Pacific Seafood BBQ House

Pacific Seafood BBQ House

240 Victoria St, Richmond

(Ph) 9427 8225

P had been craving roast duck for a while so instead of getting our usual Viet food on Victoria Street, we decided to come in Pacific Seafood BBQ House. This is the original Pacific House of the 3, specializing in roast meats unlike the Lonsdale Street one which is more of a HK style cafe. I have been here before with my parents for dinner but not for lunch - their roast meats and their seafood are their specialty.

We got served a bowl of complimentary soup when we were seated - was very flavoursome =)

The menu is full of proper dishes and entrees but we wanted rice dishes which we couldn't find anywhere =/ There are also dishes written on paper stuck on the walls, mainly in Chinese but some in English as well. On the table there was a short list of Lunch Specials which were rice dishes but not roast meats. In the end we decided to share a Roast Platter - 3 meats for $28. Roast duck, roast pork and BBQ pork.

The roast duck was delicious - crispy skin and succulent meat. The only down side is when you order part of a duck it all depends on luck whether you get a meaty portion or a bony portion, as opposed to when you order half a duck or a whole duck - ah well. The roast pork skin was crispy but there was more fat than meat on it =( The BBQ pork was a bit disappointing though - was quite dry like it had been hanging by the window for ages =/

After we ordered our dishes we saw the man at the next table had ordered a roast pork rice dish! Plus it had some bokchoy on it! =( Why was it not on the menu?! We should have ordered 2 rice dishes instead of this big main plus a bowl of rice..

Food~
5/10 - maybe it was our unlucky day but the roast meats weren't as good as I remembered it to be

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite cramped tables but the usual for Victoria Street restaurants

Service~
2/5 - quick efficient service

C.
xo

I Love Pho 264

I Love Pho 264

264 Victoria St, Richmond

(Ph) 9427 7749

P had been wanting to come try I Love Pho for a long time, after I got him a "I Love Pho" T-shirt from Vietnam he said he'd come here wearing the shirt =P On this day we weren't planning on having lunch at Richmond so he unfortunately didn't wear the shirt - ah well another time!

It's very Westernised compared to the many other Vietnamese restaurants on Victoria Street - I mean, it actually has an English name!

We came here for a late lunch so we got seated immediately, but I know if you come at peak lunch times it can be quite packed here. The waitress asked us immediately whether we knew what we wanted to order =/ They don't provide menus here unless you ask for it but it's just what's on the menu on the walls - they pretty much only sell Pho here with spring rolls and rice paper rolls, and just a few other Special dishes. One annoying thing about this restaurant is they don't have their prices on the menu and don't tell you there are different sizes for the Pho (small/medium/large) so if you don't tell them what size you want they just give you the default medium, which I don't think is very customer friendly.

We started off with some Pork Spring Rolls

P loves ordering spring rolls at Vietnamese restuarants even though we can make them just as deliciously at home! Their home made fish sauce is very good though - super crunchy and fresh wrapped in some lettuce.

P always goes for the Special Beef Pho

This was a medium size - pretty big! Lots of rare beef, beef balls, tripe, tendon, brisket etc. Also came with some raw onion which is not the norm for Pho? The broth was quite flavoursome but was a bit too salty for my liking. They gave us the Pho but the plate of bean sprouts and herbs didn't come until like 5mins later hmm =/

I went for one of their 2 special dishes. Bo Kho - Vietnamese beef stew served with your choice of rice noodles/egg noodles or a bread roll

This was more like a soup but was very flavoursome and the beef brisket was super soft and tender. The bread roll was very fresh, crunchy crust and super soft inside - delicious soaked in the soup =) But what the?! They gave me a bad bit of carrot?? =(

Food~
6/10 - P says the Pho here is not too bad but probably not worth the hype. Would be nice if they served more non-Pho dishes here too for people like me who get dragged to Pho places =P

Service~
3/5 - service was quite quick (except the plate of bean sprouts!) but don't expect too much!

