Sushi Hub

RNIS was invited to the Sushi Hub by Healthy Students site and did not have to pay.

Sushi Hub is a sushi shop in Melbourne. Well actually they are a franchise, but the first sushi train run by Sushi Hub is in Melbourne and they are always packed to the full during lunch and dinner. Here the white plates were $2.80 each and the daily special was $3. They also have a make your own sushi roll as well as hot noodle dishes.

Ikura

Pickled vegetables and salmon nigiri

The jellyfish dish, prawn nigiri and pickled vegetables

They don't have alcohol but they do have Japanese soft drinks and tea.

A prawn nigiri which I have never had before

We liked the Ikura and salmon nigiri and have never tried the pickled vegetables before so this was something new to us. We loved the spiciness of this and the pickled jellyfish. Yum. This time we tried the prawn nigiri and also enjoyed this.

Some of the staff could not cope with the busy place. They were unhappy and the place looked understaffed.

We loved the udon but it did have a bit of a fishy smell. It was tempura vegetable udon. The noodles were silky smooth though.

Rating: 13/20- love the udon and the prawn nigiris. I am not sure as to whether they can cope with the busy times. Perhaps they need more staff on during the lunch and dinner hours. Do buy the Entertainment book off us and you can show your support for the Salvation Army. There is a deal for this place at 25% off the total bill.

Cafe Chinotto

Cafe Chinotto is a place in Federation Square near Deakin Edge and ACMI. Here we were invited by Healthy student site to participate and did not have to pay. We walked by it a few times wanting to go in. And no they do not do desserts except for cakes. They do have sandwiches for anytime of the day.

The service was very friendly. We did not know that this place closes at eight pm. I always thought that it would be late because all the other places were open. At least they let me finish my food.

Here we loved the thin crust pizza as this seems to have less calories in it. But however we did not like the fact that it had not that many vegetables in it and too much cheese which can be bad for you. It could have done with some onions. At $17 for this smallish size it was expensive, but mind you I was not paying for this.

The milkshake was small and it was $6. It was just made out of normal milk and ice cream but blended. Something which I can do at home, but I needed that protein shake for after the huge workout that I had.

Rating: 13/20- ok food, friendly service. Thank god I was not paying and thank you Healthystudent site for the meal.

Royal Canadian Club: Huxtable and Huxtaburger

RNIS was invited to the club by Healthy student site and did not have to pay.

The Royal Canadian club is a pop up event in the city. It is in Birrarung Marr and its on whilst the tennis is on. Here many people relaxed over beer and food from Uncle, Estelle, Huxtaburger and huxtable. The ice creams at Messina were expensive at $10 a pint.

Here I tried Huxtable's lobster roll seeing as everyone said that this is good. Here it was cold but the lobster was fresh. I loved the soft sweet brioche roll that it was in. This was $15. The spiciness of the roll was simply addictive. I would have loved more but they are an expensive restaurant in Fitzroy.

Huxtaburger's chips were amazing. They were warm and I enjoyed the chicken salt. It was amazing without the sauce. This was a mere $5.

Many thanks to Healthy student site for the invite. Do pop by if they are around next year.

Mister Truongs

RNIS was invited to this place and did not have to pay

Mister Truong's is a Vietnamese place which is based in Brunswick. Now they have a second shop in Windsor, right near the station, Here this place attracted a few Caucasians but not as many as the place next door. The place next door on a Saturday lunchtime had more people.

Then again it was the start of the long holiday and the start of the free week travel for all Vline services. Hence people decided to leave for the country.

I met Jack the owner who was a lovely Vietnamese. He knew his stuff well and it shows when he helped those two others after me.

They are known for their bhanh mi but I was after a big meal and no drinks since they contain calories in them. In the morning lecture we talked about unwanted calories but good protein and fats and the body needs both, I had their egg omelette (for protien), tofu and prawn rice paper rolls (both protien, good fats and carbs) and the spring roll bun for carbs for later on when I do Zumba class and gym.

Egg omelette

I loved the food. It was cooked simply, but bland in some places like the rice paper rolls. The tofu one was fresh, but the prawn one was not. It had been sitting there for a while and had dried out.

I liked the bun, but wished that they put the peanut sauce on the side. The amount of peanut sauce in the dish had overpowered it. It was still edible but not as enjoyable. The vegetables were fresh and I loved the good ol spring roll.

Rating- 15/20. Good but all over the place. They really need to sort out their rice paper rolls. If you do go do order the egg omelette.

Fruit Life- famous for their honey toast

Fruitlife is a new shop in the city which is famous for their Hong Kong style foods. We were invited there by Healthystudents site who bought the Scoopon for us. The Scoopon was $9 for $18.80 dessert. This dessert was thick style toast with ice cream, banana and strawberry. Here you can choose between four types of desserts on the menu.

It takes about 15 mins to make. Here they toast the thick bread, then cut it in the middle and then fill it with bread honey and the other fillings that you ask for.

