Foodies delight weekend!

There's so much going on this weekend!!


Doughboys doughnuts have a new pop up at the Mercat hotel near Vic Market.  They reopen Saturday morning.
http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/events/event/doughboys-doughnuts-pop-mercat-2013-11-30



Saturday lunchtime and Footscray Food Blog and Consider the Sauce are hosting the Westies.  A picnic in the park with an added bonus of awards being announced for local food.  Happy Camper Pizza, Mr Burger, and a coffee truck will be there for people not wanting to bring a picnic.  That's in Yarraville.
http://footscrayfoodblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/westies-awards-and-ffbcts-picnic-this.html?m=1


Sunday there's a Food Truck Jam at Vic Market from 10am-4pm, featuring Beatbox Kitchen, White Guy Cooks Thai and Digging for Fire BBQ.


Sunday evening is the final Bulliet Bourbon/meat event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/703047699712994/
They were pretty excited about the prospect of cooking a whole pig.

This is also the last weekend of the Night Noodle Market.
http://melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com/nightnoodlemarkets

Pictures to follow of what I ended up at :)

Lil' nom noms

Another food truck - this time with a Vietnamese flavour.  Mentioned to me by a friend I kept meaning to check them out but also kept forgetting.

http://lilnomnoms.com.au/

Finally I noticed on their Facebook page a post about getting your order in for lunch delivery in the CBD!

https://www.facebook.com/lilnomnomstruck

So I followed up for more details.  Their delivery day is Tuesday, but could also do Wednesday for any orders above 20 people. From their current menu you order either the Banh Mi (roll) or Bun Cha (rice noodles). You then get either a herb salad or Rice Paper Rolls (with the same filling choices as the roll/noodles).  Then you get a dessert to finish it all off.  Here's their menu (please excuse the word spelling and grammar highlighting).

What an awesome way to try their food - they'll bring it to me! So I ordered the Spring Roll Bun Cha, with the pork Rice Paper Rolls.  Everything tasted great - especially their dessert.  My work desk buddy was lucky he finally got round to eating his as I was eyeing it off big time!

I also finally made it to their park session in Maribyrnong on a Sunday.  I was extremely hung over so this food was perfect for how I was feeling (ie. it was nice and light). I got the chicken rice paper rolls, and the spring rolls.  They also had viet tacos and an open steamed bun type dish.  Great variety though. A VIN (very important nomster) key tag was on offer which gave me an awesome tasting vietnamese iced coffee for free!

I'm a big fan!

Here's another food blog about the truck visiting Yarraville:
http://considerthesauce.net/2013/09/22/lil-nonoms-live-situation-road-test/

Doughboys Doughnuts - Melbourne

So I've been "plagued" by awesome looking photos of doughnuts on instagram thanks to the Doughboys for a while now and finally got to try them for myself!

They've established a "pop-up" at Mr Nice Guy in Healey Lane from 7am-11am, every weekday (I think) for at least a month (depending on how things go for them)!

This was their selection today:

I struggled with my decision but went with the choc nut:

And OMG it tasted awesome.  The nuts on the top were a really nice addition.

I think they're serving Market Lane Espresso which also meant they had no drinking chocolate (and only one style of milk) - so no Mocha for me!! :(  (Same as the Market Lane store near Vic Market).

Unfortunately you're paying $4.80 for a doughnut (and $4 for a coffee).  Hand forged and dipped on demand.

Here they are on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/doughboysdoughnutsmelbourne

And here they are on Instagram:
http://instagram.com/doughboysdoughnuts

Mr Nice Guy can be found off Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne CBD, on Healeys Lane.
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1754031/restaurant/CBD/Mr-Nice-Guy-Melbourne

Murasaki teppenyaki, Broadbeach

This place had gotten a number of good reviews so thought I'd check it out. They didn't take bookings and when we arrived the grill seats were full so we were seated at a standard table. We asked to move once some seats freed up - glad we did as the theatrics were worth watching :)

I ordered the steak and prawn special set which also came with zucchini and onion, dipping sauces, miso soup and a salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes and some dressing. It came with steamed rice but I opted for the upgraded "chop chop" rice. Which was a fried rice with veggies, egg and chicken. Also got some edamame to share.

The food was heaps, was really full by the end. Our chef's special trick was to twirl his spatula and fork around, making one guy feel like his was going to be stabbed with it before he caught it at the last minute. Another guy made onion tower volcanos which looked awesome. They all did a long egg strip thing which they chopped up awesomely, flicking one bit of egg at a customer (me in this case but it wasn't close).

