What to do with a Thing of Beauty

As he handed it to me, he said with a twinkle in his eye, "last one - let me know what you do with it."

"No pressure," I joked. In my hands it felt so much more substantive than what its packaging indicated. Another quick look just to believe that I had actually bought it before I stored it away in the protective bag for safekeeping.

Two days later, I took it out of its cold storage space. Ah, consistent crawling white marbling across crimson red. You could feel the care that had gone into it, recall the story behind it. How the man with the twinkling eyes had fought the fires of Black Saturday and almost lost everything in the process. How the couple had to start literally all over again to build their future in the countryside.

Sorry vegetarians, a girl must have her dose of protein and iron to keep going but at least I am supporting local industry.

All right, good to go at room temperature. Rosemary? Thyme? Moroccan style? Honey and soy? Hmm, only the simplest seasonings with care during cooking need be done for this.

Sea salt, freshly ground Sarawakian black pepper, organic Spanish extra virgin olive oil. Massage into this hunk of a porterhouse. Heat up the pan, watch the time, place carefully into pan. Too big for me but then hey this thing of beauty should not be cut up and risk getting ruined.

As the meat sizzled on the gas, I checked for vegetables. No garlic?! No potatoes?! This would have gone so well with garlic mash or roast sweet potatoes tossed with whole garlic cloves, rosemary and coarse sea salt.

Alternatives, alternatives. Baby zucchini, round zucchini, slightly over-ripe tomatoes, snow peas. No time for broadbeans. Forget the cauliflower.

Checked that meat, make sure it was seared rare or medium rare. No way should this be even attempted as medium. Sauce, sauce, sauce...what to do sauce-wise?

Time to get that meat off the pan, leave it to rest in a warm place. Wished I had time to do the restaurant thing and have the meat roasting to melting tenderness after browning. Deglazed pan with water (or red wine; I wished I had thought of opening a bottle of good cabernet sauvignon or cabernet merlot especially since I had a dozen bottles lying around the house). Added the chopped up tomatoes and sliced whole porcini mushrooms (only the best for this steak). Seasoned them with salt and a fruity balsamic vinegar, and cooked until soft. Oh yum.

Ten minutes later, I sat down to: a rare-going-to-medium-rare six-week aged Belted Galloway porterhouse topped with a reduced tomato-and-porcini balsamic sauce, matched with cut up zucchinis and snowpeas that had been cooked with onions & dried thyme and topped with toasted sesame seeds. Oh, and warmed Sicilian marinated artichokes from Rita at the markets. I silently thanked D.O.C for waking me up to the wonders of marinated artichokes.

Ah, what a thing of beauty. You cannot never over-rate home cooked food, especially when you have fresh ingredients and you are willing to put the dish together. Even if the matching is a bit unconventional.

Now for those Sunny Ridge strawberries and Mornington Peninsula chocolates...

Finally It Opened

"I take it you are into coffee?"

I looked up from smelling the buckets of beans with a grin. "How long have you been open?"

"Two days. Try this while you work out what you want?"

Mmm, chocolatey with a slight caramel scent and texture to match. Definitely finishing this cup. This Monday has hardly been a great one, and I probably need all the good coffee I can get.

"Cold drip Costa Rican. I think this is the best bean on the cold drip we have had so far. Why don't you fill out this form so we can help work out which bean we have today that you will really like?"

OK, sure, why not? Yes I prefer berries to mango or grapefruit. I take my coffee black or milk with no sugar. I prefer the smell of freshly baked cookies to roast nuts.

"All right. Uh, this black or milk with no sugar..."

"Sorry, it depends on whether it is a blend or a single origin as well as time of the day."

"No worries. Based on this profile I would suggest a Costa Rican La Luerva (editorial: this is where my spelling goes all fuzzy) either in siphon or pour over filter. If you want something on the espresso machine I would recommend our S3, a blend of Guatemalan and Costa Rican."

"Pour over please. Now can you tell me why the Kenyan keeps ending up on the siphon?"

"Now you put 15g of the fresh grind into the filter, pour over 150g of water. Let it drip for 30 seconds or so. Simple but incredibly effective method of coffee extraction, designed by Monmouth in London. This year we have had a great harvest of Kenyan beans so that is why we keep using it. We will change the coffee menu based on green beans that come in though. This should be at the right temperature for drinking now."

Rats, my tastebuds have gone to sleep now. But I know I am enjoying this white cup of pour over filter coffee immensely. Good old Monmouth, I certainly never regretted only having their coffee when I was in London.

"Take it you will be back?"

Furious nodding from me. Welcome, Sensory Lab, to the scene. You may be Toshi's baby and St Ali's sibling, but if what we have heard about this place potential-wise and what you have offered is anything to go by, then I am coming back for certain.

Sensory Lab, enter via David Jones Little Collins Street entrance.
Opening hours: same as David Jones Bourke Street.
Stars: (at this point) 4.5 out of 5 stars. Helps when the coffees were served with a smile and as a cheery note during my suffering the Monday blues.

The Single Origin Weekend

During my university days, a mini food hub appeared in Adelaide Arcade. An authentic Taiwanese vegetarian food store with various teas, a Japanese cafe with cheap and decent mains, an Italian restaurant that served limited but good homemade pasta, and a Scottish-managed cafe that served the best white chocolate mocha in town (with the odd day where the staff had to wear kilts and long white stockings). Then there was a chocolate shop that sold only imported chocolates, organic cocoas and coffee beans.

It was at this shop, where you were not allowed to say the C word (as in Cadbury) and could only whisper "Haigh's", that I learnt about single origin chocolates. I was already relatively familiar with single origin coffees, thanks to all the exposure at Adelaide Central Market and Kappy's (I do miss sitting amongst the sacks of coffee and tall glass vats of tea leaves, and I remember my sister talking about the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee roasting session she attended there), though back then I was still confined to sipping the odd Kenya Peaberry mocha and wondering about hazelnut infused ground coffee. My single origin world just ever so expanded when my tongue tingled as it first tasted the difference between Venezuelan chocolate and that from the Dominican Republic, and realised what 65% versus 68% cocoa content meant.

The Taiwanese place has moved to larger premises elsewhere, the Italian restaurant gone and the Scottish-managed cafe changed management, but Chocolate World is still there. In the meantime, I have moved on to trialling home blends with my little Bodum grinder and three-cup plunger. As with my sister, I have also moved to looking more closely at the differences in dark chocolates based on source of origin.

