Box Hill – Page 3

Tan Tan

June 13, 2014 Posted in Box Hill, VietnameseLeave a comment

In the Box Hill hub, there are quite a few Vietnamese restaurants on Carrington Street. Indochine is probably the largest and most popular one,. I’ve tried Indochine, and couldn’t understand the appeal, so off to the next one on the street. Tan Tan is just a few doors down from Indochine and now being so far away from Springvale, I’ve still yet to find a great Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice dish, so for every new Vietnamese restaurant I try, I always seek out this dish which has yet to be topped.

Tan Tan’s Crispy Chicken with Tomato Rice lacks the highs of a great dish, the tomato rice is devoid of tomato flavour, and seems overly soft. I prefer a bit of bite to my rice when it is fried, and a great Tomato rice in my eyes also adds egg. The chicken also lacks flavour, just salt and unfortunately, too dry. The sweet and sour sauce is much needed to bring flavour to this dish that is dry and lacking in taste. A real shame

The Lemongrass Chicken and Stir Fry with Rice, is an especially fragrant dish with the lemongrass but again, nothing really stood out. The chicken cooked well, and the capsicum adds depth of flavour, apart from that it could be a little forgettable.

Beef and Chicken Combination Pho is a staple at every Vietnamese restaurant, however the soup here isn’t too flash. Lacking in flavour as compared with the popular and local favourite Pho places such as I Love Pho 264 in Richmond, and Pho Hung Vuong in Springvale. The soup is the star of a Pho dish so it’s disappointing that it is very average here.

Impressions

I can’t say that I found Tan Tan to be memorable for its dishes which I really did hope it would be. One of the pluses was that the staff were very friendly, and the dishes weren’t too expensive but I’m not too sure that would be enough to get me to go back there again for sometime.

Tan Tan
9 Carrington Rd
Box Hill VIC 3128

Don-Udon

December 6, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Food Reviews, Japanese, Korean, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

Don-Udon recently opened in Box Hill and joins the other Korean restaurants now established in Box Hill along. I’m guessing there is a sizeable Korean community here as there are also many grocery stores around too. Unlike the Box Hill Korean BBQ, Don-Udon doesn’t offer BBQ but they have plans to do hot pot in the winter months.

Currently they offer a great selection of Korean and even a few Japanese dishes ranging from Udon noodle soup, Stir Fried Udon dishes, Ramen, Korean and Japanese rice dishes and even a few sizzling and clay pot dishes for something a bit different.

We ordered the Bibim Bap in Stone Pot that is served scolding hot. It comes with beef, vegetables and fried egg with Korean chilli paste on rice. The stone pot retains heat remarkably well so if you’re ordering, it’s best to not touch the bowl. I love clay pot/stone pot dishes as the rice cooks and turns into this crunchy delight. All the ingredients here are fresh and especially tasty with the slightly sweet beef. A really nice, light dish.

Don-Udon also offers soups in clay pot. I think Korean soups with rice are one of my favourite type of dishes. I could really have warm, spicy soup with rice all day, everyday. The soup here is a Seafood Silken Tofu Soup (Spicy) with mixed seafood, vegetables and of course silken tofu. I loved the flavour of this soup, it’s spicy enough if you consume all of the soup and it’s basically like this gradual hotness that lingers throughout the meal. Very satisfying. The seafood here are basically a couple of small (very) prawns but the tofu is the main protein here. Although the soup is a tad oily, I loved the soup all the same.

The Donkatsu Udon is your typical Japanese dish with crispy deep fried pork, with a clear stock soup. Subtle flavours from the soup and maybe a bit of Togarashi just adds a bit of spice to give it a bit more seasoning. A pleasant dish that even betters Ajisen Ramen in Box Hill.

