tomislav.

Tomislav
2/13 Kirketon Road
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010
Tel: +61 (03) 9356 4535
Website: http://www.tomislav.com.au/

So I finally made good on my promise to return for a regular meal on a regular night after the interesting Just Desserts event I attended during Crave Sydney last year. For me, Tomislav always seems to slide slightly under the radar because many other chefs who seem to have the same calibre as Chef Tomislav Martinovic spend quite a bit of time under the media spotlight these days. So to be honest, it wasn't my idea to pay a revisit. R was the one who did the googling one day and thought that I would like the current menu at Tomislav — a table was immediately booked.

RICE CRACKERS

sour cream & chives

ms g's - the hangover part III

Ms G's
155 Victoria Street
Potts Point, NSW 2011
Tel: +61 (02) 8313 1000
Website: http://merivale.com.au/msgs

I get why some restaurants do extremely well in this city. And I get why the Merivale Group is thriving - new concept restaurants opening one after another when many in this city are doing the opposite. And it's meals like these that while simple, helps to keep things interesting. Having seen success with the previous events, The Hangover was back for a 3rd installment. I thought the whole concept of serving food that's great after a hangover was a cheeky and really fun idea.

We started with the creating of our own Bloody Mary at the bar. Shots of vodka were poured into tall glasses lined with celery salt by the bartenders and the rest was left up to us. A buffet spread of limes, lemons, tabasco sauce, worcestershire sauce, chilli, beef stock (!), tomatoes, wasabi, fresh celery, cucumbers, tomato juice etc. were all laid out to be part of our concoction. I wasn't so adventurous (thank god!) cos R who decided to go out on a limb with the beef stock ending up with a pretty savoury drink which wasn't too appetising.

hartsyard | seed & feed.

Hartsyard Restaurant & Bar
33 Enmore Road
Newtown, NSW 2042
Tel: +61 (02) 8068 1473
Website: http://hartsyard.com.au/

Twitter is a very essential form of social media these days. I don't think anyone who runs a restaurant or has a Twitter account would disagree with that. Unlike Facebook which I use to keep in touch with friends that do not live in the same country as I do, I use Twitter primarily as a news source where I can get the latest information on anything that I'm interested in. And needless to say, I follow many accomplished food writers, chefs and other bloggers so that I can get first hand information to what people are eating, who's got a new menu about to launch, an upcoming pop-up dinner and of course, the newest and hottest new restaurants. And that's how I came to know about Hartsyard. It was just simply too difficult for me to ignore the draw of fried chicken after seeing Pat Nourse's tweet.

But of course, there were other things that spoke to me on the menu so I swiftly called up Hartsyard and scored a reservation just after a few days it opened. We were received with great hospitality by the staff and especially by Naomi, co-owner and wife of Chef Gregory Llewellyn. You can read more about both of them here. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive, I saw Naomi and her team explaining dishes and engaging in small talk with the customers. It was really pleasant and as a customer, I loved that there was so much pride and effort put in to making sure that the service was matched with the food that they were proud to serve.

pei modern, melbourne.

Pei Modern
45 Collins Street
Collins Place
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: +61 (03) 9654 8545
Website: http://www.peimodern.com.au/

 

Pei Modern is Mark Best's foray into the Melbourne dining scene but if you're expecting what Mark Best does at his 3-hatted Sydney restaurant Marque, you're certainly at the wrong place. Granted that there are some dishes that were carried over such as the caramelised tomato dessert, the almond gazpacho and dutch cream potatoes dish which blew me away at Marque but Pei is the simpler and less formal sister of Best's flagship restaurant.

melbourne's gumbo kitchen.

Gumbo Kitchen
Website: http://gumbokitchen.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gumbo-Kitchen/113192782105826
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/GumboKitchen

The horrid and cold weather today reminded me of 2 things in Melbourne - how we braved the rain in windy Melbourne just to get food off a mobile food truck and how comforting the warm gumbo with rice was in the cold.

south of the yarra - dainty sichuan & movida bakery.

Dainty Sichuan Food
176 Toorak Road
South Yarra VIC 3141
Tel: +61 (03) 9078 1686
Opening Hours:  Closed on Tues.
Lunch: Mon - Fri (excl. Tues) 11.30am - 2.30pm, Sat - Sun 12pm - 2.30pm 
Dinner: Sun - Thurs (excl. Tues) 4.30pm - 9.30pm, Fri - Sat 4.30pm - 10pm


MoVida Bakery
3 Tivoli Road
South Yarra VIC 3141
Tel: +61 (03) 9663 3038
Opening Hours: Wkdays 7.30am - 4.30pm, Wkends 7.30am - 5pm
Website: http://www.facebook.com/MoVidaBakery


A week ago, I was off to Melbourne for one crazy weekend of eating again. And this time, I spent a little more time south of the Yarra River. I like the South Yarra area very much. There are nice cafes, shops and is generally just a nice place to walk around. If I was living in Melbourne, I reckon that I would love to stay not too far from the area.

South Yarra is certainly not lacking of good food. I've heard loads about Dainty Sichuan before this trip. J had been asking us to pay a visit since over a year ago when R & I first went to Melbourne for a short getaway. And then there's Anthony Bourdain who's featured this place on one of his popular TV shows and tweeted about it recently when he was in Melbourne for the Food and Wine Festival. Since Melbourne has countless exciting cafes to check out, Sichuan food is usually not on the list but I figured it was time to find out what the hype was.

Mapo Tofu