Nama Nama, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

After having seen me trying to plough through a rather 'meh' bento box from Yoyogi, Ms A suggested that try out the bento boxes at Nama Nama.

Despite the fact that NN was located near Spring St (a far away journey from where I dwell in my office pod), I was up for it, as I had seen it mentioned in The Age as a good spot for decent bentos.


So on a sunny day, we made the journey to NN.  Upon entering we were slightly confused as to whether there was table service or not.  The staff seemed a bit frazzled and wasn't able to give clear advice (or perhaps, we didn't understand their frazzled advice).  Soon, we were seated outside on the pavement. Although we were still kinda not sure whether we go in to place our order.

A few minutes later, a friendly waiter came out with a menu - and I mean, a menu.  One menu for four people.  After a bit of deliberation, we placed our order and waited... and waited... After some waiting, Ms B's lunch came out.


Ms B went for some nori rolls - teriyaki prawn and fresh tuna.  I've read from online reviews that the sushi here is great, especially with its crispy, toasted nori.  I could tell by the raggedy edges that the nori was not crispy, and had probably been made for some time.  Ms B confirmed that the nori was a tad chewy, but the sushi was nice.

Although Ms B's sushi came out, the three of us waited, and waited, and waited some more.  Eventually, our bentos came out.  The deal with the bento boxes at NN is that you pick five items from a list of about 15 dishes.


Clockwise from top right: silken tofu and white anchovy rice paper roll; crumbed sardine w soy Worcestershire sauce; seaweed, daikon and lemon salad; baked kingfish, snow peas and yuzu dressing w rice, garlic shoots and pickles; heirloom tomato and zucchini w fuji apple dressing.

I decided to go for pretty much all of the seafood items. The salad was delightfully refreshing and I loved the unexpectedly crunchy bits on top (I think it was crispy lemony bits).  The rice paper roll was okay... good quality ingredients but the silky texture of the tofu and slipperiness of the anchovy meant that the overall texture was a tad slimy.  However, the crumbed de-boned sardine was delicious, fresh and crisp.  The Worcestershire dressing help cut through the oily richness of the sardine. The tomato and zucchini skewer was okay.  I really liked my main.  The kingfish was juicy and fresh, and there was a pretty good amount of it too (especially since these bentos are a tad more expensive).  Simple flavours but done very well.  I was quite full and forced myself to finish 95% of the box.

However, my enjoyment of the bento box was in the minority.  Unfortunately, Ms W and Ms A weren't as impressed with their bentos.


Clockwise from top right: five grain rice and pickled ginger onigri; mince duck hamburger w miso sauce; chicken salad w plum dressing; slow cooked pork neck w ponzu walnut sauce w rice; heirloom tomato and zucchini w fuji apple dressing.

While I think Ms W generally liked her items (but not to the extent of my enjoyment), she definitely was not impressed with the slow cooked pork neck.  In particular, she said it had an off taste and didn't finish it.  Later when we went in to pay our bill, Ms W noticed that the pork neck was sitting in a non-refrigerated display case.  In her mind, that probably explained the off taste.


Clockwise from top right: five grain rice and pickled ginger onigri (missing in action); sansho pepper edamame; Japanese pumpkin and coriander salad; grilled eggplant and mushroom, sundried tomato and potato sauce w rice; heirloom tomato and zucchini salad w fuji apple dressing.

Ms A went for the veggie items.  The first thing she noticed was that her onigri was missing.  I went in to get a replacement for her.  The staff were very apologetic for the error, then then brought out two onigri.  Similar to Ms W, Ms A liked most of her items but wasn't overly impressed given the price of the bento.  I did snaffle some of Ms A's edamame, which were pretty tasty and morish.  I liked how the sansho pepper gave a tingly feeling on my lips.  It was a pity that I was really full and couldn't snaffle a few more.

Verdict
Food – 7
Ambience – 7
Service – 6.5
Price – 6.5

Overall
Our visit at NN was a mixed bag.  Of the four of us, I enjoyed it the most and felt that the $18 bento was worth it in terms of quality and quantity.  Ms W and Ms A didn't think the bentos were worth the price (and said they were probably worth $10-$12 instead) and wouldn't be going back there in a hurry.  While Ms B's view were somewhere in between us.

Service was attentive and friendly when it was present.  For the other times, it was rather difficult to get their attention (maybe it was made worse by the fact that we were sitting outside on the Flinders Lane side).  There was a rather long wait (in total about 30 minutes from the time we ordered) between Ms B getting her lunch, and the three of us getting our boxes (plus the missing onigri). I don't know why it took so long, as I'm assuming that most/all of the items of the bento boxes were already pre-prepared.