Atmosphere~
2/5 - typical Vietnamese restaurant on Victoria Street

C.
xo

Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder

Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder

50 Bridge Rd, Richmond

(Ph) 9421 2808

Brunch with J! I had wanted to come here for a while, it's one of the top rated brunch places on Urbanspoon and there's an Entertainment voucher for it as well =) We came here on a Sunday at 11am - the wait line went out the door and was going to be at least a 20min wait for a table. They were going to give us a buzzer and we could go for a walk along Bridge road but then the said we could sit by the bar straight away. The bar turned out to be just the ledge and stools by the cheese room which we totally didn't mind! The cafe has a very French feel with lots of sunlight streaming in =)

They change the menu regularly depending on what's on season - we were given the Summer Breakfast menu =) J and I both wanted the Potato and Spring Onion Rosti - smoked salmon, two poached eggs, spinach pistou sauce, Cantalet cheese sauce & grain mustard $18.50

Very nice presentation! Thought we should order something with cheese in it given they have a cheese room here =) Cantalet cheese is a hard cow's cheese and is apparently one of the oldest French cheeses, with a buttery nutty flavour when young, and matures to reveal earthy flavours.

The rosti was very flavoursome - would have been better if it was crunchier 'cause the potato strands broke apart very easily. Eggs were perfectly poached - definite thumbs up for the dish =)

Their RHCL grilled cheesy toast - our homemade cheese blend on toast (V), add RHCL spicy eggplant & chilli pickle is meant to be their specialty here which I only just found out - will definitely try it next time!

After our delicious food we decided had to go check out the Cheese Room =)

Lots of blocks of cheeses maturing by the window - they all have a date on it, the more mature a cheese block is, the more mould and darker the colour =P

All sorts of cheeses to choose from! Hard cheeses, soft cheeses, mild cheeses, strong cheeses. I bought a small piece of a soft brie-like cheese but with stronger flavours - love cheese!

Food~
8/10 - delicious food! definitely want to try the grilled cheesy toast next time!

Atmosphere~
4/5 - very nice brunchy environment here =)

Service~
2/5 - was quite busy on this Sunday morning and was a bit confusing where we pay - we went to the computer by the door but you actually pay at the bar =/

C.
xo

I-Spicy 2

I-Spicy 2

80 Victoria St, Richmond

(Ph) 9429 4559

Parents were in Melbourne and we felt like some Thai food so I looked in the Entertainment book and found a 25% off voucher for I-Spicy =) They have a few locations but we thought Richmond would be the most convenient. The original I-Spicy is in Hawthorn and is a much more casual restaurant where you order at the counter compared to this one at Richmond.

We booked a table for 7pm, got there 5mins late and saw all the tables were taken already =O we told the waiter we had booked a table and she looked at us blankly and said there were no bookings made for the night =/ she then talked to another waiter and finally told us we could go upstairs. *phew* we didn't even know there's an upstairs! There was only one other group up there, guess they try to not seat people upstairs 'cause the waiters have to carry the dishes up and down =P

Dad wanted to start off with BBQ Stuffed Calamari - marinated minced chicken, stuffed in calamari grilled served with ispicy lemon sauce $10

Would have been nicer if they grilled the calamari longer. The mince chicken wasn't too flavoursome but the supposed "lemon sauce" was very spicy =/

P wanted the Tod Mun Pla - fish cake is made from blended fish, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and sliced green beans $8

Aren't fish cakes meant to be like fish balls and have a slightly chewy and bouncy texture? These didn't feel too bouncy - they were kinda like fish patties but quite tasty nonetheless.

Next came the Tom Yum Mixed Seafood - clear seafood soup cooked with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, galangala, coriander roots, flavored with fish sauce, lemon sauce and chilli $21

I didn't think I would be able to drink tom yum, I normally can't take much chilli but the sourness made the chilli not too bad and actually quite refreshing =) galangala is a very strong ginger-like plant - couldn't really taste it whatever it is. There was a small candle underneath it but it didn't do much to keep the soup hot =(

Of course we had to get a Pad Thai (chicken, pork and beef) - a sweet and sour stir fry of thin rice noodles with ground peanuts, eggs and bean sprouts $12

Such an ordinary Thai dish but so tasty - slightly sweet and slightly sour with the crunch of bean sprouts and peanuts =)

Dad saw the other table get this and wanted it too. Garlic Soft Crab - deep fried soft crab topping with crunchy garlic $21

So much soft shell crab and so crunchy and delicious with the sweet and sour dipping sauce! There were meaty bits (soft shell crab is actually very sweet!) and there were crunchy leg bits =) My favourite dish of the night even though it's not a very typical Thai dish!

