Food – Page 22

Lynbrook Hotel

November 16, 2011 Posted in Australian, Chinese, Desserts, Food, Indian, Italian, Lynbrook, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

I came across the Lynbrook Hotel after browsing Urbanspoon’s top Melbourne Buffet Restaurants. Having already tried China Bar, Consevatory and Kitchenworkshop (3 of the top 5), I was surprised to see Lynbrook Hotel so far up the top. Lynbrook? Lynbrook has a hotel?

After my initial shock, I checked out the official website, it said it had a International Buffet Bistro, offering European, Asian and Australian cuisines. This piqued my interest and afterall their prices were quite reasonable too.

We went to try it out for my father’s birthday, and booked the earlier session to avoid the large cohords of people (I expected anyway). Their eating area is quite spacious and clean. It makes for a welcoming dining experience.

The food is grouped into several categories, from Asian (Chinese), European (Italian), Australian, and Indian with a bit of Thai, and of course Desserts.

The Food

While I didn’t take photographs of the food itself (I was too busy eating), the food was decent and there was a great variety of dishes.

In the Asian corner, they have Fried Rice, and a few stir frys which were surprisingly decent for a restaurant primarily served by Indian chefs.

There was a good selection of seafood, from fresh prawns, to steamed fish and a few of your standard ‘Fish and Chip shop’ items, and also roast items like roast beef and potatoes, vegetables in another area.

In their European flavoured area they served mostly Italian food, i.e pastas, lasagne and pizza.

Their Indian area took me by surprise, as it smelt great. A few different styled curries, and bite sized snack food. As I mentioned before they served Thai fish cake, which was spicy! However when my parents when again for a friend’s birthday celebration, they didn’t have these on offer. So it seems their selection of food varies slightly per week.

Their dessert menu consisted of a lot of cakes and sugary treats. My favourite was the warm almond cake, and the chocolate mousse. Of course, they served ice-cream for the kids, which was running empty by the hours end. I’ll admit their selection of desserts was great, but nothing can top soft serve ice-cream at Kitchen Workshop.

There were a couple of downsides, their pizzas weren’t cooked long enough so the bread was still doughly. Perhaps their second run of pizzas were better, I didn’t attempt to try it again.

As mentioned earlier, their 3 tubs of ice-cream were probably sitting there for a while so it wasn’t replaced as quickly (or at all) during our session. Some of their dishes were slightly overcooked but I can overlook that as it wasn’t terribly bad.

Overall impressions

The Lynbrook Hotel serves a great selection of food, for what you pay for, you do get your monies worth. Compared to Kitchen Workshop which is roughly the same price, I’d prefer Kitchen Workshop but if you’re looking for some tasty Asian dishes Lynbrook is your best bet.

Lynbrook Hotel

550 South Gippsland Highway
Lynbrook

VIC 3975

Bistro Prices and Sessions Here

Kotaraya – Elsternwick

November 9, 2011 Posted in Elsternwick, Food, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Kotaraya used to be our go-to Malaysian restaurant. We used to frequent their Elsternwick store, and then on occassion, their Clayton store maybe every few months but then we stopped going there. Not because it was bad or anything, the food stayed pretty consistent of the many years we ate there but only because it got too busy for our liking and you’d be hard pressed to find a table on a Sunday after 12pm.

So instead we opted for the many restaurants in Glen Waverley so you didn’t have to play the waiting game. Earlier this year we noticed it wasn’t particularly busy so we jumped at the chance to revist Kotaraya.

Kotaraya has all the standard Malaysian dishes. Laksa, Nasi/Mee Goreng, Char Kway Teoh but also a selection of Thai and Chinese dishes too.

I always used to order their Char Hor Fun (Combination), and to be honest their Char Hor Fun has pratically stayed the same as I remembered it. It still has the same tasty egg sauce and the slightly wok stir-fried noodles. Of course the price has gone up, but that has been consistent with most restaurants so it isn’t a real negative.

Their Char Hor Fun as all the essentials, calamari , bok choy, and chicken and just enough sauce. You can’t go wrong with this dish.

