated minced lamb pizza, toppped with a rich tomato sauce and finely minced lamb. It's served with juicy lemon wedges and a generous amount of parsley.

You squeeze the lemon juice all over the slices and wrap the pizza around the parsley. The flavours are fresh, balanced and the crispness of the crust is just sensational.

You can have your Ladros and Pizza Meine Liebe, this is the best thin crust pizza I have had in a long, long time. Just how I love it. How come it has taken me four years to try it?