Review: Quang Vinh

Quang Vinh is my favourite Vietnamese place in St. Albans.  And it looks like a lot of people feel the same way as it's the only place that's buzzing on a Saturday night. 

I have been there many times for dinner and this time I thought I'd write a post on it.  They are very popular amongst the locals.  In fact they are so popular, they decided to buy the store next door so they could expand.  We like to go early to try to avoid the crowds but it by the time the food arrives at our table, most tables are filled.

They have an extensive menu where you can have economical dishes that come with rice or have main dishes that stand alone.  Like so many places like this one, the service is not great.  However, most times they take the right orders and the food comes out fast. 

3 colour drink

Hubby had the Lemon grass and chilli chicken with fried rice

I had the broken rice.  It's tasty and the egg is runny.

Thomas and Deanna had the crispy chicken with tomato rice.  They ate the whole  plate up

Quang Vinh
66 Alfrieda street
St. Albans

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Hubby's birthday dinner at Newmarket Hotel

Another year, another Hubby's birthday dinner at another one of Paul Wilson's Hotels..  

Hubby's birthday last year, we went to Middle Park Hotel.  We loved it.  You can read about our great meal here.   This year, Hubby's choice for dinner was at Paul Wilson's new establishment, Newmarket Hotel in St. Kilda.   This time, the menu has a South American/Spanish theme, unlike his other hotels, which is more of an English theme.  Hubby even said that the bread and butter pudding from Middle Park Hotel was the best he's ever had.  I guess I have to work on mine then.    

We have already met Chef Paul Wilson through twitter (@chefmrwilson) and we wanted to meet him in person so when we saw him  at the restaurant, Hubby and I approached him and we introduced ourselves.  I was relieved when he recognised us as his twitter followers and have had conversations with him.

Upon arriving we ordered a pitcher from their cocktail menu.  Confederate cup ( honey liqueur, mint, orange, strawberries and peach iced tea.  This was tasted beautiful and it was also visually gorgeous.

We decided to order a few different meals instead of ordering just a couple of mains.  So we ordered pork carnitas with soft taco, baby gem lettuce, pickled pineapple and hot adobo sauce.  This was a flavour explotion. The pork was tender and full of flavour.  The inclusion of the pickled pineapple made the dish sweet but it pulled it all together.

We also ordered soft taco with wood roasted bone marrow with chimichurri and ranchero brisket.  When I first heard there was bone marrow somewhere on the menu, I know I had to have it no matter how it was served.  I do have to say, though, that I thought the chimichurri over powered the bone marrow a little.  But when I got a big chunk of the marrow by itself, it was meltingly good.  The brisket was very spciy but I didn't mind the spice.

Catalan pizza - spiced lamb, grapes, purple basil and pomegranate molasses.  This was awesome.  It was big on flavour.  I don't usually like thin based pizzas but it was crispy and had a good bite to it.  The molasses gave it a sweetness which paired nicely with the lamb.  The grapes gave little sweet explosions when bitten into.

The roast of the day was roasted Wessex saddle back suckling pig with blood plums and a radicchio, fennel and broad bean salad.  When the waitress came over and was in the process of telling us what this dish was, Hubby's and my eyes glazed over when she said the crackling is aaammmaaazzing.  That was the deal breaker and we didn't hear anything else she said after that.  And let me tell you, this roast suckling pig did not disappoint.  The crackling was crispy but melting at the same time.  To die for.

To finish off the meal, we ordered two desserts to share.  One was latin style chocolate pot with bananas and dulche de leche.  The chocolate was dark and bitter, just the way I like it.  The sweetness of the banana and dulche de leche help balanced out the rest of the dish.  Yum!

The second dessert was peach, raspberry and amoretti pie.  It was more of a cake than a pie but it was delicious none the less.  The pie was crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.  The raspberry sorbet went great with the fresh fruit.

