I'll Take That Last Day In Melbourne . . .

Today was our last full day in Australia and we'd be spending it where it began in Melbourne Victoria.   Today we decided to visit an area of Melbourne that we had really enjoyed back in 2012 called Fitzroy.  We were definitely going to one of our favorite bars in any city called Naked for Satan.

Before we started that trek, we needed some breakfast.  We hadn't had fast food yet in Australia so today was the day when I would had to Maccas.  The name doesn't seem familiar to you?    Macca's is how McDonald's is marketed in Australia. 

In addition to our daily long black fix, I tried the Big Brekkie Burger.

This was a burger patty with egg, bacon, cheese,  hash brown and BBQ sauce on a poppy seed bun.  It is okay. The bacon could be a lot crisper. And the BBQ sauce doesn't really go with the egg. 

In other fast food news, Hungry Jack is the franchise name for Burger King here in Australia. Except for the name of the restaurant, it is still the same Home of the Whopper you know (and maybe love) in the United States. I recall the reason is that Burger King was already a restaurant chain when Burger King came here years ago so they needed something different.

For our Fitzroy adventure we needed some lunch.  My wife found a place that was offering a tasting menu up in this area which sounded perfect. 

Amuse bouche which was sliced fresh radish with creme fraiche and a rice cracker with seaweed.  Both were great starts to the meal.  The radish was sliced super thin and perfect with  the creamy creme fraiche.  My favorite was the crisp rice cracker with salty seaweed.

Some delicious sour dough bread served with freshly made unsalted butter with sea salt on the side.  I loved that you could make the butter as salty as you wanted. 

This was the kingfish crudo.  A crudo is generally thin sliced fresh fish, served with herbs, oils and other accompaniments.    This was a great one mainly because the fish was so fresh.  Also loved the cucumber.

Fresh asparagus which a delicious tarragon sauce.  

Marinated cuttlefish.

The first entree we chose was the snapper.  This was really nicely seared with a perfect crust.  I loved that the savory sauce sat underneath the crispy fish do it didn't get soggy.  Too often I see kitchens spend so much time to get something crispy, such as fried chicken or chicken fried steak, and the pour a sauce on top, essentially ruining all that hard work.

This was the local pork chop.  It was cooked medium, was still a bit pinki so still had lots of moisture.  I know many people are afraid of pork that isn't cooked medium well.    However the USDA does say you can cook pork to 145 degrees F which is medium rare.  I usually don't like hazelnuts but they were a welcome addition for added crunch.

Dark chocolate cake.  This dessert was just okay.   I found the cake a bit dry.  The cherries were good with the yogurt ice cream.

The second dessert a strawberry dessert.  This was similar to a shortcake with a biscuit.  The most interesting addition was a drizzle of olive oil which added a savory not so it wasn't just "sweet".  I nicely composed dessert.

To finish, we received two chocolate truffles and two "jellies".  The jellies had a hint of rose essence and the texture of a gummy bear.  The chocolate truffles were smooth and creamy.

And of course, another chance for a long black.  This was the best cup of coffee I had the whole trip!!!  Served really hot with just the right amount of crema.

The Fitzroy area of Melbourne has lots of eclectic bars and restaurants so after our great lunch, it was time to explore.  We decided to do what my wife refers to as bartender's choice.  We would pick our first bar, and then have the bartender recommend the next one.  One our way to the first stop, we saw some great street art.

First stop was at Rook's for a great Old Fashioned made with a local bourbon.

The bartender at Rooks recommended the Shady Lady which was only a short walk away.  On that walk, I saw the name of this coffee shop which I loved.

Shady Lady is known for fancy cocktails.

The bartender at Shady Lady recommended the Black Pearl.

This was Beyond Bush.  

The top of the drink had a twig and some honeycomb.  It reminded me of Blair Witch Project.

The foam on the drink, which I thought was from egg whites, was actually from this ingredient which I had never seen before.  The bartender said it was very common in Australia.

After visiting a few bars, we now needed a snack.  It was time to visit one of our favorite bars from the 2012 trip, Naked for Satan.  They had some burger specials for $3 which would fit the bill.

