Travel – ohdenny

South Society

October 14, 2017 Posted in Australian, Cafe, Food Reviews, Mount Waverley, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

South Society is an all-in-one cafe, bar and eatery, located close to Pinewood Shopping Centre in Mount Waverley. With the amount of new cafes coming up around town, it certainly stands out with its all day breakfast menu, and seasonal menu.

When we dined at South Society we ordered the maple bacon, with avocado and poached eggs. It’s certainly a lovely combination of the sweetness from the maple syrup, the richness from the bacon, creamy avocado and just right poached eggs.

Their Chilli scrambled eggs with goats cheese and olive crumb is an interesting combination. While not being a big fan of olives, it complements the soft and strong flavour of the goats cheese, and the subtle spiciness of the chillies. I wouldn’t say it was amazing by any means, but definitely something different.

Last words

And with the changing of the seasons comes new menu options. Their current menu still has their Smashed avo and bacon but made slightly differently, and their Chilli scramble turning into a Basil Pesto scrambled eggs which sounds like a winning combination. The menu at South Society has it all, baked eggs, burgers, wings, salads, and seafood. So one thing is for certain, is your spoilt for choice.

South Society
435-437 Blackburn Road
Mount Waverley VIC 3149

Lim’s Nyonya Hut

September 7, 2017 Posted in Donvale, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Lim’s Nyonya Hut is located in Donvale (Update: Has since closed down), in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, offering a variety of Malaysian dishes such as Rendang, Char Kway Teow and Laksa. While they do have a good selection of individual dishes, they also do offer main/sharing dishes like Nyonya Grilled Fish and Curry Chicken.

Their Mee Goreng is served with prawns and topped with lettuce, peanuts and fried shallots. I prefer my Mee Goreng to be a bit drier but flavourwise it wasn’t bad, but not spectacular either. I’d also prefer it to have chicken in it like most other Malaysian restaurants include in theirs.

The Assam Laksa lacked that balance of sweet and sour, and was also lacking in that fish taste for the broth. Again, it wasn’t bad but there’s better Assam Laksa’s around, for instance O’Town (Glen Waverley) and Chef Lagenda (Flemington).

The Char Kway Teow, while it had that lovely wok flavour. Lacked that spicy kick, and the noodles were all stuck together so the flavour doesn’t carry through the dish evenly.

The Ice Teh Tarik had a nice tea flavour to it, although a tad too sweet. I’d also prefer it to have a stronger tea flavour but that’s hard to come by.

The Cendol drink had fresh green jellies, but the ratio of palm sugar syrup and coconut milk was a bit off. It needed a bit more palm sugar flavour. Otherwise it’s just coconut milk!

Last words

Overall, if you’re around this part of town, there isn’t really that many Malaysian restaurants to choose from. I wouldn’t go out of my way to dine here, especially when there’s better Malaysian restaurants around Melbourne.

Lim’s Nyonya Hut
69 Mitcham Road
Donvale VIC 3111

YOMG

August 25, 2017 Posted in American, Australian, Food Reviews, Glen Waverley, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

YOMG has a few stores located in the South and South East of Melbourne, and in Cairns! The Glen Waverley outlet is an immensely popular burger and frozen yoghurt joint that gets packed full of people on most nights.

While most people come for the burgers, YOMG also offer a variety of sides such as fries, wings, chicken bites, and to wash it all down they have milkshakes and of course, the self-serve frozen yoghurt for dessert.

The 12th Hour burger is filled with slow cooked pulled pork, Asian slaw and basil mayo. I loved the flavours, pulled pork is tender, and with the slightly zingy slaw it complements the pork well.

The Bergerk is made with Southern Fried Chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomato and dressed with chipotle mayo. All the ingredients for a great burger.

The Chilli Cheese fries is basically their fries topped with cheese sauce, chilli sauce, shredded cheese and spring onions. The chilli sauce packs a respectable amount of heat, and with melted cheese it’s a real winner.

Last words

YOMG do burgers well, and you can see why it’s so popular. Along with the American style sides and drinks and the frozen yoghurt that can be ordered by weight, or as a cone, it has everything you’d want.

