Shinboners
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Posts posted by Shinboners
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Camys is my staple for Shanghai dumplings
I dropped into the Box Hill Camy's and bought some frozen dumplings to heat up for dinner.
We've used the frozen dumplings before, and they've always been good. But yesterday, my God, they were awful. It seemed that there was something wrong with the mixture they used to make the dumpling skins.
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I got a copy last week. I've only had a flick through it, but like their other books, the photography is great, and the stories and recipies seem interesting. I'm looking forward to finding a few hours so I can spend some quality time reading it.
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But jkim, you seem someone accustomed to strong flavours,
I've had Chinese at various other restaurants, both pricy and not... well I think I have cantonese food at least twice a month. The snow pea sprouts is a very common dish at all establishments. However, I've found that the liberal use of garlic (visible chopped garlic) is common. It looked (and tasted) like Tea House had westernized the dish by frying only a small amount of garlic lightly in oil and then discarding the garlic as to only use the oil. Generally the chopped garlic would be served with the dish. So i'm not sure where you're coming from with that comment.
Surely your preference to have the chopped garlic in the dish supports PCL's point about you preferring strong flavours?
And just because most restaurants do the dish in a traditional way doesn't mean that the Tea House has to follow suit. If anything, I think it's a good thing that there are some Chinese restaurants "refining" their dishes. The French, Italians, Spanish, and Japanese are reknowned for their ability to refine and take their cuisines into new directions. It would be good for Chinese cuisine if we had more chefs following this lead.
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The main problem I still have is identifying the intriguing vegetables at Thai and Vietnamese stores. These books don't really help with this at all.
You could try the book, "Asian Kitchen" which was released by Murdoch Books in Australia in 2004. The ISBN is 1740452747, and from what I can remember, it had pictures and information on many Asian ingredients.
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a loooooooong lunch... sushi, sashimi and lots of sake... i'll try to get a cabcharge too!!
Excellent.
While it's on my mind, if you've got the time and inclination, let me know if you want to have lunch at Rockpool B&G too. I still haven't been there yet.
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Cool, I was going to search it... next trip i'm in town, in about 4 weeks, i'll be sure to drop in for a meal... JUST TO SEE
That gives you 4 weeks to think up a good excuse to come to Shiranui mid-week and have lunch with me.
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Oh yeah and the award for the most expensive steak goes to Becasse in Clarence St. I've not tried it. Why? It's a one kilogram, 400 day grain fed, dry aged Wagyu beef and it's $150. That's why
Enjoy!
Yikes! But surely a one kilo slab of meat is meant for 2 people? Anyway, it works out to be $37.50 per 100 grams.
Over here in Rockpool Bar and Grill in Melbourne, they've got a 200g wagyu ribeye priced at $110.00, which works out at $55 per 100 grams.
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Dan the Man... practical as usual!
The missus would argue that point.
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I don't think it'll too difficult for you to get their phone number and give them a call to find out.
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Thanks jkim, a few new suggestions there to explore. A couple people have noted the msg factor at camy and elsewhere, I guess I am lucky and have never noticed any reactions to the stuff. I know there are a lot of opinions on the subject.
Usually I'm pretty sensitive with MSG. Like jkim, it can give me headaches and nausea (not to mention the unquenchable thirst). But with Camy (Box Hill), I haven't noticed any MSG factor. They probably do use it, but maybe not to the extent of other restaurants.
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I've eaten with the friend in question for over 15 years and know his tastes in regards to fine foods, and I trust his judgement, so am unwilling to pop $100pp on fish not worth that kind of money "just to form my own opinion".
You could always go there for lunch. They have a set menu option which will cost you less than $20. That would give you a good basis on deciding whether you should give it a try for dinner.
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A Nobu chain has opened locally in the basement of the casino. This means that actually getting to the restuarant is a less then impressive stroll through food courts and corridors filled with sweating gamblers.
For me, that's the major downside about having to trek to the Crown for dinner. A couple of years ago, we had a pretty nice dinner at the Brasserie, but the evening had its gloss taken off by having to walk through those corridors after dinner.
Still, the missus and I have hatched a plot for the middle of next year. The kids will be sent off to the grandparents while we spend a long weekend at the Crown, and indulge in eating at Rockpool, Giuseppe Arnaldo and Sons, Bistro Guillaume etc.
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According to my friends (I have never been), Shiranui is a waste of money.
Too expensive, for heavily seasoned stale food.
Only the freshest fish is worth eating raw.
I've been to Shiranui a few times for lunch. It's not quite the sublime, mind-blowing experience that I was expecting, but it's still very good.
I don't know why your friends would think the food was stale or the fish wasn't fresh. There was nothing wrong with the quality of the ingredients that they use there.