These memories were triggered the weekend I entered Proud Mary with SL, RM and JJ. Four blends, five single origins for espresso and ten single origins for siphon & clover. RM, curious about single origin coffees, happily had the time of his life trying out an Ethiopian espresso followed by a Rwandan siphon coffee - siphon coffee making is always a good show to kickstart interest in single origin coffees. SL thought her Tanzanian siphon was too much like (apricot) fruit juice, while I thought the house blend latte was not a bad cup. I became more distracted by my lunch cum dessert, a hot semolina custard pudding with grilled peaches, roasted hazelnuts, rose-infused mascarpone and honey.
Only one thing to improve on this: I wonder whether pecans or macademias would taste better than hazelnuts on this? Yes I do realise what Proud Mary is famous for, thanks to Melbourne Coffee Review, but I say one definitely needs to give the food a good go. I certainly was more entranced by the food menu than by the coffee menu, though of course I do have this thing about not having too much siphon or clover coffee.

On Sunday, torrential rain led to extremely muddy shoes at Sunny Ridge Strawberries and devouring of fantastic pizza & lasagna (what a sugo) amongst giant artichoke plants at T'Gallant Winery's La Baracca Trattoria. Happily we made our way down the windy road of sea views and grazing cattle to Mornington Peninsula Chocolates. A little shop dedicated to chocolates in entirety. Cocoas, Michel Cruz bars, chocolate lollipops, delicately tempered rounds of sheer delight in passionfruit earl grey tea and coffee ganaches. Ah, what wonderful colour and subtle scents in the shining brightness from the shop's white interior.

But my heart was always with the little boxes and long glass bottles, almost hidden at the side of the shop. The corner for the true chocolate lover. Bolivia 68%, Guanaja 70%, Cuba 70%, Organic Alvesia 74%, and what is this intriguing 80%...here we have smooth velvet, there we have earthy tobacco, but what about this tropical fruit intensity compared to that peach and mango subtlety...

By the time we walked out of the shop with our little bags of goodies, all SL could say was, "And to think I thought this was going to be a chocolate factory tour experience...who needs tours when you have THAT?!"

Ah yes, single origin. Purity in food origin is so under-rated, what a pity, because it can be so marvellous. *Sigh*

Proud Mary: Coffees - 4 stars, including .5 for diversity in choice of single origin coffees;
Food - 4 stars;
Service and atmosphere - 4 stars but peak hour is crowding...

La Baracca Trattoria: Food - 4.5 stars;
Service and atmosphere - 3 stars; we HATE having to queue for 20 minutes and then waiting for just over 1/2 hour for our food...thank gosh for the vegetable garden.

Mornington Peninsula Chocolates: 5 stars. No question about it. If you are a chocolate lover and you miss this place for your ganache fine chocolates & single origin fix, then shame...

Other places to check out while around the Red Hill area:

Montalto Vineyard - famous restaurant, ok wines, definitely best brownies on that side of Victoria...
Red Hill Brewery - be sure to do the beer tasting especially the seasonal brew, and if you turn up during lunchtime you get some pretty decent pub grub like a traditional Welsh Rarebit too.
Red Hill Cheese - enjoying a platter of cheeses on the deck surrounded by bushland on a warm sunny afternoon is always lovely. Just watch out when reversing your car to leave as there is not much space for a proper reversal.

What tastebud renewal does

On one of the hottest Melbourne days in November, I found myself getting ready for a meeting on Spring Street. I was keen to re-acquaint myself with Postal Hall, but the heat was almost oppressive. Then I spotted a tiny almost-hole-in-wall cafe very close by, and thought, "hey why not? A La Marcozza, sustainable coffee, should be all right..."

Poor guys never knew what hit them when they, out of the kind of courtesy that only people in hospitality risk, asked me how I had enjoyed my iced coffee ten minutes later.

"Ditch that pre-made pitcher of coffee, your coffee tastes sour and bitter from being left to sit like that, such a waste of a decent coffee. Just whack two shots of espresso on top of the ice cream when someone asks for an iced coffee."

"What about the temperature?"

"Just add milk."

Almost in awe (and mild fear in case I was a caffeine psycho and decided to hold their coffee machine hostage), they asked "Are you in hospitality?"

"No, just a blogger."

Out of the kindness of my heart (and feeling like I should make up for being so cruel that early in the morning), I ordered a latte to go for the meeting. Light, milky, so bland. Hmm.

Four hours later, I passed by the very well hidden Eclipse, and thought, "well, I have not had a decent shot of coffee yet today, let's try this place. SL did say the house blend was pretty decent, though I'll be darned if I order another El Salvador in Victoria..."

Light, milky, bland. What on earth...wait, we read over the weekend that our tastebuds are "reborn" every ten days. Could it be...oh dear, that means I could have been unfair to that cafe in the morning then. Oh dear. Too late, I can never show my face there ever again.

I did not dare touch coffee again until three days later; thank gosh my tastebuds were revived by the time I was on my regular jaunt to Toby's Estate. In the meantime, SL was enjoying Panamas around the place (why have I not seen any around yet?!) and letting me know at work how tasty they were, not to mention the Indian at Jasper's.

Then, the day after I had sneaked in a delectable Cuban "short" macchiato at Espressino (it looked more like a long mac and it was a tad too hot for my liking but what a bean!), I got an text from SL:

"Why are coffees all tasting bland to me today?"

Me being me, still grumbling over how Panama has eluded me, could only text back:

"Your tastebuds are renewing..."

Eclipse

LS always says 'eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and you still can loose weight as long as you excercise', which I prove it true. So, I started the day by having cupcakes at The Cupcake Family in QV before heading to other side of CBD for coffee, ofcourse :D


Mini cupcakes in a pic above 're green tea cake and blueberry cheesecake. In a picture below 're Strawberry-chocolate cake and orange-almond cake. I think it 's a good deal 4 mini cupcakes for $7 and it's a pleasant place to catch up with friends.

After finishing cupcakes, we walked to Eclipse which located half town away from QV. We couldn't find it eventhough I knew that the entrance 's on Flinder lane. My friend and I then went through Intercontinental Hotel from Collins Street side. When we there, we still not sure we came to the right place but I was drawn by the name of coffee bean on the single origin board: 'Panama Geisha'. So, we walked through the door.


Yes, we came to the right place, Eclipse. I started with House blends latte, which 's smooth and strong coffee. I later found out that the house blend called 'coffee junkie', lol. After satisfied with my latte, I decided to try Panama espresso. It 's woody, earthy, chocolatie, a hint of sweetness, and mild punchiness.