Overall, Hubby and I enjoyed our meal and experience at Newmarket Hotel.  We will come back and next time we will try everything else we didn't have.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Taste of Melbourne 2010

I was fortunate to win a double pass to Taste of Melbourne 2010.  This Event is held annually at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton and is held over 4 days.

There are 12 Melbourne restaurants and a number of bars to chose from.  You don't decide where you are going to eat but have to decide what to eat.  The restaurants feature 3 signature dishes each, so there are many to chose from.  There are also a number of exhibits you can have a look and try some of their produce.

 The Chocolate Master Exhibit

Ben and Jerry's Ice cream van

Sweet By Nature Exhibit

Before you enter, it's a good idea to have a look at the menu here and decide (if you can!) what you are going to eat because once you get in there, it can get really busy and you might miss something.

Hubby and I went on the opening night, Thursday.  We had a fairly good idea what we wanted but we still just wanted to have a look around at all the stands to see what looked good.  You also have to buy "crowns".  This is the "currency" used at the Event.  $1 = 1 crown.  You can buy crowns at the crown banks located around the event.  There are also crown sellers that are roaming around.

Organic slow braised pork cheek, white polenta, raisins and marsala sauce from Mezzo Bar and Grill (8 crowns)

Wagyu Burger by The Palace (10 crowns)

Salted Western Plains Pork and prawn sweet roll with pickled vegetables by Longrain (10 crowns)

Pistachio "Panna Cotta", salted Caramel Popcorn by Sarti (8 crowns)

The Bombe - strawberry sorbet, white chocolate parfait, and toasted meringue (10 crowns)

Swiss Chocolate by Movenpick (4 crowns)

My pick of the night was definitely the pork cheek from Mezzo bar and grill.  The meat was so tender and flavourful.  The white polenta was fluffy and silky.  Another winner was the Pork and Prawn roll from Longrain.  Oh my, this little roll was full of flavour and the pork had a little crunch from the crackling.  We aslo tried the Wagyu burger from The Palace.  I'm glad we got a chance to taste this as they had run out later in the night and not everyone got to try it.

For dessert, the bombe was "The bomb".  It was so delish.  The different layers combined into each other.  The sorbet was tart while the chocolate parfait was sweet.  Perfect.

Hubby and I left the event feeling so full and satisfied.  There was nothing there that we could say anything negative about.  The entire event was worth the wait in the rain for.

Birthday dinner at Middle Park Hotel

To celebrate hubby's 34th birthday we had dinner at the Middlepark Hotel. It has a bar with great pub food as well as a small dinning area, where we ate.

We sat in the corner next to the window.

That's not a knife!

For starters, Hubby had the Offal Salad - Kidney, Sweet Breads, Liver, Black Pudding, Tongue, Hart, Pancetta, carrot/mustard, lettuce and apple. Hubby loved the tounge, sweet breads and creamy black pudding.

I went for the 2 minute Calamari Stew with chorizo and paprika.  The calamari was tender and the sauce was rich and full of flavour.

For the mains, Hubby and I were hankering steak.  Hubby went for the 300g Hanger Steak. There is only one hanger steak per beast and has a gamey flavour.  He got stuck  in straight away and almost forgot to take a photo.

I had the 400g Rump steak with bone marrow.  I love bone marrow, that was the one reason why I chose this dish.  The steak was definitely too big for me and I couldn't finish it.  Maybe less meat and more marrow???

Sides: Bibb lettuce with tarragon and salad cream, bernaise sauce, champ mash potato.

Dessert is always our favourite part of the meal.  We always look forward to the sweet end.  I have to admit, that I have yet to taste salted caramel and I have been to waiting to try it.  This was my chance.  I ordered Salted chocolate caramel with cherry ripe sauce.  This was divine.  I love the mixture of the salt and sweet.

Being English, Hubby couldn't go past the Apricot Bread and Butter pudding with whisky custard. He said it was the best bread and butter pudding he has ever eaten, and he's eaten a few.  I guess I have to lift my game up!

