CBA Friday Night at Tramway Hotel

Ok ... so I have mentioned our friends' pub Tramway Hotel in a previous post which led to a flurry of activity on this site, some of which has hopefully stuck.

The kitchen has now been opened for a couple of weeks and we had our first sample of its delights on Friday night.

Firstly, for a local pub, it has a small but amazing wine list ... Jess has a fine oenological palate! We started the evening with a glass of Blackbilly 2009 Temparanillo from McLaren Vale. Hunt it down forthwith!

Then it was onto the Burgers. In terms of a menu, it is pretty much standard Pub fare of the Gastro prefix variety with a few creative touches. Prices are standard, no surprises here. There are 7 burgers to choose from with 2 vegetarian offerings (Quinoa and Humus / Portobello Mushroom) and a seafood option if you aren't entirely fundamental. These are not burgers of the Babylonian stack variety. Although not super small, you can pick these up and eat them with your hands, which suits me fine. I hate having to separate Meat from the bread, because it kinda defeats the purpose of a burger.

M had the Lamb & Haloumi burger which is a "Char-grilled lamb and burghul pattie topped with grilled haloumi, almondnaise, lemon and mint yoghurt, tomato, cos lettuce, Spanish onion and chips" ($17). Although I found the yoghurt a little overpowering (but then again I would even if there was a tiny pipetteful of the stuff), the pattie itself was absolutely delicious. It could have done with more haloumi and perhaps a stronger hint of the almondnaise (I was looking forward to that bit), but there are certainly worse burgers to be had round the traps.

I ordered (inadvertantly a popular choice as Chris informed us) the Salmon & Trevally which is a "Char-grilled salmon and trevally pattie with dill and fresh basil crusted in semolina, topped with lemon and mint yoghurt, smoky paprika aioli, tomato, cos lettuce, Spanish lettuce and chips" ($15). This was absolutely stunning! And I could have had another even though I was pretty much full up and on the verge of a stomach pump. Lets ignore the fact that Trevally stocks have virtually been fished out, the combination of flavours was pretty much spot on. Exactly what you want from a fish burger. If I had any reservations about this it would be that the semolina crust could have been a little, well, crustier.

In fact that goes for the chips as well. Full in flavour, but could have been a little crunchier. But perhaps this is a matter of taste, and its certainly not a deal breaker by any means. Also, we could have had a little more of the coleslawy salad, with perhaps a little more of an accent in the dressing, but all in all, for a first time effort, this is highly recommendable.

And to take us through the meal, we sipped on Punt Road 2010 Pinot Grigios. Another fine choice on the winelist.

What a way to start a weekend!! Oh and this joint is fast becoming a good place for a bout of celebrity (ok subjective!) spottage! Ok, well a couple of Masterchefs, a handful of footie players, the odd CEO ... who knows, next time Pink tours the country she may very well drop by. Someone better tell me!!

PS - I forgot to mention the buns (from a bakery in Geelong) ... scrumptious!! Oh and PT if you're reading this, I think there are nuts in the buns, so you may have to query this when you go.

PPS - I snuck a photo of Daniel and Peter from last year's Masterchef - pathetic!

Happy Socks!

Ok ... my Happy Socks have arrived ... and guess what ... they really are happy socks! (oh and this beautiful Autumn morning is helping!)

This just in ...

Ok ... is there anything better than Sashimidon at Peko Peko?? I think not!

A Meal and a Tile

Ok ... the weekend was all about a Meal and a Tile:

Betel Wrapped Beef and Vermicelli @ Thanh Ha - Vic Street Richmond

Late Nouveau/Early Deco (?) tile at The Junk Company - Elizabeth Street Melbourne

Can I still pull this off?

Ok ... you be the judge!!

ed - 29/4/2011 - these were included in a 15% off sale ... so I've bought them!

Aldi!

Ok ... clear the decks ... I have one thing to say to you - ALDI CAFE BISTRO JAFFA CAKES!!! Oh My god ... so yummy. Get them now!!

CBA Friday at Gusto!

Ok ... after an emotional roller coaster ride of a week, we needed some pampering on our CBA Friday night. But we didn't feel like travelling far, so dishing the laminex and soft palates of Hopkins street, we veered right along Barkly and ended up at Gusto.

This is the tail end of the Little India of the West, but it does command a sizeable corner and on a faux-Spring night like last night, it was wonderful to sit outside despite the fact that seating consisted of stools, and the roaring traffic on busy Barkly Street.

Our Scottish waitress reminded us a bit of Zoey from Nurse Jackie, both in looks and demeanour. Maybe because we were all cheeky chatter, she thought that we could cope with her quirky humming everytime she served something at the table ... well lass, you thought wrong!! Aah but she was lovely. And the food wasn't that bad at all. The shoe string fries were suitably crunchy and the aoili was competent, although M wanted a bit more mustard ... surprise surprise!