Of course we had to also get a curry - Green Curry (chicken or beef) - home made curry with green chilli, lemongrass, garlic with your choice of meat $16

It came in a small pot and surprisingly was quite big. This one also had a small candle flame underneath but because it was in a copper pot it kept the heat much better than the tom yum soup =) Green curry is a bit too chilli for me but it went well with some Roti - flat pan bread $3 each

The star of the meal was the Pork Shank - pork shank slowly three hours cook in five spicy herbs then deep fried until crispy and serve with spicy sauce $24 They need some improvement on their English =P

I'm not normally a fan of fatty meat but this was surprisingly so delicious! Super crispy skin on the outside and the meat inside was so soft and tender and wasn't too fat either =) Apart from serving it with a sweet and sour sauce, how is this a Thai dish? =P

Dessert time! Thai Sweet Potato Delight $5

Didn't taste like sweet potato - kinda like sweet glutinous rice balls, deep fried and crunchy on the outside =)

Last came the Thai Coconut Rice Pancake $5

We could have it with corn or spring onion - spring onion sounded really weird but we decided to go half half. Surprisingly the spring oinion ones were tastier as the savouriness balanced the sweet coconut flavour nicely. They kinda look like half takoyaki balls - soft and gooey inside with a slight crunch underneath =)

Food~
6.5/10 - quite good food overall =) definitely get the soft shell crab and the pork shank!

Service~
2/5 - food took a while to come out, guess the waiters had to walk up the stairs took them a bit longer =P

Atmosophere~
3/5 - downstairs was quite cramped but upstairs was nice and spacious =)

C.
xo

Cheeky Monkey

Cheeky Monkey

89 Swan St, Richmond

(Ph) 9428 8833

P and I had a weekday off together - decided to go drive somewhere for brunch. Since my Entertainment book was expiring soon, thought I should find a voucher from there. A buy-1-get-1-free voucher at Cheeky Monkey =)

They do breakfast until 3pm on weekdays =) After my crappy corn fritters at Alcove Cafe at Great Ocean Road, I was craving some tasty crunchy fritters - Jumbo Corn Fritters with Crispy Bacon, Tomato and Avocado Salsa with a Coriander Yoghurt $16.90

The corn fritters were super delicious - super crunchy! =D Not sure about the tomato and avocado salsa - it was more like random tomato and avocado pieces minus the salsa lol =/ Think they need to work on their plating too lol =P I didn't realise the yoghurt was meant to be coriander... at least I couldn't taste it and I'm normally VERY sensitive to coriander... if only they had given some real salsa that would have perfected the dish!

I thought P was going to get the Big Breakfast but he decided to get Calamari - sea salt and cracked pepper floured calamari with a side of crispy cabbage and coriander salad and lemon aioli $16.90 instead.

Looks quite good, the calamari wasn't as chewy as calamari is usually - so strange, is it 'cause it's not fresh or 'cause of the type of calamari? Batter was nice and crunchy and the aioli was delicious =) The cabbage salad wasn't very tasty though - P doesn't like cabbage and I don't like coriander so neither of us liked it very much =P

Since P's calamari didn't come with chips, he ordered a side of chips. It wasn't on the menu but we figured it'd just be a small side - but oh my, it was a massive bowl! Pretty certain the chips weren't housemade 'cause they were all so uniform and super crunchy like when you buy frozen chips lol =P

P also got Caramel Milkshake $4

Super delicious and creamy in such a big metal cup - disappointed it was only half filled =(

Food~
5/10 - not bad given we had half price food!