Check out their menu on the official website and see what you like! There is something for everyone.

Kotaraya – Elsternwick
237-239 Glenhuntly Road
Elsternwick 3185

Telephone: 9523 6720
Fax: 9523 1792

Opening hours
Open 7 days (Lunch & Dinner) Lunch 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner 5.30pm – 10.30pm
Closed: Saturday Lunch
Public Holidays: Open

Glick’s Bakery – Special Boiled Bagels

November 2, 2011 Posted in Bakery, Baking, Food, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

After having my first taste experience of bagels in New York (Ess-a-Bagel), I’ve been on a search to find some delicious Bagels down here in Melbourne. One of the best ones I’ve tasted are Glick’s Special Boiled Bagels, I don’t know what’s special with their boiling but whatever they do it’s working a treat.

Glick’s have a few locations, the one I frequent is in Elsternwick, down on Glenhuntly road, just a few minutes from Elsternwick station so it’s quite convenient if you want a Bagel fix!

Their store also sells a variety of sweets and savoury items which I haven’t had the chance to try but they look tasty.

Of course, being a bakery and all, it serves breads and sandwiches and snacks.

Glick’s is great because they have a large variety of choices. On the top of my head they have plain, herb, poppyseed, wholemeal, the lot (everything), and berry. Aside from their fresh Bagels, you can buy their fridge/frozen selection of plain, poppy seed or sesame which taste as good as the fresh ones. So if you ever have a craving you can just defrost a few and off you go!

We always try one of each and the everything Bagel is packed full of flavour, and when lightly toasted it gives out a very aromatic smell.

I probably could go on about their Bagels but I’ll stop now. If you liked Ess-A-Bagels in NY, these will more than satisfy your cravings. Glick’s Bagels are dense, chewy and slightly doughy. So you can’t go wrong. As they have stores in the CBD, South Melbourne, Balaclava, Bentleigh, Malvern and of course Elsternwick. You’d bound to run into one so I definitely recommend you check it out.

Glick’s Elsternwick
362 Glenhuntly Rd
Melbourne, VIC 3184

Bread Kingdom – Mocha Cake

October 26, 2011 Posted in Food Reviews, Glen Waverley, KoreanLeave a comment

There are quite a few Bread Kingdom stores around Victoria. As per it’s name, it’s a bakery that sells a wide selection of sweet and savoury treats and snacks. It’s actually quite similar to Breadtop but with a Korean influence. I find that most of their breads lean on the sweet side, or their savoury items are mainly cheese products. Nonetheless, they do have an interesting selection. Their sweet Ugly bread may sound (and look) unattractive but it was actually quite good.

Like Breadtop and Cakeworld, this Asian Bakery also sells a variety of cakes in several sizes.

We tried their Mocha Cake and usually I’m not a huge fan of cream based cakes but this cake was surprisingly light. Some cakes have a very heavy cream filling, along with a dense cake mixture but this cake was overall pleasant to eat. With a nice coffee flavour to it that wasn’t overpowering at all. The syrup on top gave it extra mocha hit and to be honest it’s one of the few cream loaded cakes I would actually go back for. All it needed was some chopped nuts for added texture and it would be perfect.

Usually I visit their Glen Waverley store but they also have stores in Springvale, Hawthorn, Carnegie and Wantirna. The Hana Bakery in Clayton is also suspiciously similar to Bread Kingdom, not sure what the deal is there. If you’re looking for something slightly different to the usual Breadtop/Cakeworld selections and want something to satisfy your sweet tooth, give Bread Kingdom a go!

Bread Kingdom
Shop 11
52-54 O’Sulivan Raod Map
Glen Waverley VIC 3150

Chillipadi – Waterfront City

October 19, 2011 Posted in Chinese, Docklands, Food Reviews, Indian, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

The Chillipadi name has been around for many years. It’s first store that I remember was, and still is, near Melbourne Central. It serves a mix of Malaysian/Chinese style food, with a taste of Thai as well. When we tried it out it seemed like the dishes were mostly catering to the Western food palate and so I never really bothered to venture there again.