Coffee Wrap Up - For Now

The Melbourne Coffee Review 2010 Guide is out in good bookshops and newsagencies now, and naturally the first inclination for all coffee geeks (and wannabes) is to find out whether their favourite haunts have obtained or retained their three-bean score. After all, coffee is as subjective as wine; some like their coffees light and fruity (hello P, how are you?), some like their coffees Italian-style (hey JG), others like their coffees nutty and intense (hey that’s me!) or strong and chocolatey (the rest of the Foodie Team). A favourite is affected as much by the season and origin of the coffee bean as it is by the roaster and barista.

In the case of the Foodie Team, the focus this year has not just been about finding our favourite baristas (e.g. the redhead mo-bro at Handsome Steve’s, Chris in the Brunswick branch of Toby’s Estate, Jesse at Dancing Goat) but also our favourite beans and blends for use on percolator and stovetop. On the point of coffee trends, Toshi from the St Ali family has certainly made his mark as one of the top siphon-coffee brewers in the country, even becoming the Australian spokesperson for the siphon-equipment manufacturer Hario. Those who enjoy their Kenyan beans will do well to watch out for the smooth and clean flavours the siphon exposes in a well-roasted Kenyan.

We have also been fascinated by:

- the financial success of the cup that looks like a disposable coffee cup – what happened to the normal mug and lid?

- the oddity of the cold drip at Outpost – “it takes five hours to set up?!”

- the user-friendly coffee filter for a cup – golden mesh or ceramic makes more sense than paper, of course, and

- the Vacuum Press.

How the baristas in town view and encourage or discourage the use of these coffee making equipment in 2010 will be something to watch out for. The Foodie Team, drooling over the latest release of coffee machines and pondering over the Vacuum Press, will not be moving away from the percolator and stovetop just yet. There is always that thing known as "tight on budget".

This year also saw the scale-back of coffee franchises as the independent cafes re-took the suburbs and street corners with their brunch-pumping kitchens, homemade muffin displays, home blends and single origin offerings. The caffe latte continued its reign as Australia’s favourite way of enjoying coffee, while the increase in coffee sales signs using “fair trade” and “organic” continued.

The Nicaraguan bean has certainly conquered mocha taste buds this year whether roasted by Padre, Jasper or Toby’s Estate, but Toby’s organic Mexican has had the most successful fan accumulation rate from what we can gather (or rather, from whom we have gathered). A Guatemalan is tastier cold than hot (try as a double shot over two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream), but the Brunswick East Project boys know their Padre blend kicks butt whether in a silky latte or an iced coffee served in a bowl. While the idea of drinking a Veneziano or Vittoria Gold blend at home has yet to cross our minds, Jasper’s has enjoyed a nice steady income from its blends courtesy of SL’s filling orders from overseas.

While FH enjoyed an El Salvador short macchiato at Yahava Swan Valley (WA), I struggled to ever go beyond the “sour” verdict for the same bean in Victoria. We have had no luck with Zimbabwe, and the Indonesian beans have also failed to impress this year. Brazil’s fame was only justified via a Cup of Excellence bean found ever so briefly at Seven Seeds, and we mourned over the fact that Seven Seeds only offered its Neopolitan blend for one day after the Victorian State Barista Championships. Coffee that tastes like Neopolitan ice cream is just bamboozling and marvellous at the same time. The light pleasing tones from Rwanda and East Timor continued to rule the aisles though much avoided by the Foodie Team (they do get ever so boring unless served in Clover style) and India’s offerings divided baristas and coffee geeks. Intense, nutty and earthy at the best of time, beans of Indian origin have been described as “powerful”, “metallic”, “bitter bitter bitter” and “bloody” as well.

Back to the 2010 guide. The guide, which scores independently from the blog of the same name, is unsurprising in its conclusion though coffee geeks may struggle to work out what happened to the three-bean members of previous years such as Mart 130 and Dancing Goat. Melbourne’s love affair with the St Ali family continues, with all three key members (St Ali, Brother Baba Budan and Seven Seeds) being the only cafes to get three beans this year. Luckily, to ensure that the Foodie Team is not dismissed as a bunch of idiots for having “issues” with the St Ali family this year (I knew I was in trouble when Chris at Toby’s Estate exclaimed “Shame on you!” after I confessed I was not a fan of Seven Seeds), the guide also awarded 2.5 beans to the following cafes:

- Atomica Caffe, 268 Brunswick St Fitzroy

- Auction Rooms, 103-107 Errol Street North Melbourne

- Brunswick East Project

- Maling Room, 206 Canterbury Road, Canterbury

- Social Roasting Company, http://www.socialroasting.com.au/

- The First Pour

- Toby’s Estate

I think I will save my money and keep reading the blog.

Choosing

Today I did something unthinkable – I told a vegetarian she should seriously rethink her diet and shopping habits if she really wanted to save the world.

Normally I do not criticise food and drink choices. After all, Catholics have Fishy Fridays and the Lent season for fasting, Muslims have Ramadan for fasting and abstention from pork or alcohol, the Jewish stay away from pork and shellfish, the Buddhists and Hindus try to be as vegetarian as they can be, and there are plenty of people restricted by allergies & super-taste buds for particular flavours. We are all affected by our upbringing, and so can be adverse towards some things which are part of others’ normal meals.

However, I am concerned when people look unhappy or confused with the food they eat. Eating gluten as a meat replacement product is bizarre when mushrooms and lentils offer protein replacement in a more natural and healthy manner. Rejecting eggs and bananas because “they are bad for me” is an ignorant denial of the nutritious value and happiness points offered by these foods. Saying that “coffee makes me fat” is an insult to decent baristas around the world, most of whom are fit and thin. It’s the way you consume it, people.

Eating based on ethics is also always fraught with risk as the sustainability debate rages. Cattle reared for meat and milk cause a lot of methane but not eating heritage animals mean they become endangered from a lack of incentive to breed them. Eating organic vegetables is pointless for sustainability if they are shipped in from another country. Salmon and tuna are the best kinds of fish to eat for health but are terrible to eat for the environment.

You end up having to take a strong personal stance for the way you eat. The misconception around vegetables i.e. that “they are yucky and not very nice” is fading but not enough to convince people, short of a famous heart attack or three, that meat is not meant to be eaten alone by the kilogram on a weekly basis. On the other hand, the idea that fruits or vegetables alone can deliver all the required daily nutrients is misleading and a source of many pale faces around the place.

