Federal Diner, Auckland

The Federal Diner is opposite Sky City in Auckland.  However it is a world away from a casino.  It is like stepping back in time to an American diner... The staff are dressed in quirky uniforms and the decor is fantastic.  I enjoyed the NY steak for dinner one night and a rueben sandwich for lunch another day.  Both were delicious and reasonably priced.

Auckland desserts at the Heritage

The winter has been a little quiet for ice cream.  However now that spring has sprung, I am back on the ice cream bandwagon.

On a recent trip to Auckland I had a couple of good desserts at my hotel.  The Heritage doesn't have much ambience in the dining room, but they make an effort with the food and service:

Sticky date pudding with vanilla ice cream

Flourless orange cake with vanilla icecream:

Breakfast at the Deli Counter, 211 Queen Street Melbourne

I read about a new cafe in the Epicure this week and so we decided to try it for breakfast.  It has a rustic charm with friendly staff.  Downstairs there are benches to sit by the window and upstairs there are larger tables for groups.

We all had the smashed avocado with feta, chilli, lemon and poached eggs on a light crisp of turkish bread.  It was served on a glass plate and tasted absolutely superb.

Messina moves to Melbourne

We walked to Smith Street Fitzroy to try Messina's new store.  It was fantastic and even nicer than the Sydney shop, because there is more space to sit.

Mr Critic had a double scoop "East Meets West" (lane, pistachio, with fig and date jam, a little sour and yoghurt-like) and Giandua (hazelnut and chocolate):

I had the rosewater and pistachio (light and nutty... delicious):

Gelare, Brisbane

Gelare is a chain from Perth.  It has opened on South Bank in Brisbane... and New Zealand ice-cream has closed.  Unfortunately the quality is not so great.  This was the passionfruit sorbet... the sort of texture you might expect from a supermarket tub.

The cone was terrible and crumbled, but the ice-cream was delicious:

In the Pink, Byron Bay

In the Pink is a lovely gelato shop in Byron Bay Queensland.  I highly recommend the caramel and fig... the passionfruit was delicious too...

The store layout is fairly standard for the artisan gelato shop - with a nice retro rounded cabinet...

Indulging in the outback

This week I had an adventure in the outback.  I drove 850kms from Melbourne to Broken Hill (and loved every minute of it - amazing landscapes, funny characters and warm friendly country hospitality).  On the way up, I had a fantastic steak sandwich (with perfectly cooked steak) at the Mildura micro brewery (run by Stefano of 'Gondola on the Murray' fame).

Loved the coffee fudge ice-cream at the local gelateria:

Excellent spicy chicken and eggplant enchiladas at the Palace Hotel in Broken Hill (famous for its murals painted by a long term resident in the 1950s):

Incredible ceiling (all the walls were covered... the staircase murals were particularly beautiful, but the light was not so good there):

Two up game after dinner (the murals made a fantastic backdrop):

On the way back from Broken Hill, I had the slow cooked beef lasagne at Stefano's art cafe (I think it might be the best lasagne I have ever had... the meat was so soft and in big chunks).  I am a big fan of the earthenware dish too. 

The Persian love cake and iced lemon cake were interesting, but quite unusual textures... not too sweet... both quite wet (and eaten before I had a chance to take photos).

Such wonderful foodie experiences along the Murray and in the dessert...

:-)

Terrible dinner at Punch Lane

A friend had a voucher for Punch Lane (in Little Collins Street) and so we booked for 6 on a Saturday night.  It was a complete disaster.

1. They could not take us until 8:15pm.
2. When we did arrive, they were not ready for us, so they asked us to wait outside.
3. They didn't take our orders quickly.
4. They had run out of menu items (food and wine).
5. The food took a very long time to come.
6. When the food came, it was not cooked properly (lamb) and tough.

I had the pumpkin and hazelnut risotto (rather yuk, but I was hungry):

This was baby snapper (unsatisfying at $39):

This was another sort of fish:

Korean lunch down an alley near Melbourne Town Hall

Huy took Marnie and me to a Korean cafe behind the Melbourne Town Hall (off Little Collins Street).  It was full of people and we tried the $9.50 deal (meat, side and rice or pasta).  I had tofu (I don't cook tofu at home) and it was delicious (served on a bed of vegetables):

Cones, Hawthorn

A rainy weekend didn't stop Captain Foz and I eating icecream in Hawthorn at Cones.

Captain Foz had hazelnut (no nut pieces) and mint slice icecream, while I tried the lemon cheesecake.  They were a little disappointing (not enough crunch), but helped to kill time between house inspections.

RACV Club in Bourke Street Melbourne for lunch

Sara took us to her club for lunch today.  It was full of people and we had the $16 lunch (including salad, hot buffet, dessert and soft serve icecream!).  We had a good time trying all the tasty morsels.

Sara had veges, meat, gravy, spuds and pumpkin:

I tried the curries and salad:

Peter had curry, fish and rice:

 

Sara had a side of dumplings:

Dessert was fun... lamingtons, cheescake, apple pie, pavlova, chocolate cake and soft serve ice-cream!