The service was very friendly. Whilst waiting I went through Instagram and watched TV which showed food of Hong Kong. I quite enjoy this program at home.

It was lovely and very filling. I struggled to finish all of this. At Max Brenner I would pay $20 and the dessert would be quite ordinary. Here it was extraordinary and it had two scoops of ice cream. Mind you at Max Brenner's I would only get one small scoop.

Do come here for Tawainese style desserts and buy the Scoopon.

Miyako

Miyako is a Japanese restaurant which has been around for about 20 years. Here they are run by true Japanese and I was invited by Healthystudent site to give a review about this place. You check out Healthystudent site here and give them some feedback as they would always want. Moreover they would want you to buy their products if you can. They are now promoting Amazon products as well as their own.

But back to the restaurant. It is lovely and relaxed and good for formal and informal dinners. I went many years back with my own family and had always enjoyed the food and service. THis time the service was attentive and the place was very empty, I wonder why. It was a Tuesday lunchtime when I came. There were only 3-4 tables full and the rest was very empty.

Ceiling

They still have their lunch sets and its as popular as ever. They have their daily specials and they have their ever so popular sashimi and sushi bento. However I can't say that I have fallen in love with it this time. There was not as much sushi as the years before, the fruits were gone (they were amazing then) and the salad was overdressed. It pretty much killed the flavour of the leaves. But the tofu denguku as Gastrology mentioned is AMAZING. The sauces were just brilliant and its as light as. Same as with the tempura which I ordered as an entree. It was light and healthy.

Bento

The sushi though sadly was a tad bit salty and they did take a while to make it. I will never forget the white bits on the sashimi though. They may gross some people out. I thought that they did not take enough care in their work.

The miso soup was stockstandard and the appetizer was a nice touch. It was beef with miso and mini French toast

We wanted dessert though, but they do not do dessert during the lunch hour.

Rating: 13/20- lucky I did not have pay. If I had to pay I would not have been too happy with this meal.

The Botanical

RNIS was invited there by Herbalife (they paid for the gift card) hence did not have to pay the $17.50.

The Botanical is one of Melbourne's best brunch places and is outside the Royal Botanical Gardens hence it attracts dog walkers and people alike (workers, students, everyone). It is right near the tram stop and you catch the number 8 from the city. Similarly if you are exploring the gardens its just short stroll.

The Botanical is also a wine store and when I went to their store to pay it was like I was in wine heaven. However I did not buy wine of course.

But I did try their latte( $3.50), scrambled eggs ( eggs cooked your way- cape Schnack- $11 with souradough toast) and thrice cooked chips with harissa tomato sauce ($9). The Harissa tomato sauce was a good way to spice up an otherwise boring tomato sauce. Even though I hat tomato sauce this is really great and I enjoyed it to the last bone. I hate potato chips which have been frozen and then cooked in the deep fryer. These were not; they were done by hand. The fries were made with fresh potato.

Their scrambled eggs were the best and they were done really freshly. I love fresh souradough and this did not disappoint. I love my scrambled eggs with herbs and this had herbs. I mixed some of that harissa sauce in there to give it that tomatoey kick.

The latte was good. It had equal parts of cream, milk and coffee and it would satisfy any brunch goer. I was a tad bit disappointed that the latte art was messed up but all was good.

Rating: 17/20- love a good coffee and good brunch. This is one good brunch place for everyone including tourists to come to. I'm sorry there no MYKI place nearby except for Domain Interchange.

The Imperial

I have walked past The Imperial several times and had always wanted to give this a go. So when our business bought the gift card from the Age for me and they were on the list. But they always seemed so expensive and out of the way for me.

But I have say that for a bar the vibe is really good. I loved watching the staff make the drinks for the birthday girl and her friends. You order and pay at the counter and you collect the menu yourself to peruse. Here they don't do a lot of vegetarian fare but they specialise in pizza fare. Almost all of their pizza is $10 which makes it a good place for some Mundo Lingo fare.

Service here was a bit slow and the lady at the bar was disinterested in serving customers. The guys were just fine.

Here I had their vegetarian pasta ($19) which was nice but bland.Some pesto sauce would be lovely. But the vegetables were great and the plate made it a good hearty pub meal. It was bowtie pasta which makes it a good summers day meal with wine or the fat burning tea which you can buy from Healthy International students.

Rating: 14/20- love the food but hated the disinterested service.

Bokchoy tang

RNIS was invited by Healthystudent site and Herbalife to review the place

Bokchoy Tang has been around for a while now. Here it has been reviewed for outstanding Asian food by various blogs like Jeroxie etc. So when I got the Age Good Food Card I thought that I would give this a shot. I had seen the place before. It is clean and up two flights of stairs.