To that extent, I provided the vegetarian with a link to the Melbourne Farmers’ Markets, where she can ask the farmers about the way they grow their produce and support local industry instead of buying her produce shipped in from gosh-knows-where in Safeway. I encouraged her to think about incorporating sustainably-caught fish into her diet if she enjoyed her brief fishy encounter(s). Whether she will seriously consider my words is another matter altogether but at least I have done my part in information sharing.

In the mean time, SL has had to convince her mates that she has not lost weight from any special diet. The weight loss is a result of cooking her own meals instead of takeaways, a reduction in junk food intake, a decent amount of sleep and a lot more walking between meals. Again, the idea that losing weight means “diet” is incredible. Staying healthy does not mean starvation or deprivation, it means balance. It is not about reduction in enjoyment nor obsessive food label reading. It is about consumption in moderation, exercise in moderation, knowing your nutrition requirements and what you need to meet those requirements within the religious, taste, sense of adventure, ethical & medical parameters you operate in.

Overdue on South Yarra

For all to know - you can do a Coffee Crawl in South Yarra now :)

Start from Outpost, the St Ali family's newest member which has received so many accolades from coffee geeks it is mildly hysterical.

Down a relatively obscure alleyway next to the railway tracks, the place is actually tiny. While the barista in charge can come off as cocky, the chef is an absolute gem. They will not mind you getting what I think is the best seat in the place - near the siphon machine, cold drip filter and wee kitchen which serves a tasty dish of the day.
Next, try out Crue, a brother of Sweet Agora which has taken a small spot on Toorak Road near the South Yarra train station and on the same side as Ganache Chocolates. While I must admit that the barista had no luck with me the day I went as I am no fan of beans from Zimbabwe or El Salvador in a single origin form, I think this place still has decent potential.

Grab a couple of chocolates (and homemade ice cream) at Ganache. Then, for an old favourite, Pound is down an alleyway near Bloom Cosmetics off Chapel Street, and still serves a decent caffe latte & lemon tart.

Want more? That is the next round of coffees for us :)

Some Brunches Worth Looking At

Toby’s Estate: Charlie the Brunswick head barista’s macchiatos using full-bodied, rich Mexican Organic beans have become our benchmark by which all single origin short macs are to be judged on. This Sydney ambassador serves a pretty good breakfast menu including some funky fruit smoothies too. While I really like the baked eggs with beans, the French toast with bacon and blackberry sauce was not bad either – il Fornaio’s is still the best we have tasted in Melbourne so far but hey when one looks this good…

Kappaya: this place was once reviewed as being “on the wrong side of Hoddle Street”. I am not sure the locals had cause to complain about that. The lack of a conspicuous shopfront and distance from tramlines meant this quirky Japanese café managed to retain its grunginess in the form of op-shop mismatched furniture and 1930s smoky jazz while serving high-quality Japanese green tea and ten-dollar rice ball bentos.

On the eve of its moving to Abbotsford Convent and become part of the slightly-left-of-centre cafe scene there, I found myself there once again lugging green bags full of vegetables and fruits from the monthly Abbotsford Farmers’ Market. The irony of reading Matt Preston’s take on the top five restaurants in the world, all in Europe, was not lost on me as I munched on an exquisitely shaped rice ball with prawn & seaweed and sipped early-spring Japanese tea. The enticing aroma of miso soup and teriyaki chicken floated from tables around me, but alas I had had the usual coffee and parma + parmesan croissant at Handsome Steve’s House of Refreshment beforehand.

For dessert, the little sign on the glass cabinet indicated "special of the day - green tea mousse cake". Ah the understatement of the week. Green tea mousse cake with a cream cheese base and a crunchy biscuit topping, served with an intense green tea sauce and brandy-soaked raisins, seems pretty out there but if the biscuit layer were just a tad softer and a tad more combined with the mousse and cream cheese layers, it will be easily in the list of Must Have Desserts for me.

Pardon the artistic blur effect on the photo - the lighting of the day was against me but I promise the 15-inch screensaver version does due justice to the dessert.

Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars - you cannot get this kind of stuff at better prices anywhere else near the city.

Atmosphere: 4.5 out of 5 stars - creaky furniture, quirky wall art, smoky jazz, free papers, what is not to like?

Service: 5 out of 5 stars - love places that make sure you have many refills of hot water for your tea and do not seem to care that you have only spent a few bucks there.

Dukes Coffee Roasters - After an alert from FH, the full Foodie team turned out to try this new cafe in Windsor (two doors down from Borsch Vodka and Tears, another great place for brunch if you like your Polish food served with a morning cocktail). The Melbourne Coffee Review had turned up in July to review this place and gave it a bean, always a good sign.

The usual Melburnian wood panelling was in abundance here, and we could spot the industrial-sized roaster sitting at the back of the cafe. I have to admit I got rather excited seeing six single origin coffee varietals, complete with geographical origin and tasting notes, listed in chalk on the long blackboard hung above the bar. However, as with most (if not all) current cafes on the market, the house blend and one single origin was available for drinking on site for the day.

The plan had been to have a quick coffee to test the barista's skills and maybe a morning snack, but plans went awry when I took a cursory glance at the menu and my stomach flipped at "sweet potato and corn fritters with harissa mayo". SY similarly settled in for a decent stay when she saw pancakes on the menu. The waitress was thrown by our enquiries regarding the single origin coffee of the day (we must have been the first to ask, or she had just got on duty) but happily took our food orders.

FH and SY took to discussing the Guatemalan caffe lattes they had ordered and other single origin beans they preferred in comparison - we are all for strong roasts, none of the wimpy weak stuff for us thank you very much. Then the scent of curry powder wafted onto the table as my soft fritters fell apart by the cut of a butter knife. Harissa mayo decently spread between layers of roast sweet potatos shredded and mixed with sweet corn, served with bacon and spinach...I got right into them but FH could not determine whether she actually liked them. I have to admit I would have preferred my fritters browned on the surfaces and edges to give that crispy edge to the otherwise tasty dish. SY found her pancakes "light but not fluffy, but nice citrus sauce". Ah, another case of batter not standing long enough.

As I had enjoyed the house blend latte - strong, nutty, milk at the right temperature - I decided to test the single origin in a short macchiato. By now the barista must have tweaked that we were serious coffee drinkers and so decided to personally serve my cup. Either that or he could not find any of the waiting staff at the last minute, which would seem strange given how many there were.

