Long time no blog...

It has been a really long time since I made a post. But that doesn't mean that I stopped eating! Far from it, its the best time of year for eating, and believe me, I've done well. I got really busy finding a new place to live, moving into the new house, starting a new job, surviving christmas and starting a new year! 

So as well as my memory serves me, I will attempt to wrap up of the places I have been and the things I have seen....

The move has bought me within walking distance to Banda Parte` Pizza. I have read some mixed reviews, but I have to say, I really enjoyed eating here. Good selection of beers and interesting pizza toppings. I'm looking forward to going back. 

Continuing along the beer trail, have had a meal and a drink at the Empress Hotel. I know many locals love the Empress, and thats fair enough, but I just don't like eating here. Have had a few meals here over the years and I'll pretty much do anyting to avoid eating here again. Fish and chips were greasy and the chicken burger was dry. I don't want to overly critique pub food, but there are better pub meals around. Bulmers on tap is a winner though!

Had a totally different kind of pub experience at the North Fitzroy Star. Nuzzled in the quiet end of St Georges Road, the Star caters to a quieter, more middle aged crowd, and its seasonal menu reflects this. I had a beautiful pasta with a glass of pinot and a salmon salad with baby herbs. Its not cheap here, but the food is really well thought out, and the quality is easy to see. I like the warm cozy feeling of this place, and despite not being middle aged, I will be back!

Further down the road, I stopped in at the Commercial Hotel for a pre xmas drink and a bite to eat with friends. I'm not sure if this place has changed hands, but it seems a bit different to  a few years ago. Different vibe? I don't know. But I like it here. The menu is pretty standard pub grub, but pub grub done well. I really liked the fish and chips here, and the porterhouse was done just right. I was very embarassed to ask for my medium steak to be done a little more (I never do this), and the guy who I suspect was the owner was so nice about it. I even got new chips. I really appreciated not being made to feel like I was troubling them. Two thumbs up to the Commercail. 

The pub tour continues to the Fitzroy Pinnacle. I'm going to say: good place to drink, poor place to eat. I had an eggplant parma, and it was honestly the most horrid thing I have had the displeasure of paying to eat. It was undercooked, chewy, and greasy. HOWEVER, I love the beer garden here, its small, cozy and the music is good. 

Changing the flavour, I sat down at Mezza Lebansese Bar and Grill for a falafel. MY god this place is busy! The lamb is amazing, and the salads were fresh. Great balance of vegetarian and meet dishes. I get the impression that a lot of people make this a regular dining spot along Lygon. 

The work Christmas lunch was held at the Langham Hotel in South Bank. It was AMAZING. This place is the ultimate buffet. You can pretty much eat anything you feel like, and as much as you can handel. I treated myself to half a dozen oysters, half a dozen + prawns, crayfish and yabby. And thats juat to start. The cheese was phenominal. Cheddar, french brie, fetta, quince paste. Then there is a carvery and a curry bar. The highlight is without doubt the dessert fridge. Small portion of tiramisu, chocolate fountain or pudding. 

I can't pass up an evening at The Old Kingdom on Smith Street. A festive duck dinner with family was a great way to wish eachother a happy christmas. 1 duck, 4 people. It was epic. I am never happier than when I have a pecking duck pancake in my hands. This little gem is also BYO, so you can pick the finest pinot your budget can stretch too. More food was consumed than would be medically remommended, all at $25 a head. 

The most tradgic place I've eaten at, possibly ever, was Soul Mamma, in St Kilda. NEVER GO THERE. Dam, it was bad. Got there early, close to 6, and was told that without a booking, we roughly had 45 minutes to eat and vacate. I can respect that other people may have booked our table, but the place was empty. It was rude, and unncessary and over priced. The food was sub par, and there are better veggie places to ear. By miles. *REPEAT* Do not go there. 

In addition to the festive food and pubs, I have payed a visit to cafe Fig. I'm not sure if its north Fitzoy or north Carlton, but its not bad. Its the only cafe in walking distance of my house, and the breakfast was pretty good. They serve fair trade coffee and are reasonably priced. Nothing stand out, but a good place to read the paper and ease into a weekend. 

Had a coffee or two at Julios on Miller street in North Fitzroy. I believe that they serve genovese coffee, and serve it well. However, I recomend that you skip the food and stick with the baked goods. Had a terribly bland breakfast, and saw some hidiously sloppy baked eggs sered t a friend. I suspect this place is popular with the school Mum crown on weekdays.

I also made my annual summer pilgrimage to Mildura for xmas. I may be bias here, but for a small town, Mildura can turn it on in the food departmet. My plans for a day trip to Trentham Estate were foiled by 46 degree heat, however, I managed to squeeze in a meal at the Pizza Cafe. I can't go home without squeezing in a talian pizza with olives. Its my thing. And I suspect I'm not alone here.

There were more more dinner between october and Januarary, many of them were old favs, its been sweet. Here's to 2010.

Noodle Palace

328 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

My lack of enthusiasm in the kitchen seems to be on a never ending run. I think I've hit a mid season lul or something of the sort. On this particularly non-enthused Tuesday eve I wandered down to Noodle Palace.