Address
Nama Nama
31 Spring St
Melbourne 3000
Telephone: 9639 9500

Roll'd, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

One of the foodie places that I keep hearing around the traps (among office workers on the hunt for lunch) is Roll'd.


It's popular, so expect to line up...

I didn't know much about it, except that it does Vietnamese rice paper rolls.  I also knew it was located near work, but I didn't really know where.


So when an unexpected lunch date presented itself, I wandered down to QV and found Beaker and Bubba Chuck waiting for me.  Beaker had been to Roll'd before and suggested that we go order our food before the lunch crowd.  This proved to be wise, as from about 12.15pm onwards, there was a near constant queue of hungry workers lining up for their banh mi, rolled paper rolls and other goodies.

 

Roll'd Soldiers - from left to right: lemongrass pork and prawn; tofu, pickled carrots and sesame seeds; bbq chicken and sesame seeds. Sauces: chilli mayo and hoisin.

We got a few of the Roll'd Soldiers.  These are bigger than your typical rice paper rolls that you'd get in a restaurant.  But as they're bigger, they're a bit more pricey.  They range from $2.60 to $3.40 each, and you get tub of sauce with each roll.  I get a feeling they're trying to compete with the sushi traders - they're similar in size and price. Inside, there's a reasonable amount of meat, mint and coriander.


I got the "The B" salad w lemongrass beef.  This is cooked to order, and took a while longer than I had expected (to the point where I wondered whether they had forgotten my order).  The beef is lemongrassy and has a slight smokeyness from it being grilled, which is better than I thought it would be.  As with the soldiers, there's good amounts of vermicelli, veg and mint. The first I got this, there was an appropriate amount of nuoc cham.  However, the second time I ordered this, the salad was swimming in nuoc cham.  The salad was a pretty good sized serve.

Verdict
Food - 7
Ambience - 6
Service - 6
Price - 8

Overall
While the food is reasonable it's uniformity makes it feel a bit clinical and formulaic... it lacks the heart that you'd get from a genuine cheap-eats Viet restaurant that you'd find in, say, Richmond or Footiescray.  But the upside of uniformity is that you know you'll get exactly the same food, the exactly the same quality each time.

For me, if I had a hankering for Vietnamese food, I wouldn't think of going to Roll'd.  Having said that, I would go there again (and I have) as it has a lot of pluses - it offers fresh, healthy, gluten free lunch for under a tenner (which is quite rare option for those having to buy lunch for work).

My suggestion is that you get there early to avoid the queues (and avoid having to wait in a crowded space while your meal is getting prepared), and to get the food as takeaway (unless you like sitting in a crowded, noisy food court).

Have a gander at Big Fil's review of Roll'd on Williams Street.

Address
Roll'd at QV
Russell St
Melbourne 3000
Telephone: 9654 1143

U-Village, St Kilda by Private Invitation, by Snooze and Bureaucrat

Recently, Snooze and I took up the invitation from U-Village in St Kilda to have lunch on them.  

I didn't know much about U-V, except they did pan-Asian cuisine.  Having experienced the food, it's definitely pan-Asian with a well executed fusion element.

There's seating outside on the pavement, which is surrounded with some nice pot plants.  Inside, it's spacious and has a slight industrial vibe that's tempered with statement lights and a seriously cute pot plant motif.

Bureaucrat: To get things started, I opted for a pot of silver needle tea w jasmine blossom, which was presented in this smart looking teapot. 

Entree: 5 spiced prawns w caramel sugar, lime and sambal, served on perilla leaves

Bureaucrat: A succulent prawn that was perfectly pan fried, that seemed me to be Thai inspired with its sweet/bitter/salty/sour flavours.  The prawn had a delicious crust of the five spice seasoning (which didn't over-power the delicate flavour of the prawn) and a very moreish caramel sugar.  The sambal was mildly spicy and added a nice contrast to the mellowy-sweet sugar.  While the fresh lime added the tartness.  I was a newbie to the perilla leaf. It was a thin wrapper for the prawns and had a very mild grassy flavour. Although a Google search revealed that perilla leaves have a minty/anise flavour.  The yumminess of the prawns proved to be tasty beginning to a very delicious meal.  This is one of the signature dishes, and I would agree!

Snooze: There's not much to add (because Bureaucrat really like this entree) but I'll try: the prawn was really plump and juicy, with picking it up with your fingers was a really nice way to eat them.  