Ah, the crowd-pleasing latte heart. The only thing is, short macchiatos do not usually have sufficient milk froth to be able to execute such latte art...nonetheless, the silky chocolate bourbon tones of the Guatemalan bean were fully expressed in this cup, leading me to proclaim to SY and FH that I, unlike them, did think that this bean created "not a bad drop".

Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Atmosphere: 3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars; we do get a bit tired of coffee places = brown wood, especially since Windsor is meant to be about more creative interior designs.

Service: 3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars; bit slow on the serving side, bit too quick on the dish collecting side.

Coffee: 4 out of 5 stars; I would go again for the house blend that is for sure, and maybe a piccolo or an espresso for the single origins.

Perth Turning Me Into a Sweet Tooth?

I have never been much of sweet tooth and am usually happy to skip the dessert when we go out for dinner. However, this appears to be changing whilst I am in Perth. Last week, my Perth’s food adventure took me to Rochelle’s and this week, I discovered Corica.

Corica is a traditional Italian bakery selling continental strudel, cakes and pastries which was established back in 1957. When I arrived at 10.30am, the shop is already packed and I struggled to get a glimpse of the delicacies being offered at this place. I know that Corica is famous for its apple strudel and being the glutton that I am, I was trying to see if there were other temptations. As I progress to the front of the queue, I started talking to the lady in front of me and was told that the apple strudel is to die for and it’s one of the things her family always have during birthday celebrations and festivities. I also found out that the strudel only come in one size which serves 8 people. The idea of walking out of the shop without the strudel was definitely not an option since 1) I have made all the way here and waited patiently in the queue 2) there were less than 5 boxes of apple strudel left in the shop and the shop has only been opened for 1.5 hrs.
Before I even got home, I couldn’t help myself and wanted to have a peek of the strudel which has been concealed in its box. So I found a bench at a park and opened the box. My first reaction was “How the hell am I going to finish this?” My second reaction was “This is a strudel?” Corica’s strudel is oblong in shape and is built up of layers of pastry, cream, stewed apple and custard with glazed pastry on the top. With much restrain I closed the box without pulling a piece of the strudel with my hand and proceeded to do my groceries.

As soon as I got home, I made a cup of coffee and cut myself a piece of the strudel. As soon I bite into the strudel, I could taste why the strudel can make anyone start salivating as soon as they think about it. The crunch of the pastry is well contrasted with the smoothness of the cream and custard. The stewed apple is perfectly balance with the required amount of tartness and sweetness. It’s a light and refreshing dessert for the Perth weather.

As I wrote this, I am salivating over the apple strudel. Lucky I still have a piece left in the fridge. Perfect for afternoon tea. And no, I didn’t eat the whole strudel over the course of the weekend. I rang a colleague who lives nearly and gave him half the strudel.

This is what happened the day after I stayed up the whole night watching movies......

No 1 – Wake myself up with a cup of coffee eventhough it’s 12.30pm

Good coffee in Perth is hard to come by and is more expensive than Melbourne. Research needs to be done and even if you are armed with information, you might still be disappointed. This was the case today. The cafe recommended was supposedly one of the best in Subiaco, but the one I had was burnt and the milk was so hot that I had to wait for it to be cooled down whilst waiting for the train.

In the 2 weeks I have spent in Perth, I have found couple of coffee places which have done these beans justice:

• Spring Espresso in Subiaco - Probably one of the best latte I have had. The milk was silky with the creamiest foam. This is a place that I wouldn’t have even known about if not for a recommendation from the owner of the bakery across the road from my apartment in Perth. According to the owner, the guys at Spring travel all over Australia to compete in Barista competitions.
  
• Ristretto Espresso - These guys are definitely serious about their coffee and are known as the espresso specialists. They roast their own beans and have two types of beans on offer each day. They also use Bannister Farm milk which I have noticed to be the milk of choice in the better coffee places in Perth.

No 2 - Deal with ny craving for Indian

Indian is one of the foods that I will crave and crave and then I will completely forget about it. I definitely woke up this morning with a prominent craving for Indian. When I was working in Perth before this current 3 months secondment, I had a workshop in a hotel in Northbridge and my Perth colleague mentioned that he gets his Indian hit just down the road from the hotel. Hence, I decided to give this place a go. As I arrived, I peered into this unassuming place half awake and saw the first good sign, the place is filled with native Indians. On top of that, there were serving the street foods that I remembered from my time in India last year.

Being the glutton that I am, I wanted to try as many things as possible. Hence I settled for the non vegetarian thali. I was also tempted by the mango lassi which were on every table in the restaurant. The lassi arrived promptly and is exactly like the one I had in India and definitely hit the spot.

Whilst I sipped on my lassi, I noticed that although the place was slowly getting busier, it seemed like most people were at the restuarant for its Indian sweets. People were leaving the place with boxes and boxes of these things. For once in my life, the popular sweets did not entice me at all. I think it’s probably because I find Indian sweet extremely sweet and overpowering. Though I did remember polishing off a bowlful of Gulab Jamun in a remote Indian village last year.

Alas, my thali arrived and I was presented with an array of food which included lamb masala, butter chicken, dahl, a vegetable curry, raita and a sweet yoghurt based dessert which tasted a little like rice pudding. The thali also came with rice , pappadams and naan as well. The serving was massive and it was enough to feed 2 people. Unfortunately, as I wanted to leave some room for dessert in my next destination, the thali was left unfinished.

No 3 – Settle my craving for ice cream

Lou and I first came across Rochelle Adonis when her rose nougat was available for tasting 2 years ago in a Good Food Festival in Melbourne. We were disappointed that her nougat was not for sale and were left with only a memory of the creamiest nougat we have tasted. I subsequently read about her in the Qantas magazine on one my work trips earlier this year and also read about her house churn ice cream with interesting flavours such as Turkish delight with cardamom and pressed lime and vanilla nougat.

As I walked into the place, the staffs were busy setting up for a high tea reservation. A lady came and served me and I was telling her about how I came across Rochelle’s rose nougat. The next thing you know, the lady went back to the kitchen to tell Rochelle about my little story and Rochelle was walking out of the kitchen to greet me.

After all the commotion, I sat myself down in this little pretty place and enjoyed my scoops of turkish delight and cardamom and smashed chocolate sable and sour cherry ice cream. I was also pondering that maybe on my next special day, I might be able to have a cake as gorgeous as the one that’s in the picture below which a lady carried home from Rochelle’s. Lou and Nut are coming for a visit during the Melbourne Long Weekend and we will be heading off to Rochelle's to try her high tea. At $35 for a 2 course, I couldn't resist and made a reservation before even checking with the girls. No doubt, one of us will be blogging our experience at Rochelle's.

