Oms & Noms - January/February/March

Tonight's dinner consisted solely of edible components of birthday gifts - macarons and chocolate-coated dried figs.

Not something to be done on a daily basis, but highly recommended. Anyway, due to the abnormally high levels of sugar now running through my veins, this post will probably be sparse in wit and words, and overloaded with pictures and lots of exclamations!!

1. Smörgåsbord of Desserts
I somehow got it in my head that I would create a 'smörgåsbord of desserts' for my 21st, a cornucopian collection of my favourite desserts. Challenge was duly accepted and here's the result:

 The smorgasbord consisted of the following treats, some homemade and others bought:

• Mini cupcakes from Mister Nice Guy Cupcakes (and vegan, too!)
• Macarons from La Belle Miette
• Baklava from El Faiha Sweets
• Peanut butter cups
• Mini pavlovas with vanilla bean cream, strawberries and nectarines
• Mars bar chocolate crackles
• Nutella cornetti (nutella filled pastries)  
• Cointreau-spiked fruit salad

Not something I'll be repeating again anytime soon, but thank goodness for photographs to immortalise a week's worth of hectic baking and running around.

2. Birthday Shenanigans
More cake and edible presents, including: pavlovas of the regular and chocolate varieties, a flourless orange and almond cake from Filou's, chocolate-coated dried figs, and a beautiful box of Fran's Chocolates, all the way from Seattle!

3. Chez Dre, South Melbourne
http://chezdre.com.au/
I stopped by here in February for lunch and had a lovely Dukkah-crusted chicken salad with roast sweet potato, zucchini & eggplant, herb polenta, quinoa and housemade labneh ($19).

4. Seven Seeds, Carlton
I adored the Pulled pork brioche with Vietnamese coleslaw ($14) I had here a few months back; the addition of the pickle was such a lovely touch. Alas, they'd taken it off the menu the next time I returned, so I consoled myself with their take on the Nicoise salad, a somewhat unconventional mix of sesame seed encrusted kingfish, cos, egg and tomatoes ($17).

5. Greenhouse by Joost, MFWF
This pop-up for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is one that I wish we could convert to a permanent fixture - all the talk was about the eco-friendly and sustainable design, but the food was pretty damn fine too!

I went with C on her 21st weekend, and we shared the Pumpkin, chickpea tagine, green chilli yoghurt ($22) and the Spiced chicken, quinoa, yoghurt ($25). The tagine was definitely the better dish - warming, flavoursome but not too spicy and full of contrast, thanks to the refreshing yoghurt.

Our drinks came in screw top bottles, which was amusing.

6. Passionflower, CBD
http://www.passionflower.com.au/
Those of you who know me well would be aware of my aversion to über Asian things. Hence my initial reluctance to walk into Passionflower, which seems to be a mecca for Asians wobbling in skyhigh heels, toting ridiculously blinged up mobile phones, orange hair and boyfriends who (weirdly) like to carry their bags...anyhow, I digress. In short, some of the offerings have a distinct Asian flavour, but there are plenty of interesting and safe options available. On a family outing, my parents shared the dessert tasting plate, while G and I each had a duo of flavours - wasabi white chocolate and red bean for G; burnt caramel and white chocolate & praline for moi!

7. Roast Blood Plums
I had friends over for dinner a few weeks back, and decided to make a Chicken, roast plum, labne and grain salad I'd spied in the March edition of the Gourmet Traveller. I was also dying to use the Le Creuset roasting dish C had bought as a birthday/housewarming gift, and this was the perfect opportunity. Twenty minutes in the oven, and magic - the roasting brought out this beautiful peppery, spiced flavour and a gorgeous colour too!

8. Hunky Dory, Port Melbourne/South Melbourne/South Yarra
http://www.hunkydory.com.au/
This place is great if the number in your bank account is scarily close to zero, yet you're absolutely starving and the thought of McDonalds makes you physically ill. The serves are ridiculous (i.e. 'will feed you for an entire day ridiculous'), the seafood is tasty, and the salads are fresh as.

Finally, I end this post with a few tasty critters I've chanced upon in the past few months:

German quark sponge butterfly with mandarin markings

La Belle Miette caterpillar

I Heart Brunswick East

If there was ever a quiz called ‘What Melburnian Suburb Are You?’, I’m pretty confident I’d be Brunswick East. Or at least, I’d hope with all my fingers and toes crossed that I would be. I love the fig, lemon and plum trees that dot the sidestreets; I love the handiwork of the yarnbombers on lampposts and bike racks; I love my love-hate relationship with the hipsters, so infuriatingly nonchalant. 

Almost goes without saying too, that I love the food. Here’s a few bites of the local fare.

