Tao Dumpling House

Tao Dumpling House is a new place in South Yarra. It is right near the train station. They had been open for a few months but I had not discovered them until recently. I probably just rushed by the place without looking on my runs.

The place was not busy and the staff were attentive. The manager was just ok.

Their dumplings are great and they do have half serves. Here I had their vegetable dumplings and they were freshly done. My dumplings came quick. And so were the prawn dumplings. The other group had a lot of food that they could not finish.

Then I tried other things. I came on Sunday night with Leandro and had the prawn crackers which were free during the weekend dinners and seafood fried noodles ($14). I also had a Savingnion Blanc which was chilled. This was great chilled as it brought out all the crispiness of the drink. The seafood fried noodles worked with a light drink such as this. This was light in flavour and the noodles were cooked well. It was a bit on the small side though. The seafood was fresh and the calamari was not too chewy. This is a sign that it was cooked just right.

Rating: 15/20- I like all. But I would love there to be more dessert and even a wine tasting event. They have a good wine list but the waitstaff have not much of a clue as to what works with what and what tastes of each wine is like.

The only thing that I would recommend is for them to recommend which drink works well with which dish. Luckily I found that one out via the Jacobs creek site which mentions all.

Siam Lemongrass

Siam Lemongrass is a popular student eatery in Hawthorn near Swinburne uni. Here they have all day lunch which is under $10. They had an award for the Age Cheap eats in 2012 and they are still going strong.

They share the bathrooms with Lido which is upstairs. Here the bathrooms are cool and spacious and they have a really cool bar upstairs.

Here I had a no frills Thai egg omelette and rice. I had been needing all the carbs and proteins possible for running and the new Lord of the Fries in the city was waaay too overcrowded with people getting free chips.

I really liked this as they did it freshly and I was able to try out the Thai chilli sauce which just amazing. Just as amazing was the salad under which had not much dressing to it. The rice was also good and extremely moreish.

Rating: 14/20- me likes simple food, Do come by especially for dinner as they have beer and wine and lovely dishes

Bon Fromage in short

Bon Fromage was a Parisian cheese and wine event at the old King and Godfree site in Carlton. Here they had loads of cheese for everyone to try from triple brie to vintage cheddar. Wines were $8-$10 per glass. It was cash only. Maker and Monger and Shifty Cherve were there to sell their cheese meals and blocks for all to buy.

Cheeses to try.

More cheeses on offer

Triple cream cheese- this was yum

The music there was just great

Here I loved all the cheeses on offer.

It was a pity that it was just on for the one weekend and not the two as proposed. Oh well if they do run it again I will surely attend again

Campari House's San Daniele pizza

Campari House is in the city and I have been here many times. Here the service is a tad bit slow but they are busy on Friday nights so it is best to book. Most people were drinking that night and some were already drunk.

Campari House has been refurbished. Gone are the days of the dark dim restaurant which was small. Nowadays it is big and there is lots of light to make it warm and inviting.

I started off with a chardonnay. This is $5 for members of the house. And on their birthdays there is the free pizza. I ordered a San Daniele ($24 for a small plate with not much cheese which is good). I loved all the ham on top as well as the underrated pear. I also loved the base of it. It was not too thin and not too thick.

I also loved having the fresh chilli on my base. It was quite nice and not too spicy.

Rating: 15/20- loved it. It worked really well with the chardonnay. The only improvement that I would love to see is in the service

Bells Hotel

This hotel is in South Melbourne and they have pretty decent meals from what I have heard. Here they had $15 main meals for the members of the Crosbie Crew and $15 steak specials. They were pretty huge and I was not in the mood for huge. After all I have had a huge beer, chips and other things earlier on in the day.

So instead I went for the $8 kids fish and chips which was small but ok since it was delivered to the table closer to 8pm. I got here at 7:30pm when none of them arrived and they did not know where we were sitting. I also ordered close to this time.

From there on they got the tables mixed up and people's steaks and salmon did not come until after 8pm. I would hate to pay full price for the service and the smallish plates of steak with no chips. Oh well at least they were happy.

I got to try the coucous on someone's salmon dish and it was waaay too tangy. It also had a lot of dressing. My chips seemed ho hum and the fish was great. I also tried someone else's parma chips and they were pretty good. Perhaps there was two chefs in the kitchen each with very different ideas of quality?

Oh well its fine and dandy for the drinks and parma but not the service. And dang it took them time to get the heater to work.