Review – ohdenny

Spudbar

May 14, 2011 Posted in Australian, Doncaster, Food, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews1 Comment

My love of potatoes knows no bounds. I’ll eat it mashed, grilled, fried, boiled, cut up into wedges or fries and then deep fried or oven baked. I don’t think I’ve stopped loving potatoes and their versatility. So when a baked potato store opened, my sister (Also a potato head) found it and got me to try it. It was just simply perfection.

The name of the store is Spudbar, and it’s been a firm favourite ever since I went there a couple of years ago.

They have a number of stores around Victoria, and when I went to get my Macbook replaced in Doncaster Shopping Centre, I just had to go back there.

On this occasion, I tried their Tuna Melt Spud, there are plentiful dishes you can order and you can also make your own spud selection but just for convenience sake I chose the Tuna one. They used to have one called ‘Hot Stuff’ which included, kidney beans, a nice spicy sauce and vegetables but over the years I guess people weren’t interested in it.

The Tuna Melt Spud, is quite tasty. I doubt anyone can ruin potatoes for me, anyway. The only downside was that the dressing and tuna are cold, and well it makes the warm spud just a bit too cold for my liking. Nonetheless, it was still delicious. I added some chilli flakes, and tabasco sauce just for some added kick and it was great.

The mixture of the cheese, peas, carrots, corn, dressing, tuna and of course the potato all worked really well together and it’s really filling so you know you got a good meal out of it.

If you love all things potatoes, this is the dining experience you’ll not want to miss.

Spudbar

Westfield Doncaster Shopping Center
619 Doncaster Rd,
Doncaster VIC
Phone: 03 9840 2007
Fax: 03 9840 2007
Email : doncaster@spudbar.com.au
Open 9am – 5pm Sat – Wed
Open 9am – 9pm Thurs – Fri

Lindt Chocolat Cafe

April 8, 2011 Posted in Chadstone, Confectionery, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Lindt, famously known for all things chocolate have opened two stores in Victoria in the last couple of years. Situated inside Chadstone, the fashion capital, I believe this is the second Lindt Cafe in Victoria after the first one opened on Collins St in the city.

It doesn’t look as impressive as the City one as it has that ‘I’m in a shopping centre not a cafe’ feel to it. Alas, it’s the closest one around for the South East Melburnians.

As a lover of all things macarons, I had to try them. Obviously. I’d tried them before when my cousin came to visit in October, I tried the Champagne Vanilla flavour and it was good. Not too sweet and the cream filling was quite nice.

I think the yellow one was a Salted Caramel, the brown one was Hazelnut and I have no idea what the pink one was. Strawberry maybe? with a vanilla filling? My memory is already fading.

Salted Caramel was pretty good because it’s not overly sweet like some macarons can be, it has a slight bitter tinge to it that I quite enjoy.

I think the hazelnut macaron was a let down, I haven’t had a strong hazelnut flavoured macaron yet so I’m still waiting. Unless I make a spectacular one. Jokes aside, Lindt Cafe have a tasty selection of macarons, like Pistachio and Passionfruit but none of them stray to the odd and strange side like Zumbo’s creations in Sydney. They are also quite a decent size compared with Cacao and Le Petit Gateau which are a little on the small size for a similar price.

Their cakes also looked quite appetising but it was 11am and after already ordering macarons, it probably wasn’t a good idea to order a slice.

I had a Mocha, and boy is it chocolately good. Might be a bit too sweet , had to add a bit of hot water into it and it was perfect.

Check it out if you’re shopping there.

Lindt Chocolat Cafe
Shop B193, Lower Ground Level
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Tel: (03) 9568 2444
Mon – Wed 9am – 5.30pm
Thur – Fri 9am– 9.30pm
Sat 9am – 5.30pm
Sun 10:00am – 5.30pm

Cacao Macarons – Dark Chocolate Edition

August 31, 2010August 26, 2019 Posted in Confectionery, Food ReviewsLeave a comment

Here is an image of my small box of macarons I bought earlier last week.

Today, I ate the Dark Chocolate (60% dark chocolate) macaron.

I wasn’t that enthused to eat it, to be honest, as it is just dark chocolate and there are no real surprises there. However, I think this was the perfect macaron.

It was chewy and had a nice crisp layer on the outside, but also the filling was absolutely spot on.

The dark chocolate cream filling was made to perfection, it had the right sweetness to it, with a hint of bitterness from the dark chocolate and it was balanced perfectly with the chewy centre of the macaron biscuit.

This is definitely the macaron I would go back for. Maybe my expectations were quite low, considering it doesn’t look all that flash as per below. It didn’t matter, it was a great tasting macaron and quite an enjoyable tasting experience. Delectable, and it was just what I wanted in a macaron.

I will definitely be heading back there to try the other flavours, but maybe much later, these macarons sure pack quite a load of calories. It’d be a while to work them off!

Cacao – Melbourne CBD

Shop 7 / 525 Little Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000

Phone: (03) 9629 4955

Opening Hours

Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm

Cacao – The Strawberries & Cream and Pistachio Edition

August 28, 2010August 26, 2019 Posted in Confectionery, Food ReviewsLeave a comment

From my box of four, I have now consumed three.

Today, I first tried the Strawberries and Cream macaron. One side has a cream filling (the white side) and the other a thinner strawberry layer. Both taste like a buttercream filling.
One bite into this colourful macaron, and instantly I get that familiar strawberries and cream hit, a burst of flavour. The flavour isn’t overpowering and the macaron biscuit still crisp and chewy on the inside. It has a very pleasant taste to it, while not being overly sweet. Sweet enough to remind you that it’s like a candy biscuit not not too sweet that you have to drink some cleansing tea straight away.
This would be one I wouldn’t mind tasting again!

