Isnt it COLD? Was in town yesterday and remember around 2pm that I hadnt eaten all day. So contemplated my options. Ended up at the tiny Thai place near Cafe Toulse - the name escapes me just now, but its tiny, 6 tables and a counter and thats about it.
I wanted soup, but didnt feel like something spice hot so choose the non spice option (13) at the bottom of the menu. Coupled with a serving of Satay I thought that it could be a nice hot filling meal. At 13 dollars it had better be!
Out came a large skewer of chicken with satay dipping sauce which was lovely and a massive bowl of soup. I want to learn how to make this soup. It was gorgeous. Bits of squid and prawn, with scallops and rice noodle along with egg in a lovely thick broth. Filling, warm and really yummy.
Friday 27 June 2008
Sunday 22 June 2008
Delayed 373 Review and other food matters...(raincheck b/fast review and Mures lower deck)
Its a week since I went to 373 with the other half and I am still not 100% sure what to make of it. One thing I am sure of, its definately not the same place it was 18months or even 12 months ago. It feels alot more "corporate".
The wait staff have changed. We had a youngish lad, who was a little Basil Faultesque in his manner - later proved when he somehow managed to knock the water jug off the table which is at the front as you enter. I guess he was trying for silver service formality but falling a little bit short.
The food was good but uninspiring really. Stephen had the Pork Belly and fennel roulaude for entrees and the proscuttio wrapped eye fillet for mains - the eye fillet tasted really nice, but when its all said and done its just steak.
I had the soft shell crab omelette for entrees, and one of the entree specials - twice cooked beef cheek for mains. The omlette was a tad salty and you really couldnt taste teh crab - which was a pity as soft shell crab is apparently considered a delicacy. The beef cheek was quite nice, very soft and a fair bit of flavour, but at the same time there was something missing. I'm not sure what it was, but the meal just didnt feel "complete".
Now its a well known fact to most people that I am a cheese fiend. No meal at a good resturant is complete without cheese of some sort - so we ordered some. Keep in mind we ordered the cheese when we placed our meal orders, so there was a good hours lee way between ordering and eating. We ordered 2 french (a Comte and a Roquefort) and 1 English (a chedder). Now if you order cheese at somewhere like Terraces in Launceston, or Monty in Hobart they will be served at room temperature, and you will be told which cheese is which. These were still slightly cold (the comte was still fairly solid near the rind) and we didnt get told which cheese was which. I had to ask for the menu back and work it out from the descriptions. The Roquefort was horrid..its supposedly one of the last family made ones in France, but personally it tasted like disinfectant and the texture was almost slimy.
I didnt have dessert but Stephen had the Brulee which while nice and crunchy on top apparently had an odd texture in the middle (he is the brulee freak not me, so I am taking his word for it). Another question - how hard is it to actually serve coffee WITH the dessert and not after? This isnt just a 373 quirk, quite a few places I have been lately have done the same thing...its kinda annoying.
One there 373 are known for are thier amuse bouche, which once again were lovely. The popcorn and olives, followed by a lovely soup - I cant remember what it was but it had garlic in it and I think sweet potato. The lemon sorbet was good.
Overall I would really only give 373 about 3.5/5 - the atmosphere isnt really there anymore, and the staff need to stop trying so hard. The food is good, but not as spectacular as it used to be, and the buzz which you used to get going there seems to have disappeared a bit.
Went to Raincheck for breakfast last Tuesday with a friend. The Eggs Benidict on GF bread was REALLY REALLY good. The Hollandaise tasted good and everything was nice and fresh. The hot chocolates were really really good as well. Good value for money as well.
Went to Mures Lower Deck last night with a friend before heading off to a wonderful TSO concert at the Federation Concert Hall. I still believe their soup of the day for 6.50 is some of the best value in town. Last night it was smokey fish chowder with lovely big chunks of fish and a great smoked taste. Coupled with a bread roll and good company its a lovely cheap night out.
Finally went down to Kettering today to Lee's pork sale - 90 dollars later and a quick lesson in butchery from Lee on how to get spare ribs from Pork belly I came home very content. Stopped at the Fruit and Veggie market just outside Snug (the big one near the cross roads) and bought veggies - unfortunately got stuck behind a busload of ppl buying veggies before heading off to do touristy things, so what SHOULD have been a 5 minute in and out become a 20 minute waiting game.
