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.

The European Night Market and Bottega

The European Night Market is on every Friday night and here it is all good. It was busy on this damp winter's night. It is in the city on Madame Brussels lane where the law offfices were.

It was here that a new Goz City opened and they were having a launch inside and I wasn't invited. Oh well. We did however have to wait twenty minutes for food to come in the cold.

Whilst waiting I listened to some lovely music and smelt the mulled wine.

I was thinking of getting dessert there but I thought it was too busy. So I booked Bottega on Dimmi for dessert. And I am glad I did because it was way too busy at 8pm with people enjoying a late night drink or dinner. If I didn't book there would be no table.

 

I did a bit of research on Zomato and found that the best desserts were the chocolate soufflé and the tiramisu. I am not a fan of coffee after 8pm so I went for the chocolate soufflé. The waiter told me it would take a while. I didn't mind that it did because it was really good. It was of Masterchef quality. I loved the dark chocolate and the mandarin peel. The flavours worked well together. However I think vanilla ice cream would work better then the coffee one. I just really wasn't a fan of the coffee and the mandarin peel. They had two contrasting flavours for me.

I am a sweets girl and Bottega did not disappoint.

Master Roll Vietnam

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Master Roll Vietnam is in South Yarra, right next to a 7-11 which is near the train station. Hence it is easy for morning commuters to get their healthy breakfast fix and their 15 grams of protein that they should have every morning. Meat and tofu have a lot of protein in them.

The place is rather small so most people opted for takeaway.

The service there was very friendly for a busy Saturday afternoon before heading to the G.

They are known for their Bhanh Mi, a special type of Vietnamese roll filled with tofu, pork or other meats. And at $6 a steal they are quite filling. I had that and their tofu rice paper rolls ($7 for 2 and they were freshly made). Their peanut was a little too watery for my liking though.

The Bhanh mi though was good and I loved the pickled vegetables, even the huge cabbage stalk and I'm not a huge fan of pickled cabbage.

Rating: 15/20- Healthy and wholesome and we need more of that please. Do come by on your way to the G and avoid buying all those unhealthy foods at the G. They are not good for you.

 

The chocolate tasting tour

There are lots and lots of chocolate tours all over Melbourne. Some of them cover stores outside of Melbourne and some don't. This one was run by Best Food Tours and for a mere $25 (on a Scoopon that is) we were shown some local Melbournian stores. The tour ran for two hours and involved lots of walking.

There were six stops. Our tour guide was a lovely Indian girl who is a local Melburnian

1) The Cupcake family in QV.
This is where we all met for the day. Here this business is run by a Japanese couple and we sampled their mini cupcakes. I got their matcha one as I was interested in their new flavours. Here this was moist and not as sweet as some of the other ones. In fact it was more like Cupcake centrals one.

2) Chokolait in Emporium
Chokolait has two stores now. One in the Royal Arcade and one in Emporium. The emporium one opened in July and had been really popular with shoppers.

Our tour guide also took us through the lovely history of the Emporium and that it used to be an old Myer building. In fact they take good care of their shoppers on Shopping days with free wine and food.

Back to the tastings, I had a pandan flavoured chocolate which was handmade. It was just a delight to eat. The flavours worked well with the white chocolate

3) Cacao Lab
Situated in Driver Lane in the city Cacao Lab has been opened for at least a year. Here they are laboratory like place which produces some of Melbourne's best flavours. This is where I tried my first chocolate mint shot and it was a hit with everyone

The front of their store

4) Koko Black
Koko Black opened in 2003 and has been going strong since. Here we tried their original Belguim chocolate and it was that good. Several people made chocolate purchases but I live in the city so I can purchase them at any time

5) Ganache
Here we tried their strawberry flavoured chocolate and it was divine! It was like wow!

Image courtesy of Lulu T. Legrand from zomato.com

6) The last stop
The last stop was the Chocomama shop. Here we were treated to fusion like chocolates in which we tried the pretzel one and the white chocolate raspberry. And I finally bought something at last.

Many thanks to Best Food Tours and Study Melbourne for having me. Oh and by the way there are Scoopons for these tours and they are $25 each

Rocket Fries

Image courtesy of zomato.com

Rocket Fries is just outside Flinders st station on the Elizabeth st end. Here they served pretty good salted fries. Their onion rings are not bad.

The service there was alright. But after all it is a takeaway joint and not a sit down place. You order and pay and then leave

Image courtesy of Jim from zomato.com

They did a takeaway order for me within 10 minutes and off I went to the train station. The onion rings were alright but I think they put too much oil in my chips. Hence it was so oily.

I struggled to finish them as the serving was huge. Its best to share them.

Rating: 15/20- not bad chips

Mister Bianco

RNIS dined courtesy of Dimmi

Mister Bianco is a little understated place in Kew. It was busy on a Tuesday night during dinner with many diners enjoying a quiet Italian dinner together. It was here that five other bloggers wrote about the service and the food, especially Ashley of Im So Hungree who first discovered it.

It is about 20 mins by tram from the city.

Here the service is really friendly and the place is photogenic. Here I was a given a new phone thanks to Paypal and Study Melbourne and had the chance to use it.

They have a really good wine list here and their desserts are to die for. Also they are known for their pastas. But the pumpkin ravioli ($29) was really small though. There were some good Italian flavours and cheeses but it was small.

Pumpkin Ravioli

The complimentary bread came in a brown paper bag which was cute. Moreover I really enjoyed the sea salt. It was very addictive.

I also enjoyed the $3 cannoli which was made in house. A cannoli is a small Italian sweet and this did not disappoint. The passionfruit soufflé was really good with the blood orange sorbet ($17). That soufflé was to die for and so was the sorbet. The sorbet had the right amount of tanginess.