YOMG – Glen Waverley
Ground Floor
65-67 Kingsway
Glen Waverley VIC 3150

Famili Ria

August 11, 2017 Posted in Food Reviews, Indonesian, Restaurant Reviews, Surrey HillsLeave a comment

Famili Ria is a highly rated Indonesian eatery in Surrey Hills. They serve traditional Indonesian dishes such as Bakmie Ayam, Curry Chicken, Grilled Chicken and Nasi Goreng.

The Bakmie Ayam is basically dry egg noodles, with your choice of add ons like chicken, beef balls, wonton, tofu and mushrooms. We ordered the one with chicken and beef balls and it comes with a chicken soup as well. Overall, it was a light and tasty dish.

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Their Ayam Bakar Pedas (Grandma’s Charcoal Grilled Spicy Marinated Chicken with Rice), is pretty good. I liked the charred on the chicken, and the sambal has a nice spiciness to it.

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Famili Ria’s Nasi Kari (Curry Chicken with Rice) was not as great as the others. The curry needed to be a bit more spice to add depth of flavour.

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We also ordered Baso Goreng which is a fried meat ball (chicken and prawn), with a dipping sauce. It had a subtle prawn flavour to it, and thought it was quite interesting. Not sure if I’d order it again though.

Last words

Famili Ria serves a great selection of Indonesian dishes and you can see why it’s so positively rated.

Famili Ria
1115 Riversdale Road
Surrey Hills VIC 3127

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Munich Brauhaus

August 4, 2017 Posted in German, South WharfLeave a comment

Munich Brauhaus in South Wharf provides a bit of that traditional Bavarian flair to your dining experience. With a focus on the popular German dishes such as sausages, schnitzels and steaks with an extensive selection of craft and imported beers, it really is catered towards those looking for a hearty meal with a drink (or two) to go with it.

They used to offer sausages with your choice of sides but their menu has since changed. When I dined here, Munich Brauhaus’ sausages with red cabbage, mash and gravy was overall, a tasty meal. Though I found the sausages to be a bit salty. The bier gravy had a lovely subtle beer flavour to it that elevated the dish, but again a tad too salty.

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Their Munich Lager is light, refreshing and delightfully hoppy.

Last words

If you’re looking for a tasty German meal with a variety of beers to choose from, this is your place. The view along the Yarra river isn’t too bad either!

Munich Brauhaus
45 S Wharf Promenade
South Wharf VIC 3006

M Yong Tofu

July 28, 2017 Posted in Flemington, MalaysianLeave a comment

While Laksa King and Chef Lagenda are the known entities around Newmarket/Flemington, M Yong Tofu is another Malaysian eatery just minutes walk from the others and located on the busy Racecourse Road.

One of the things that M Yong Tofu does differently is that it offers ‘Yong Tofu’ which is basically your choice of add ons such as eggplant, wonton, fish stuffed tofu, prawn dumplings, fish balls with your choice of soup (Curry soup/Chicken soup/Tom Yum soup) along with your choice of noodles (Hokkien noodles/rice noodles/egg noodles/rice vermicelli). However, while they do this they also offer the more commonly known Malaysian dishes such as Laksa, Mee Goreng, Char Kway Teow and Nasi Goreng.

Their Mee Goreng is almost perfect, but a bit too wet and a bit too much tomato flavour. It needs that extra wok flavour to make it excellent.

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As mentioned before, their Yong Tofu has all these different additions to it that make a nice change to the more traditional curry laksa as it uses a very similar broth. I quite like the curry soup in M Yong Tofu, it’s probably not as creamy as you’d find in either Chef Lagenda or Laksa King but it’s not that different either.

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The Assam Laksa broth needed a bit more sourness to it but overall it’s a decent Assam Laksa.

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Their Iced Teh Tarik needs to have a slightly stronger tea flavour and it’s a tad too sweet but it’s pretty good.

I quite like the Ice Kacang here and it has everything you need for a great Ice Kacang, except lacking in shaved ice.

Last words

All three Malaysian restaurants have their strong points and M Yong Tofu’s is in its Yong Tofu.

M Yong Tofu
314 Racecourse Road
Flemington VIC 3031

Los Hermanos Mexican Taqueria

July 14, 2017 Posted in Brunswick, MexicanLeave a comment

Los Hermanos Mexican Taqueria offers a selection of Mexican tapas style dishes to choose from, with a drink (or two) to go with it. Located on Victoria Street in Brunswick and walking distance from Brunswick Station which makes it a convenient location for some late night tacos.