The Chillipadi Mamak Kopitiam stores are the newest entries to the Chillipadi brand, it predominantly serves Indian/Malay-Malaysian food and their versions of the popular Chinese-Malaysian cuisines too. What I like out their Mamak stores is that they serve tasty and spicy food, with all the favourites and rarities at decent prices.

We recently stumbled upon their small store in Waterfront City, Docklands. Located opposite the still-not-opened Ferris Wheel. We hadn’t had a chance to go to their store in Flemington/Newmarket so this was our first taste of it. At their Waterfront City store they have a limited menu because of the size of the restaurant but nonetheless the staples are here.

They have Nasi Kandar dishes which looked delicious.

I tried their Curry Laksa, and I have got to say it was quite good. I actually prefer it to Laksa King’s or Chef Lagenda’s versions as their laksa contains more coconut cream, and for me, it’s way too creamy for my liking. Chillipadi’s Curry Laksa, balances the creamyness and spicyness quite well, making it an overall very satisfying dish. It’s definitely one I would go back for.

We also tried their Teh Tarik (Both Cold and Hot varieties) and it was also surprisingly good. If you have ever tried Old Town Kopitiam Mamak in QV, you’d notice the very big size difference when they are in fact similarly priced. Not only that but Old Town’s is incredibly sweet. Tek Tarik of course is a sweet tea drink but when you lose the whole tea flavour in favour of just sugar, it isn’t Teh Tarik.

I’d definitely recommend this place for those who want to try something different from your usual Chinese-Malaysian dishes. Their Flemington store serves an even wider variety of foods that you probably won’t be able to try elsewhere.

Chillipadi Waterfront City
Harbour Town Shopping Centre, Waterfront City
Star Crc
Docklands 3008 VIC

KL Bunga Raya

October 12, 2011 Posted in Food, Food Reviews, Malaysian, North Melbourne, Restaurant Reviews, ThaiLeave a comment

KL Bunga Raya is located on Errol Street, North Melbourne, close to the North Melbourne Town Hall. When we went there on a Sunday afternoon, it was very quiet. I’m not too sure if that was a one off or if it’s always like that but I’m guessing it just has very low foot traffic around there.

By it’s name you may be able to guess that it’s a Malaysian eatery, serving all your favourite and commonly known Malaysian dishes such as Char Kway Teow, Curry Laksa and Nasi Lemak. Plus a couple of interesting dishes like the Thai influenced Pineapple Fried Rice. There are actually a few Thai styled dishes to choose from but mostly they do serve the typical Malaysian food.

I tried Pineapple Fried Rice in Malaysia from a Thai restaurant and it was surprisingly good. It was actually served inside a pineapple! So I ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice here to see if it could match or better the one I ate in Malaysia but unfortunately it lacked a bit of taste and seasoning. That’s not to say it was bad, but the pineapple had little flavour and the rice was more wet than I’m used to for Fried Rice. So let’s just say it was interesting and leave it at that.

Char Kway Teow

I tried a bit of the chicken here and it was quite tasty. Packed full of flavour. I can’t recall what the dish was called to be honest.

My verdict would be to give it a try. The food may or may not be to your liking but you wouldn’t know unless you taste it for yourself!

KL Bunga Raya
34 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051

Saigon Light

September 27, 2011 Posted in Food, Food Reviews, Glen Waverley, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese2 Comments

Saigon Light is a new entry to Kingsway in Glen Waverley, it has moved into ABC Cafe’s old spot. This Vietnamese restaurant is, to my memory, one of the only (or very few) Vietnamese eateries on Kingsway after An An closed down.

It serves the standard varieties of Vietnamese cuisine such as Pho and a good selection of rice and noodle dishes that you will often find in your Vietnamese food hubs.

As mentioned in my previous post, I used to always go to Walrus for their Tomato Rice and Crispy Chicken dish. I don’t think I ever got sick of it. Since I seldom head to Springvale anymore, I had to find another place that serve great Tomato rice and chicken.

