Gelare

Gelare

Level 2 (next to Village Cinemas)

Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center

(Ph) 9840 0006

Entertainment had a buy-1-waffle-get-1-free voucher and we wanted some dessert on this afternoon while we were at Doncaster so ventured up to the top floor. It's a cafe in the sorta open area like the other restaurants on this floor.

The waffles were quite expensive - regular for $5.20, large for $8.00 The display picture was of the full circle of waffle so we thought that was the "regular" - wouldn't you normally advertise for the regular size?! But as we found out when our waffles came it was the large on display =/ Toppings were extra on top of that - ice-cream 1st scoop $3.50, 2nd scoop $2.80 We decided to be sneaky and get one with 2 scoops and the other without any icecream.

The "regular" waffle was so small! This is seriously like a "small" =( And it was quite soft after being drenched by the maple syrup - how hard is it to make crunchy waffles?!

We got a scoop of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and a Honey Malt Crunch. We saw the waiter was about to walk out with our waffles and then went back and scooped one of the scoops off the waffle and replace it with another scoop - they must have given us the wrong flavour or something. By the time it came to our table the icecream had started to melt already =/ I wonder what they did with that scoop of icecream =P

Food~
4/10 - quite disappointing, if I'm paying this much money I expect good quality waffles and non-melting icecream! Would definitely go to Max Brenner for waffles instead!

Service~
1/5 - pretty poor given they nearly gave us the wrong order and the icecream was melting...

Atmosphere~
3/5 - was quite nice sitting by the window though

C.
xo

China Red

China Red

6/206 Bourke St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9662 3688

A was in Melbourne and we had wanted to go to Hutong Dumpling Bar but of course, it was fully booked on this Saturday night so decided to try one of their offshoot restaurants, China Red. Fortunately I managed to get a booking here - they do 2 seatings, 6pm till 7.45pm, then 7.45pm till 9pm. We decided to go early and booked for 6.30pm - we thought it'd be packed given they said we had to be out by 7.45pm but there were still some empty tables when we got there, though they did get filled throughout the night. 

China Red is located in one of the arcades between Bourke Street and Little Bourke Street, with a traditional (lots of red and dark wood) yet modern atmosphere. The floor level is not that big but there's an underground level too.

Through the glass window outside, you can see the chefs pleating dumplings and stretching noodles - good to know your noodles and dumplings are freshly made =)

They're the only restaurant I know of which has a touchscreen menu at each table and you order your own dishes - guess it saves them a lot waiter service? =P

They also have the menu in book-form for you, but the touchscreen gives you pictures of all their dishes and drinks - even pictures of the tea/teapot haha! The touchscreen was a bit laggy at times - or our touch was too light? It's separated into sections - Chef's Recommendations, Dim Sim, Appetizers, Cold Dishes, Chicken, Beef, Seafood, Noodle + Rice, Drinks + Juice, Tea etc etc and you click on the picture/dish you want, select how many of each dish you want, and then confirm your order. And make sure you check before you click "OK" for confirm, 'cause the orders go straight to the kitchen (we were trying to find a "Finalise" or a "Submit" button but none was found) and the food came out a few minutes later! The instructions under the touchscreen say there are no cancellations on orders and I'm assuming that means no modifications either =/ There's also a "Service" button which we pressed 'cause we felt like it =P but also 'cause we wanted water instead of paying $2.20pp for tea =/

Both A and I wanted the Shanghai Shao Long Bao (Steamed Pork Buns) (8 pieces) $11.80

Who calls it SHAO long bao?! Is't it XIAO long bao?? =P Yay they gave us ginger strips in a little bowl for us to put vinegar in =) The dumplings weren't as good as Hutong Dumpling Bar though - skin was very thin and there was lots of delicious soup inside, but the meat was a bit too soft like it was oversteamed? =/

We also got some Pan Fried Dumplings (8 pieces) (Pork) $10.80

Plating wasn't very good here =( And the dumplings felt like they were slightly deep fried as well?! 'cause the top pleatings were uniformly crunchy which they can't do if they pan fried them hmm =/ The inside meant was a bit better here, not as soft and mushy as the Shao Long Baos and there was also some broth inside, but the skin was a bit thicker than I would have liked.

Last came the Shanghai Stir Fried Noodles (Pork and Vegetables) $11.80

Nothing too special here, noodles were quite good, slightly chewy but a little too salty - actually not sure if these noodles are handmade here too 'cause there were other dishes which actually specify it like China Red Special Hand-Made Noodles.