The other guy also did this thing where he wrote thankyou backwards in I think salt. Very impressive so had to get a photo of that.

They had a decent (long) drinks list and might have done desserts but we went around the corner for ice cream elsewhere.

Highly recommend but you want a grill seat to enjoy the "show“ :)

Moo moo wine bar & grill, broadbeach

So I was a little disappointed when I booked that I could either come at 5:30 or 8:30 but the lunchtime staff was confident I could turn up at 8 as people don't usually stay for 2.5 hours. So I arrived at 8:15 and the guy told me I was 20 mins early, so I came back after 20 minutes feeling a little over it but got a warm reception with the offer of sitting outside under a heater or waiting a few minutes and sitting inside. I wasn't fussed so got seated outside under a very toasty heater. Good choice as it was packed and noisy inside. I'm not sure why I didn't figure people from my conference wouldn't try coming here too!

The staff took my water order and left me with my 20 page drinks menu and food menu. My waitress came to take my drinks order and to explain the food menu after confirming that I hadn't been here before. She also brought me a chef's special starter of wagyu beef.

She picked me as a tenderloin eater, pointing out the two selections on the menu, with her personal recommendation of the Tasmanian 200g tenderloin. So I went with that with mushroom sauce. She suggested 1-2 sides so I picked the wagyu fat cooked potatoes with rosemary & thyme.  I also ordered a cab merlot cab franc from wa. I was a little nervous when she put the freshly opened bottle down on my table but thankfully she was just resting it there.  Though I did check!

My steak was perfect. I learnt to order it medium with no blood from rockpool and that seemed to do the trick tonight too. The steak came with a whole head of garlic and my mushroom sauce.  The potatoes were yummy too but too much for me to get through.

I also ordered the raspberry souffle for dessert, just to get the full experience! It came with a raspberry macaroon with chocolate filling, vanilla bean sauce, raspberry sorbet and a strawberry. OMG so good!

I also felt compelled to try the broadbeach bull fighter cocktail, which doesn't bode well for me getting up tomorrow morning for an early morning run. Tasty but I'm so full!

Great service and great food. Highly recommend!

Pj O'Brien's - tullamarine airport

So I might have over estimated how bad the traffic would be and am stupidly early for my domestic flight. After surveying the breakfast options (McDonald's, Hudson's coffee) settled on pj's. They have a small breakfast menu and as much as I love a cooked breakfast decided the all day big breakfast might be overkill.

So I ordered the pancakes with berries and cream. It had fruit, that's something right!! After at least 20 minutes a set of 3 cold pancakes came out, it was explained they had run out of berries so they'd given me maple syrup on the side. They had also dumped half a container of double cream on top. I'm thinking maybe it took as long as it did as they had to let the pancakes cool?!

I should probably have stuck with the cooked breakfast and a cider instead! :)

Los Latinos

So I've driven past this place heaps of times and finally organised a visit there.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1519672/restaurant/Melbourne/Maribyrnong/Los-Latinos-Maidstone

They had two locations, one in Maidstone and the other in Ascot Vale - but judging by their Facebook posts they've had to shut down and will relocate the Ascot Vale restaurant. (due to what must have been serious plumbing issues).

Friendly service, but you wouldn't want to go there and be in a hurry to get out the door.

They have a whole bunch of entrees, mains and drinks on the menu.  With specials (and their drinks) written up on the wall. I didn't photograph the drinks list but they had wine, beer, cocktails and softdrink.

Unfortunately no one was getting a starter so I missed out on trying their Nachos (which I'm guessing were big based on the price).  However I did enjoy the Burrito El Grande Beef.

Other people enjoyed the chicken fajitas and the vegetarian tacos.  I think though if I was to order the tacos I'd probably need a starter too, but the burrito was a good size with guacamole, salsa and sour cream provided with it.

I also enjoyed their Pineapple Margarita and Pina Colada cocktails.  Although I was expecting something a little different to how the Pina Colada tasted.  It ended up being a bit like a toblerone crossed with something else.

My only other complaint is when booking I noticed they had Dimmi set up on their website, but only for the Ascot Vale restaurant.  So I rang and left a message on an answering machine.  I didn't hear anything back and ended up sending them an email - to which someone rang me back to confirm my booking.  When I had to update the numbers for the night I tried ringing before 5.  No answer and no answering machine.  I rang after 5 and still no answer.  Thankfully I found a mobile number on their facebook page and someone eventually answered that, I didn't want us booking more seats than we needed!