Had Lee's pork sausages in bread rolls from Mondos with grilled apple and mustard for lunch. I dont need dinner.
So thats me up to date. Next food adventure is yet to be determined.
The wait staff have changed. We had a youngish lad, who was a little Basil Faultesque in his manner - later proved when he somehow managed to knock the water jug off the table which is at the front as you enter. I guess he was trying for silver service formality but falling a little bit short.
The food was good but uninspiring really. Stephen had the Pork Belly and fennel roulaude for entrees and the proscuttio wrapped eye fillet for mains - the eye fillet tasted really nice, but when its all said and done its just steak.
I had the soft shell crab omelette for entrees, and one of the entree specials - twice cooked beef cheek for mains. The omlette was a tad salty and you really couldnt taste teh crab - which was a pity as soft shell crab is apparently considered a delicacy. The beef cheek was quite nice, very soft and a fair bit of flavour, but at the same time there was something missing. I'm not sure what it was, but the meal just didnt feel "complete".
Now its a well known fact to most people that I am a cheese fiend. No meal at a good resturant is complete without cheese of some sort - so we ordered some. Keep in mind we ordered the cheese when we placed our meal orders, so there was a good hours lee way between ordering and eating. We ordered 2 french (a Comte and a Roquefort) and 1 English (a chedder). Now if you order cheese at somewhere like Terraces in Launceston, or Monty in Hobart they will be served at room temperature, and you will be told which cheese is which. These were still slightly cold (the comte was still fairly solid near the rind) and we didnt get told which cheese was which. I had to ask for the menu back and work it out from the descriptions. The Roquefort was horrid..its supposedly one of the last family made ones in France, but personally it tasted like disinfectant and the texture was almost slimy.
I didnt have dessert but Stephen had the Brulee which while nice and crunchy on top apparently had an odd texture in the middle (he is the brulee freak not me, so I am taking his word for it). Another question - how hard is it to actually serve coffee WITH the dessert and not after? This isnt just a 373 quirk, quite a few places I have been lately have done the same thing...its kinda annoying.
One there 373 are known for are thier amuse bouche, which once again were lovely. The popcorn and olives, followed by a lovely soup - I cant remember what it was but it had garlic in it and I think sweet potato. The lemon sorbet was good.
Overall I would really only give 373 about 3.5/5 - the atmosphere isnt really there anymore, and the staff need to stop trying so hard. The food is good, but not as spectacular as it used to be, and the buzz which you used to get going there seems to have disappeared a bit.
Went to Raincheck for breakfast last Tuesday with a friend. The Eggs Benidict on GF bread was REALLY REALLY good. The Hollandaise tasted good and everything was nice and fresh. The hot chocolates were really really good as well. Good value for money as well.
Went to Mures Lower Deck last night with a friend before heading off to a wonderful TSO concert at the Federation Concert Hall. I still believe their soup of the day for 6.50 is some of the best value in town. Last night it was smokey fish chowder with lovely big chunks of fish and a great smoked taste. Coupled with a bread roll and good company its a lovely cheap night out.
Finally went down to Kettering today to Lee's pork sale - 90 dollars later and a quick lesson in butchery from Lee on how to get spare ribs from Pork belly I came home very content. Stopped at the Fruit and Veggie market just outside Snug (the big one near the cross roads) and bought veggies - unfortunately got stuck behind a busload of ppl buying veggies before heading off to do touristy things, so what SHOULD have been a 5 minute in and out become a 20 minute waiting game.
Had Lee's pork sausages in bread rolls from Mondos with grilled apple and mustard for lunch. I dont need dinner.
So thats me up to date. Next food adventure is yet to be determined.
Saturday 14 June 2008
Chocolate is a food group right?
Had a meeting at Salamanca today about the thesis that never seems to end. Was originally going to meet my supervisor at the Quarry, but we both realised that there is nothing really GF free about their snack menu so we continued up towards Salamanca Square in search of food.
I will admit to not having being very good with my allergy diet lately, and I suspect its partially why my PMS has been so bad this month - so I am back on the GF band wagon for a couple of months to let the body have time to heal.
So what relavence does this have to a food blog you may ask? Well we ended up at Say Cheese, which I havent been to in Donkeys, but had a lovely list of very lucious looking sundaes.