Food~
6/10 - overall was okay, not as good as its parent, Hutong Dumpling Bar - maybe it was just today 'cause I remember my last visit here was better =(

Atmosphere~
4/5 - for an Asian restaurant it's quite good and quite spacious with boards separating the tables so you have a bit of privacy =)

Service~
3/5 - not much of service here 'cause you order your own food =P though the food came ridiculously quickly - not sure if the food is premade?!

C.
xo

CJ Lunch Bar

CJ Lunch Bar

2/391 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9602 1155

M recommended this place to me - famous for their Cheese bulgogi. Cheese bulgogi?! So weird but thought I should check it out! Came here the next night to celebrate T's birthday =)

It's quite a small restaurant, very busy on this Monday night! EVERYONE ordered the cheese bulgogi so we knew we had to order it, plus some typical Korean dishes. They only gave us one plate of sides but we were too full from the foods that we didn't mind they weren't refilled. The bean curd was a nice change from the typical sides - with a slightly sweet flavour =)

Cheese chicken bulgogi - grilled & spicy seasoned chicken fillet on a hot plate with cheese $16.50

This came so quickly! I guess they know everyone orders it =) It was a serious mountain of cheesy goodness - didn't know where to start! This was spicier than the normal bulgogi but the cheese surprisingly went well with it and actually calmed down the spiciness =) It's a very fusion dish and kinda reminds me of Mexican food - definitely worth a try!

G wanted the Tteokbokki - rice cake and vegetables simmered in spicy sauce $10

The rice cakes were a bit too soft and not chewy enough =( Why do they always give so much vegetables and not many rice cakes?! A bit too spicy for my liking =/

We got some non spicy dishes too - Mul naengmyeon - cold buckwheat noodles $13

They provided scissors! The noodles were quite stringy and chewy - really needed scissors to separate them =P Quite tasty though and interesting to have cold soup noodles =) Lucky we didn't order the Jjolmyeon - chewy cold noodles apparently they're much worse in terms of chewiness =P

I always get this at Korean restaurants - Dolsot-bibimbap - bibimbap in a hot stone pot (beef, chicken or vegetable) $14

This was slightly disappointing there was no crunchy rice at all! It's like they put the rice on the stone pot and served it straight away, or the stone pot wasn't hot enough to crisp up the rice =(

Last came the Haemul pajeon - seafood and spring onion pancake (large) $12

They were very generous with the seafood but the pancake was too thick which made the batter very gooey and it wasn't crunchy =(

The food all came very quickly, along with a plate of oranges (one piece per person, they counted =P) why would they give this to us at the beginning of the meal so that by the time we ate it they were warm?!

Food~
6/10 - come here and definitely try the cheese bulgogi! It's a new Korean fusion experience indeed =)

Atmosphere~
1/5 - very crammed, the waiter was bringing overflowing dishes out (especially the cheese bulgogi!) behind me and nearly spilled food on my jacket =/

Service~
1/5 - we were a group of 5 but only 3 were there initially and the waiters kept seating people next to us and we had to keep telling them we were waiting for 2 more people =/ also water and cutlery/serviettes are self service, but the food did come very promptly

C.
xo

Ramen King

Ramen King

Main St, Boxhill Centro, Boxhill

(Ph) 9899 3133

Even though we've been to Boxhill numerous times, had never noticed there was a Ramen King at the Centro entrance. It was actually quite busy on this Sunday afternoon so thought we'd give it a try.

The menu is about 10 pages long but there was only 8 ramen dishes and the rest were Chinese, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean dishes. Obviously they don't have much of a specialty here. It's like Raramen inside Boxhill Centro, having the "ramen" word in the restaurant name but really just selling Chinese food - how lame =/ We thought we'd look at the ramen options first but they didn't sound very appealing - choice of beef, chicken, katsu, seafood, gyoza and some other ones and no broth to choose from?! Most other tables were ordering Chinese dishes so we thought we'd stay away from the ramen. The waiter came and asked us for our order 1 minute after we were seated, and kept coming back, and by the time we decided, all the waiters were too busy for us =/ They finally came and took our order and then said we had to pay for it immediately! Who does that?! Our dishes were $19.50 so I gave the waiter a $20 note but she didn't come back with my change and went and cleared some tables. I was about to complain then finally she came back with a dirty 50c coin *dislike*

I went for the Noodle with pork mince sauce $9.50 after my super delicious one at Noodle Kingdom.

P said this is like the Asian spaghetti bolognaise which is kinda true =P The sauce was a bit too salty though and the noodles were really soft and soggy and kinda overcooked - definitely not like the nice chewy handmade ones at Noodle Kingdom =( I wonder if they make their own noodles here?

P is such a sucker for Singapore fried noodles $10

This too was very salty - if they had put less salt and more curry powder in would have been nicer. $10 is slightly more expensive than the general Boxhill restaurants for this dish though they were quite generous with their mini prawns.