Impressions

Don-Udon is my go-to Korean eatery in Box Hill. Flavours hit the mark, friendly staff and all for a decent (the standard) price. It’s just a bit of a shame that this restaurant isn’t more frequented by customers. It’s slightly out of the way, a few minutes walk from the main shopping hub in Box Hill but close by to the tram stop and the many Computer Gaming places. I’d say it’s definitely worth the small effort to visit.

Don-Udon

951 Whitehorse Road
Box Hill VIC 3128

Opens for Lunch and Dinner

Third Wave Cafe – Prahran

November 15, 2013 Posted in American, Food Reviews, Prahran, Restaurant Reviews, Russian, Spanish2 Comments

Third Wave Cafe in Prahran is the sister cafe to their first cafe/restaurant in Port Melbourne. The Port Melbourne location specialises in American BBQ, and that also carries over to the Prahran restaurant. Third Wave Cafe Prahran mostly does breakfast/brunch/lunch but from Thursday to Saturday they do open their doors for dinner. The chef is Ryo Kitahara who is the protégé of Iron Chef Sakai, which I must admit is pretty special. I was a big fan of the Iron Chef series.

Their location might be easy to miss if you don’t know where you’re going, Google Maps took me into the other direction! It’s located across from a gym (could be an after gym workout meal), on the side of the Woolies and close by to the Prahran Market on Cato Street.

I was invited here by Third Wave Cafe to try their menu and I thank them for the opportunity.

It isn’t your typically cafe in the sense that it lacks outdoor dining but it’s such a pleasant atmosphere it isn’t missed at all. They have a bar stools area as well as your standard dining setting with plenty of lighting.

Their menu is diverse and you may find it difficult to finally decide on what to order. Having gone for brunch/lunch we ordered a couple of different dishes to try.

Third Wave’s Pulled Pork Slider with fries tastes as good as it looks. The burger itself contains the pulled pork, with pickled cucumber and fresh coleslaw and their own BBQ sauce. The just cooked pork is seasoned well (and not too salty), adding a bit of the spicy BBQ sauce it complements the slider well. The cold coleslaw in a burger is something I’ve often not tried but here it makes for an interesting combination and certainly feels fresh. The coleslaw itself is light and not too rich in its use of mayonnaise. The fries are also light and crispy, and not heavy in its use of oil. A very pleasant surprise on how well everything was cooked, without feeling guilty over eating a burger with fries.

One of Third Wave’s specials is their Texan Fry Up and just maybe one of my favourite dishes ever, really no joke. The slow cooked smoked brisket is the highlight of this dish. It is just simply cooked to perfection. The smokey brisket practically teleports you to an American Steakhouse. It’s most definitely the best meat I’ve ever tasted. Tender and flavourful.

The mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes all complement the star of the dish and with a small amount of the spicy BBQ sauce it is just simply delicious. The poached egg oozes yolk although the outer most part of the yolk is hard boiled. Overall, it really makes me want to try their dinner menu because this dish is cooked so well here.

On a side note: this dish was oddly on the breakfast page of their menu under specials, but it seems more like a lunch item to me.

Their Spicy Ratatouille Baked Eggs also looks as good as it tastes. I’ve actually only recently tried a similar dish at Red Cup Cafe in Box Hill, both are similar in the ingredients they use and both I say are more than satisfying.

The Spanish Chorizos add the spiciness to the dish, and with the addition of zucchini, eggplant, red peppers, tomatoes and of course eggs topped with Asiago cheese is another winner. Served with toasted Ciabatta bread it is one of those feel good warm dishes that I can see myself eating on a cold morning. The saltiness of the dish comes from the chorizo’s and it could be too much for some but eating this injunction with the crunchy bread and baked vegetables I couldn’t be happier with the meal.

From my understanding, their hot drinks come with this bite sized mini meringue that has this surprising ginger and possibly cinnamon flavour. Eating this with your coffee, you may even find yourself thinking you just ordered a Chai Latte. Their Latte is light and not too intense. I usually prefer much richer, fuller coffee with not too much foam on top. This isn’t the case here but it is in no way bad, just a decent cup of coffee.