All in all, we enjoyed our dining experience at Middle Park Hotel.  Hubby had a great birthday dinner there.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

My Birthday Dinner

For my birthday this year, Hubby took me to Ezards. We've heard great things about the restaurant so we wanted to try for ourselves. Ezards is located on Flinders Lane in Melbourne City at the Adelphi Hotel.

We decided to have the degustation menu. The eight courses sounded very enticing and it gave us a chance to try a little of everything.

1 st course : japanese inspired oyster shooter - This was a great start to the meal. The shooter was saki and mirin with the alcohol burnt off. The raw oyster was divine. I don't usually eat raw oysters but will definitely have this one again.

2nd course : lime cured cuttlefish with mirin, sticky soy, bonito mayonnaise, fried leek and seaweed - This was presented on Chinese spoons and is meant to be eaten in one go to feel all the different textures in the dish. The cuttlefish was tender and melted in the mouth. The bonito mayonnaise gave it a fishy tast but it was strong that it over powered everything. the aftertaste was fantastic. There was a lingering sweet and sour taste that came from the sweet soy and the lime.

3rd course : moreton bay bug raviolo with cauliflower cream, yarra valley salmon eggs and curry oil - the raviolo was very tasty. The moreton bay bug filling was excellent. I was excited when I saw that there was moreton bay bugs was on the menu even though it was a tiny portion. the cauliflower cream and the salmon eggs was to die for. Both Hubby and I adored this sauce the the raviolo sat it. It was creamy and full of flavour and the salmon eggs added bursts of salty to finish it off.

4th course : crispy polenta with sauteed mushrooms, poached quail egg, soft herbs and parmesan oil - The disk of polenta was crunchy on the outside and very light and creamy on the inside. the poached quail egg on top was a little over cooked but I guess it would be hard to keep the yolks runny as it it only need seconds to cook.

5th course : steamed suzuki bass with japanese plum wine dressing, hand rolled rice noodle, stir fried asian mushrooms and xo sauce -I liked the sea bass as I could tell it was very fresh, however the plum wine dressing was a little too strong in flavour. To me, it drowned out the flavour of the subtle bass.

6th course : morrocan spiced quail with babagnoush, mint and red onion and pomegranate salad, labna and saffron syrup - I really enjoyed this course. I loved the spices in the quail. It was the taste of Morocco. What both Hubby really liked about this dish was the labna. It had the great flavour of the yoghurt cheese.

7th course : wagyu beef two ways with soft truffled polenta, sticky shallot sauce and mache salad - This course was an alternative course to sichuan peppered duck. There was wagyu beef that was slow cooked ragu style and the other was pan fried cooked to medium raw. I have to say that this was my first time eating wagyu and I totally loved it. The meat is so meltingly tender. The sauce and polenta that accompanied the meat was a great balance.

Palate Cleanser : Vanilla Yoghurt sorbet with orange creme fraiche, poached tamarillo topped with mulberry jam and an oven baked slice of star fruit - This course wasn't part of the degustation menu. It was complimentary. I'm sorry to say that this was the best course of the night! The sorbet and the orange creme fraiche was a great combination. The flavour of the orange really came out well in the creme fraiche. The poached tamarillo had the right amount of sweetness to compliment the sorbet. Fantastic!

8th course :pear and praline parfait with pear sorbet, roasted pears and pomegranate syrup - To be honest after the palate cleanser, I was really full and didn't think that the dessert course can beat the palate cleanser. It didn't. But it was still really delicious. The praline parfait was creamy and went well with the pear sorbet. I didn't like the pomegranate syrup at all thought. It was a strong sweet and sour flavour. To me , it tasted a little weird.

