Travel – Page 18

Fumi Japanese Cafe

August 17, 2012 Posted in Chadstone, Food Reviews, Japanese, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Fumi Japanese Cafe in somewhat a new restaurant in Chadstone Shopping Centre. It replaced the Seafood and Chips shop near Aldi and Sushi Sushi. Previously their food was decent, nothing overly exciting but their grilled salmon, salad and chips were large and reasonably tasty. Although like most places, salt ladened.

There is quite a large variety of dishes at Fumi, from hot and cold noodles, rice dishes and soups.

As shown above we ordered the Salmon Teriyaki, which was decent. The salmon was cooked well, still pink inside. The sauce was as you would find in the standard Japanese food court places.

One of things you hardly find in Japanese restaurants is Yakisoba. Fumi’s Yakisoba, wasn’t what I expected though. I never thought it be so green tinted? I usually find them to be darker and slightly brown in colour but taste should be the deciding factor.

It basically reminded me of a vegetable and noodles stir fry, which Yakisoba technically is but taste wise it didn’t really set my world alight. The muscles were kinda tough and rubbery, similarly, the calamari was too chewy. Overall, I felt fell flat. Passable

Their Chicken and Rice dish hardly had any taste. However, this is often the case with Japanese chicken and rice, that isn’t teriyaki. You’d find that the seasoning is barely there, however here it seemed it was lacking even more so! Soy sauce and chilli oil were definitely needed to de-bland this dish,

Impressions

Fumi Japanese Cafe attempts to tackle the many Japanese dishes known and unknown to most, however on almost all occasions comes out short. I’d like to say this was a wondrous experience with amazing dishes, but it just wasn’t the case.

Praline Mud Cake @ Le Petit Gateau

August 3, 2012 Posted in Desserts, Food Reviews, MelbourneLeave a comment

Le Petit Gateau is still my go to dessert place. Sadly, now that I’m working, it’s challenging to make a trip down there since they close at 5pm on weekdays, and unfortunately don’t open on weekends.

However, it’s most definitely worth the time and effort to make your way here. My first encounter with Le Petit Gateau’s cakes was when my sister bought one to celebrate my mother’s birthday. She has this undying love for the combination of nuts and chocolate. Just like me!

I was so amazed that there was even a cake that had the flavour of Hazelnuts. This Hazelnut Praline Mud Cake was made for us choc+nut lovers.

The mud cake has that nice dense texture, with I believe a sprinkling of thinly chopped nuts through the cake. Although it may be rich, it is certainly delectable.

What makes this cake so beautiful is that silky smooth chocolate icing layer around the cake. Glossy, and it just melts in your mouth. It has such a pleasant hazelnut flavour, that it’s like you’re eating the filling of a Ferrero Rocher again and again, but only better. Absolutely delicious.

The chocolate strip on top is tempered to perfection, with that nice snap when you break it. Those candied almonds and chocolate bits just are the icing on the iced chocolate mud cake.

It even tasted better when I was greeted with the cake on my own birthday months ago! Happy Birthday to me!

Everyone must at least make a trip to Le Petit Gateau at least once. Their selection of petit (Hehe) cakes will make you salivate. If cakes aren’t your thing, but macarons are? This is the place to visit. I’m not certain if I have mentioned this but their macarons are amazing. One of the best macarons I’ve ever come across in Victoria. Their macaron flavours constantly change, but for those that like a bit of Green Tea, their Green Tea flavoured macarons are delicious. Crisp outer layer, not too airy, and just the right amount of chewiness.

Even just thinking about it, makes me want to go before work (when the shop opens at 7:30am) or taking up my whole lunch hour just to get there and back! To be honest, it would be well worth it.

Le Petit Gateau

458 Little Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:30am-5pm

Tel: 03 9944 8893
fax: 03 9944 8895

PappaRich (Melbourne City – QV)

July 27, 2012 Posted in Malaysian, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

PappaRich QV was the first franchise to open in Victoria before the Chadstone and Doncaster stores and since its opening earlier this year. I avoided the restaurant for months because usually the curiosity factor is high and the management work out the kinks of the service and etc. Even after many months, the QV store is extremely popular.

We ordered the Ipoh Hor Fun with Prawns & Chicken Strips, and it was quite pleasant tasting. The soup was seasoned well, and with the large chillies and chicken pieces, it all came together nicely.