Rating: 18/20- lovely place to dine at and reasonable sized portions for late diners.

Schnitz at Crown

RNIS received a voucher for their Schnitzel roll or wrap and did not have to pay.

Schnitz is a schnitzel chain store which specialises in schnitzel rolls.  Here at 2pm it was quiet except for the odd tourist which stays at Crown Casino.

You order and pay and then your number is called. When your number is called you go up and collect the food.

So the line and my food came pretty quickly. I had the Thai me knot burger ($12.90).  It came with a big schnitzel, carrots, lettuce, coriander and sweet chilli sauce, all in a nice bun.They put heaps of sweet chill sauce in there.

The bun was heavenly. It was soft. I hate those ones which are way too dry. The schnitzel was nicely crumbed and fried well. It was very crunchy.

The carrots and lettuce were nothing to write home about but at least I am glad that there is lots and lots of carrots as I am a veg person.

Rating: 14/20- liked although I am more of a veggie person. But do come by if you are at Crown and are looking for a good burger meal with the chips.

Just on a little side note: I wonder why the Government does not include Crown casino in the free zone?

The St Kilda Branch

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015
RNIS bought a Groupon for $20 for $40 to spend. But note they didn't spend it all.

The St Kilda Branch is on the corner of Barkly, Blessington and Smith sts. It is at the terminus for route number 96 tram.

Here the St Kilda branch is popular with the locals and they have their own locals night on Friday where the locals get about 30% off the total bill. Here the locals mainly drink, but we were interested in the $5 pizza nights and the other food. As well as the live entertainment.

The bathrooms are up two flights of narrow wooden steps so it might be hard for the ladies with heels to walk up.

The staff were ok. It took a while for them to process my Groupon on my phone. The food took a little to come, but when it did it was all good. But at least the bar action and the live music was very lovely and not too heavy on the ears.

For a non alcoholic drink I had a pineapple juice (I think it was $4- never mind that as my Groupon took care of that). Other people were having lots and lots of alcohol without food. Food helps to digest some of the booze.

The mushroom pizza ($5 +$5 for a gluten free base) and the salad ($13) came together. I had my mushroom pizza with a gluten free base (just for a healthier alternative to gluten) and the pumpkin salad for lots and lots of veg. By right they were the healthiest choices ever made and enjoyed. In fact I love lots of red onion and balsamic and the salad did not disappoint. The feta was very creamy and so was the pumpkin and the rocket was very fresh.

I thought that my pizza would be huge but I was happy with the tiny size given that it was nearly eight and a very good idea not to have too much before bed. In fact I enjoyed the thin crust and the thin layers of cheese and tomato sauce. This is a healthier way to enjoy pizza.

Rating: 17/20- healthy do. I hope that more bloggers come and review the place as it is sad to only see one review and a lot of negative criticisms on Urbanspoon. I hope the little humble place does not shut down.

A Global Gathering

As part of this year's Melbourne Food and Wine festival.

A Global Gathering is all out foodie event which is spread out all over Bridge Road. From free food to $5-$10 tasting plates there is something to please everyone. Even the pickiest of eaters. There was free face painting for the kids.

My four stamps

Free popcorn

Free face painting

It is only a short tram ride away from the city. At the Information hubs we collected our passports and stamp form and off we went. If you got four stamps like we did then you would be in the running to win a SMEG kitchen pack from Harvey Norman, which leads us to our first stop for free food.

1) Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman offered free chippolatas and tastings of their stir fry. We couldn't stay long but they did offer free cooking classes and the bake off at 12pm.

I really loved that sweetness in the stir fry and the onions. The sales rep from SMEG said it was 4 mins to make the stir fry and it worked a treat.

The stir fry for everyone

2) Three One 2 One café

The entrance

Salt and sugar

This place was just literally across the road from Harvey Norman, but due to the heavy traffic it was hard to cross. Maybe they should have closed off that whole road and then have lots of roadside stalls.

The café is pretty homely and they make their own jams and have about 21 varieties of sauces for people to peruse on their dishes. I had the mushroom arachini which had that subtle taste of mushrooms and it was not too overpowering. I also loved having the chilli jam on the second ball= yum

3) Bouzy Rouge and their salt cod ball ($2)
What attracted us to this place was the paella and the look of the balls. It was on the way to Osteria. The balls were full of flavour and many people got attracted to the paella. The paella smelt good but we had to leave room for other things.

Wine lis

The cod ball tasted like cod and cheese, match made in heaven.

4) Osteria la Passione 

This café is just a few blocks away from three two one and here we had the cold meat plate for $5. It was $10 just to add the drink as well. We loved the cold meat platter as it was yum and the meats were very fresh. I think it was lamb. We also enjoyed the baked bread and the balsamic vegetables which were drizzled on top of the meat.

Before going in we tried their extra virgin olive oil samplings and bread and gosh it was sooo strong.

This café was very homely, it reminded us of regional Italy and we loved the products on display.

Before we got to number 5 we checked out all the BBQ displays with Gypsey and Mosquito barbequing wallaby and Big Boy's special of $7 for their special chips.

We also checked out Slowpoke's free masterclass.

5) Laikon Deli
This place has been going strong for almost forty years and they sell heaps of fresh Greek food in which you can take home or eat outside.

We got the cone and loved the olives and the freshness of the salad. Yum! I say. And the man that served us was very friendly.

By then the street was getting busier. Oh well only one more stop.

BBQ at Gypsey and Mosquito

6) The Groove Train

This is the last stop and I was really disappointed with my eggplant chips. Although nice it was a little bit bland and it took waaay longer than I had expected. The service was very slow for a not so crowded place. I had always wanted to give this place a go.

I had expected stellar chips as that is what I got everytime I had been to the other Groove trains. But these ones were not even crunchy.