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Bella Roma

February 10th, 2011

Bella Roma is proof that you can’t judge a book by its cover. The name is cliched, and the fit-out is fairly low rent, yet despite this, the descriptions of the pizzas on the menu were promising enough for me to venture in and give it a shot.

The menu choices are fairly standard, and include tomato-based and non-tomato-based options. I opted for a simple margherita, plus the addition of ham. The base was thin and chewy, and topped with some very tasty tomato sauce and decent quality mozzarella. Instead of fresh basil, it had basil infused olive oil, which was fine by me, although the pizza certainly benefited from the addition of ham.

While not particularly large, given the $12 price tag ($10 without the addition of ham), it still represented good value.

Bella Roma
60 Johnston Street
Fitzroy

Posted in Fitzroy, Pizza | 2 Comments »

Pope Joan

February 10th, 2011

You know those chicken rolls that they sell at suburban chicken shops? They consist of a soft roll filled with chicken drenched in commercial mayonnaise, encased in cling wrap and sitting in a food warmer? Pope Joan sells a version of this, called ‘The Cornish’. When I say ‘a version’, I mean that it’s a roll containing chicken and mayonnaise, but is otherwise quite different.

Instead of a soggy hot dog style bun, the bread is a ciabatta from La Madre Bakery. The chicken is free range, from Millawa and comes with sage stuffing, while the mayonnaise is good quality, and possibly even house made. The thing I most liked about it most though, was the crunchy morsels dotted through the mayonnaise, which were simply jalapenos according the much discussed article in The Age discussing Melbourne’s top sandwiches.

The Cornish, helped ably by a very good coffee and some great service, has restored my faith in Pope Joan, after my disappointing initial visit.

Pope Joan
77-79 Nicholson St
Brunswick East

phone: (03) 9388 8858

Posted in Brunswick East, Sandwich | No Comments »

Provenance 2

February 4th, 2011

Since my original visit to Provenance we’ve been back a few times – once for dinner, and a couple of times for breakfast.

While it looks like a run of the mill cafe, the standard of the dishes at dinnertime is certainly restaurant quality, with prices to match. When we visited for dinner my girlfriend ordered the fish of the day – a generous serving of perfectly cooked rockling fillets, which came with brocoli. I had lamb rump, roasted medium rare and served with mint peas and potatoes. It had been cooked slightly beyond rare, but was delicious nonetheless.

A side of broccoli with almond butter was cooked well, retaining just the right amount of crispness, although the waiter probably should have warned us that the rockling also came with brocoli. In another service glitch, the waiter neglected to mention the $18 burger and cider special. A few people of nearby tables ordered this, and the burgers looked fantastic.

Nonetheless, the service has certainly improved, with our orders arriving quickly on each occasion. I always feel a bit weird using Zoupon vouchers when eating out, as we did on a couple of occasions, but the staff here make you feel comfortable doing so.

I hope the Zoupon deal is working out for Provenance, and it attracts repeat business. The standard of the food certainly warrants it.

Provenance
288 Smith St
Collingwood

phone: (03) 8415 0700

Posted in Breakfast, Collingwood | No Comments »

Los Latinos – Maidstone

January 18th, 2011

The night before dining at Los Latinos, I had paid my second visit to Mamasita, and the two restaurants could barely be more different.

Nothing much had changed at Mamasita since my initial visit in the first week of opening, apart from the hordes of people. The servings may have been slightly larger, the flavours were fresh (although a bit lacking), and the prices were still steep.

In most ways, Los Latinos is the polar opposite. For one thing it’s located in a tired looking shopping strip in Maidstone, which is a long way from the ‘Paris end’ of Collins Street in the CBD. Then there’s the actual dining space, which is basically a daggy cafe (complete with television, which was running with the sound muted), as opposed to the pleasant modern interior of Mamasita.

The location and fitout go a long way to explaining the price differential. At Los Latinos three generous soft shelled tacos, overflowing with tasty fillings, will set up back $10.50. At Mamasita you’ll pay $16 for three far smaller soft shell tacos. And it’s not as though the flavours are any more interesting or substantial – in fact, I’d like a bit more flavour in the tacos at both restaurants.