Impressions

Third Wave Cafe definitely impresses with their selection of dishes and the quality of the dishes as well. I really cannot recommend enough the Texan Fry Up and to a lesser extent their Spicy Ratatouille Baked Eggs and with Third Wave Cafe’s Sweets, Paninis, Russian Menu. I don’t think you’ll be bored by the menu anytime soon. Whenever I go back to Prahran, a visit to Third Wave Cafe is on order.

Third Wave Cafe – Prahran (Menu)

30 Cato St
Prahran VIC 3181

Opening Hours (Correct as at 15 November 2013)
Monday to Wednesday – 8am to 3pm
Thursday to Saturday – 8am to Late
Sunday – 8am to 4pm

T: 03 9510 2991
M: 04 1255 0854

Pho 888 Box Hill

November 1, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

Pho 888 Box Hill on Station Street, is one of the few Vietnamese restaurants in Box Hill. Primarily serving Pho, it does have a small selection of rice dishes and entrees as well. The restaurant is one of your typical Pho joints that you may find on Victoria Street, Richmond or Springvale, how does it compare? Lets see

I ordered the Beef sausage Pho just to try something a bit different (a bit unusual), the soup base lacks a bit of flavour and I also noticed they do not add coriander as a garnish to their soup. That’s not to say the soup was bland, it definitely has a nice flavour to it but compared with the greats in Melbourne, it is just a bit lacking.

The plentiful of onions they add are very strong in taste, probably too much onions for my liking but some might be preferential to their generosity. The beef sausage falls apart very easily, I’m not sure how it’s made because it’s almost like eating mince meat with a bit of pepper balls as seasoning. Not the best sausage I must admit, I think the beef and chicken would actually taste better together.

Finding good Vietnamese food in Box Hill is a challenge, so my opinion on Pho 888 is that it’s sufficient but if you miss great Vietnamese food from places in Richmond and Springvale, or maybe even Footscray, you may be a bit disappointed.

Pho 888 Box Hill

552 Station Street
Box Hill VIC 3128

Lu Yang Dumpling House

October 11, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Lu Yang Dumpling House is a popular Chinese restaurant in Box Hill, and one of the many Chinese restaurants around. It always seems to be full around lunchtime. Wanting to see for ourselves whether the place lives up to its popularity we gave it a try.

Their menu has a large selection of dumplings, pork, chicken, beef, seafood, vegetarian as well as Chinese stir-fried noodles and rice dishes. As the name of the restaurant seems to suggest, they specialise in dumplings so we ordered a mix of steamed dumplings consisting of seafood, pork, and beef, vegetarian dumplings.

I found the skin of the dumplings to be the right thickness but it seemed to be steamed for too long, making the skins to be too soft and when you bite into it, it all falls apart. The dumpling flavours all were unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary. I really couldn’t say any of the ones I tried had great flavours. Even the most commonly made dumpling, pork dumplings lacked ginger and chives. Overall I found the dumplings on the bland side of things.

We also wanted to try the pan fried dumplings, these were the pork specialty as mentioned above it was a bit bland and the overall balance of flavours was not quite there. You had to either eat them with the dipping sauce (Predominantly Chinkiang vinegar) or the chilli oil/seeds to give it a bit of a kick. Another negative was the dumplings were swimming in oil. Taking a bite into them you’ll find oil squirting out of them. Not a particularly pleasant experience and the old Bob’s Kitchen in Glen Waverley (now RaRamen Glen Waverley) makes one of the better dumplings around town.

A pleasant surprise was their Szechuan Noodles, again slightly too oily, but that’s okay because overall the seasoning, sauce all had a good balance. Not overly seasoned with salt, and the fresh vegetables stir fried in with the noodles made it a tasty dish indeed.