We opted for the Pizza Bianchi options, mainly because of the toppings. We had 2 mediums  - 9" (there are no smalls) - The Smilng Assasin which consisted of Broccoli, Italian Pork Sausage, mozarella, garlic with a hint of chilli and lemon:

And the Teddy, which is Mozzarella, gorgonzola, prosciutto crudo di Parma, porcini mushrom & rocket:

We also had the Caponata as a side which is basically a ragout of seasonal vegetables with thyme and red wine vinegar:

The Smiling Assasin could have done with a bit more heat, but the hint of lemon was delightful. We both love broccoli so that was a no-brainer, but the sausage was nigh on perfect.

There wasn't much of a gorgonzola hit with the Teddy, but this pizza repaid in flavour with each successive slice consumed.

So its not the most obvious of settings, but its a welcome addition to an area that is fast becoming the Fitzroy of the West ... now if we could only convince someone to open up a Malaysian in Footscray, I don't think we would ever leave!

The Urban Outfitter

Ok ... an online success

Easy Easy Tiger!

Ok ... so we had the banquet at Easy Tiger on Saturday night. Easy Tiger profers a modern take on Thai food and sits comfortably on the Gertrude street end of Smith street which is fast becoming a gourmand's paradise of modern cafes and wine bars serving serious food for the more discerning amongst us, and at relatively modest prices (although you could go to town if you wanted, or exercise practical moderation) too. But this is Fitzroy, so if a good night out means drinking beer out of a glass from your cleavage ... then just keep walking.

As standard, you're encouraged to share your meal with your fellow diners. Ordinarily, we're less inclined to order the banquet, especially in an Asian style venue, but a few of our must-trys were included in the selection, and at $65 per person, it made sense to simply go with that and place ourselves completely in the hands of our able hosts. And let me tell you that there was a lot of food ... and free flow rice if you wanted! They were even accomodating with our request to swap the banana fritter portion of the dessert choice but maintain the sage pudding and strawberry agar.

Decor wise, its like stepping into an Ikea photo-shoot, which isn't necessarily the worst thing. Service was quick and the right balance of relaxed and efficient.

But obviously its the food that is most important, and it started a little shakily, but each successive dish only served to compound the fact that in the pantheon of flavour combinations, the Thai triumvirate of lemongrass, fish sauce and coconut milk is peerless!

We started with ma hor (or galloping horses):

Easy tiger's version is served on watermelon slices instead of the more common pineapple. And uses dried prawns and chicken. This was the first and only mistep. There was a little 2 much dried prawn which tended to overpower the sweetness and the freshness of the watermelon. And texturewise it was a little too chewy for my liking as a result. But the flavour was there and the hint of heat in the chilli aftertaste was exciting.

Next we had the seared scallop in a lime sauce. This was scumptious!!! We could have easily had a whole plateload of these with a bowl of rice to mop up the sauce and we would have given them rapturous applause.

Next was Easy Tiger's version of Mieng Kham (betel leaf with prawn and fresh coconut) - pretty decent!! Although I would have liked it a little better if there was less of the ingredients on the leaf so that it could have been easily wrapped. But the balance of the flavours was spot on. I'm dying to try replicating this at home. I just need to find the right sauce recipe.

And the last of the entrees was the Chicken and Coconut Galangal soup with Shimeji Mushrooms, served in the cutest little Bodum glass. A tad on the salty side, but I'm sure if you were served this on the streets of Bangkok, it would have just as heavy a salt hit as this. Asian food is generally not that subtle. And for those of you who are into this sort of thing, the material that the soup glasses are sitting on in the picture below is repeated on the floors and the splashback of the serving station at the back.

They allowed a decent enough time for us to digest all of those starters before commencing the main course. Thank god! As it was we were struggling at the end.

The highlight for me out of the mains was the Jungle Curry of white chicken cooked with asparagus. This was a spicy treat heavy on lemongrass and was the perfect marriage of sweet and salty. And the super fresh basil leaves provided a brilliant herby counterpoint.

The Son-in-Law eggs were the best I have ever tasted. Mine squirted all over the table when I cut into it. Watching all that yellow yoke goodness ooze out onto the rice was exquisite. I was almost giddy with excitement (or maybe it was the wine!) and the taste combination was tdf.

The other curry included was a coconut braised pork belly & prawn with ginger. This would be what my friend Wendy would call the perfect dish as it has both pork and seafood! The pork simply melted in the mouth! But this was a rich proposition and was probably the dish that tipped us over into dangerously full territory. (We refused a second serve of rice - which they offered without prompting)

To cut all of this richness, they served a simple salad of whitlof and iceburg lettuce, garnished with chives, and it was welcome relief indeed.

Our evening ended with a sago pudding topped with a layer of strawberry agar agar, drenched in Palm Sugar (yum!!!) and served with 2 pieces of stewed dragon fruit (our banana fritter substitute). I think I still have the flavour in my mouth even now. Is there anything better than Gula Melaka --- I'm wracking my brains and coming up with nothing.

Go. Try. Like.

PS - this is what we thought of it honestly:



Puttu Mayam

Ok ... this is how we eat Puttu Mayam (string hoppers) in Singapore - with "brown" sugar (a palm sugar derivative) and freshly grated coconut ... one word ... heaven!!!