We also tried the mixed pupusas (4 for $10), which were pleasant and surprisingly filling, although the differences in filling weren’t particularly obvious.

Guanacos Carne Asadas ($15) was grilled steak seasoned with some Latin spices, and accompanied by rice, tortilla and refried beans. It’s simple food, but very satisfying.

Service is another area where the two differ. At Mamasita the wait staff are professional and polished, but also keen to free up your table as soon as possible, to get the next group in line seated. No such problems at Los Latinos, which is not nearly as popular (how could it be?), the service is less slick, but very friendly. It’s a family run business apparently, and this shows.

Yes, Maidstone is a bit of hike from the CBD, but given I don’t particularly want to arrive for dinner at 5pm on the dot, or queue for 45 minutes or more, I don’t necessarily see this as much of a disadvantage. Especially given the food is of a similar quality (okay, Los Latinos doesn’t have anything to match Mamasita’s corn appetiser) and far cheaper, I think it’s a great alternative.

Los Latinos
128 Mitchell St
Maidstone

Phone: (03) 9318 5289

Posted in Mexican, South American | No Comments »

The Premises

January 17th, 2011

Baked beans are very easy to make, there’s not really any excuse for not making them great. They also consist of relatively cheap ingredients, so it’s difficult to justify charging a lot for them. The Premises (202 Bellair St, Kensington) let me down on both counts.

They got points for using a few different bean varieties, which provided a range of textures. And a good coriander pesto ensured the dish wasn’t too stodgy. However, the dish was woefully under-seasoned, even with the ras el hanout and chunks of feta mixed in. Also lacking was value ($13.50), despite the inclusion of at least three (small) pieces of bread.

Kensington is going to be home to a lot more cafes in coming years, and I think if The Premises is going to win its share of the locals’ wallet, it’s going to have to improve their value or lift the food up at least half a notch.

Posted in Breakfast, Kensington | 7 Comments »

Chair 14

January 9th, 2011

I lived just around the corner from the Victoria Street and Darebin Road intersection in the mid-90s, and back then the shopping strip had a milk bar, laundromat and a few other nondescript shops. What I would have given for a cafe to hve opened up. Now, a decade and a half later one has.

Chair 14 (167 Darebin Road, Thornbury, ph 03 9484 0767) is a Polish and Austrian inspired cafe occupying a huge space on this this otherwise barren strip of shops. We visited for breakfast, although Polish and Austrian cuisine probably lends itself better to a lunch visit – what, with the menu featuring spaetzle, pierogi and other heavier dishes.

I chose the Austrian-inspired poached eggs with speck, caramelised onion and chat potatoes. It didn’t come with toast, although with the potatoes providing the carbohydrates it was filling enough. The eggs were slightly under-poached (better than over-poached) and the diced speck and onion didn’t provide the richness I was expecting. Nonetheless, it was nice to see somewhere trying something a little different.

My girlfriend had a fried egg and bacon roll, which was a good example of a fried egg and bacon roll – nothing more, nothing less.

Others have commented on the quality of the coffee. It wasn’t bad, but nor was it great, and I was a little disappointed not to have it served on a tray with a glass of water, as is the custom in Europe. Instead the staff brought a bottle and a couple of glasses, which is probably more practical.

Austrian and Polish ex-pats, or just fans of the cuisine, will be pleased to know that Chair 14 also sells a range of grocery items from those countries, including dumpling mixes, biscuits and cordials. In addition, you can choose from a range of Austrian and Polish beers, including some from one of my favourites breweries, Edelweiss.

Posted in Breakfast, Thornbury | No Comments »

Yorkshire Hotel

November 26th, 2010

Update 20/07: The attitude of The Yorkshire toward customers intending to use deals vouchers seems to have changed a little. I rang up to make a booking (I had bought two vouchers). The person on other the end of the phone asked if I would be using a Scoopon. When I replied that I would be, he answered that they didn’t have a table, as “they had enough Scoopons tonight”.