We did feel really full after our meal but I have to say definitely worth it. We enjoyed out night out not just because of the great food but the atmosphere and waitering service was top notch

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Rockpool Melbourne

I've decided to not do Restaurant Reviews on my blog. There are a lot of other blogs out there that do this and frankly can do a better job at it than I can. I would, however, like to share my good food experiences when I have one, and there is no better place to start than Rockpool Bar and Grill, Melbourne.


Neil Perry is one of my favourite chefs. I have all his cookbooks, watched his TV shows and have seen him do cooking demonstrations live. I have even had a chat with him while he was autographing my cookbook "The Food I love". I've been to his Rockpool Sydney and absolutely loved it.

Hubby and I went here as a belated Valentines Dinner. We left the Little one with the grandparents. It was meant to be a surprise as to where we were going to dine but I had a feeling which restaurant we were going as I have mentioned numerous times that I would like to go there as soon as I heard it opened in crown.

And what a meal it was. Here's a break down of what we had...

To start things off they offered sourdough rye bread and butter. They weren't skimpy with the bread as they gave us one to start the meal and then another slice before the main.

Entrée:
Me - Slow cooked tuna and three little salads with boiled Egg
Hubby - Slow cooked egg and salad with pancetta and croutons

We both thought our entrées was delicious leaving us with an appetite for more. My three little salads was an explosion of flavour. The beetroot was sweet, the carrot and raisin was tart and the celeriac was creamy. Hubby's egg, we were told, was cooked at 65degrees and cooked very slowly. This allowed the egg to be cooked but still runny therefore acted like the dressing for the salad. Delish....

Main :
Shared - Rib Eye on the bone 750g 42 days (for two people)

This was a good steak. There was a note on the menu that all Aged grass fed beef will not benefit being cooked longer than a medium rare, so that's how we had it. I usually like my meat at medium but who am I to argue? It was meltingly tender on the inside and nice and charred on the outside. It was a great choice.

Sauces :
Horseradish cream
Bearnaise

I'm not a big fan of horseradish but I gave it a go. It wasn't bad at all. It was very creamy and not too hot. I really like the bearnaise sauce. These sauces really complimented the steak well.

Sides :
Potato and Cabbage Gratin
Boiled Greens with extra virgin olive oil and lemon
Onion rings

We decided to go for three sides. Hubby has to always have potatoes (It's the English in him!) and the gratin was the only potato side they had. It was creamy and cheesy like good gratin is meant to be. I always have to have greens with my meal so the boiled greens was my choice. It was cooked enough so it still had a crunch and only had a slight lemony flavour...nice. The onion rings were also hubby's choice. He lerves onion rings. It was big and crunchy with not too much batter. Yummo

Dessert :
Me - Iced Hazelnut Coffee with Chocolate Roulade
Hubby - Chocolate Brownie with crystallised Ginger

hmmm.. what can I say about dessert. At this stage we were really full but could not leave without having our favourite course. My iced coffee was served in a tall glass. It was coffee granita then the waitress poured chocolate milk into the glass in front of me. Next to it was the roulade. Personally, I think the iced coffee could've stood on it's own. The roulade was rich and very chocolatey. Hubby liked his brownie and polished it off quickly. It had more of a moussy texture than a brownie. It was served as a long slice with the crystallised ginger lacing the bottom. It melted in the mouth. **drool**

When I ordered a Cafe Latte, they also brought out a serving of caramelised popcorn. Normally I would've have scoffed it all down but I was trying to make my way through my own dessert!

The extensive wine list was a bible. You will need a whole day to look through it if you wanted to order a bottle. Wine by the glass, however, only filled one page... luckily for us. When orderig wine by the glass, I have to commend Rockpool on showing you the bottle and pouring it in front of you so you know that you are in fact getting what you paying for. I think this should be law!

The only problem we had was trying to stand up after the meal as we were very full :)

All in all, we enjoyed our food experience at Rockpool Melbourne. We ate our way through the courses loving every thing about it. We would've loved to have seen the man himself in the kitchen but seeing he's a Sydneysider and a busy one at that, we'll be very lucky to spot him here.