Their Roti Canai with Curry Chicken is a departure from the usual Roti Canai’s you would find elsewhere or from those frozen packets in Asian Groceries. What makes it so different is that the Roti here is extremely dry, but crisp and crunchy nonetheless. The ones you would find in most other Malaysian restaurants are layered, oiled and although crisp on the outside, it would be soft and pull-apart inside.

The Curry Chicken accompaniment was reasonably tasty, but with the chicken being all bones and skin it was a tad disappointing. The Dahl is surprisingly good, but nothing really out of the ordinary from what you may find in ChilliPadi Mamak in Flemington.

The real highlight of this dish is the sambal, as I mentioned in the Chadstone review, it has all the right things. A bit sweet and a huge kick of heat. Probably could eat that all day.

Their drinks menu is extensive with a lot of variety, we ordered the Soya Bean with Grass Jelly and it was extremely delicious. Not too sweet, and just the right amount of creaminess. Would order again!

Their Iced Red Bean drink was also quite nice, with their sugared Red Beans at the bottom with shaved ice. Not overly sweet but still sweet enough for those sweet tooths.

Impressions

Service here was decent, food came quick enough. My main issue here is that when we requested for some extra sambal, they wanted $3 for basically one spoonful. I’m not sure if this is consistent with the Chadstone and Doncaster stores, but when we did ask fore more sambal in Chadstone, and we were not asked to pay for it. We did mention this to the staff at the counter when paying, and he said that this was something the management from the PappaRich franchisor have decided upon.

Can’t say I’m that impressed with this decision to be honest. Not the best way to treat your customers when you start micro-charging them. Alas, can’t do anything about it though. Will see if Chadstone have started charging next time we visit. Would I go back to PappaRich QV? Maybe not. We didn’t have the best experience here, the food was a slight letdown, definitely less tasty compared with Chadstone. Plus there are plenty of Malaysian restaurants to choose from in the city.

PappaRich QV
Level 2, Shop 11, QV Square
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC

Jalan Alor

July 13, 2012 Posted in China Town, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Jalan Alor is small Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne’s China Town. It’s part of the renovated walkway that once held Village Cinemas, if you can remember that far back! At times you might be hard pressed to find seating as this restaurant seats is extremely low. If you do get a chance to eat here, it is worth it.

Their Curry with King Prawns tastes just as good as it looks. With the tomato and eggplant giving it a nice flavour, along with the pleasant curry taste. It is a surprisingly good dish to order.

I found the Char Kway Teoh on this occasion to be slightly overcooked. It had a slight burnt taste to some of the noodles but it didn’t spoil the whole dish so I set the few strands of noodles aside. Other than that, it was quite tasty. It had the crispy lard that not many places cook with so that sets it apart from other Malaysian restaurants. I asked for spicy but it was not spicy at all so not sure what happened there. Overall, it was nice but there are some let downs as I mentioned before.

Their Char Hor Fun was quite nice. There are some varying styles of this dish, some don’t cook the kway teoh in the wok as much (or at all) but I prefer it when they do. Jalan Alor does this and it’s great. It has that nice “wok flavour” as some puts it. The egg base sauce is also tasty. It is definitely hard to do a bad egg sauce though.

Iced Red Bean Drink with Coconut Milk is also another winner. It’s not too sweet, nice and chilly on a warm day. The red beans add the sweetness to the drink, and the coconut milk add that creaminess. I’d order it again!

Impressions

The food at Jalan Alor is quite good, along with their drinks. However, I found their service to be slightly lacking. The waitress’s didn’t know what fresh chillies are. For a Malaysian restaurant, I feel that’s severely disappointing. When we asked for a plate to put the rice on for the Curry with King Prawns dish (the bowl was too small!), she didn’t know what we were talking about and had to ask another one of the staff. The other staff asked if we would like a small plate and it seemed like it was a lot of effort for them to bring one out.

Other than that, I’d go back again. I have been there a couple of times, but this was my most recent experience.

Jalan Alor

7/206 Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Lone Pine Bistro (Phillip Island RSL)

June 22, 2012 Posted in Australian, Cowes, Food Reviews, Phillip Island, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

We often go to Phillip Island to bring our guests to the Penguin Parade, but since we’ve seen the penguins so often, it isn’t worth it to buy a ticket for ourselves. So instead, we take a little detour to the main town centre (Cowes) of Phillip Island. One of the few restaurants/things to do at night is the Lone Pine Bistro, and the Phillip Island RSL that are connected.

I was quite surprised that they close early, I think it was 8:30 but the RSL/Pokies still remains open. Luckily we got in time and was one of the last few orders before the kitchen closed.