The trouble I have with businesses promoting themselves via group deal sites such as Scoopon and Zoupon is that it makes me question why a given business needs to take this route. Surely if they’re actually good, they should have plenty of business.

While, on the face of it this is a reasonable assumption, it doesn’t necessarily hold true in all cases, and some businesses may be using these sites to get word of mouth happening. The Yorkshire Hotel (48 Hoddle St, Abbotsford, ph. (03) 9417 3088) is a case in point.

For years it was known as the Yorkshire Stingo, and was a fairly run of the mill pub, but new owners have recently come on board and are focusing on serving quality pub fare. Problem being, it still looks the same from the outside, and a lot of people probably don’t know it’s changed.

Enter a site like Scoopon, which has enabled the business to bring a lot of new customers, who will hopefully have a good experience, and let others know. Based on my visit, I’m happy to spread the word.

The deal I bought was $39 for two meals (rib eye steak or fish of the day) and a bottle of red or white wine, all of which they’d normally charge $102 for.

I chose the rib eye, served rare, and it arrived perfectly cooked and seasoned. It was a good quality piece of meat, from one of my favourite producers, Cape Grim, and came with kipfler potatoes and some zingy coleslaw, although I couldn’t see or taste the red wine jus that was promised.

My girlfriend opted for the fish of the day, which was perch, and apparently supposed to be battered, but was actually pan-fried. Nonetheless, it a really well cooked dish, and did not disappoint. Accompaniments were mussels, creamy mashed potato and, from memory, some vegetables.

The wine, a chardonnay, wasn’t anything special, but was quite drinkable.

One of the keys to a successful campaign with one of these group buy sites is to make people taking up the deals feel welcome, and on this note, the Yorkshire Hotel gets a big tick. At no point were we made to feel any less for using the voucher, and one of the owners even came along at the end of the meal and had a chat.

Hopefully they do well out of the deal, and manage to convert some of the 750+ vouchers they sold into regular business, because they certainly deserve it.

Posted in Abbotsford, Pub | No Comments »

Duchess of Spotswood

November 24th, 2010

There are two cafes within a stones throw of each other on Hudsons Road in Spotwood. On the sunny Saturday morning that we visited, one of them was almost empty, and the other – Duchess (87 Hudsons Rd, Spotswood) - was doing a roaring trade. I’m not sure why this it, but Duchess is certainly doing something right.

There are some non-standard dishes, including pork neck (with fried egg, Lancashire hash with homemade baked beans), but I played it safe and ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and baked beans. I don’t normally order scrambled eggs, as I tend to think I can make them better myself, but these were excellent – not too dry, rich with butter, and a good amount of salt. The bacon was good quality and nicely crisped, and the beans were flavoursome. My breakfast seems quite pricey, but you’re paying for quality ingredients.

My long black was overly hot and watery, which was the only bum note of the meal.

Posted in Spotswood | No Comments »

Jackson Dodds

November 13th, 2010

If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be heading out for breakfast in Preston, I would have laughed. Yet, this is what I’ve done the past two weeks. This time around it was at Jackson Dodds (611 Gilbert Rd, West Preston), which opened its doors earlier in the year.

The owners, who previously worked at Small Block apparently, have done their best to dress up a pretty tired looking space by bringing in some cool furniture and knick knacks, and they’re only partly successful.

It’s the food that’s what really matters though, and on this count Jackson Dodds is a winner. I had the pea and haloumi fritters, based on some Foursquare recommendations, and they lived up to their billing. There were three, along with some silverbeet and some bacon, which wasn’t as crisp as I’d like, but was delicious nonetheless.

My girlfriend had poached eggs and bacon, which is a simple dish that doesn’t leave a cafe anywhere to hide. The eggs were very fresh, with a brilliant yellow yolk, and were poached perfectly, and the bacon, which again, wasn’t quite crisp enough. It lost marks for exhibiting the classic breakfast faux pas – only serving one piece of toast for two eggs.

They also do a decent coffee. No doubt I’ll be heading to Thomastown or Lalor for breakfast within the next few years.