Food~
4/10 - not very good and both our dishes were too salty =/

Service~
1/5 - asking your patrons to pay for the food upfront is definitely not cool!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a spacious restaurant

C.
xo

No 35 - Sunday Jazz Brunch

No 35 

Level 35, 25 Collins St, Melbourne 

(Ph) 9653 7744

P and I had been to Sofitel so many times the past few months! (See our visit to No 35 dinner and Sofi's Lounge high tea) Most Sofitel's around Australia do buffet lunch and dinner but Sofitel Melbourne only do a buffet brunch on Sundays. $85 for a brunch with live Jazz music - thought we should check it out too before my Accor discount card expires =)

The brunch runs from 12pm till 3pm, but when I tried to make a booking 12pm was booked out but 12.30pm was available. What difference does 30mins make? Not like anyone will leave 30mins after being seated - maybe it's so they can scatter the seating so people won't be waiting at the door?

We got a table by the window - the daytime view is very pretty too =)

There's a seafood + cold foods/appetizers table, a hot foods table, and a desserts table. And you can ask the chefs behind the kitchen counter for the roasts etc =) Oh and unlimited drinks - too bad neither of us really drink alcohol, we still got a champagne just to take advantage of it =P

They didn't have too much seafood to offer - some prawns, some oysters and varies smoked/cooked fish.

The waiters had to replenish the prawns and oysters very frequently and they would be cleared so quickly! The prawns were very fresh and big =)

The oysters were very small though =( Nothing too special with the cold appetizers - the marinated fish was quite flavoursome but the salmon pate was very weird and bland =/ P liked the proscuitto with rockmelon and wouldn't stop eating it! I told him he should leave more room for the rest of the buffet and the more expensive foods =P

The hot foods were very ordinary - they had an interesting pumpkin gnocchi with spinach and mushrooms which was quite tasty.

Next we tried the roasts which we ask the chef for behind the kitchen counter. Roast pork with apple sauce - a tad too dry but the crackling was good =)

Roast beef -  perfectly roasted, would have been much more enjoyable if we weren't so full!

They also had a salmon parcel with hollandaise sauce - it's rice wrapped in salmon wrapped in seaweed wrapped in puff pastry =) Would have been tastier if the salmon wasn't overcooked and the pastry base undercooked =/

Finally we came to the dessert table! My favourite part of any meal =)

Some of their desserts are the same as high tea downstairs at Sofi's Lounge but they did have some differet ones too =)

Loved the lemon meringue tart! This was the only thing I went seconds for <3 The chocolate tart was a bit too rich but the poppyseed cake and the banana cake were quite moist.

Creme brulee, berry jelly (which P loved) and a tiramisu cup (apart from it having too much cream was delicious too!). Oh and the mango custard - very smooth and tangy.

Cheese plate and dried fruits - I'm actually a fan of blue cheese now =)

Bread and butter pudding - I don't normally like this very much but it was crunchy on top and not too gooey inside, would have been nicer if there was some icecream to go with it though!

Banana pancakes! Surprisingly was one of the highlights too - so crunchy on the outside but super moist and fluffy inside <3 We had it with the syrup and cream - they really should have offered some icecream too!

The "jazz music" was just 2 musicians with their guitar and violin walking around the restaurant sporadically playing music and singing - think I like the pianist at Sofi's Lounge better.

Food~
6/10 - nothing too special here, not sure if I would come back without the Accor discount though

Service~
4/5 - waiters are very friendly and cleared our plates very efficiently

Atmosphere~
3/5 - brunch here is a lot more loud and roudy compared to dinner but still a very nice environment =)

Straits of Malacca

Straits of Malacca

162 Swanston St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9639 8264

Dinner with E on a Friday night =) we wanted to go to Guhng for Korean bbq but they were fully booked, then we tried Red Spice Road next door and they were fully booked too! We were starving so walked back to Swanston Street and went in the first restaurant we saw - Straits of Malacca. I had been here multiple times when it was still Petaling Street, but this was our first visit since it became Straits of Malacca. Petaling Street was quite good, and this was still Malaysia food so we thought it would be similar =)

I got the Nasi pataya with thai sauce fish fillet and spring roll $10.80

Wow! Amazing presentation for a cheap Asian restaurant =) All their dishes here are like that - definite thumbs up for aesthetics. The fish fillet was surprisingly very tasty, deep fried pieces of fish with sweet and sour thai sauce and vegetables. Oh and the mini spring rolls were a bonus snack =) I looked up Nasi pataya - it's meant to be chicken fried rice covered in fried egg

Pretty sure there wasn't chicken in the rice but it was quite flavoursome with the egg on top and the sweet chilli sauce.