I ordered the Lamb Burger with Chips and Salad. I was a tad bloated because I ate some Korean Corn Chips (Delicious) an hour or so before, but after tasting this. I couldn’t resist.

I loved the burger, it had a slice of beetroot, well seasoned lamb mince patty, salad and cheese. It was a traditional combination but nicely cooked. The bread was crispy but soft on the inside, and overall the burger just hit the spot. Usually you’d find the burger to be dry, but this one was perfectly cooked.

The salad had a nice tanginess that helped with the fattiness of the chips. The chips required tomato sauce to go down, it was a tad too dry with the potato having that chalky texture. On the positive side, it was nice and crunchy.

I was pleasantly surprised with RSL/Bistro food after eating this, usually “pub” food can be overcooked and quite pedestrian. Although this doesn’t stray too far from the norm, what it does, it does well.

Their Roast Beef and Vegetables dish wasn’t as fantastic as their Burger. Most places cannot serve perfectly cooked carved beef or turkey. I think it’s because they cook the entire beef/turkey/pork and just leave it to “keep warm”. So eventually the meat just loses all it’s juices and overcooks. This is what happened here.

The meat is quite tough, and the gravy tries its best to assist with the dryness, but ultimately cannot overcome the fact that the meat is severely overcooked. On the plus side, potatoes are always good, and the vegetables served are pleasant enough to eat.

I’d be disappointed if I was served this, and it’s a stark difference to how well cooked the Lamb Burger was. I can see why it was disappointing, and it would definitely be difficult to cook the meat perfectly all things considered. Probably would be better if they served a steak but alas this isn’t what they offered.

Impressions

Lone Pine Bistro serves traditional Australian food, they also have a wide range of desserts and cakes. So if you’re travelling to see the Penguins, a stop here for some tucker isn’t a bad idea at all.

Lone Pine Bistro – Phillip Island RSL
Phillip Island
Phillip Island RSL 225-243 Thompson Ave
Cowes VIC 3922

Cinta Raya

June 8, 2012 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant Reviews, ScoresbyLeave a comment

Cinta Raya is a newly opened (a year or so) Asian Restaurant that primarily serves Chinese/Malaysian cuisine. I believe it started off with more Asian-wide varieties of food, however they went through a change and now it serves mainly Chinese and Malaysian dishes. I too questioned why they had Vietnamese food on their menu, but now they they narrowed their focus, the food has turned out for the better. They are located in Scorseby, not too far away from Knox Shopping Centre and close by to a Woolworths and a few Asian Grocers. So if you’re exhausted from all your grocery shopping, you can take a short walk to Cinta Raya to serve a wide selection of Chinese/Malaysian dishes.

I ordered their Curry Laksa, and it was quite nice, slightly milder but rich enough. I found you could taste the spices through the soup so not too mild, but it’s not packed full of flavour. They include eggplant which adds a different taste to the base but also texturally it’s pleasant. I’m not sure if they still serve it with broccoli and carrots, but I thought it was an odd choice of vegetables to add. Definitely not your standard Curry Laksa ingredients, but nonetheless it was nice with all the tofu and chicken. Overall, it was nice, nothing standout and no disasters which is good. Portion size is also quite good, nothing to complain about.

Their Seafood Hor Fun was quite good too, I think mainly with Hor Fun noodles they need to have a bit of that “Wok Flavour”, slightly charred and fried before adding in the egg sauce. This does just that, and it has all the usual ingredients you would fine in a Hor Fun. Well, apart from the broccoli and cauliflower. I haven’t been there too recently, so this might have changed. Overall, the egg sauce was quite good, definitely one of the better cooked dishes around town.

At Cinta Raya, they also have a selection of main dishes you can order from. We ordered the sweet and sour crab dish. I found these again to have a good balance of flavours, not overly sweet and nicely cooked. The meat wasn’t overcooked at all, so I would order this again if I had the chance.

We ordered the deep fried chicken pieces. I’m surprised it wasn’t drenched it oil, they managed to lightly (as light as you can imagine from deep frying that is) fry it with a nice thin crisp batter surrounding it. I think it’s pretty much your standard Chinese dish, and well, you can’t really go wrong with deep frying.

I love this Balachan Chinese Spinach dish. They sauce is so good, it packs a good heat to it but not overly spicy. You get a nice tangy, sweet and sour flavour to the sauce with the spice that adds another element to the dish. I’m a big fan of this, and it’s just vegetables!