My supervisor was paying (bless his cotton socks) and I had not eaten anything yet and it was after 12, so I ordered the Chocolate Sundae. Lets just say for 13.50 its DEFINATELY worth it.
Large glass parfait glass, mass of chocolate icecream in the bottom, then a layer of marshmallows and hot chocolate fudge sauce, then a layer of vanilla and another of chocolate. Toppped with cream, more sauce, chocolate squares around the edge and some biscotti (which I took off and didnt eat). Comfort food of the HIGHEST calibre - made what had the potential to be a fraught meeting (my lack of writing progress is scaring me, but my supervisor seems to think that I'm gonna be ok) good.
Tonight I am being taken out to 373 for adinner as Mee Wah was fully booked.
Totally as an aside, if you want good discounts at many of the good eating places in Tassie, may I suggest getting your mitts on one of the Entertainment guides? Lots of resturants offering 2 for one main meals, or 25% off the total bill. Places both in the North or the South of the state, as well a the East Coast. Ebb is there, as is Banc and Fee and Me. In Hobart the range is from places like Vanidols to Alexanders, Picalily, Kellys, Fransico's, Mee Wah, 373. Also entertainment options such as bowling, Par Avion discounts etc. Avaliable from the St Davids Cathedral office at the Church house at the back of the Cathedral. $50 - which you get back VERY quickly as I found out using the 25% discount voucher at Onba - we got about 20 dollars off our bill the other day -which essentially meant we got the 3 pots of tea and the coffees we had for free.
Anyhow I better go find something vaguely dressy to wear tonight.
Review in the next couple of days when I need a break from marking exam papers.
I will admit to not having being very good with my allergy diet lately, and I suspect its partially why my PMS has been so bad this month - so I am back on the GF band wagon for a couple of months to let the body have time to heal.
So what relavence does this have to a food blog you may ask? Well we ended up at Say Cheese, which I havent been to in Donkeys, but had a lovely list of very lucious looking sundaes.
My supervisor was paying (bless his cotton socks) and I had not eaten anything yet and it was after 12, so I ordered the Chocolate Sundae. Lets just say for 13.50 its DEFINATELY worth it.
Large glass parfait glass, mass of chocolate icecream in the bottom, then a layer of marshmallows and hot chocolate fudge sauce, then a layer of vanilla and another of chocolate. Toppped with cream, more sauce, chocolate squares around the edge and some biscotti (which I took off and didnt eat). Comfort food of the HIGHEST calibre - made what had the potential to be a fraught meeting (my lack of writing progress is scaring me, but my supervisor seems to think that I'm gonna be ok) good.
Tonight I am being taken out to 373 for adinner as Mee Wah was fully booked.
Totally as an aside, if you want good discounts at many of the good eating places in Tassie, may I suggest getting your mitts on one of the Entertainment guides? Lots of resturants offering 2 for one main meals, or 25% off the total bill. Places both in the North or the South of the state, as well a the East Coast. Ebb is there, as is Banc and Fee and Me. In Hobart the range is from places like Vanidols to Alexanders, Picalily, Kellys, Fransico's, Mee Wah, 373. Also entertainment options such as bowling, Par Avion discounts etc. Avaliable from the St Davids Cathedral office at the Church house at the back of the Cathedral. $50 - which you get back VERY quickly as I found out using the 25% discount voucher at Onba - we got about 20 dollars off our bill the other day -which essentially meant we got the 3 pots of tea and the coffees we had for free.
Anyhow I better go find something vaguely dressy to wear tonight.
Review in the next couple of days when I need a break from marking exam papers.
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Eating in Places other than Tassie.....
I have a confession to make...I ate out all of TWICE while I was at home and in Adelaide (not counting the 2 excursions to the Coffee Club).
The only time I ventured out into the big bad world of mainland resturants at night I went to the pub. Yes thats right, I had a pub meal with my mum, dad, a good friend from the UK and her mother.
Mind you the Gap Tavern isnt ANY old pub. Its a quite nice tavern built into an old quarry about 20 minutes from mum and dads place and it does do a half way decent meal. Four people, four mains (2 steaks, a chicken and a fish) $200. I had a Wagyu steak with mushroom sauce, and although the sauce was a litte bit salty, the steak was actually cooked PERFECTLY medium rare. Although I am still trying to work out WHAT the appeal of Wagyu actually is..(I suspect it ws psuedo-wagyu) Mrs G's steak was a perfect medium well so the kitchen got something right.