Saigon Light’s offering looks quite delectable but the flavour of their Tomato rice isn’t quite there. It’s slightly dry and a bit on the bland side. Walrus’s tomato rice was packed full of flavour since it was stir fried and was mixed with egg.

The fried chicken was decent, but I think I preferred Walrus’s version because the seasoning wasn’t as sweet, but it was crispy and cooked well.
Saigon Light’s Three colours dessert was also slightly disappointing. It was quite sweet but lacked flavour. It was also kinda difficult to mix around but it was still alright. I probably wouldn’t order it again, but it was nice to try.

Saigon Light is a restaurant I was hoping would satisfy my Vietnamese food cravings. Unfortunately it lacks the flavour that makes authentic Vietnamese food so good.

Saigon Light

109 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150
(03) 9561 6888

First Taste

September 21, 2011 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Springvale1 Comment

I don’t go to Springvale that often anymore, but when I used to there were two places where I usually ate. Walrus and First Taste. First Taste is a Chinese Cantonese eatery, where one of its delicious specialties is Claypot rice.

Their Claypot rice is cooked to order, so there is usually a 10 minute wait for your meal to be ready. They have quite a few varieties of their claypot rice.

The one I always order is their Black Pepper Beef rice (pictured). I love the slightly sweet sauce that they put on top. It’s the much needed gel that brings the whole dish together.

What I love about their Claypot rice is the crunchy rice that’s all along the edges of the bowl. I wish the whole dish was like that! The nicely seasoned pepper beef is tender and not too chewy, and with the coriander and spring onions on top, it brings a much needed freshness to the whole dish.

The only warning I have for people is that you’ll probably have to wait a little longer once your meal arrives because it is burning HOT.

I usually can’t wait so I usually burn my tongue or throat, but I still say it is worth the pain afterwards. Maybe I’m just too impatient but I can’t help it.

First Taste also have a good selection of noodle soups that people seem to enjoy too but if I want to eat at First Taste, it’s always Claypot rice for me.

First Taste

2C Windsor Avenue
Springvale VIC 3171
(03) 9546 7283

Brandy Creek Wines & View Cafe

September 14, 2011 Posted in Drouin East, Food, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish2 Comments

Brandy Creek Wines & View Cafe have been on many travel Melbourne shows for it’s pleasant scenery and of course, good food.

It has been shown on Postcards, a Melbourne TV travel and food show, a while back and I couldn’t catch it’s name. So I searched endlessly and gave up eventually. However, maybe a year or two later it was shown on Coxy’s Big Break, but I missed the name again. For some reason, I just ended up searching ‘Victoria Paella’ and Brandy Creek Wines shows up at the top.

Curious enough, I looked to see what they had, and the Paella Feast piqued my interest. We also had my parent’s anniversary coming up, so it was good timing.

Located in Drouin East, near Warragul, their Paella Feasts are quite an attraction. With 6 large bowls of 5 different styles of Paella, and one cazuella. You definitely get your monies worth here.

Outside you can see their beautiful vineyard. Although it was drizzling that day, it was nonetheless a pleasant viewing experience.

With their Paella Feasts, you are provided a selection of tapas. The golden brown potato tapas (Obvious I don’t know much about Spanish food isn’t it?) was fantastic. This was preapared by Head Chef Courtney Websdale.

Nice fresh bread to go along with the tapas.

Now for the main meal…This particular paella was made for Vegetarians. However, that’s not to say it was in anyway inferior. It didn’t need any meat to make it taste good. With all these fresh vegetables cooked with a tasty stock and nicely cooked rice, what could go wrong?

This Paella is a Photographer’s delight. Also a Pork lover’s delight too, might I add. Their Paella Cerdo y Conejo is a mix of succulent pork, rabbit and apple Paella, topped with amazingly crunchy crackling pork. I have nothing else to say about this one, it was fantastic, and also the first time I’ve eaten rabbit, which had a great flavour to it.