Main: Thick red rendang curry w soft shell crab, kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil

Bureaucrat: The soft shell crab was my favourite dish.  I haven't had much soft shell crab in the past - mainly because it's never been great (it seems like it's always more shell than crab).  However, this dish was a revelation.  Generous amounts of tender crab, which had a reasonable amount of white meat.  The batter was thin and crispy, and not at all greasy.  The texture and flavour of the fried crab reminded me of the pan fried king prawns w salted egg yolk batter that's served at Quanjude Peking Duck.  The curry was thick and unctuous and the Thai eggplant, zuchinni batons and beans were nicely tender and help soak up all the lovely sauce.  For me, this dish was as spicy as I could comfortably handle (thankfully!).  This was also a signature dish, and it gets two thumbs up from me.

Snooze: Rendang and crab; neither are favourites. But this was good. The crab was bursting with freshness, and it was so well balanced: between the crab the vegetables and the fresh herbs (always a winner with me). A really generous serve.

Main: 24hr sweet vinegar braised pork w cinnamon and black peppercorn and mango salad

Bureaucrat: This was a reasonable braised pork.  There was a nice meat-to-fat ratio.  It was quite tender, but I would have preferred it to be cooked a bit more so that the fat would be more melt-in-your-mouth.  I liked the generous mound of green mango salad, which help balance out the richness of the pork.  I also liked the presentation of the dish, with its gleaming black of the vinegared pork and the  rich brown sauce.

Snooze: By the time we got to the braised pork I was sorry Big Fil wasn't there; it's one of his favourites and he neatly snaffled the leftovers I was planning to take home for later! What did I like: that I didn't feel heavy and sick from its richness after eating it, and I think the reasonable meat to fat ratio and the salad cutting through any fat helped to ensure this.

Main: Vermicelli net w beef, prawn, beansprouts w picked veg

Bureaucrat: As I was getting quite full, I only tried a little bit of this dish.  This dish seemed to be more Malaysian in style... kinda like a stir fried beef hor fun, but without the hor fun.  The beef was tender and I think there was egg in this dish  - but I could be wrong.  The beef was topped with crushed peanuts, which gave it texture.

Snooze: This was my favourite dish for the day. The beef was moist and lightly cooked, I loved the texture from the crushed peanuts and the vermicelli net, and I absolutely can't go past pickled vegetables.


The main dishes were served with rice.


Dessert: Lychee lime granita

Bureaucrat: Wow, I had a tough time with the desserts, as I was trying to decide which one I liked the best.  In the end, I decided I liked them both!  Although the granita had its typical icy texture, I was surprised at the very creamy texture.  We were told that the creaminess came from the fact that they blended lychees into the granita.  The dish had a very strong lychee flavour, and it wasn't overly sweet.  The fresh lime added a zingyness to the dish and gave it a tropical feel.  Given that there's no cream in this dessert, you can almost feel virtuous in eating it!

Snooze: It was fortunate we were warned dessert was coming and held back on the mains because the desserts were fabulous. Granita isn't a favourite of mine but this one got the thumbs up: the cloying sweetness of the lychee was cut through by the lime, with the blended lychee offering wonderful texture.

Dessert: Pandan creme brulee w salted honeycomb

Bureaucrat: The surprises continued with the pandan creme brulee.  I'll admit that I don't really "get" pandan.  My experience to date with pandan was limited to them pandan chiffon cakes.  But the pandan creme brulee was smooth, velvety and fragrant.  The pandan worked well with the creamy custard and the thin, crisp caramel crust and the salted honeycomb added depth to the gentle flavour of the pandan.

Snooze: This was an amazing blend of east and west, salt and sweet (and another dish I won't mention to Big Fil; he loves pandan!). The pandan flavour worked really with for creme brulee, and it was so smooth. It was also really hard getting through the homemade salted honeycomb, although it was really moreish. This dish is definitely worth trying.

Verdict
The following scores with an asterisk are notional, as we were guests of U-Village:

Food - 8
Ambience - 7
Service - 7.5*
Price - 7*

Overall
Bureaucrat: I really liked the food.  The menu is interesting and offers quite a few dishes that are original/fusion-y and a bit different from the your run-of-the-mill Thai/Malay restaurant.  There are a few dishes I would want to go back and try.  Admittedly, we were here as guests, so the service and the quality of the food has to be taken with a grain of salt.  That said, I was impressed with the quality of the produce (which is reflected in the price). It's a nice space, chic but without trying too hard.

Snooze: Asian fusion is a particular favourite of mine and U Village does it well. I liked the food, its quality, originality and execution, and the restaurant itself was clean and fresh. Not to mention the several dishes on the menu I'd like to go back and try for myself as well as another serving of the pandan creme brulee.

Address 

U-Village

1/29 Fitzroy Street

St Kilda 3182

Telephone: 03 9537 1129

Chilli India, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

Thwarted at my attempts to try somewhere new, I let Mr S lead the way to Chilli India for an Indian lunch.