Contact Details
Spring Espresso Bagot Street Subiaco http://www.springespresso.com/
Ristretto 160 St Georges Terrace Perth http://www.ristretto.com.au/
Mela India Sweets 428 William Street Northbridge
Rochelle Adonis 193 Brisbane Street Northbridge http://www.rochelleadonis.com/confectionary.htm

Pierre Roelofs@Monsieur truffe

These 're the desserts that worth coming for...

Approved By Matt

Without meaning to, I planned dinner at Society with FH and SY the day Epicure celebrated the 50^th birthday of the Age Good Food Guide and labelled this place as one of the Guide’s 10 Survivors. I had simply always wanted to eat at this wooden panelled, elegant place on Bourke Street which is now one of the DiMattina restaurant family.

While enjoying a pear martini and waiting for the girls to arrive, I browsed through Epicure. Most of the people I know tend to read Epicure on an almost religious basis, with Espresso being the most popular section within it by far. For my part, I tend to check out Matt Preston’s “Unexplored Territory” as that page is organised to recommend food and drink within the budgetary reach of a normal working person. It also helps that I do like his columns as much as I like those by Jeremy Clarkson, A.A. Gill and Sarah Wilson (the hostess of the first Masterchef Australia series whose candour and intelligence shines in her writing)

Imagine therefore my surprise and delight when, for this issue, I saw my own face in the photograph used for his recommendation. As most will know by now, the Foodie Team is an avid supporter of Dancing Goat as the Victorian State Barista champion-owner does such a marvellous job making Veneziano blends and single origin beans stand out in their fragrant, bittersweet glory.

But I digress. There I was in colour print on broadsheet, complete with my aquamarine bucket hat. The photographer (I remembered him as a bald man with two huge cameras) sensibly left out my right hand clutching onto a perfectly made Tanzanian short macchiato as my left hand was protecting a house blend latte. The photographer also left out JC who was sitting right opposite me and wondering what the photographer was doing.

The photograph also made me look like I had found the place first out of the Foodie Team, when FH was really the one who had found the place (in my defence, we were looking for the place during the same time period and I lucked out because the address does not match the physical location). FH was understandably irritated but soon shrugged it off in favour of enjoying her first proper meal of the day.

The rest of the meal is a blur to me as SY, FH and I chatted about the Good Food Guide’s latest winners and losers, work, the search for a good investment, house management affairs and the like. I do recall SY pausing over her mushroom main which she found most pleasing, and my wondering whether I could actually eat in one gulp the pasta marinara dish. Never judge a dish by its size, I was reminded later. Pity about the time the chef took to preparing our dinner, and the just ever-so-high prices for the main courses.

The dessert platter was hardly enough for three ladies but still presented a pleasant closing note to the meal. I commiserated with the waiter who had had to work at Bourke Street due to the gutting fire at il Gambero, another DiMattina establishment which served decent oyster mornay and was popular with the traditional Italian three-course (antipasti, pasta, il secondi) crowd. Served a decent coffee, I was in such a good mood from being in Matt’s column that little could have fazed me that night to be honest ;)

Food – 3 out of 5 stars, considering the price you pay
Service – 4 out of 5
Atmosphere – 4 out of 5; good but non-intrusive jazz, proper lighting, decent space between tables. I would go back for a drink and little bite there anyday.
Coffee – DiMattina’s, always a good medium-strong roast. 3.5 out of 5.

One of my best coffee day :D

'Why 're you always fully booked on Saturday?' 's the question my friends always asked me. Umm.. how to answer this question.. the truth 's I always booked myself on that day, hehehe.... I normally spend my Sat with LS. We always go to a farmers' market to buy foods, do brunch, and go to places we 're up to :P

This week, we went to the farmers' market at St.Kilda before going to have brunch at a lovely cafe, called Il Fornaio. I started my day with a latte (Di Bella), which LS valued it as one bean :D Hot chocolate 's very tempting!

LS and I grabbed black pudding & fried eggs w sourdough ($11) while our two friends grabbed french toast w bacon and maple syrup ($10). The black pudding 's meant to be eaten with fried egg and bacon with every bite. While, french toast turned out to be one of the best french toast in town.... yumm... After breakfast, we continued to Cacao, the mother branch. It 's one of the places that I can't resist chocolate, all individual chocolate looks glossy and yummy. I took quite a while to figure out what chocolate should I have before finally settled for smooth and creamy chocolate shot and 'wild passionfruit'.

Our next stop was Toby's estate, a coffee haven. I can sit here all day long :)

Today's cup of excellence 's Mexicana. What does it taste like? Truthfully, I didn't know but I trust LS and followed what she ordered, hehehe... Our short mac turned out fantastic with a mouthful, smooth body, and a punch of tanin right after swallowing. The tanin was lingering there for quite sometime.

LS and I unexpectly went to Bar Etiquette. We just stood outside and studied the drink lists before a guy, walked out of the bar, told us that there is no coffee here! It 's obviously not a place for coffee, lol. LS decided to check it out and mentioned this incident to a bartender. Surprisingly, this bar serve coffee. To end a day in style, I tried coffee here since LS already reached her coffee quota. My coffee was fantastic and valued for money. It tasted like butterscotch which 's highly interesting, considering its main ingredients 're coffee and sherry :P

The rooms upstairs 're cute especially the Asian room (lots of umbrellas on the ceiling). I think here 'll be perfect for my little group hangout. Everyone 'll have something to his/her liking; beers, cocktails, or wines. (Though this bar 's concentrated on beers, judging from the lists) Best of all, it's a BYO food!

The Brunswick East Breakfast Morning

A step too soon, and I find myself caught in a light drizzle upon disembarking the tram & early for my Saturday breakfast appointment with FH. Hmm, perhaps a light stroll beforehand (the distance between two tram stops) to warm myself up and see what is in the neighbourhood then.

Ah, here is an interesting looking cafe but not open on weekends. Here is the famed Mi Corazon Tequila bar - peering through its large glass windows, I can see that famous Virgin Mary statue taking centre stage at the bar among all the bottles of tequila and liquors. I see assorted couches and low tables, high chairs and wood tables. Looks like a place for the tequila fan all right; open at night only of course. Here is the newsagency, ooh I better get my copy of the Weekend Age. Mmm, here is a shop with lots of white plastic bottles and looking like a laboratory but labelled Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot. Oooh, bottles and bottles of things you read about in molecular gastronomy books like pectins, powders and extracts, but there are Herbie herbs and European cooking chocolates too. This is such a strange and fascinating little shop. If only it was open on weekends.