The Paella Machega is cooked with beef, mushroom, quail and egg. The beef was very tender and I can’t really fault it.

The Chicken & Chorizo Cazuella was probably my favourite one. Funnily enough, it isn’t a paella but tasted great nonetheless.

This had tender chicken, and spicy chorizo with saffron rice. The slightly salted chorizo combined with the tomato based sauced, it just appeals to the inner Italian in me.

The Paella de Marisco aka Seafood Paella, had all the great makings of a great seafood paella. Jam packed with fish, prawns, mussels, claims, calamari and baby octopus. It definitely was a seafood lover’s dish. For me it had an overpowering mussel flavour, only because I made my Seafood Risotto not long before this and that was packed full of mussels. So I definitely had my mussel fix by then, and of course I could only notice the mussel flavour here so although it wasn’t something I would go back for that day. I can’t ignore that it was well cooked and had great flavours to boot.

My selection of paella from the 6 dishes.

You also get a choice of three desserts. Since there were three of us, we managed to try them all!

This ice-cream was smooth and crunchy (from the honeycomb) and had a great caramel flavour to it. Delicious

These Spanish doughnuts can be found in a couple of Melbourne eateries now adays, and these crunchy little things were quite tasty I must admit. The chocolate sauce wasn’t too sweet like you can find in Spanish Doughnuts Churros franchises, and these churros have a higher crispy to dough ratio (because they are thinner) but it was really good.

This was probably my favourite dessert. Yes yes it’s just a panna cotta, but it was an (If I can recall correctly) an Vanilla Panna Cotta, with Candied Walnuts and an Orange sauce. It was simply silky smooth and tasted amazing.

Along with your desserts you get to sample their in-house liquers. They definitely go well with their desserts and I had to unfortunately lay the responsibility of designated driver onto my mother because who can resist free tastings of liquers.

To top it off you can order coffee or tea to end your fantastic meal.

Although their Paella Feasts are probably more on the pricey end, a great selection of paella (which you can go back for seconds or thirds, or even takeaway some too!), dessert, tapas, samples of their alcohol and warm drink to complete your meal. It definitely is worth it.

You will need to book for these as there are limited seats (I believe it houses 100) each weekend and they fill up quickly!

Also be warned, you will be satisfied.

Brandy Creek Wines & View Cafe

570 Buln Buln Rd
Drouin East, 3818
(03) 5625 4498

Koko at Crown

August 23, 2011 Posted in Food Reviews, Japanese, Melbourne, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Koko at Crown serves beautiful Japanese cuisine. Located a few floors above the famous Crown water fountains, and the Conservatory buffet restaurant. Koko would be considered slightly pricey but you definitely get your monies worth. Well we did anyway.

Their restaurant has a small water feature in the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by the Teppanyaki grills and tables. We ordered their set Teppanyaki Lunch set menus, but you can also order a la carte, and for dinner there is a different albeit more expensive teppanyaki sets’ for everyone to choose from. We ordered the Seafood, and Beef sets and you are welcomed by the lovely staff and also greeted by the chef who will be cooking your meal. A lovely touch!

Each lunch set comes with appetisers and sashimi to start.

The special set comes with a warm egg pudding like entree. It was quite nice actually.

The vegetable tempura had a lovely thin but crispy batter, with the flavours of the vegetables still shining through.

We are also served miso soup, rice and then the real fire starts! I don’t know why I never took pictures of the actual chef cooking our meals but do have an image of the end result.

The three of us shared our sets so we could try a bit of everything. The beef was so soft and delicate, and packed full of flavour. The potatoes, mushrooms, spinach and bean sprouts all were delicious. I was definitely satisfied and full after all that.

Last but not least was the Green Tea ice-cream and that is always a winner for me.

Koko at Crown is definitely a great place to eat, I probably couldn’t afford to dine there regularly but it definitely will be on my list of great Melbourne restaurants to celebrate a special occassion. Great food, great atmosphere and great service.

Koko at Crown
Crown Towers
8 Whiteman St
Southbank, 3006
(03) 9292 6886

ohdenny

Category: Food