Pei Modern

We tried Pei Modern in the Sofitel this morning.  Pippa secured the corner booth for us (haven't had the corner table at Cumulus for a while, so this was a great treat).  The music was loud when we arrived, but they turned it down shortly after.

 

I tried the cured ocean trout with scrambled eggs and toast.  They bake their own bread and it tasted beautiful.

 

Goz

Yesterday Peter and I tried the Gozlome at Goz in Little Collins Street.  It was very hot (I burnt my tongue), but the cheese and spinach was delicious.  It comes with a little bit of cooling yoghurt. We sat at the bar and watched the crowd build (I recommend going before 12).

 

There are delicious salads on offer too.

 

 

 

Easter lunch in Hawthorn

Khamsouk cooked up a storm for Easter Sunday lunch yesterday.  We started with delicious cured beef (sun-dried with sesame and ginger), pork and coconut balls, home-made eggplant dip and bread. Then we had an amazing array of beef, chicken and pork for main:

Dessert was a divine orange cake (containing no butter, rather almond meal) served with fresh orange and vanilla ice-cream! Yum!

Salmon, bacon, fennel and roasted tomatoes

Rob and Amber cooked us a beautiful dinner last night.

We started with a delicious soup:

And then they followed it with baked salmon, bacon, fennel, tomato, rosemary and balsamic soaked crusty bread:

My nutella cheese cake was not so photo worthy, but the comedy show we saw was excellent.  Max & Ivan put on "The Reunion" at the Powder Room in Melbourne Town Hall.  There were some hilarious moments, songs and audience participation (well done Bob from the fictional band "Zits"... they are popping up everywhere and exploding all over your face!).  The best bit was the reunion of the Geography teacher and the mature age student... who had an intimate relationship... involving lots of analogies...

:-)

Tender Loving Kisses for Easter

There were tender loving kisses in the office this afternoon... with cherry and meringe flavour mini magnums called "2 Loving Kisses" for everyone thanks to Peter:

Perth's great cafe food for breakfast

We were spoilt in Perth with a series of great breakfasts.  There was green tea smoked ocean trout at the Greenhouse (100 St Georges Terrace).  It came with kale, sliced beetroot, egg, hash and sour cream:

There was Cafe Negro (Hay Street) with smoked salmon and avocado plus a slice of lemon (accompanied by New Zealand Phoenix guava juice):

Dome did a decent job with fruit salad, but Negro's had more class with the berries in the yoghurt:

Spring Street Grocer - Sunday afternoon

Cardamon, saffron and pistacchio (a little disappointing 7/10), hazelnut was agreeable (despite the lack of actual nut pieces)... at $5 a scoop, we were pretty happy...

 

Boy (New Zealand Film)

We have been working our way through SBS Festival of 100 Clicks on Demand and came across a New Zealand film called Boy.  It was quite a nice surprise.  The main character is an 11 year old boy who is looking after his siblings while his grandma attends a funeral.  He cooks and cleans with the littlies until his long lost Dad turns up to be a bad influence on him.

His Dad left when his Mum died in childbirth.  However he has returned to find the money he buried in a field.  Boy shouts his mates icy poles with the find, but the goat is not going to let him get away with it.

It is a tragic comedy.  Boy is obsessed by Michael Jackson, the idea of his Dad (not the reality) and Chardonnay (a girl at school).  His friends are priceless and so are their names (Dallas and Dynasty).  The little brother Rocky almost steals the show with his sweetness and belief in super powers.  Worth watching.

9/10

Hihou - 1 Flinders Lane Melbourne

I had a healthy lunch at Hihou today (corner Spring Street and Flinders Lane):

It's a quirky tiny place with crazy tables made from milk crates!  It was delicious for lots of different flavours (salmon, eggplant, tofu, coleslaw, veges) and only $18 for a bento box.  You can order miso soup on the side:

Alpha 238 Castlereagh Street Sydney (and Momo)

Sue took me to Alpha, a fabulous Greek restaurant in Sydney last night.  We had dips to start (feta and chilli) with pita bread:

Then we had a pile of scallops with soft eggplant, crab tart and slow cooked lamb...

This is what I had for lunch (pumpkin and beetroot salad with smoked salmon):

 

 

 

Bombay Bliss, Grill'd Carlton

This was yum (chickpea burger, roasted capsicum, tomato, mayo, lettuce, sour dough bun):

El Sabor, the Mexican in North Melbourne

Last night we tried a new Mexican restaurant in Victoria Street.  It was great.  They sat us upstairs and we were surrounded by orange walls, Mexican motifs and wooden tables upstairs.

I had the mushroom and black bean enchilada with guacamole and sour cream (the cheese was delicious):

We had two courses and drinks for four people and the bill totalled $213.  Thought that was good value… we were full and satisfied by the nice flavours.  We would go there again.

Pidapipo Carlton

We tried a new gelati shop in Carlton last night and it was great.

The girls serving the gelati are Italian and make quite an effort to scoop beautifully!

I had pistacchio (no nut pieces, but delicious) and only $4 for one scoop.

Captain Foz had nutella and passionfruit... he loved the dribbled nutella sauce on the top.

It was truly a gorgeous experience.