Service~
3/5 - friendly waiters and food came very promptly

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite nice on this sunny weekday morning =)

C.
xo

Himalayan Sherpa

I've been very slack the past few weeks with Christmas and New Years celebrations but I will resume blogging again =) Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

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Himalayan Sherpa

340 Bridge Rd, Richmond

(Ph) 9428 1240

☆☆

P's manager owns this restaurant so we thought we'd come give it a try - turns out it's actually in the Cheap Eats Guide too with ☆☆! We booked a table for 7pm on a Saturday but it wasn't too full anyway. P's manager wasn't working on this day but she had told the waiters and her husband that we were there that night =)

The restaurant is very themed with lots of Nepalese decor.

And even a souvenir shop!

Lots of little Nepalese figurines, postcards etc... very cute =) Though the back of it is their storage room =P

We asked the waiter what was good to order and she suggested a few entrees and mains to try =)

For drinks, P S and J all wanted to try the Sarbat - Nepalese refreshing drink made from freshly squeezed lemon $2.50

Sarbat

Sounded fancy, but it was actually very sour =P Like a non-fizzy lemonade =)

I went for the typical Mango Lassi - yoghurt smoothie with mango pulp $3.70

Mango Lassi

And it was delicious! Very thick and full of flavour =) I don't normally like yoghurt but I really liked this!

We ordered a Momo Platter to start - 3 pieces each of steamed Chicken combined with herbs, Vegetable combined with herbs served with sesame & tomato relish, spiced Lamb mince with spinach and cheese dumplings with a juicy sensation $14.90

Momo Platter

Their dumplings are meant to be their specialty - very delicately folded! "momo" is such a funny name for dumplings =P Tasted quite good, like normal Chinese steamed dumplings - couldn't really taste which meat was which, and definitely could not taste the spinach and cheese in the lamb ones =P Nevertheless, the tomato relish was a very nice condiment to the dumplings - that's something different to Chinese dumplings =)

The boys wanted the Aloo Kebab - spiced potato patty stuffed with mouth melting Lamb mince served drizzle of homemade chutney $8.90

Aloo Kebab

So they had read "kebab" and didn't bother reading more, and thought we were getting kebabs as in skewers. When the description very clearly stated it's a potato patty =P But it was a very delicious potato patty! Crunchy on the outside, and mashy with lamb bits inside - plus the sauce, which didn't really taste like a chutney, more like a sweet soy but was yum =)

P's manager had very kindly given us a few freebies. First there was the entree Pakoda - chopped spinach and seasonal vegetable fritters with salad $7.50

Pakoda

Doesn't look very appetizing but looks deceive here! The fritters were crunchy and had the same sweet soy sauce over it. Even though I don't normally like alfalfa, it went well with these fritters =)

Next came the mains - we asked the waiter which ones to pick and she recommended these ones =) Yak Style Lamb Curry - Lamb cooked as "Mountain village Sherpa's yak curry" with potatos and lentils $16.50

Yak Style Lamb Curry

Mountain Goat Curry - traditional and popular curry among the Nepalese people $15.90

Mountain Goat Curry

Actually to be honest, the lamb and the goat curries kinda tasted like each other and after a few bites I got them very mixed up =X The lamb one had bigger bits of meat while the goat one had smaller shreds but the actual curry tasted quite similar =/ or maybe that's our n00b curry tasting lol

Next came Sherpa's Chilli Chicken - oven baked marinated tender chicken fillet with Sherpa's special home grind spices tossed in exotic sauces with cashews and pineapple $15.50

Sherpa's Chilli Chicken

This was quite good! =) We asked for mild so it wasn't very spicy at all. It's very different to normal curries with not much sauce - more like a stir fry.

We got a main for free too =) I'm not sure if it's exactly this one but something like Chickpea Curry - a unique curry with spicy mash potato and garnished with raiti $12.90

Chickpea Curry

Couldn't really taste the spicy mash potato, but it was quite nice. I normally don't like chickpeas but the curry with the raiti gives it some good flavour. Though I gotta say I definitely can't become vegetarian - a whole bowl of chickpeas? lol no thanks =P

Of course we got some Roti - wholemeal pan baked bread (2 per serve) $2.90

Roti

Felt a little bit dry, but maybe I'm comparing it to naan and roti is meant to be like this. 