Impressions

Lu Yang Dumpling House is a bit hit and miss, and I’m uncertain why it seems to be so popular. I’d also like to mention the service is a bit slow, I believe we waited around 20 or so minutes before the first order arrived with no apology from the waitresses that served us. I guess I can’t expect much from Chinese restaurants. I’d give the dumplings a miss, you can definitely find better dumplings (with overall better skin to filling ratio) elsewhere.

Lu Yang Dumpling House

617 Station Street

Box Hill VIC 3128

Box Hill Korean BBQ

August 23, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, KoreanLeave a comment

Box Hill Korean BBQ is near the hub of Box Hill. You may notice there are a couple of Korean grocery stores and restaurants in Box Hill probably to the small but sizeable Korean community around these parts. I love Korean food, because it’s slightly familiar to the South East and Japanese and yet still different and new.

In the image above, I mistakenly ordered an entree which I thought was a full meal. This dish is called Tteokbokki/dukboki/topokki which is basically these rice cake strips which look like noodles stir fried in a (usually) spicy sauce with carrots and onions. What I like about it is that it’s actually quite filling because it’s rice cakes and these “noodles” are dense and have a bit of chewiness to it. Here, there is minimal sauce but it’s very spicy and concentrated. Although it’s an entree it’s filling but as it is the same price as a normal regular lunch dish, I don’t think it’s worth it. You can also easily make this by yourself, all you need is to go to a Korean grocery store (there is one nearby) buy a fresh packet of the noodles and a packet of the sauce and stir fry it. Very easy.

The beef stir fry with salad and rice dish is similar to a bento and comes with the standard Korean condiments like kimchi and seasoned bean sprouts. The beef is sweetly seasoned but still has a bit of saltiness to it, the carrots, onions, capsicums and bean sprouts add a much needed freshness to the dish. It’s nice, but nothing special.

The chicken stir fry is similar to the beef dish, sweet and not enough saltiness or spiciness. Chicken was also a tad overcooked, it doesn’t leave a lasting impression. Dae Jang Geum does these dishes much better. The miso soup also came out lukewarm to almost cold. Very disappointing

Impressions

We were left disappointed with the meals we had after having really great food at Dae Jang Geum. The service here is also bare minimum, and took at least 15 minutes to receive our food that was a bit cold. Hmm. The complementary sides with the two rice dishes are also very small and unlike the Dae Jang Geum which is generous. Maybe the dinner or BBQ is better? I don’t know, but I’m not enthused to try it again.

Box Hill Korean BBQ
1 Bank St
Box Hill VIC 3128

First Taste Box Hill

August 9, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, VietnameseLeave a comment

First Taste is one of my favourite restaurants in Springvale. I love the claypot rice, absolutely adore it. Being able to scrape the rice from the sides is just a treat. I never knew there was a First Taste in Box Hill, and now it’s even more convenient to dine and order my favourite Black Pepper Beef Claypot Rice.

What is noticed is slightly different from the Springvale eatery is that they use less or sometimes none at all of coriander and they don’t leave the claypot bowls to cook as long. What you have is less crispy rice but still ridiculously hot, and the lacking flavour from the coriander. However everything else is basically the same, the beef is nice and tender with a pleasant fragrance and taste of pepper on the tongue. First Taste also provides a generous serving of sauce on top.

I’m not a big fan of First Taste’s other claypot dishes though. The chicken, Chinese sausage and mushroom with soy sauce isn’t too my liking. It’s one of those slightly herbal tinged dishes, and I’m not fond of Chinese sausage with soy and of course the big mushrooms. That’s not to say it’s not cooked well, I definitely say for those that like these kind of dishes would find this perfectly satisfying. Again, they don’t leave the claypots to cook long enough so the sides and bottom of the claypot bowl aren’t as crispy.

Impressions

First Taste Box Hill is much like it’s brother (or sister) in Springvale. Slightly varied but familiarity is key here and you can’t find better Claypot rice anywhere else. Yes even Claypot King.