Decent sized serves, no load music and get your own drinks - overall a decent meal.
The only meal I had out during the day was at the Kuta Cafe at the top of Mt Cootha. I'll say it now...MASSIVE MASSIVE tourist trap. The meals however were massive. The BLT was advertised as being on inch thick bread - I ordered it thinking it was hyperbole - nope - each still was literally a doorstopper. Lucy's burger was a good hand high, complete with beetroot, fried onion and salad, which made her very happy. The two chicken burgers were not QUITE so big, but coupled with the fries had both Mum and Mrs G struggling to finish. The meal however was expensive - something like 90 dollars for the 4 meals, and drinks (no alcohol). Hence the tourist trap warning. I suspect we may have been better off heading to the resturant which was offering a 2 course set menu for 32 a person.
In Adelaide the sum total of my eating was 2 nights of Taj on Raj takeaway which had NOTHING on ANY of the indians down here, and a late Sunday breakfast at Billy Baxters - whose french toast was bland and nothing on Steve and Becs.
It was definately nice to get home to the promise of good fresh food and decent comfy non commercialised resturants. This weekend its either Mee Wah or 373 - undecided as yet...I'm pushing for Mee Wah as I need some fried rice. Will let you know!
The only time I ventured out into the big bad world of mainland resturants at night I went to the pub. Yes thats right, I had a pub meal with my mum, dad, a good friend from the UK and her mother.
Mind you the Gap Tavern isnt ANY old pub. Its a quite nice tavern built into an old quarry about 20 minutes from mum and dads place and it does do a half way decent meal. Four people, four mains (2 steaks, a chicken and a fish) $200. I had a Wagyu steak with mushroom sauce, and although the sauce was a litte bit salty, the steak was actually cooked PERFECTLY medium rare. Although I am still trying to work out WHAT the appeal of Wagyu actually is..(I suspect it ws psuedo-wagyu) Mrs G's steak was a perfect medium well so the kitchen got something right.
Decent sized serves, no load music and get your own drinks - overall a decent meal.
The only meal I had out during the day was at the Kuta Cafe at the top of Mt Cootha. I'll say it now...MASSIVE MASSIVE tourist trap. The meals however were massive. The BLT was advertised as being on inch thick bread - I ordered it thinking it was hyperbole - nope - each still was literally a doorstopper. Lucy's burger was a good hand high, complete with beetroot, fried onion and salad, which made her very happy. The two chicken burgers were not QUITE so big, but coupled with the fries had both Mum and Mrs G struggling to finish. The meal however was expensive - something like 90 dollars for the 4 meals, and drinks (no alcohol). Hence the tourist trap warning. I suspect we may have been better off heading to the resturant which was offering a 2 course set menu for 32 a person.
In Adelaide the sum total of my eating was 2 nights of Taj on Raj takeaway which had NOTHING on ANY of the indians down here, and a late Sunday breakfast at Billy Baxters - whose french toast was bland and nothing on Steve and Becs.
It was definately nice to get home to the promise of good fresh food and decent comfy non commercialised resturants. This weekend its either Mee Wah or 373 - undecided as yet...I'm pushing for Mee Wah as I need some fried rice. Will let you know!
Yet Another Monty's Post
Just had an email from Nat at Montys with the menu for the next degustation on the 26th of July. Suffice to say I am there with Bells on. It looks amazing as per usual. My friends who didnt want to come are going to miss out.
Am finalising plans to go out to dinner this weekend, not 100% sure where yet, but somewhere nice.
Am finalising plans to go out to dinner this weekend, not 100% sure where yet, but somewhere nice.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Travelling Tassie.....
Its over a month since I posted here, and I need to apologise to you all dear readers (all two of you)for not being as prolific as I should be. Life has been hetic lately, and the chances to go out and eat few and far between. Add into that a trip to visit my parents in Brisbane and coming home VIA Adelaide, you can see why there hasnt been much movement on the blog.
I will however post a review of a resturant I went to in Brissy, just for the hell of it, as well as comments about take away in Adelaide in the next day or two. I am currently on a roll for thesis writing so am working on that. Will be backsoon I promise!
I will however post a review of a resturant I went to in Brissy, just for the hell of it, as well as comments about take away in Adelaide in the next day or two. I am currently on a roll for thesis writing so am working on that. Will be backsoon I promise!
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