Their De Barbacoa (Lamb) taco has a great combination of lamb, onions, lettuce, coriander, and salsa ‘borracha’ on top of a tortilla. It’s quite a tasty taco, with the tender lamb and the fresh salsa.

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Their De Pescado (Fish) Taco contains a beer battered fish fillet, with red cabbage and topped with chipotle mayo, fresh coriander and lemon on the side. The fish was nicely cooked but with a heavy batter, fortunately the delicious chipotle mayo and lemon juice makes the taco better.

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The Flautas is a trio of rolled tacos served with lettuce, sour cream, jalapeno salsa and a slice of tomato. Each rolled taco has a different filling, one with green poblano pepper and mashed potatoes, the second with chipotle beef with carrots and potatoes and the last one with chipotle chicken and carrots, and potatoes. For the price, it’s quite small and would rather opt for the tacos instead. Especially, the flavours not been all that either.

Last words

The tacos are pretty good, and wouldn’t mind trying their other tacos but wouldn’t go out of my way to try them to be honest.

Los Hermanos Mexican Taqueria
339 Victoria Street
Brunswick VIC 3056

Mama’s Buoi

July 7, 2017 Posted in Chadstone, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Mama’s Buoi opened in Chadstone Shopping Centre’s new wing. Mama’s Buoi also has stores in Melbourne’s GPO and in Sydney. They offer a diverse selection of Vietnamese dishes, ranging from the traditional Pho to a Vietnamese Coffee Crémé Brûlée, and they also offer a ‘Feed Me’ banquet menu if you can’t decide on what to order.

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Their Special Crab Fried Rice, is actually quite nice with the fragrance and taste of crab, served with a lime dressing on the side. The fried rice itself was a little bit too mushy but overall it was a tasty fried rice, especially with the sunny side up egg.

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The Pork had a lovely charred flavour, it was tender and comes with a fresh Vietnamese salad. The salad here is slightly different to the one served with the Lamb, where I believe this one had more of a subtle chilli seasoning to it.

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The Twice Cooked Marinated Lamb Rack’s were delicious, it’s served with a fresh Vietnamese apple kimchi salad. The lamb was tender and has a nice roasted flavour to it. The salad had that perfect balance of sweet, sour and salty.

Last words

While the food at Mama’s Buoi is pretty good, price-wise I find it leaning towards the pricier side of things. Especially their Pho which comes to $18 a bowl.

Mama’s Buoi
Chadstone Shopping Centre
1341 Dandenong Road
Chadstone VIC 3148

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Little Rogue

June 23, 2017 Posted in Food Reviews, Japanese, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Little Rogue is tucked away in one of Melbourne’s many laneways and it almost seems strange to come from the always crowded Swanston St and find this gem on the relatively quiet Drewery Lane. Little Rogue is famously known for its Matcha Lattes and coffee and there’s usually a selection of small bites sourced from other local suppliers such as donuts from Shortstop or baked goods from Penny for Pound.

Their Matcha lattes is what every person seems to come to Little Rogue for, and rightfully so, because their lattes are fantastic. It’s smooth, frothy and has an amazing bold, slightly bitter green tea flavour. It’s honestly unmatched.

Last words

If you want your Matcha latte fix. This is it.

Little Rogue
12 Drewery Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000

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Bowery to Williamsburg

June 16, 2017 Posted in American, Food Reviews, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Bowery to Williamsburg located near Federation Square in Melbourne’s CBD has this New York subway vibe to it from the outset and inside as well. A second store opened along Hardware Lane due to its popularity. In the mornings, you can see the queue go out of the door of this petit venue.

Keeping with its American aesthetic, its food is also reminiscent of New York, specialising in an array of breakfast and lunch bagels, and American style sandwiches with its selection of deli meats and cheese fillings.

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The Reuben is filled with pastrami beef brisket, egg, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing. It’s an interesting combination and I loved the thin slices of beef and the zingy sauerkraut but the rye was extremely dense and hard and made for a less than satisfying meal.

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Their coffee’s come with a Reese Peanut Butter Cup which is a nice touch. The coffee isn’t anything special but it’s not bad or anything.

Last words

Bowery to Williamsburg has the appeal of American style bagels and decent coffee but is let down by their overly dense (maybe even stale) bagels.

Bowery to Williamsburg
16 Oliver Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000