Hong Kong BBQ restaurant

Hong Kong BBQ restaurant is in Footscray and I have heard good things from the Escort and the Thief. We went there for lunch one day.

We got the complimentary soup and tea. This was a nice touch. The other table had the deep fried calamari with pepper and it looked really nice. The duck hanging near the door looked really nice and that enticed people to go in.

 I got the duck on rice and she got the duck on egg noodles. It was nice but they gave her too much noodles.

They gave me too much bone and not enough meat. Also they gave me too much rice. I couldn't finish it all. With the duck came an overly sweet sauce one which I did not like but she did.

The tea was a little bit too strong for me.

Primo Estates hosts a free Wine tasting

The free wine tasting was at 1000 pound bend in Melbourne. This tasting allowed people to know the full story behind the Primo/Joseph estate wines. Their winery is in McLauren Vale and people say that it is wonderful. Here consumers bought some wines to take home. I on the other hand bought olive oil which is their other favourite thing.

The tasting was free with any purchase or $15 per person.

For starters we had the prosecco which works well with the entrees and the white wine which was sour. Their red wines for which they have many are sweet. Just last year they released a new red sparkling wine which works well with pizza and pasta.

They had one Italian cheese and many pieces of bread. Their one olive oil worked well with Baker D chirrico's bread and I found that I was suddenly addicted to the bread after all that drinking.

Most of their red wines taste the same but some of theirs are stronger than others. Hence the drunk feeling. You needed to drink water to cleanse it out.

Their wines are not featured in many of their restaurants as they are not a big producer of wines. However you can order them online.

Melbourne Dumpling Fest pop up

This was a one night only pop up and it was badly organised. It was in 206 Bourke st where Tim Ho Wan is. The first 200 people to register and vote for their favourite restaurant got a free Lava bun from Tim Ho Wan. This was pretty good.

The one thing that really irked me was that there was no takeaway food on display. Everything you had to ask the restaurants and there were huge lines just for that. There wasn't a lot of chairs to sit down on. Also the crowd of people was just bad. But after 8pm people left and it was fine.

There was a free cooking demonstration done by Dumpling Mania which was all good. We all got to sample some of Dumpling mania's siu mai which was good with the chilli sauce. People had beer but I did not seeing as it was too late.

The chinese mushroom dumplings that I got at Dragon Boat for $5.90 were great. But for that price it was a bit expensive. However the bao with popcorn chicken from Nuoc Charm was bad. It was $6 or 2 for $10 but it was the worst. It reminded me of Roll'd's one from Jam Factory. Here it was just lukewarm and very lacklustre.

If there was a dumpling festival again next year, this should be outside and in a bigger venue such as Fed Square.

Welcome to Thornbury

Welcome to Thornbury is one of the newest food truck parks in Melbourne and they are a hit with many food bloggers. Here they were busy and they had lots and lots of cute dogs to pat. They are an outdoor and indoor space with a good bar.

They are open from 5pm until late and if you are going to be drinking it would be better to take the tram there as they are right on the line. Croxton station is nearby but after dark it can get a bit quiet.

It was a nice sunny day when we attended and lots of people were about.

Here I had an apple beer from Bond a new craft brewer and Fancy Hanks Shroom burger ($12). The apple beer worked well with the shroom burger and the Shroom burger was nice with all that coleslaw.  The guy at Fancy Hanks was friendly and he told me to wait five minutes. He also gave me a buzzer.

However I didn't enjoy the spring rolls from Nuoc Mama. It was 5 for $6 and they were pork but it tasted a bit weird and also the lady that served me was not that friendly. She told me rather abruptly to wait one minute for them.

Do come to Welcome to Thornbury and don't forget your myki as there is not a lot of parking on High street.

Foxes den

Foxes den is in richmond near Richmond train station. Here they are all about bringing good health to inner suburban workers. The members of my Fitclub recommended this place to me. I once tried the food at one of their events. It was a chicken salad and another salad which I cannot remember the name of. But it was healthy.

You can choose salad, chicken, curry or soup. By 7:30pm they had run out of most things as people really liked that place. The service there was very friendly and the place was clean and tidy.

I had the meatballs and it was yum. But I could not finish all. Here it came with a $2 serve of brown rice which was massive. So I took some away and gave some to a homeless man outside of the restaurant.

Do support my cause for homeless people here.

Mabrown

Mabrown is a Malaysian place in the city and the Couch paid for me to try their Hainan Chicken. It was $10.50 per plate. Here their Hainan chicken was just alright but they are a small place in Bourke st and they were busy. There was no bone plate or cutlery provided until I asked for it.

I loved the soup- it was clear and not too salty. The soya sauce was salty though. The rice was great but it was a bit much for me.

The chicken was a bit boney for me.

Oh and by the way do support me in my mission to raise money for the homeless. Your donation means a lot to us. We are running in this years City to Sea and hope to raise about $700 for the homeless on the street. Hopefully the money that you give might give the homeless a place to stay other than Bourke st where all the fights start.