Those that know me know that Indian food isn't high on my list of favourite cuisines.  I like curry but I much prefer Malaysian, Singaporean or Thai curries instead.  To me, Indian food is too much cumin, too much lentils and too much ghee.


Despite this, I have, in the past, gone to Chilli India on a regular-ish basis for a takeaway lunch, as it was just under a tenner (not any more), close by, hot and filling. And they also do killer rotis.  However, these days, I tend to go for less stodgy lunches.

Chilli India is a perennial favourite of all the workers near by.  It always has a queue and it's a bit tricky to get a table during lunch time.


Because almost everything on the menu is a bit spicy than what I can comfortably handle, I went for my usual order here - butter chicken, eggplant curry w two roti (aka the 1 meat + 1 veg + 2 roti lunch deal).  It comes with raita and a poppadum.  The chicken is cooked in the tandoor oven and has a nice smoky flavour to it.  The eggplant is full of eggplants and onions.  I especially love the roti at CI.  It's made on premise, and you can see the Cook knead and cook it on the hot plate.  I like my roti to be a bit crispy and a bit chewy, and have a nice buttery flavour to it - which is waht CI does.  (I've had the roti at Mamak and I didn't like it's more papery and less buttery take on it).


Mr S went for the chilli chicken, chickpea curry with rice and roti.  It also comes with raita and a poppadum.  To give Mr S credit, he didn't seem fazed by the red colour of the chicken or the presence of the chillies in the curry.  We did have a chuckle that the curry would burn him twice.... :D

Verdict
Food – 7
Service – 7
Ambience – 6
Price – 7

Overall
Okay, so I don't mind the food at CI.  I really like their rotis, and the food is hot and there is a quick turnover.  So if you like Indian curries, I'd say you should give this a go.

Also have a gander at Big Fil's review of Chilli India back in Oct 2011.

Address
Chilli India
Shop 6 Menzies Alley Melbourne Central
Melbourne 3000

Telephone: 9639 3966

Ocean King Chinese Restaurant, Glen Waverley by Bureaucrat

An impromptu family lunch happened a few weekends ago.  With a newly set bouffant (the higher the hair, the closer to god), I made my way to Ocean King Chinese Restaurant where everyone was already seated.


OKCR is a run-of-the-mill suburban Chinese restaurant.  Out front, it's got the roast ducks, BBQ pork, etc ready for takeaways.  Inside, it's decorated in typical peach coloured furnishings and there's several tanks of sad looking fish for those wanting fresh seafood.

We got several dishes to share, several of them from the lunch-time special menu.




First up, egg noodles w char siu. The char siu was served separately from the noodles.  There was quite a generous amount of char siu, which Mother Hen quite liked it, and a generous bowl of egg noodles.


Roast duck w rice.  The duck was pretty good, and wasn't too fatty.


Roast pork w rice.  I quite liked the roast pork.  Crispy crackling, good fat-to-meat ratio.


As I was feeling the need to eat more greens, I ordered stir fried hor fun w vegetables and fungi (lor hon jai).  As with the other dishes, a very big serve of hor fun and veg and fungi. I liked how the veg (which included bamboo shoots and water chestnuts) and fungi (a very nice mix of shiitake, cloud ear, snow ear) were nicely al dente.


Combination w fried egg noodles. I didn't try any of this as I was going wheat free that day. But the noodles looked nicely crispy without being too crunchy and oily.

Verdict
Food – 7
Service – 7
Ambience – 7
Price – 8.5

Overall
The food is reasonable.  While Mother Hen quite likes OKCR, I'm a bit more ambivalent.  It's good but nothing memorable or anything making me hurry back.  Generous serves and quite reasonable prices, especially at lunch.  The dishes all came out quite quickly. I'd say this is a safe bet for lunch.

Address
Ocean King Chinese Restaurant
69-71 Kingsway
Glen Waverley 3150
Telephone: 9560 8855

Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms, Murchison by Bureaucrat

To cap off the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival last month, I headed northwards to a little town called Murchison, which is located along the Goulburn River.  Why Murchison?  Well, it was hosting the Tomato Festa, and I'm always keen on checking out regional towns and their foodie scene.


Tomatoes galore!

It's a pretty little town with a great community vibe.  When we got there, I wanted to get a light lunch/snack. I didn't want a big meal, as I wanted to save room for tasting all the tomatoey goodness.


We made a beeline to the local bakery, Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms, which has views of the riverbank. Inside, it was quite busy due to the Festa.  However, I got a feeling that MB&TR is a local favourite.  Inside, it's big and it's spread over two floors, with lots of seating for hungry families, locals and tourists.