I'd happily go back though as I enjoyed their food.

Los Latinos
128 Mitchell St, Maidstone
http://www.loslatinoscafe.com.au/

Sabroso

Sabroso is our go to sunday roast place now.

http://www.sabroso.com.au/
2 Gamon Street, Seddon.

It's a tapas bar that also has a selection of other meals. On sundays, they have a Lamb Shoulder special - of lamb shoulder with a bit of sauce, potatoes and green beans.  At a guess I'd say the sauce was a bit of tomato/vegetable chunky sauce that the lamb was cooked in.  The staff now know our order - although I tend to change up my appetizer and wine selections.   J often grabs a prawn and chorizo skewer, whilst I debate over that or the potato croquette.

When we've been on a Saturday we've ended up having the Braised Beef and mash dish - which apparently is a special on Thursday night for $20, served with some green beans.

I've also tried a selection of their Tapas when they ran a special "banquet option"

Salt & Pepper Squid w Aioli & Lemon, Potato & Sage Croqueta, Soft Shell Crab Tortilla, Lamb Briouat w Yoghurt & Sumac.

Hand cut Fries w Rosemary & Shallots, Pork Meatballs w Spicy Tomato & Onion Sauce (and Jase's sunday lamb roast shoulder)

I can't recall the name of the pizza type thing but they were yummy. Next to them the Prawn & Chorizo Pinchos w Pil Pil Sauce.

On another occasion I tried the Paella and found it a bit dry for my liking, but that might just be I prefer a more liquidy risotto, the rice of the Paella was crispy and the quality of the prawns was good.

We tend to go about 12:30 and it's nice and quiet - although we went for a late lunch yesterday and the meat was so tender, probably because it had had an extra 1.5hours of "tenderising/resting" time :)

They seem to run wine and beer special events, and have a nice range of wine and ciders.  I'm guessing beer too but I'm not a beer drinker.

Here's their current food menu:
http://sabroso.com.au/mm_uploads/SB_Menu_JUNE13.pdf

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/761655/restaurant/Melbourne/Footscray/Sabroso-Seddon

Pepper lunch

Pepper lunch where you cook your own on your personal 260 degree heated hotplate.

I had the cheeseburger. Ended up being a meat pattie in 4 parts, bean shoots, cheese, egg. I also choose to upgrade my meal for an $3.95 which included a bowl of rice or fries and a miso soup or drink. So I got a massive bottle of sweetened tea and bowl of fries. The fries were hot and nice, a little salty. The meal was yummy. Nice gooey mix of meat, cheese, egg and bean shoots.  The second time I went back the chips weren't good so I ended up leaving half of them. Just not hot and crispy.

Here's the "as presented" and "there I mixed it up" pictures.

There are two sauce bottles on the table that you add as you cook. I had the sweet bbq type sauce, but there was also something else labeled garlic.

My colleagues got double chicken and double salmon options. As pictured below. 

The verdict - whilst it isn't the most awesome food I had, I enjoyed the novelty of having my personal hot plate to cook food on.  It also means the dishes come out super quick as you are cooking it yourself.  They do like you to order your food before grabbing a table, which leaves you feeling nervous as you're queuing up to order. 

It's on Elizabeth Street, near Melbourne Central.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1709335/restaurant/CBD/Pepper-Lunch-Elizabeth-Melbourne

Dos Diablos Mobile Cantina

More food trucks are coming our west - hooray!!

www.facebook.com/DosDiablosMobileCantina

I liked the menu of this one more than the Taco Truck (though it has been awhile since I've had the Taco Truck).  I found these guys at a park in Yarraville - but as per usual you need to check the facebook page (or the where the truck at website) to find if they're in the area.  I think they stick to the north and western suburbs (yay!).

Here they are!  And their menu.

Was such a gorgeous day

You can pick up serviettes and I think condiments from the side.

I had pollo taco (marinated grilled chicken w chipotle mayo & roasted corn salsa) and tried their seasoned fries.

I was still feeling a bit peckish so went back for the carnitas taco (slow roasted pork w salsa).

They also hung out with a coffee van (or did on this particular day) - that made a very nice Mocha and were friendly asking how I enjoyed the Mocha.

And here is the lovely Yarraville gardens.  Such a lovely place to sit and eat.