I love dumplings

I love dumplings have four branches now and I have visited both the City and the Flemington one. The Flemington one was actually ok despite what friends and family say.

The service was quick and I was out within half an hour. At that time only the Caucasians were there, but it usually is busy at nighttime and on weekends.

Here my prawn dumplings were good. The skin was translucent. It was however a little bit thick. The prawns were fresh.

I am surprised that the other table did not finish their food. They must not have liked it much.

Do come by the I love dumplings shop and try their dumplings

Roll'd at Highpoint

RNIS bought a Scoopon for this and wanted to try it out based on Kenny's review of it. He thought it was bad.

But here it was not too bad they this time remembered that I bought the Scoopon. The lady there was lovely. There was not too many people there at 2pm and the customers that were there are Caucasian

.

The baos were cold and very soggy. They stuck to the box. Here I had the prawn and the tofu one. The prawn one was tasteless, but the tofu one was ok. And the free chilli mayo was tastetless.I have had better in Grill'd

The sweet potato chips was the only thing that saved the whole lunch and it was not too expensive at $6 a pop.

I think I still prefer Southgate anyday and those rolls in the cabinet looked really dry. Sorry.

Leftbank presents St Hallet's Butcher Cellar

This month from now until October 26th Leftbank is proud to present St Hallet's Butcher cellar. A few bloggers were invited to the launch last week but people paid $20 for a Spanish tapas babecoa platter which only included four small skewers. When you think of platter it is big and lots and lots of food. Babecoa is a Mexican way of BBQing meat.

Bloggers say that there is an interesting story to tell with the food and the wine. But the wine doesn't come with the platter and there was a very long wait for food. By the time the food came to my table it was cooked but cold. That night they were quite busy but understaffed. Many people waited for their meals and they were there a lot longer than I was.

Not many people ordered the platter whilst I was there. The chef at the BBQ looked really bored waiting for orders.

But however having said that I did like the flavours. I loved the sweetness of the beef skewer and the spiciness of the harissa from the chicken skewer. In between takes I had to have some garlic bread to cleanse my palate for the next one. And it was $5 for a big plate of fingerlicking good bread. Just a tip: they should have included it with the platter.

What I suggest they do is to have complimentary skewers when people order a glass of the St Hallets wine which is $10-$12 per glass. They did this for the white rabbit tasting and that worked well. Or otherwise people rock up on a Sunday and have the yakitori (3 for $18 or 5 for $25 with salad).

Italian Chef

Italian Chef has been blogged about once but the owner decided to invite RNIS around this time to try their pastas and their takeaway service. We came at 7:30pm and the place was busy. Moreover we had other places to be.

I have had their truffle pizza before. This was quite a lovely pizza which was mushroomey.

I got a gnocchi with tomato and cheese- this was quite nice. The gnocchi was pillowy and potatoey.

So we got a takeaway marinara for my housemates and they really enjoyed this. They loved that it was aldente and that the seafood was fresh. Moreover I could smell the garlic from my room.

They also loved the tiramisu gift and biscuits. I loved the biscuits and plan on doing my own version of tiramisu.

Do come by Italian Chef on Chapel st for some good food and wine.

Maori Chief Hotel

This place is Moray St in South Melbourne just one block away from Clarendon st. The place is hidden which means that not many bloggers know about it. I didn't find out about this until one of the Crosbie crew members invited me to their Parma/pub night. Apparently this happens once a month.

The place is run by the Kiwis and they do a good selection of wines and imported beers. But seeing as I might be having beer tomorrow night and a burger I thought I might like to keep it low for a while.

The fish and chips for $18 was reasonable. Although the fish was a little bit bland. Don't get me wrong- it was fresh, just bland. And the chips were ok this time, not like Goody's. They were actually nice and crispy.

I haven't had lemonade in a while so this was a first.

They had a $15 burger special and the burgers are massive. The group really liked their burgers. The burgers though were difficult to eat with fork and knife so most used their hands.

Maori Chief should invite some bloggers and host a bloggers night seeing as only four other bloggers know about the place. They should host this night on a quiet weekday night with dessert and their free tea and coffee deal.

Roll'd in Jam Factory

RNIS has bought a Groupon for 2 baos and they bought the bun with spring rolls. Here the Jam Factory was not so busy in the restaurant area but the cinema was busy. Many of the restaurants were closed for the night.

It was a rainy night and it was cold.

Here I was served by an Aussie girl who did not know that I bought the actual Scoopon and she charged me the $5. But at the end I reminded her and she gave me back the money. Next time when someone has a scoopon that means that they already paid. But overall the service was friendly.

The bun for $10.90 was horrible. It had too much pickles and dressing which drowned out the flavour. The noodles was too cold and very limp. The only saving grace and there was not much of that was the spring rolls. The tofu was not cut properly.

For the bao I chose the tofu and the pork one. The pork one was dry and flavourless. The tofu one was lukewarm and a little bit soggy.

Rating: 9/20- I think I prefer the Southbank one thanks! The service was the only thing that saves this place.