There's quite a selection of sweet and savoury goodies. I went for the meat pie and some chips.  The pie was reasonably good - nice beefy flavour and gravy, however, I was a bit 'meh' about the texture of the beef, as it was a tad nubbly.  The pastry was light and flaky, though a tad bland.


To go with the pie, we got some chips.  Cooked in small batches meant that we got fresh chips that were crispy on the outside and piping hot on the inside.  Yum.

As postscript, I did sample (and buy!) a few foodie treats at the Festa that I want to share.  I'm normally not a big fan of hard cheese (I much prefer gooey bries and chewy mozzarellas), but I fell in love with the very morish cheddar from Vazzoler Cheese at Longleat.  Full of savoury, saltiness yumminess.  I bought a nice wedge of it home, which I polished off in a matter of days. My only regret was that I didn't buy more of it.

I also got a delicious and refreshing bottle of Mimi's basil cordial made in Murchison using a traditional Swiss recipe. And it goes without saying that I got a swag of sweet cherry tomatoes and a jar of 100% pure homemade passata.

Verdict
Food – 7
Service – 7.5
Ambience – 7
Price – 8

Overall
A nice country town bakehouse.  If I were ever back in Murchison (and there's a reasonable chance, as I would love to explore more of this beautiful town and get some more cheese!), I'd swing by to try out more baked goods.  I'm not sure whether it was because of the Tomato Festa, or whether they have this on the menu, but they were churning out these very nice thin crust pizzas.

Address
Murchison Bakery and Tea Rooms
39 Stevenson St
Murchison, Greater Shepparton 3630
Telephone: 03 5826 2336

Killiney Kopitiam, Melbourne CBD by Snooze

Last week I visited Killiney Kopitiam together with Miss Viaggio. Killiney is Miss Viaggio’s new “go to” place and I was keen to experience what draws Miss Viaggio. I hadn’t heard of this eatery before although I know a kopitiam is a Malaysian coffee shop. A little research, and assistance from Miss Viaggio, saw me educated to the Killeney chain of kopitiams in a range of cities and countries throughout Asia, including two in Melbourne. Interesting to know also, Killiney is named for Killiney Road in Singapore, with the first kopitiam opening there in 1919. They must be doing something right.

First impressions are good: the restaurant is large, clean and nicely fitted out. The service is also smooth and well co-ordinated, with a sign on entering that we need to wait to be seated. Within minutes we’re ushered to our seats. Fortunately Miss Viaggio understands the drill because there’s no table service and we have to order and pay for our meal at the counter and take a number.



At this stage in the review I need to put up my hand and admit to a lack of knowledge about, and to some extent enthusiasm for, Singaporean food. I started eating Malaysian and Singaporean food in the last 2-3 years, and I'm in no way an expert. I might even go so far as to claim I’m not a total convert. Many of the dishes are discordant to my tastes (Nasi Lemak comes to mind), and I’m one of those people who needs the chilli level toned down to a gentle level.

Miss Viaggio’s latest dish to try was the combination Laksa with Hainanese chicken. For some reason I expected these to be served separately, but they came together in the same bowl. Miss Viaggio thought the gravy was good and thick and nicely soaked up by the fried tofu, but she felt the delicate Hainanese chicken was overpowered by the Laksa.



My choice was the Fried Kway Teoh. This is one Malaysian dish I like although the best I’ve tried so far is at Tidlom Thai in the CBD. Killeney’s version was super filling but not one of the best around. It was predominantly noodles, fortunately not very hot chilli wise, with only a few medium sized prawns and not enough bean shoots to suit me. The colour was good but with none of the oomph I expect from this dish. The best bit for me; there were plenty of those largish fish things (I think) I really like.



My favourite of the meal was my Teh Tarik. I love this stuff and would go back for this drink alone. Again not the best I’ve had, weaker in strength n the Chinese style and not as frothy as I like, but still good.

Overall
My impression is Killiney sounds like a touch of home for the Singaporean students in Melbourne, and given the lunchtime crowd this may well be the case. I liked its clean surroundings with quick service, generous serving size and low price. I’ll be going back to try a few more things including the Hainanese chicken rice, but unfortunately I won’t be expecting a balanced meal with vegetables.

It's kind of interesting to see and compare this Killiney with its first kopitiam opened in Carlton, that Big Fil visited in late 2011. It seems as though they've learnt a lot since then with many of the kinks ironed out since that time.

Verdict
Food – 6.5
Service – 8
Ambience – 7
Price – 7

Address
Shop 11, 108 Bourke St

Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 03 9663 5818