Onto my second taste in 10 minutes.

The Pistachio macaron looks great, it is bite sized like the other Cacao macarons I have tasted and the added finely chopped pistachios on top give it that added visual appeal.
The inside is, of course, a pistachio buttercream filling but the taste of it is very very subtle. It’s almost a hint of it, pretty much you need to take a bite and let your mouth find the flavour. Once you do, it’s a very nice pistachio filling. I think with pistachio flavour, too much of it can make it almost unpleasant, so I can see why Cacao have chosen to make the flavour just on the tip of your tongue instead of that burst of flavour you get from the strawberries and cream macaron. The pistachio on the biscuit gives it that added dimension, the hard nut texture against the chewy centre is quite nice.

I don’t mind this macaron but I wouldn’t try it again, based on the fact that the flavour is almost non existant and I prefer a stronger flavour to my macarons. It is very well made and presented but not for me.

Stay tuned for my last Cacao macaron tasting.

Cacao – Melbourne CBD

Shop 7 / 525 Little Collins St

Melbourne, VIC 3000
(03) 9629 4955

Medici Italian Restaurant

August 28, 2010August 26, 2019 Posted in Italian, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

This will be my first of many restaurant, fooderies etc that I’ll be sharing my dining experiences with.

Was invited for a surprise 21st birthday celebration at Medici, and serves Italian food (One of my favourite cuisines).

The venue was quite nice, it had a relaxed, casual vibe to it and can cater up to 300 people so it was quite large and open. The waiters/waitresses were friendly and efficient.

I ordered the Vegetable Risotto (My vegetarian phase) and the group of us shared a few large pizzas as well.

I recall it had diced carrots, small broccoli and diced tomatoes in a napoli sauce, it looked decent. My experiences with risotto lie solely with Sofia’s Restaurants, so I’m no expert but my taste buds know good food!

Taste wise, it was average, the napoli sauce had no flavour to it, it was very generic Italian that even a can or jar supermarket sauce could beat. Basically, it was nothing special.

The actual risotta was cooked just as I wanted it, not overly soft that it resembled a porridge but texture wise it was up there with my only other risotto experience.

My friend ordered the Risotto Pollo and visually looked great, mine just didn’t look as appealing at all and the taste met that.

Would I go back? Possibly, to try the pastas or the other risotto but I wouldn’t be rushing there any time soon.

Medici
36 Newquay Promenade
Docklands, VIC 3008
(03) 9600 4160

Cacao Macarons – Hazelnut Edition

August 28, 2010 Posted in Confectionery, Food ReviewsLeave a comment

I bought four Cacao Macarons (Lt Collins St store) a few days ago but hadn’t had the chance to taste them.
The first one I tried today was the Hazelnut flavoured one and here are my impressions.

I was slightly disappointed with this Hazelnut macaron, although the crunch was present with a nice chewy centre, the hazelnut buttercream lacked punch. It was almost like it was trying to be a subtle complement to the sweet biscuit. The biscuit was a bit overly sweet, not too sweet that it was you felt you needed to head to the dentist but just slightly too much icing sugar for my liking.
What the filling needed was a strong flavour, similar to hazelnut ice cream (Connoisseur is pretty good) or a Forrero Rocher taste, although it had a nice smooth texture to it. It didn’t make me go, ‘I want another!’, like I did with the Le Petit Gateau macarons. Visually, it was very appealing, you just wanted to put the whole thing in your mouth.

Overall, it was a decent macaron (I’m a macaron expert now =D), it had many of the elements present that make a good macaron. The biscuit was good (just a tad sweeter then I’m used to), the filling was not particularly sweet that kind of balanced against the biscuit. Maybe that was their intention? I was expecting a sweet filling and a delicate biscuit and not the other way around! I also had high expectations because of my love of hazelnut flavoured anything. I certainly wouldn’t have said no this Cacao macaron.

I’ll be taste testing the other 3 later on but this particular one has dampened my excitement to taste the rest.

Cacao – Melbourne CBD
Shop 7 / 525 Little Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9629 4955
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm
Exceptions: Public Holidays

Introduction to my food experience – Le Petit Gateau

August 25, 2010 Posted in Confectionery, Food ReviewsLeave a comment

Macarons!
I visited Le Petit Gateau on Lt Collins St today after seeing on the Melbourne Macarons website that they sold them.
I had no idea they made them, they do by the way, make a delicious Hazelnut Praline mud cake and their Lemon Tart is just as good for those Lemon Lovers with a crunchy and delectable pastry with a not overly sour lemon curd. Mmmm

Anyway, Le Petit Gateau have two macaron flavours on offer, a salted caramel one and a green tea one. Sorry no pics, I couldn’t wait to eat them.

These macarons were small and bite sized. When you bite into them, it has a nice crunch to it but a nice marshmallowie gooey centre. The green tea one had a strong flavour but balanced well with the sweetness of the biscuit and the filling, and the slight bitterness of the green tea powder.
The salted caramel macaron was just as tasty, the crunch and crispness was similar to the green tea one but the filling had a nice caramel filling in it. It reminded me of the Werther’s Original candy in a nice gooey, viscous form. I’m no expert on macarons, that being the first time I have ever bought one but my experience was a positive one.

Although they were both small in size, maybe the size of a 50c coin, the flavour punch they both have, along with the nice marshmallow centre and the texture of the almond meal worked quite well together.

I’d recommend both. The green tea macaron made me feel less guilty but I bet they both have their fair share of calories in them! For me, I’d definitely be going back, but maybe taking a slice of cake back with me too.

Le Petit Gateau
(03) 9944 8893
458 Little Collins St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Stay tuned for my tastings of Cacao’s macarons.