Time to walk back to the breakfast venue. Wait, this shop calls itself the Brunswick East Project. It stocks...Padre coffee?! Wait, now I remember, the chaps at Sweet Agora told me their roaster has a shop up this way of town. A glance through the windows. The baristas in brown and black look serious, the customers look serious. The look that says, "I am here for the coffee, and I want my coffee here." I check my watch. Oh I am sure I can squeeze in a short macchiato, especially when the single origin is an intriguing 'Tanzanian Mviwambi AAA'. I perch myself on the high bar opposite the coffee machine, occasionally moving to let the pram-pushing dads go through to the big warm back section of the cafe. The barista confesses that cupping notes for this coffee is yet to come but "it has a slight tartness, like red currants".

You are right, dear sir, it does have the tartness of red currants, but also a mild sweetness, medium body and a good amount of tannin. A very well made coffee I must say, worth a good 4 out of 5 stars.

Oops look at the time, got to run. I open the doors of Hellenic Republic, and the waitress immediately asks me what coffee I want. A medium sweet Greek coffee, thanks. Not that I really need it, but hey I am in a Greek place so may as well.

Not a lot of people on this gloomy morning, so that means some decent service for us and good chatting space. Let us do a bit of dish sharing, seeing that we are both intrigued by the same dishes.
Hmm, a spanakopita with poached eggs and watermelon salad with feta, mint, rosewater and flaked almonds. The pastry is suitably flaky and crunchy, the filling fresh, the poached egg a surprisingly good complement. The salad is refreshing and just very good. FH muses over replicating the dish at home when summer comes around. The whole breakfast goes very well with my just-right Greek coffee. FH reckons the barista looks familiar...

The rain is still falling, the skies are still grey. I suppose it is never too early for some loukoumades. We are the first of the day to order them, which causes a bit of consternation in the kitchen because it was not expecting to make any so early in the day. A little enquiring after an unusually lengthy wait (for dessert that is), and we get served the biggest bowl of the doughnuts I have ever seen. We stare at it, thinking, "surely this is not a normal serve..."

*imagine two Asian girls staring at a large white bowl of doughnuts. Just staring at it, smelling the honey, wondering how we should go about polishing it off.*

Looking at the table behind us, we realise that we have been given a double serve as the staff felt bad about the wait we endured. Well, dig in I say, let us not disappoint the staff.

Alas, we weaklings can only finish the equivalent of the normal serve. Pardon, would it be too much to ask for a takeaway container? No, and they even put a little sticker on it to let you know when the Best By date for consumption is. So cute! 3 stars out of 5? For the service, I give them a bonus .5 star to make it 3.5 stars out of 5 for a comfortable brunch on a gloomy weekend morning.

Tram, there comes the tram. Off we go to our favourite Italian importers cum restaurant Enoteca Sileno to find that elusive salted chocolate bar from Spain - and indeed it is elusive, having escaped our hands by a few MONTHS ("our next shipment will be coming for the pre-Christmas rush")

Those who have been following this blog since inception will notice that the Hellenic Republic has had more than the usual one mention. This is one place that we felt we needed to have more than one go at, seeing how it continues to get mixed reviews and be trapped under the weight of its big brother the Press Club.

In any event, the Brunswick East stretch of Lygon Street is worth exploring if you have not done so before.

What A Charm The 2nd Time Was

When I finally started catching up with AJ on a semi-regular basis, one of the things we did together was attend the inaugural Taste of Melbourne. Back then the first night was pretty civil with the longest queue belonging to that selling the lamb souvlaki, I found a great olive oil company and Lindt was using the event to work out whether it was worth opening a cafe in Melbourne.

This year, the queue for the opening night was so long it spilled into four directions to make sure people would not end up blocking any walkways. Fortunately we, unlike many others, had the benefit of precise planning. With the aid of a map distributed before the doors opened, we worked out our walk route and eating programme. Then the doors opened, and we were off like a pair of rockets. We were focused, we were determined, we knew what we wanted and we were not willing to go through any more long queues for them. The vendors were fresh faced, keen to please, happy to pose for pictures, smiles all around. We were all ready to enjoy the night.
Gawking at big-name chefs who were hovering around their stalls to make sure everything worked well ("Oooh, Jacques Raymond! Hey, there's Frank at Movida, and George at The Press Club, and of course Gary is visiting from the Boathouse"), we set out to share entree-size dishes of:

• Mauritian tamarind cured kingfish and scallops served with green chilli, curry leaf and ocean trout pearls from The Court House (mmmmm),
• black miso cod from Nobu (ooooo),
• pressed duck leg + mushroom miso soup from Verge (oh my gosh good),
• baked Portugese crab from Silks (yuuuum), and
• Turkish delight filled doughnuts, with pine nut sugar and rosewater honey from Maha (honey honey honey).

We picked up cocktails for the equivalent of ten dollars each - yes we did note there were a lot more cocktail vendors compared to last year - as well as lots of ice cream (seriously, Maggie Beer's quince with burnt almond ice cream is INCREDIBLE, and they gave me two serves. For FREE!!!!). I pondered over the idea of ordering the Yarra Valley Punt Road Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Bundle (one bottle each from the 2000 - 2005 vintages; the 2003 has aged beautifully) while AJ had to work out whether the price of South American organic chocolates was justifiable (it was). I also nabbed a large punnet of colourful heritage tomatoes as AJ agonised over Red Hill brewery beer, mussel pots and cheese. We missed the Vittoria coffee gift package giveaway but we were quite happy tasters at the New Zealand wine promotion stand.:P

Then we found a barrel to sit at (another improvement: a lot more seats!) and pondered over what we could do with our last two Crowns as we sipped on our second cocktails. Another look at the menu, another discussion over savoury versus sweet, and off AJ went to get ten more Crowns so we could officially declare Verge's TOM repertoire as most enjoyable by going back to them for a coffee cured ocean trout, roast cauliflower and buckwheat vinaigrette dish. In the meantime, we noted that the dinner queues had gotten considerably longer than when we had just got in, and we were very pleased with our planning.

Back at the barrel, and no coffee to be had as we were out of Crowns & the young Vittoria baristas would only sell coffees for two Crowns. Fortunately we had cash to purchase baby cupcakes...
Thank you Entertainment Card for the 2-for-1 ticket offer, because we like TOM very much. Really Very Much. So back there next year!