Noodle Palace offers a stock standard menu of pan-asian dishes. Curry Luksa - check, Singapore Noodle - check, Mee Gorang - check etc etc. Not exactly the most exciting menu, but seriously, how exciting can noodles be? They kind of fall in to the category of cheap take out. However, tonight I decided to dine in.

I ordered vegetarian fried kway teow and the man in black had seafood curry luksa. Inspired choices.

Both dishes were ok. There was nothing horrible about them but there was also nothing to rave about. The veggies were a little soggy in the kway teow and a bit of chili would have gone a long way. The seafood actually looked a little revolting, it had those scary fake fish balls and tiny little pizza prawns (exactly why I order vegetarian).

On the bright side, I didn't leave feeling like I had eaten something cheap and nasty. At $10 a head, we got what we paid for. Overall, I rate Noodle Palace 8/20 and would recommend it as a takeout joint. Don't bring a date here, as they might spontaneously self combust when Lincoln Park plays on the stereo.

Service- 2/5

Menu- 2/5

Atmosphere- 1/5

Value for money- 3/5

Lomond Hotel

225 Nicholson St Brunswick East

I feel really odd writing a review about my local pub. Obviously I like the place, I have been going there on a semi regular basis for 3 years. But I feel that this steak is worth talking about...seriously its an excellent piece of meat.

The Lomond Hotel is situated at the end of the 96 Tram line, conveniently located across the road from 3RRR Radio Station and a minutes walk from my home. They sever counter meals in the front bar, and have fresh flowers and white linen table cloths in the restaurant. Its a pretty stunning contrast, but it seems to work exceptionally well. 

Our visits here are pretty routine these days. A bottle of wine, the eye fillet with sweet onion jam and potato gratin, medium and a porterhouse with mustard, medium/rare. Occasionally we will order the oyster killpatrick. The steak is without question, the juiciest, best tasting beef I have had anywhere else in Melbourne. It is always cooked perfectly, and I am rarely disappointed. I will almost never order a steak at another restaurant. The only rival  I have had was at Punch Lane in Little Bourke St over a year and a half ago. This is the kind of consistency that makes a local so special.

Besides the steak, the rest of the menu is pretty top notch, but does lack in vegetarian mains. You could have a herb crusted rack of lamb, a Roo fillet, pork belly or chicken wrapped in prosciutto with sage butter. The wine list is also worth a mention, there is a good range of local and NZ wines and are generally priced between $26-$45. If you don't know what to choose, ask for a recommendation from James.

The Lomond is like the little place that could. Its not the fanciest Pub out there, but it give the local community what it asks for. There might be a few undesirable characters lurking out the front or in the bar, but this is Brunswick! These are the people that live here. If you give this place a miss because you don't like the look of the guy smoking out the front, you are only cheating yourself, because he might be eating the best steak this side of the Yarra.

I don't want to rate the Lomond, but I will give it the honour of being my Local.

Bebida Bar and Cafe

325 Smith Street, Fitzroy

www.bebida.com.au

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday night is go out for dinner with friends. On this particular evening, we were farewelling a friend, chosen destination, Bebida.

Bebida is a lovely little place on Smith Street which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner 6 days a week. The atmosphere on a Saturday night is upbeat and welcoming with some local live music on offer. We were treated to a little  banjo playing and disco ball action. An interesting combo. In such as small space, the performance was quite intimate. There is also a cozy courtyard out back with plenty of seating and a fire.

To be honest, the live music was a little bit of a surprise, we had come for the food! The tapas menu has quite a lot on offer. We chose a number of dishes to share:

• Sugo di Bologna, Rich bolognaise sauce with fresh grated parmesan on fried polenta wedges.
• Spanish tortilla, Traditional style with potato and onion.
• Calamari, Pan fried salt & pepper calamari with a citrus aoli.
• Fried Haloumi with za’atar, Pan fried cheese served with pomegranate molasses.
• Patatas Bravas, Potatoes tossed in spicy tomato salsa.
• Chickpea salad.
• Russian salad.
• Trio of dips (pea and sage, beetroot and mint and tuna wasabi) served with pide

This really was an amazing feast. One of our diners was vegetarian, which caused no problem in selecting yummy dishes. The only slightly dissapointing dish was the Spanish tortilla, which was a little bland. To pick a standout dish is almost impossible. Each one was uinque and delectable. If I had to chose a stand out, it would be the Haloumi. The texture was beautiful and the za'atar complitmented perfectly. The Sugo di Bologan was rich and morish, the calamari was soft and juicy, the salads were fresh and light and the Patatas Bravas were rich and fulfiling. I find that Patatas can occasinally be a little lacking in flavour, not in this case. In the trip of dips, the stand out was the pea and sage. I really love when you taste something new, and you are totally blown away by the flavour. The pea is creamy and the sage offers a lovely earthy undertone. In addition the the Tapas, we also had room for 2 carafs of Sangria and a dark chocolate fondue.

I would love to post some pics of the feast, but my crappy iphone wasn't up to scratch in the dim warm light.

At the end of the evening, we were pleasently suprised with a tab of just $120. I'm not sure if maybe they forgot to tally everything up, but for 2 litres of Sangria, dessert and a huge meal, this is excellent value.

On this visit I offer Bebida 16.5/20 and would gladly return!

Service- 3/5

Value for money- 5/5

Menu- 4/5

Atmosphere- 4.5/5