Spring rolls close up

Spring onion pancake close up

Inside of it is warm and like a more elegant Chinese restaurant. There was only one other group of four and they were Caucasian enjoying a banquet with champagne and wine. I was just happy trying dumplings and by the time I left they had a whole lot more food which I don't think that they would have been able to finish.

I had just finished fit club and smoothies before coming, so I did not mind waiting and watching them cook my food in an open kitchen. Here they also do Menulog orders and they have won best Regional award last year just for their outstanding food. If I was to order from Menulog I'd order from them. I loved the cute bags that the takeaway comes in.

Prawn and chive parcels

Here I had plump vegetarian spring rolls, the flatbread, prawn and chive parcels (which were amazing by the way), the pan fried veg dumplings and the spring onion pancake for $30 altogether ( I did get an Entertainment book discount and I got the card courtesy of Herbalife and Healthy Students site). Everything looked small but was moreish and at 8pm and after I don't eat a lot.

Everything is made freshly here. I enjoyed eating it all. The flat bread was a little bit on the sweetish side, but I loved the plum sauce that came with the spring rolls. I also loved the freshly fried pancake and the dumplings. Yum

They use a lot of fresh ingredients and I can taste them in everything.

Rating: 18/20- enjoyed it but a little bit pricey if I paid for it all. Do come by for fine dining with elegance,

Melbourne releases a new monopoly board

There is a new monopoly board and its all about Melbourne. Here it feautres Melbourne's best coffee places, restaurants and attractions. All of which make up Melbourne. Today it was launched and it retails for $50 in toy stores and MYER all over Melbourne.

For the chances and community chest the acitivites would be things like betting on horses at the Melbourne Cup or dining out, things that would be uniquely Melbourne

For Monopoly lovers this is a good gift for anytime

 

What goes where?

BROWN
London: Old Kent Road and Whitechapel
Melbourne: Hosier Lane and Hardware Lane
LIGHT BLUE
London: Pentonville Road, Euston Road and The Angel, Islington
Melbourne: Great Ocean Road, Dandenong Ranges and Eureka Skydeck
PINK
London: Pall Mall, Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue
Melbourne:  Emporium Melbourne, Queen Vic Market and Chapel Street
​ORANGE
London: Vine Street, Marlborough Street, Bow Street
Melbourne: Etihad Stadium, Rod Laver Arena and Flemington Racecourse
RED
London: Trafalgar Square, The Strand and Fleet Street
Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne and Royal Exhibition Building
YELLOW
London: Picadilly, Leicester Square and Coventry Street
Melbourne: Brighton Bathing Boxes, Bells Beach and St Kilda
GREEN
London: Regent Street, Oxford Street and Bond Street
Melbourne: The University of Melbourne, Shrine of Remembrance, and Melbourne Zoo
DARK BLUE
London: Mayfair and Park Lane
Melbourne: MCG and Federation Square
UTILITIES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Melbourne Water; Flinders Street Station, Southern Cross Station, Parliament Station and Melbourne Central Station

Do buy it now

Platform 270 at Hilton

Platfrom 270 is Hilton's newest bar and restaurant. The Hilton has been around for quite a while now. It was quiet for a Wednesday night. They too have been quiet on their social media page with not a lot shares and bloggers alike.

Platform 270 is right next door to my gym and I have eyed it a number of times, but never found the courage to go in. They have $20 meal deals which include a drink and a main depending on the day. This is a huge place which you can easily mistake for a bar because it is so dark.

The risotto that day was a prawn and pea risotto. It was not too cream which is great but there was not a lot of prawns in there. I would have liked there to be more. But the rice was fluffy and the sauce was good.

Seeing as I am trying to cut back on alcohol I had lemonade. Normally it comes with wine but I went with lemonade. I am on a bit of a health kick so no desserts or starters for me.

Rating: 11/20- an ok meal but good deal though

The Lincoln

The Lincoln is a pub which has been open for a few years. I have not been a regular at RMIT Carlton until now when RMIT is renovating the city campus for a better place. Hence I have never heard of it until a friend brought me there for their good food.

I read online that it was a gastropub with a bit of history to it and that is true. My friend saw the menu and didn't bother looking at the $20 specials outside. Therefore he thought that the paper menu was a bit weird.  I had a quick glance on them on my way in.

I didn't want anything on the paper menu except for their "Thrice cooked chips" ($9) which reminded me of country fare. And country fare it was indeed with great Australian potatoes. It was baked not fried.

The service was slow but friendly. We did have to wait a while for the food and it was justified.

The aioli was just perfect. It wasn't too salty and it didn't have too much mayonnaise in there.

The other dish which was my friend's sausages and mash ($20), looked small but was hearty. However the sausage was hard to cut. It was good but I just thought that they should have cooked the sausages a little bit better and brought out the mustard at the start of the meal and not at the end. The mustard was really sweet and a little bit spicy. But the potato mash was just right . It was creamy and not salty or dry to which some of them can be.

Rating:13/20- come here for the good times and country food. Oh and they also do coffee now.