Beatbox Kitchen, North 'Burbs

The menu is simple - a Raph Burger ($11), a Shroom Burger ($10) and old school shoestring fries ($5). The Raph Burger is the stuff of foodgasms: a beef patty so tender the meat's still pink, cheese that melts perfectly and tangy stereo sauce that is as addictive as crack. Extra kudos for the aluminium foil wrapper which is sturdy enough to keep the sauce/juices off your hands and on the bun where it belongs. Ah...just look at how beautiful it is!

Small Block, 130 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

This place is just a great cafe: solidly good coffee and really tasty breakfasts. Everyone - staff, customers, canine friends - seems genuinely happy to be there, and it's impossible to leave without an extra bounce in your step. I caught up with my former-biomed-now-onto-grander-things-i.e.-med friend, A, there the other week. She had the Summer Breakfast ($16), a glorious assortment of the classics: poached eggs, goat's fetta, wilted spinach, beetroot relish and sourdough. I went for the Huevos Rancheros ($17.5), a stack of tortillas stuffed with beans and chorizo, salsa and a fried egg perched atop. 

Kumo Izakaya, 152 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

G and I stopped here for lunch on a ridiculously hot Saturday. We opted for the Deluxe Bento Box ($35), which contained a cornucopia of delicious Japanese treats - sashimi, tempura, steamed chicken with sesame sauce, nanbanzuke (marinated deep fried fish), vegetables takiawase, potato salad, homemade tofu, miso soup, rice and pickles. The nanbanzuke and the sashimi were the pick of the box. 

From the bar menu, we sampled the Fruity plum wine Karaage chicken ($12.8), fried chicken with a delicious Japanese kick, and the assorted Dengaku plate ($12.8), halves of eggplant cooked until soft and topped with a walnut or pinenut miso. Umami K/O!

Hellenic Republic, 438 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
This is most definitely one of my favourite restaurants; it's just coincidence that I happen to live in the almost immediate vicinity. I swear. G and I visited recently to conduct routine surveillance on our neighbours and were satisfied with what we saw/heard/ate. Alas, no visuals of the starters and mains, but I would highly recommend the Tyri Saganaki - kefalograviera cheese with peppered figs ($14.5), the Kipriaki Salata Dimitriakon - Cypriot salad of grains, pulses and nuts ($11) and the Arni Sto Fourno - slow roasted shoulder of lamb, garlic, oregano ($26.5). To quote a good friend, 'the lamb is one of those dishes that reminds me why I can never be vegetarian'. I did have the foresight to take photos of dessert: G went for the Ekmek Kataifi Pagoto, kataifi pastry, cherries, custard, mastic ice cream ($14.5) and I ordered the special of the night - an ouzo panna cotta with honeycomb wafer and mandarin and rapsberry pearls ($14.5). The panna cotta was both creamy but light and refreshing and a perfect way to end a meal. And just look at it - how is that not a happy dessert?

 
Mankoushe, 325 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
This place is cheap and cheerful, and friggin' tasty. The spinach and fetta triangle ($4.5) is amazing, with the salty, juicy, vibrantly green feta and spinach mixture in light pastry casing. The size of your head. The labneh offering is refreshingly tangy, with a hit of mint, and the falafel is great too. I'm slowly working my way through the menu: difficult job, I know.

Monsieur Truffe, 351 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
Chocolate is the big drawcard here, but this is also one of those (rare) places where you want to eat absolutely everything on the menu. And yet, when it arrives, it's so beautifully presented, you hesitate before plunging your knife in. I opted for the Cannellini bean & lemon thyme spread, poached eggs, Ortiz anchovies and pea shoots ($17). My eating companion, C, freshly turned 21, went for a classic Croque Monsieur ($17) - thick cut ham, bechamel sauce and caramelised leeks between two thick slices of sourdough and grilled gruyere cheese atop to complete (an artery-clogging) perfection.

Pope Joan, 77-79 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East
Pope Joan is another of those cafes where everything on the menu wants to be in your belly. Immediately. On this occasion, I visited with two high school friends, names both beginning with C. (I now see how this letter thing is going to be an issue.) 'Newly-21 C' went straight for the Corn cake, smashed avocado and poached egg with garlic and harissa mayonnaise ($17), while 'commerce-genius C' ordered the Spanner crab omlette, coriander and chilli salt ($19). I couldn't go past the Parsnip croquettes, hot smoked salmon, slow cooked egg and beetroot remoulade ($19). Judging by the silence which descended almost immediately after our food arrived, everything was just perfect.

Finally, thanks to my super cool biomed-buddy A, who gifted me some figs from the tree in her backyard. Here are some of them, glistening like jewels...served with Greek yoghurt and crushed hazelnuts, for a damn fine breakfast.

 

Happy eating!