Food~

6/10 - not too bad, a mix between Indian and Chinese food =)

Service~

4/5 - very good, I guess 'cause they know us =P

Atmosphere~

3/5 - cosy little restaurant with very themed decor =)

Overall not a bad experience! =)

C.

xo

Grandma Funks

Grandma Funks

256 Swan St, Richmond

(Ph) 9421 0510

B had told me about awesome hollandaise sauce in their breakfasts here and since there was a 25% off voucher in the Entertainment Book, I decided to come here for brunch with P =) I looked at the weather forecast for today yesterday morning and it was initially "sunny" then became "thunder" in a matter of hours =/ anyway, we came anyway and it was sunny ^___^ it was so hot that P didn't want to sit outside under the sun =___= so we got a window seat =)

All the waiters here were Asian, and I peeked inside and saw the chefs all had black hair too - how weird to have such a Western restaurant owned by Asians - I guess Richmond is quite Asian =) but not the Swan St side of Richmond! Anyway the waitress were really prompt with ordering - gave us the menu for one minute then asked if we were ready to order =P Which was good 'cause we were super hungry - it was basically midday already and we hadn't eaten all morning =/

I had to get something with hollandaise sauce so I decided for the Eggs Campagnola - a variation of the classic benedict: poached eggs & smoked salmon served on an English muffin spread with cream cheese, dressed with hollandaise $13.50

P wanted the grandma's Big Breakfast - 2 eggs cooked to your liking, grilled tomato, sausage, bacon & mushrooms, hash brown completed with caramelized onions, served on toast $15.60. Of course he wants the big breakfast he never goes for anything else =P

He initially ordered an English Breakfast tea as well then changed his mind and said he wasn't gonna pay for $3 for something he can get easily at home so he got a Banana milkshake instead for $4.80

Banana milkshake

Was delicious! There were still bits of ice-cream leftover floating =) We were slightly regretting not ordering the Banana smoothie $6.50 instead as it's "made with fresh fruit, natural yoghurt and a hint of honey" as opposed to a milkshake which apparently is made from flavoured syrup? Says P anyway. And I just looked it up on Wikipedia and he was right - so milkshakes are made from fruit syrup, milk and ice-cream, while smoothies are made from yoghurt, ice and fresh fruit - ahah so I learn something new everyday =D Anyway the milkshake was super delicious and thick anyway that we didn't find the need to pay extra for the smoothie =P

P's breakfast was MASSIVE!

Big Breakfast

Check out how big his pieces of toast were! each piece is like double the size of a normal toast =/ and omg it was SOO toasted... like a third of the back was BLACK burnt! =/ we should have complained about it but by the time P realised he had basically finished his food =/ The eggs were a little sad looking - how can you fry eggs and break the yolk like that?! The rest of the stuff was pretty good - the hash brown was SUPER crunchy =) 100% deep fried - I like =) The mushrooms were very tasty - much better than the pile at Tango Charlie =P The bacon and sausages and tomatoes were like any other big breakfast - not too bad, but nothing special to comment on =P

My dish looked so small compared to his =P

Eggs Campagnola

But it's not quantity that matters, it's quality =) And yes my dish was really tasty =) Though they were VERY stingy with the cream cheese - I had to search quite hard for it underneath all the stuff - there was a tiny layer spread onto the English muffins =( I was expecting a slab like you get on bagels in America! The hollandaise sauce was pretty good but not the best I've had. 'cause I had super high expectations of it, I was expecting it to "WOW" me but it didn't which was kinda disappointing =( The English muffins were slightly over toasted (not as burnt as P's toast =P) but they definitely need to work on their toasting of their breads =P They were very generous with their smoked salmon which was really good considering the dish was only $13.50! A dish like this elsewhere would definitely cost like $18!

Food~
grandma's Big Breakfast - 6/10 - super burnt toast! otherwise everything else wasn't too bad =) <3 the hash brown =)


Eggs Campagnola - 6.5/10 - super generous with their smoked salmon! if only they were more generous with their cream cheese =P


Service~
2/5 - the waitress was super prompt with ordering and the food came in like 5mins =) but they made us pay at the counter - or more like we were in a rush to move our car =P


Atmosphere~
3/5 - it's a very family feel in this restaurant, nice for a Sunday morning =)

Well worth it given we got 25% off so ended up was only $25.40 =)

C.
xo