First Taste
604 Station Street
Box Hill VIC 03128

Madam Kwong’s

May 24, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Madam Kwong in Box Hill is one of the very few Malaysian restaurants around these parts. Not only that, it’s one of the very few authentic Malaysian restaurants around. Having opened not that long ago, this small shop is seemingly always filled with people. Probably because of the lack of seating, but also frequented by Malaysian Australians. You can tell just by hearing their accent! I digress. From what I’ve been told, the food they serve here is Penang style cuisine which I’m actually more used to since my parents are from Northern Malaysia.

What they also have retained from Penang is their smaller portions. It’s not exactly small but for the price it leans towards being expensive compared to other Malaysian restaurants in Victoria.

I ordered the Nasi Lemak with Beef Curry. I actually really loved the curry, it was just creamy enough but not overwhelming and had also just enough spices and hit of chilli. I really couldn’t ask for a better curry to go with my Nasi Lemak. What they lack here though is a sambal of sorts, they included the preserved vegetables (behind the rice) but sambal is almost a necessity for Nasi Lemak so that in itself was slightly disappointing. However they do make up for it with generous serving of beef. They add all the other common sides, egg, cucumber, nuts, anchovies and scented rice. Overall, I was still pleased with the dish and at least the curry made up for any shortcomings.

Madam Kwong’s Char Kway Teoh is packed full of flavour. You can really taste the heat of the wok come through and of course you can’t have a Char Kway Teoh without a bit of spice. We asked for spicy, it was, sort of. Not as spicy as I would have liked though. The noodles were seasoned and cooked well, with all the things you’d come to expect with this dish. A satisfactory dish I would say!

What I was very disappointed with was their “Ice Kacang”, and I use quotation marks with that because I really don’t know what we were given. I mean it meets the literal definition of Ice Kacang (shaved ice and beans) but it was basically sugar syrup and ice. It needed a serious tablespoon of brown sugar syrup, a bit of condensed/evaporated milk and thinly shaved ice. It actually tasted like those snow cones that come with just cordial/liquid sugar flavourings and ice but not even as good as that. It was also extremely small for the price. Wouldn’t order it again.

Their cendol was indeed better. The cendol (green jellies) seemed fresh enough, not rubbery or hard. The jellies had a delicacy to it. It was quite creamy with the coconut milk and brown sugar and very sweet. I think they added too much coconut milk for my liking but it wasn’t in anyway bad like their Ice Kacang was. Would I order it again? Hmm, probably not. Again portion size is to be considered for the price, I wouldn’t. Straits of Malacca and ChilliPadi Mamak do it better and bigger.

Impressions

I liked their food, there isn’t too much variety on their menu but what they serve in terms of hot food is tasty and that’s all that really matters here. The desserts, and even their Kuehs’ I find them to be on the sickly sweet side but I guess some people like it that way. They also are partly a grocery store (well they sell a few grocery items) and frozen dim sum dishes so even if you may not fancy their food, if you’re in the need of a few Malaysian ingredients this may be very well be the place to stop at.

Madam Kwong’s
1025 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill VIC 3128

Wong’s Lucky Bar

January 11, 2013 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, SingaporeanLeave a comment

Wong’s Lucky Bar is an extremely popular eatery in Box Hill, right next to the tram stop. They serve Chinese food, but one of their main attractions is their cheap Crab. I believe it’s around $13 dollars a pound, and $5 extra for noodles for each person. Bookings are essential for dinner as seats fill up quickly and queues can start to form early. You’ll find the interior to be slightly strange with seating placed anywhere possible. They even use the next door’s cafe for seating!