We ordered their soy sauce duck dish with mushrooms and vegetables. I found the sauce to be a tad too salty for my liking, it was also not that great that the duck was a bit too tough and chewy. Duck should never be overcooked, it needs to be moist and tender. A slightly disappointing dish to be honest.

They used to serve complimentary Red Bean soup when they newly opened, however it appears they have stopped providing this, I’m not sure why. I found it to be slightly too sweet, and it masks the red bean flavour a bit. However, it was pleasant to be served this, it was like eating home cooked food.

Cinta Raya doesn’t stray too far from the normal Malaysian/Chinese cuisine, but what it does do, is cook delicious food for everyone to enjoy. It’s a popular restaurant, be warned, it is a small place. It can only fit under 10 tables, so either get it quick or you just might have to wait. Both their lunch and main meals are great, with a few low notes, but overall, I’d give Cinta Raya an overwhelmingly positive review.

Cinta Raya

1381 Ferntree Gully Rd
Scoresby VIC 3179

Marquee Restaurant

June 1, 2012 Posted in Desserts, European, Food Reviews, French, Restaurant Reviews, Toorak1 Comment

If it wasn’t for those “Deals” websites, I probably would never dine at Marquee Restaurant. Well, I wouldn’t say never but not in the foreseeable future perhaps. I think I’ve heard of Marquee before, but I seldom ever go to Toorak so it was never on my list of “must do’s”

However I took up one of those deals where you could order a certain value of food for a discounted price. Marquee offers around four different courses, from Tastings, Entrees, Mains and Desserts. Primarily Marquee Restaurant serves European food, with a large mix of French dishes.

We first ordered from the Tastings menu with their Roasted Scallops with garlic and truffle butter wrapped in puff pastry. I love scallops, and pastry so this was always going to go down well with me. The scallop was perfectly cook, not tough or chewy at all. It simply melted alway in your mouth, as best as a scallop could do anyway. The garlic and butter add the nice flavour to the dish and with the crunchy and thin pastry on top it works nicely together.

These little burgers from the Tastings menu are Petit Wagyu Burgers with quail egg, baby beetroot, lettuce and tomato relish. This tiny things were so cute, just look at them! Almost too lovely to eat, almost. I loved these little burgers, they were absolutely delicious, with the ooze from the egg yolk making the burger moist and the wagyu wasn’t try either. I loved it.

We ordered an entree too, this was the Hand-made crab and salmon raviolo, tomato consommé and baby basil cress. This was a bit disappointing to be honest, the crab and salmon filling in the raviolo was kinda bland and almost tasteless. Even the tomato consomme didn’t help with the flavour. Overall, I couldn’t find many redeeming qualities in this dish at all.

One of the mains we ordered was the Baby snapper fillet with smoked prawn bisque and grilled prawns. The snapper was nicely cooked, and the spinach had nice tangy flavour. The sauce was quite good, a tad on the salty side though. The seafood was supposed to be the highlight or the centrepiece of the dish, however, the prawns were somehow bland and lacked prawn flavour. Overall, it has some good points but would I order this again? Probably not.

I’ve always heard good things about Duck and Orange together. So I was so excited to order the Honey glazed duck breast on confit duck leg with chive mash and orange and balsamic jus. This was so good. The duck was amazing, so delicate and soft, just perfectly cooked and just melts away. The orange peel was slightly candied, and added a really nice different taste to the duck. I loved the balsamic jus too, I don’t think I’ve actually ever had jus before but my golly was it strong and tasty. Slightly salty, sweet and all things good. As you may know, I love potatoes, so the mash will always end up on a positive note. Overall, I loved this dish. The duck and the jus made this dish.

I wanted a lighter dish to end my night at Marquee, so we ordered the Eton mess with strawberries, chantilly cream, smashed meringue, ice cream, strawberry coulis and mint. I quite liked this, the meringue was nice and crunchy but light, and with the strawberry coulis (it’s just a jam) it was tasted quite fresh and summery. The slightly sour strawberries worked well with the sweetness of the coulis and sweet meringue, and the cream added a nice richness but not overpowering. Overall, it was good, but not a “must order” dessert.

Impressions

Marquee Restaurant offers a nice selection of dishes, with plentiful that are tasty and satisfying. Would actually make me want to go there full price now that I’ve tasted their food. If you go to Marquee Restaurant, the duck is a must. I fine the prices to be on average slightly pricey, but I think that’s just the norm with these kind of restaurants. Marquee would now be on my list of places to dine on special occasions so I’m definitely glad to have dined here.