E had Wontons with dry egg noodles - I forgot to take a photo of it but it was nicely presented too. E thought it was quite good and that's saying a lot given she's Malaysian =P

They also have set meals and other specials here which I wouldn't mind trying next time =)

Food~
7/10 - surprisingly very tasty without a dirty/greasy feel to the food

Atmosphere~
2/5 - kinda cramped with a typical Asian restaurant feel

Service~
3/5 - food came very quickly given the fancy presentation =)

C.
xo

Best Food Gallery

Best Food Gallery

599 Station St, Boxhill

(Ph) 9897 1448

P and I come to Boxhill most weekends for shopping - we decided to try somewhere we hadn't been to before. Walked past Best Food Gallery and saw on their window their specialty is 炸臭豆腐 (fried stinky tofu) and 生煎包 (Fried Pork Buns) <3 I have never had stinky tofu here in Australia before so decided to give it a go here =)

P was sick with a sore throat so ordered Century Egg & Souted pork Congee $7

What the random is souted?! sauted?! This was not very flavoursome though they were quite generous with century egg.

Of course I had to order the Fried Shanghai Specially Bean Curd (4pcs) 炸臭豆腐 $6

Stinky tofu is fermented tofu that has a strong stinky odor - it is very much an acquired taste, kinda like durian but LOVE <3 just block your nose when you're eating either of these foods =) Its deep fried to crunchiness while the inside is soft and kinda like cheese, served with hoisin sauce and chilli sauce. Delicious! - felt like I was transported back to the streets of Hong Kong <3

We ordered the other specialty of this restaurant - Shanghai Fried Plain Pork Buns (5pcs) 生煎包 $6

Quite generous $6 for 5 buns! Steamed then fried to crunchiness on the bottom. The meat was very juicy and lots of soup inside the bun, though the bun was a bit too thick - would have been nicer if there was less bun or if the bun was less dense.

Last came the Steamed Shanghai Mini Pork Buns (8pcs) $8

Don't look very impressive with some of them falling over - there was lots of tasty soup inside and the meat was quite juicy too, but it lacked a bit of ginger =( and the dumpling skin was a tad too thick - guess it's good they didn't pop easily?

Food~
5/10 - nothing too special, unless you're craving some 炸臭豆腐 (fried stinky tofu) which is quite good and genuine here =)

Atmosphere~
2/5 - wasn't too busy on this weekend lunch

Service~
2/5 - food came quite promptly but the tables felt a bit greasy and dirty =/

C.
xo

Miss Jackson

Miss Jackson

2/19 Grey St, St Kilda

(Ph) 9534 8415

Miss Jackson at St Kilda is located slightly away from the strip of cafes on Fitzroy Street, and even though the address is Grey Street, you actually enter on Jackson Street - hence "Miss Jackson" =) It's given ☆☆ by the Cheap Eats Guide 

There's quite a nice outdoor area but it was quite chilly on this day so we decided to sit inside.

The waiter, or I think was actually the owner, was very friendly and chatty to us =) We ordered our coffees - a latte

and a hot chocolate - since when does hot chocolate come in a glass? =P

One of the specials of the day was Pulled pork, chorizo and potato hash with a fried egg $18 which sounded very delicious and both P and I wanted it, but I decided to be nice and let P get it =P

What happened to the potato hash?! They were just roast potatoes - fully jipped! =( Thought it would be like the Potato and leek hash - with minted peas, smoked trout and a poached egg which actually came with a big homemade hashbrown =( The pulled pork was a bit dry and very oily - was a disappointing dish. It was quite a heavy dish - bit too much for brunch =/

Dad and I both got the Corn fritters - with bacon, avocado and roasted vine tomatoes and homemade chilli jam

<3 corn fritters! These ones weren't crunchy or fried enough on the outside but were quite tasty with the chilli jam =) How cute are the roast vine tomatoes!

Mum got the Spanish baked eggs - with chorizo, char grilled capsicum and olives 

Quite a typical baked eggs dish full of flavour but the bread they provided was a bit hard and felt a bit stale =/

Dad also wanted some Crumbed polenta chips - with harissa mayo

Yummy! Polenta tastes a bit like mashed potato - not much flavour but with the delicious coating of panko crumbs and the slightly chilli mayo was super tasty <3

Food~
6/10 - just get the stuff on the normal menu and not the specials, and definitely try the polenta chips!

Atmosphere~
4/5 -  small cosy cafe, lucky we came on a weekday or I can imagine it would be packed on the weekends!

Service~
4/5 - very friendly and chatty waiters here =)

C.
xo