The Coffee War Made Me Write This

It is believed that there are three types of Malaysians: the first have a fondness for the unofficial national drink, teh tarik, which is effectively assam tea (low grade is most suitable, the Japanese boss of Lupicia assured me) and condensed milk "pulled" between two big cups to form a foamy concoction suitable for all times of the day. Fans of this drink love late nights sitting under the open sky, drinking in the smells of open food courts and the sounds of Premier League football streaming from the mamak stall. They are happy to gain the extra few pounds that are the side effect of this drink that is an apt demonstration of physics in life, and also happy to point you to the closest best street burger stall & rojak vendor.

The second type drink wherever it is the coolest to drink. They pursue the latest trend drink. Key words are decaffinated, skinny, cream, ice blended, chocolate chips, caramel, hazelnut syrup, vanilla, with...you get the picture. Their wallets are usually empty because their drinks tend to be double or triple the price of normal drinks, and they tend to be hyperactive because they have decided to go for the grande size. No airconditioning, no caffeine. They are sometimes called "the young ones".

The third type drink coffee. They pursue caffeine. They do not care about the environment that it is brewed or served in. What they care about is the aroma & strength of the coffee and the generosity & focus of the staff making it. They will happily taste the coffee from every newly opened coffee shop and pass judgement on the quality of the whole place based on whether the coffee is worthy of word of mouth. They will drink three coffees at three different places to meet three different groups of people in a morning if it is what it takes to get their happy caffeine fixes. These are the exponents of the "kopi tiam" (non air-conditioned coffee shops which usually have multiple stall owners with the shop owner responsible for selling all beverages) who will make recommendations on where to go based on very specific dishes. They are nevertheless unashamed of being seen where "the young ones" go, if only to mock at those sweet and weak drinks while they themselves get their large cups of afternoon Italian-style caffeine.

How do these people relate to the Coffee War, you ask? Well, I just want to make a point as to how important the True Brew article in The Age really is in the scheme of things.

The Melbourne-Sydney coffee war has been going on for as long as the Italians have been in town. In the meantime, the Adelaideans continue to sip on their red wine & Vittoria Gold/Rio Coffee lattes, the Perth folk drink their Little Creatures beers wondering what the East Coast states are on about, and the Queenslanders drink cocktails while laughing at the hot drink states. Darwinians are too busy watching the sunset with white wines & iced desserts in tow, the public servants in Canberra search for something to wake them up wherever they go, and the Tasmanians are huddled trying to make the hot chocolate by the fireplace last as long as possible.

As Justin Metcalf says, coffee is a subjective matter. Much like all other things that we consume. Some people like it hot, some like it cold, some like it black and strong. Some will never drink it, some will follow the crowds wherever they go, some will defend the existence of the coffee bean in modern civilisation.

Really, though, we are all missing the point here. The point is that we actually enjoy the consumption process, whether it is a hot pot of tea drunk alone indoors with a book listening to the wind howl outside or affogatos drunk with friends in a dessert cafe in summer. In such a context, the name of the city becomes irrelevant. All that matters is that nobody chokes on what they are consuming, no fights occurs, nobody feels ripped off and everybody pays up before leaving the table.

& yes, my current Brunswick coffee hangout is Toby's Estate the Sydney invader...

A place I like to go to hide in the city

Sometimes, when I am stuck on the Latrobe side of the city and I am not in the mood for coffee, I tend to crave strange things. Like waffles and hot chocolates. & a free book to read. & waiting staff who will leave me alone to read, to eat, to drink, to sit as long as I like in the place. A French-style sitting settee and light music in the background always helps.

To that end, and in the spirit of my latest phase i.e. what AC calls the "itchy fingers with camera phone" phase, this place has become a favourite especially for winter even though I have noticed the staff are young and enthusiastic but not really good with science (e.g. combining lemon juice and icing sugar directly on the serving plate instead of a separate bowl means you run the risk of ending up with sugar lumps instead of a lemon sauce):
I tend to go for the lemon and white chocolate sauce waffles. Sometimes, if I am not too full, I will also order a java hot chocolate which is done in the San Churro drinking hot chocolate consistency.

Is it about the waffles or the hot chocolate then, you ask? Well, it really is more about the atmosphere of the place. It is rarely full, thanks to all the other places vying for attention in the area, so one is assured of some temporary peace and quiet away from the hustle & bustle of the city. Sometimes you do need a place like this to relax in, especially on Sundays when you are in the city to do things and you end up wanting a place to rest your feet without the hassled expressions or harried tones that plague weekend hospitality staff.

Sit back, relax, smell the teas and hot chocolates, and sink into a good book...

Land of Escagrill, covered in chocolate

Given how late this post is, I shall be short and sweet. I shall even use bullet points!

• My birthday celebrations ended with a white tablecloth, silver dining ware dinner at a restaurant called Escagrill (Mt Alexander Road, a mere five minutes' bus ride away from my street). This was the first time I had ever booked a table five weeks in advance, thanks to a guest's advice, so I was expecting great things (and a bit of pain in my new blue suede high heel shoes).
• I immediately loved the fact that it is split into three levels in the restaurant, with one level discreetly tucked away for parties. The mood lighting akin to that of upper-class New York restaurants, extensive wine list, dedicated white shirted waiting staff with black aprons and the iced display of fresh seafood sprawled across the front of the open kitchen behind a low glass counter all lent to the visual impact.
  
• We all chose to go for three courses from the menu - I shared oyster kilpatricks with two other guests (yes I prefer fresh ones but for the benefit of others I was happy to go for the cooked ones) while others had entrees such as fresh seafood platters (which was bigger than we expected) and king prawns (the boys had to tolerate our jesting over their table manners but their faces told us their mess was worth is). My grilled tuna with red pepper sauce and olives as a main was lovely, as was the seafood papadelle that VL had but the poussin(s) TW and KMZ had looked so succulent.
• Choosing dessert was fun because I had heard so much about the individual bombe alaska but then I got distracted by the chocolate platter. TW convinced me to share one with him right before Fi had a chance to ask me which led to some mock debating :P. In the end our table had 2 bombe alaskas, one tiramisu and three chocolate platters. What a wonderful platter it was, so beautifully composed. We had a lot of fun working out which items best complemented each other.
• To top it all off, the company was great, we all had fun (I know I did) and I received flowers, (more) chocolates & a chocolate tour voucher for two as a birthday package from those there! Least to say, I went home from this dinner a very happy (older) person :)

On that note, guess who is in town?!?!?! I am not a huge fan but hey an extra place to go to (when there are no queues) is always a good thing for competition.