Marquee Restaurant (Menu)
445 Toorak Road
Toorak VIC 3142

Tuesday – Saturday 5pm – late

T: +61 3 9827 7938

PappaRich (Chadstone)

May 25, 2012 Posted in Chadstone, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

PappaRich fever has hit Australia. ~~It seems like it’s the sister franchise to PappaRoti~~ (Update: I’ve been informed they are completely separate entities). With its first franchise opening up in QV where Old Town Kopitiam Mamak was, earlier this year. They have quickly opened up two more stores, one in Doncaster and the latest one in Chadstone Shopping Centre (Outside but close to Aldi) with probably more to come. If you haven’t guessed already, they serve Malaysian food and quite a good variety of food at that.

We ordered Nasi Briyani with Eggplant, Curry Prawns and Fried Chicken and Pappadam. I don’t think very many places serve Nasi Briyani, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it on the menu. The Briyani was fantastic, it had a very strong but not overpowering flavour, nicely cooked with all the spices. I’m not a big fan of sultanas in Briyani though, but it is a staple for most.

The Curry Prawns aren’t overly spicy, it’s mostly sweet actually and these prawns are the bite sized kind. I prefer the King Prawns but these little prawns suffice. The eggplant adds a nice spicy flavour to it to. Overall, it’s definitely a good meal, with a wide variety of flavours that all work well together. A must for Briyani lovers.

Their Curry Laksa is very different to the popular Laksa’s around. It tastes very home-made and it also lacks that huge punch of coconut milk/cream. Which is a good thing in my book! Sometimes I prefer a milder, less rich Laksa and this hits the sweet spot. There are a couple of Laksa varieties of the menu, Chicken, Vegetarian, and Seafood. I chose the Chicken version and it is served with chicken (of course), fried bean curd, bean curd, eggplant and a hint of mint. It also only has Hokkien Mee (no Bee Hoon as some Laksa’s have) so it really depends on your preferences. There is a lot to like with PappaRich’s Laksa as mentioned above, the curry soup is delicious as it retains a nice curry flavour but also adds a kick of spice. Overall, I’m pretty happy with this dish it is a definite change of pace.

You can’t go to a Malaysian restaurant and not see Nasi Lemak, here we ordered the Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken and Sambal. I’ve got to say that Sambal is superb. It’s sweet, and my golly does it have a huge hit of heat. I’m in love, best Sambal I’ve had in a while. The Curry Chicken is slightly sweet, but it’s nice. I’d order this dish just for the Sambal to be honest.

Their Drinks menu is quite large too, here we ordered the Soya Bean with Grass Jelly. I liked this because it has a strong soya flavour but also it isn’t too sweet so for those that would like a nice refreshing drink but not overly sweet. Here it is!

PappaRich’s Teh Tarik is pretty good too, has a nice tea flavour but not overwhelming. Same with the sweetness, although I still prefer Chilli Padi Mamak‘s Teh Tarik. It’s also a tad smaller then what you’d get elsewhere, so there is a bit of a trade off.

Impressions

PappaRich has definitely made an impression on me. It’s menu is full of things to try, from their Roti’s and snacks, to Noodles and Rice dishes and a great selection of desserts and drinks. Although their ABC Ice Kacang is definitely the most expensively priced item I’ve seen, priced at roughly $7 I didn’t even try it. I’m a bit wary of the portion size but also if it leads to disappointment as I think it would.

I do have to warn you for first timers that you order by writing down your selection on the pads found on the side and once you’re down you wave down one of the staff to take your paper. They then give you your receipt which you pay at the end of your meal at the receipt counter. I don’t think some of the staff do tell you that so best be warned before sitting there for minutes waiting for service.

Other than that, the service was surprisingly good. We had to wait roughly 10 minutes to get seats as PappaRich still is affected by the “new/curious” diners (like me) but once we ordered, food came within another 5/10 minutes. Pretty good actually for a full house.

Overall, I would dine again just to try their other items and it means there is actually some good Malaysian food in Chadstone, apart from Chadstone Shopping Centre’s Chilli Mama (Located in the Food Court) and Nudle (Near Nandos/Cinemas). It actually makes me want to go to Chadstone more often!