Mushroom burger which was my favorite!!  It was a grilled portobello mushroom with more sauteed mushrooms on top.

This was a chicken burger with a cheesy ssauce.

This was the beef burger.  While it was cooked well, it was missing some beefy flavor.  I did appreciate that the lettuce was on the bottom so it didn't get soggy.

That would be the last place on our Fitzroy visit - at least for this trip.  We made the walk back to our hotel as we had to get up early tomorrow for our flight to Los Angeles.  Our two week trip was coming to an end.  We got to so many places and had some amazing bites.  If you have stayed for the whole journey, thank you very much for following along.  More blogs are coming for many upcoming trips so stay tuned to this blog for those.    If you are interested in planning a trip, whether it is exotic like Australia or maybe an all-inclusive in Mexico or even a cruise, please consider contacting my wife on her website https://www.tripswithangie.com.

Bar Hopping, Melbourne Style

Today (Saturday) was going to be a day where we had no set plans, but rather would be going from place to place, with our final destination being the Night Noodle Market!!  I found out about that market doing something I had mentioned in an earlier blog.  When you are in a new city, search the internet for any festivals that are going on.  When I got up this morning, I started doing that and found out about this noodle festival.  It was a giant asian food event that had been going on for a few weeks.  And this was the last weekend.  Mapping out where it was, it was about eight blocks from our hotel.  And the path was along Exhibition Street which is filled with lots of interesting rooftop bars and other restaurants.   I highlighted several places that looked interesting on that street and by 11AM, we were ready to go get some lunch (or maybe it was brunch).

First stop was at Elephant and Wheelbarrow.  This was a typical English style pub.   If you have never been to one before, a couple of tips since they operate differently than your average bar in the United States.  There are usually no waiters.  When you are ready to order drinks and/or food, you go to the bar.  You will also need to pay when you order.   Most everyone in Australia uses their credit card and they are all set up to be able to "tap" the card onto the machine for easy payment, and without need for a signature.  While some US based cards have the tap feature, we found that the transaction always required a signature.  We mostly used cash for our purchases which made us stand out a bit give then standard for most Australian is to use their credit cards.

The menu had many specials.

I went with the old Australian staple of a parm - in this case the Chef's Parm!!

It was a huge piece of well fried chicken, with melted cheese and ham.  Kind of a twist on a chicken cordon bleu.  The flavors all worked well together!!  The fries were also well cooked and had the extra crispness that a beer batter brings.

My wife had bangers and mash which was also delicious.  These sausages had more fennel in them compared to other bangers and mash I have eaten.  The addition or broccoli and carrots to the party was also welcome, since normally you do only see mashed potato.  The gravy was rich without being gunky.  It was close to what you would serve with a pot roast.

With lunch complete, we were ready to move to the next place.  That would be Good Heavens roof top bar. 

Our view looked across to where we had lunch at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow.

A large list of cocktails.

From left to right are the Ritzy Ditz and the Melbourne Made.  Ritzy Ditz was a gin and tonic made with rosemary syrup.  So refreshing!!  And the Melbourne made was a twist on a whiskey sour made with apple pie moonshine!!  I loved how they made a pattern in the egg white foam  - like a barista at your favorite coffee shop.

Next up was the European Bier Care and Aer Rooftop.  Can you sense a pattern here that we like rooftop bars?  Melbourne has so many!!  This place had a lovely setting which was allowed you to stay away from any weather but still enjoy the outdoors.  And the special on Saturday was a carafe for $20 AUS!!  We went with Pimm's Cup.

The Pimm's Cup was refreshing with all the fruit included.  It was almost like a sangria.  There were limes, oranges, strawberries and some excellent slices of cucumber!! 

Down the street from Aer Rooftop was a place called Harley House.  By name alone, you would think this was a biker bar.  When we arrived there, it seemed like that was a possibility since the entrance was down a set of stairs into the basement of the building. 

The signature drink here was Pisco Sours.  Pisco is the national spirit of Peru.  It is a little bit like grappa but sweeter and not as boozy.   It is great in a sour.

They also had some great sour beers including this Watermelon Smash from Stomping Ground Brewing Company. 