Wong’s Crabs’ can be cooked a variety of ways, we ordered the Singapore Chilli Crab with noodles as I love Chinese Crab with noodles. While it looked mouth watering, the taste of the crab was lacking. You could hardly taste the crab meat but the Chilli Crab sauce was decent. I wished it was more flavourful and spicy but the sweetness of the sauce was there and it accompanied the crab well. I think you basically get what you pay for so don’t go looking here for the freshest, most tasty crab meal as you won’t find it here. We tried the Crab at All People Chinese Restaurant in Burwood East, and that was incomparable to here. Extremely tasty but the price difference is also world’s apart.

As out accompaniment, we ordered Balachan Spinach. This had a lot of zing to it as a result of the addition of chillies. Nicely cooked and flavour was excellent. A tad oily but it’s like any Chinese restaurant.

Impressions

If you want cheap(ish) food, served relatively quickly and don’t mind the chaos and almost non existant customer service Wong’s Lucky Bar is the place for you. They have a wide variety of seafood dishes and other standard Chinese dishes to cater to many. Give it a try!

Wong’s Lucky Bar

921 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill VIC 3128

T: 03 9899 8558

Nanyang Kopitiam

January 27, 2012 Posted in Box Hill, Food Reviews, Malaysian, Restaurant Reviews, Uncategorized3 Comments

Nanyang Kopitiam is located on Canterbury Road, close to an Indian grocer and a BP Petrol station. They offer a mix of Malaysian and Chinese dishes for a decent price. It’s not exactly a popular part of Box Hill, it’s actually very quiet even around the peak lunch time period on a weekend. [Update: Apparently this has closed down]

They don’t particularly have a great range of dishes to choose from, but they do have all your standards offered in many Malaysian restaurants here. One that seems to be on more Malaysian menu’s now is the Mee Rebus, and luckily for those Mee Rebus lovers out there, this is on Nanyan Kopitiam’s menu.

I’ll first talk about their Nasi Lemak. You get your choice of Curry Chicken or Rendang Beef like most Malaysian eateries, I often choose their Rendang since I like the flavours more so than your usual curry. It’s probably also that I often have Curry Chicken at home anyway.

Their Nasi Lemak also comes with your standard sides, so nothing out of the ordinary here. Their Rendang was a bit too tough for my liking, I think it’s because they hadn’t cooked it long enough but the sweet and spicy flavours were all there. I did enjoy it to be honest but the toughness was a bit of a letdown.

The sambal was overly sweet, and lacked that chilli punch that Taste Of Singapore has.

Overall it was a decent meal, and if you’re in those parts of town their Nasi Lemak is definitely okay.

I had a little taste of their Mee Rebus and it was quite good but it was odd because their sauce was extremely watery but it had all the essential flavours in it. I’m usually used to a thicker gravy but although this was different in looks, the taste was all there.

Probably the stand out for me was their Roti Canai. Their curry was delicious and had loads of flavour. It wasn’t too creamy and had just enough spice and heat to it. Along with their fresh roti (Their own roti if I’m not mistaken), that was nice and crisp on the outside but soft inside, I couldn’t really fault it.

Nanyang Kopitiam’s Char Kway Teow looked great. I only had a small taste of this as well, but again, it had a good balance of flavours and spice to it. People rave about Straits Char Kway Teow as one of the best in Victoria but this isn’t too bad either.

Strangely enough they say Kopitiam but it lacks many of the drinks you may find in a Kopitiam like for instance, Teh Tarik. I can’t remember if they served Coffee but I have my doubts.

All in all, if you’re in the area Nanyan Kopitiam will satisfy your Malaysian cuisine cravings. Even if you’re not , it’s decent enough to give it a try.

Nanyang Kopitiam

895c Canterbury Road
Box Hill
Victoria, 3128

Tel: 03 9899 7077

ohdenny

Tag: Box Hill

Tan Tan

Don-Udon

Third Wave Cafe – Prahran

Pho 888 Box Hill

Lu Yang Dumpling House

Box Hill Korean BBQ

First Taste Box Hill

Madam Kwong’s

Wong’s Lucky Bar

Nanyang Kopitiam