PappaRich Chadstone
Shop F029
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Chadstone VIC 3148

Red Hill Brewery

May 18, 2012 Posted in Australian, Food Reviews, Red Hill, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

One of the main tourist attractions in the Mornington Peninsula is the Red Hill Estate for all wine lovers. For beer lovers, there is the Red Hill Brewery. Their brewery and dining area has this nice rustic wooden aesthetic to it but it feels very Australian and modern. While the Brewery’s beer gets people through the doors, their sharing plates are wonderful in its own right.

We ordered one of those beer sampling tray, as seen below. From the far back I believe Wheat Beer, Scotch Ale, Belgian Blonde and Golden Ale. Being a fan of the lighter beers, I much preferred the golden coloured beers as it didn’t feel as heavy and strong. I don’t drink beer all that often so I really can’t comment on the complexities of flavours of each beer, but I’d definitely go back for the Belgian Blonde. Reminds me of Stella Artois, which is a good thing!

We also ordered three sharing platters which range from $10-12 dollars as this was basically our morning ~~tea~~ beer, and to accompany our lovely beers.

The first dish we ordered is the Beetroot & Orange Cured Salmon. My golly was it something else. The citrus flavour of the orange works really well with the slight saltiness of the salmon and the sweetness of the beetroot makes this whole combination oddly beautiful. The Main Ridge dairy goats curd mousse and pea shoot salad, really add to the complexity of the dish. I’m actually a fan, even though I was quite apprehensive at first.

The other two dishes we ordered is the Stoemp Cakes. These crispy fried pieces contain mashed potato served with vegies. I’m a big fan of anything potato so these cakes were superb. The batter is very light and thin so it doesn’t feel overly rich and fattening. The homemade mayonnaise adds a nice creaminess to the overall dish. So I was pretty happy with this dish, but I’d be happy with potato regardless so maybe it’s not the best advice to go off.

On the right of the picture, in the red bowl, is the Lamb Koftas. Again, Red Hill Brewery have served up another winner. These lamb balls aremarinated with some very pleasant spices, and for those that are put off by the Lamb taste, it still has retains some of this but the roast tomato sauce along with the spices mostly mask this flavour. Even though I loved the Stoemp Cakes, these Lamb Koftas were my absolute favourite. Perfectly cooked, and just a pleasure to eat.

Red Hill Brewery is definitely a must visit for Beer lovers, but also wins my heart for its delicious food. I couldn’t afford to come here as often as I would like, but that’s okay. When travelling to (or even through the) Mornington Peninsula, you can’t go wrong with stopping here.

Red Hill Brewery (Menu)
88 Shoreham Rd
Red Hill South
Victoria 3937

Ph 03 59892959
Fax 03 59892270

Winter Opening Hours
Thursday – Sunday 11am – 6pm (7pm during daylight savings)
plus all Public holidays and Mondays during school holidays

NB: Bookings are required for lunch

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak (Closed)

May 4, 2012 Posted in Food Reviews, Malaysian, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

This is going to be a historical post since the two Old Town Kopitiam restaurants in Melbourne have now closed. Their China Town location is now a Hong Kong/Taiwanese Dessert House, and their QV location is now a PappaRich store. I believe PappaRich is a cafe/restaurant offshoot of PappaRoti, and they are also opening a store in Chadstone.

I wasn’t too fond of Old Town Kopitiam, I found the food to be a little lacking and average, but their drinks menu was quite interesting. I can see why these two stores have closed though, even the appeal of Mamak food in the QV store wasn’t enough to interest most people.

Most of the food was expensive for the serving size, I did enjoy their Char Koay Kak. I must say, it probably was one of the best dishes on the menu, and you couldn’t really find it anywhere else. The rest of the menu, apart from their Nasi Kandar was bland and at times strange.

For example, their Curry Laksa (Pictured above) was so strange and unpleasant to eat. The curry soup base had a really odd taste to it, it’s slightly spicy but there is no creaminess or much flavour to it.

For added taste they add in curry leaves, by the bucketload! Eating their food actually takes effort.

I know this may sound like a whining blog post, but on most occasions the above experiences was really what it was like eating there. There were a few plus sides as mentioned above, but overall is really was a disappointing Malaysian eatery. I haven’t tried PappaRich yet, but every time I want to go eat there, it’s full!

Old Town Kopitiam (Now PappaRich)

210 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000

ohdenny

Category: Travel

Fumi Japanese Cafe

Praline Mud Cake @ Le Petit Gateau

PappaRich (Melbourne City – QV)

Jalan Alor

Lone Pine Bistro (Phillip Island RSL)

Cinta Raya

Marquee Restaurant

PappaRich (Chadstone)

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak (Closed)