This was Patacones con Chicharron or pork belly on plantain.  It was one of the best prepared pork belly I ever had!  Roasted enough to render the fat but still kept moist.   It came with what they called kapallaq.  I should have asked our server exactly what this was and google search was no help.  It came topped with a pickled cabbage and some small chicharrons for crunch.  A perfect bite of food!!

Next was one of the best pieces of chicken I have ever had.    On the menu it was simply called Pollo and came with a Panca marinade.    Exactly what is panca sauce?  Again I should have asked since google search was no help.  The taste was salty and sweet with a bit of mustardy tang.  The chicken itself was so moist and flavorful, with just enough char for added texture. 

I also tried this great Margarita Gose from Hargreaves Hill.

And our last bite was Conchita - or pan seared scallops.  I have proudly eaten a lot of scallops over the years.  These were the best ones I have ever eaten - no question.    These came with a saltado sauce which was a thin flavorful broth of tomato and vinegar.  It perfectly highlighted the scallop which had been cooked to a perfect medium rare.  Just a perfect bite, made even better by the fresh pea tendrils as a garnish.

I think this sign was a joke - or maybe not since guinea pig is served a lot in Peru.   If we visit Melbourne again we will come back on a Wednesday, pay our $50 AUS and see what we get served.  I am sure it will be delicious.  Put this place on your "must" list when you visit.

Our next stop was at a fancy cocktail bar called Eau de Vie.  We had heard about this place while we were talking to a couple at the Long Lunch in Lanceston Tasmania.  We heard it had a secret entrance.  Not so much secret, as it was non existent.  You had to trust you were going into the right place.

 
The menu was a booklet.

 I went with the Honey Old Fashioned.

The drink was okay  - I liked the addition of the honeycomb as a garnish.  The drink itself wasn't balanced.  I just tasted "sweet".    It needed more of the chocolate bitters mentioned in the description.   The prices of all the cocktails here were much more expensive then other bars, mainly because this is one of those bars that people want to say they have visited and post their Instagram moment.  Cocktails not worth the price in my opinion.  But go for the experience if you like people watching.  Reservations are recommended.

Our last stop was at the Night Noodle festival.

This was a large event space that had lots of mainly food vendors.

We went with the souffle pancakes.  They had a few different options, including with ice cream, but we got them "as is" which was just maple syrup.  These are made with a regular pancake batter where they must add whipped egg whites and perhaps more backing powder to build up the volume.  When cooked on the flat top, they puff up.  Each order had two pancakes.  They were very fluffy and tasted like a pancake.  Great to try them, but I think "one and done" for me.

  

Lot of pork and skewers being made.

The last treat we tried was something called a puffle.

This was like chicken and waffle.  Instead of a regular waffle it was a combination of a belgian waffle and Aebleskiver which are danish pancake "balls".  The waffle iron was specially made for these.  They folded the waffle when hot, and you could have KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) or cheeseburger.  They also had a combination of both.

This was the combo.  It was a great bite of food with the pillowy waffle, spicy chicken and savory beef all combining together.   I have yet to see these at any state fairs in the United States, but maybe in 2020!!  My wife and I joked that we should be the first to franchise these!!

After the very active day of checking out all the places on Exhibition Street, we were ready to head back to the hotel.   Tomorrow would be our last full day in Melbourne.  What would we do?  Look for that blog to be uploaded soon.

Travelling Back to Melbourne

Today was travel today.  Time to say "until next time" to Tasmania.   For our coffee this morning, we had the instant coffee from the hotel room.  Surprisingly it was quite good - it was no long black - but pretty good.  I don't know why I had been nervous about trying it.  When we had checked out of the Freycinet Lodge, we took a few of the items from the mini bar to have in the Hobart hotel.  Two of those items were the sodas below.

Cascade Ginger Beer and Lemon, Lime and Bitter Soda

Cascade is a Hobart Brewery.  I tried a few of their beers and they were okay - I preferred Moo Brew and some others.  Like a lot of breweries. they have expanded beyond just beer.  You will see many are going into the distilling business with gin or vodka.  And others (like Cascade) are introducing non-alcoholic sodas.  I tried these before we left the hotel since we couldn't take them on the plane.  The ginger beer was nice and spicy and would have been great in a Dark and Stormy.  That is a drink with bourbon, ginger beer and an optional lime.  Or even in what my wife calls a Donkey which is Tequila and Ginger Beer. 

The Lemon. Lime and Bitter is a very popular drink I saw ordered at bars for kids.  It may be the equivalent of a Shirley Temple in the United States.  It is lemon and lime muddled together with simple syrup with a dash of angostura bitters, topped with soda water.  Very refreshing although I would have liked it a bit more bitter.

We flew out of Hobart and it was about an hour and fifteen minute flight to Melbourne.     Returning the rental car was a bittersweet since I had gotten used to driving the car and being on the "right" side.  No more driving until we got back to Tampa when I would have to drive on the right side.

While we were waiting for the flight, I decided to try something I had heard about - world famous Tasmanian scallop pie.    Pies in general are a big deal in Australia.  They are a perfect snack any time of day.  They come in both sweet and savory varieties.  I think they are so popular since they are the ultimate "on the go" meal.

The bakery in the airport had so many different pies to choose from.

The scallop pie was about the size of a pop tart, but as thick as a small chicken pot pie in the United States.

The crust was very flaky, but still had enough structure to hold the ingredients inside.  Inside was a creamy, curry flavored gravy that had about eight bay size scallops.  Surprisingly, the curry was balanced so you could still taste the delicate scallops.   

The flight was quick and easy.  After we checked into the Marriott we found there was a rooftop bar called Bomba just across the street.  They also had a sit down restaurant downstairs.  A rooftop bar sounded perfect for an afternoon!!

I had a delicious boysenberry sour beer from Moon Dog.

For snacks we got Pardon Peppers which were looked the same as Shisito Peppers.  The one difference is these were deep fried whereas Shisito are usually pan fried until they are slightly charred.  Seasoned so well with salt.  These were all on the sweet side.  Shisito peppers can be a roll of the dice whether they are hot or sweet.

Our other snack was a toasty - or what Australians would call a grilled cheese in the United States.  This one came with sliced pork, peppers and cheese.  The bread was similar to a sourdough and so crispy.  Who doesn't like a melty grilled cheese?

We contemplated several options for dinner, even walking around the block to see what restaurants looked good.  We ended up at the Bomba restaurant on street level.  We weren't super hungry but did try three things.

This was a scallop with chorizo, caper and fino butter.  What is fino butter?  I had to look it up as well.  Fino is a light sherry which flavored this butter.  This scallop was okay, but the standard had been set when we visited Apollo Bay when we were in Melbourne earlier on this trip.    Click the link below for that blog.

https://yourgastronomyguide.blogspot.com/2019/11/favorites-from-melbourne-victoria_16.html


Scallop from Bomba Melbourne.

Scallop from Apollo Bay.

Chicken skewer with hummus.  This was tasty and moist.

Char grilled corn with dried maize.  This came with a chipotle sauce.  This was my favorite bite of the night and one of my favorite bites of the whole trip.  I have had Mexican street corn before and this was similar to that, but elevated.  The corn had been perfectly cooked so it was still crisp with a little char.  And then what I thought was panko crumbs was actually dried maize on the outside.  It was so crunchy and savory.  The sauce, while really unnecessary, did have a nice spice to contract with the sweetness of the corn. 

Charcoal grilled calamari with squid ink potatoes and fennel salad.  The best part of this dish should have been the calamari but sadly that wasn't cooked very well.  I expected it to be charred more and have a combination of tentacles and rings but instead only got the "starred" pieces.  The fennel was charred well and had some good flavor.  The mashed potatoes were gluey and the squid ink added nothing - no flavor or texture.  It seemed like they only included it to make it sound exotic.  If the chef doesn't know how to respect calamari, then this dish should be changed to vegetarian with the nicely charred fennel and add in some carrots and roasted potato. 

We called it a night after this and headed back to the hotel.  Tomorrow we would have what my wife calls "Glenn's Day Of Fun" where I plan a day of bar visits (hardly a crawl).  Look for that blog to be posted soon.