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Further to Shinboners, any of the Holy Goat range are brilliant, particularly the black silk, and the mature veloute!..... makes being a lactose intolerant chef an even more difficult task.
Speaking of Holy Goat, there is a documentary on SBS tonight about the women who run Holy Goat. It's on at 8pm, right after the always excellent, Food Safari.
Inside Australia - Love's Harvest, Cheese
For Carla and Anne-Marie, women and goats go together but a long drought takes its toll on their cherished goat herd. Carla and Anne-Marie are known for their delectable goat's cheese. It's the reward for ditching their teaching jobs and taking the plunge to farm organic goats on rolling granite country in Central Victoria. Feeling naturally drawn to goats, the women nurture their herd like a large, extended family - giving them all names and carefully plotting the family tree. But a dragging drought and the need for some agonising decisions soon ruptures the idyll of farm life. Carla and Anne-Marie must deal with the urgent need for feed, a competing mob of kangaroos and the basic instincts of mating bucks and new milking mums. For the creators of Holy Goat cheese, farm life provides some challenging dilemmas. (From Australia, in English) (Documentary Series) PG CC
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I'd go for David Thompson's "Thai Food".
Thompson is an Australian born, French trained chef, who accidentally ended up in Thailand. He fell in love with the country and its food. I believe that he has received awards in Thailand for his work in documenting that country's food history and culture.
His book is almost 700 pages long. The first section covers the history, culture, and regions of Thailand. The second part is about the fundamentals of Thai cooking with information on techniques and tools. Part three covers ingredients. After that, it's all recipies with chapters on relishes, soups, curries, salads, and side dishes. There are further sections with suggested menus, snacks/street food, and desserts.
This is probaby the most comprehensive Thai cookbook that you could buy.
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How's about notable eateries in and around the inner suburbs?
This is second hand (with 2 kids, I don't dine out much), but I've heard plenty of good things about Ginger Boy and Mo Vida.
Ginger Boy is Tegue Ezard's take on Asian street food, whilst Mo Vida does the tapas thing.
Oh, and there's the Press Club which has received rave reviews for their take on Greek food.
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A cherry ripe Tarago triple cream brie came in last week which was rather impressive.
I'll have to keep an eye out for that. The missus loves her bries.
I'm trying to get her to try a blue though. Anyone got a good mild one to ease her into it?
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I've been away far too long from the boards, this one anyway, and for that, I'm sorry for not keeping in touch. Especially Dan.
Let me know if you've got time for coffee.
Or just come over for a weekend lunch and I'll get some good bread, cheese, and other stuff.
Unless, of course, you're talking about some other Dan.
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I stopped eating cheese for a few years, but after reading Will Studd's "Cheese Slices", the missus and I have been inspired to get back into the world of cheese.
Last weekend, we enjoyed a Victorian goats milk cheese. IIRC, the maker was "Holy Goat" and the cheese was titled "silk". It came in a small package, about 100grams or so. It's a soft cheese, with a nice texture to spread over bread. The feel of it in the mouth was smooth, but crumbly, and the taste was creamy but with a tang at the end of it.
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Another two that caught my eye, again, both are Australian books.
"Eat Ate" by Guy Mirabella. It's a hardback and costs "AUS50.00 It's rustic Italian food, and there's nothing in there that you wouldn't find in many other Italian cookbooks. However, it's an exceptionally pretty book - buy it for the pictures and layout.
"Tree To Table - Cooking With Australian Olive Oil" by Patrice Newell. It's also a hardback and it costs $AUS60.00 As you'd expect, this book is about the Australian olive oil industry. The first part has a history of the Australian industry and information on how the oil is extracted. The second part has recipes from various Australian chefs.
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Seriously dude, you're an inspiration
Wow! That is truly flattering. Thank you.
btw, Fergus Henderson was interviewed by John Faine on the ABC (Melbourne) today. I only caught a part of the interview, but they talked about his battle with Parkinsons disease and how his "nose to tail" philosophy has moved on since his last visit to Australia. I think he may have been the only guest on today, so the interview would have been a decent 35 to 40 minutes. I would assume you could get a podcast of the interview from the ABC website.
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Quite a few more new cookbooks in the shops, but these two caught my eye:
"Eat Ate" by Guy Mirabella. It's $49.95, covers Italian food (no recipes that you wouldn't have in other Italian coobkooks), but it is a very attractive book. Buy it for the pretty pictures.
There's also "Tree To Table - Cooking With Australian Olive Oil" by Patrice Newell. It'll set you back $59.95. The first part covers the Australian olive oil industry (history, how the oil is made etc) and the second has recipes from many Australian chefs.
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Thanks for the superb report Amarantha.
You don't know how envious I am of you.
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Two new cookbooks released in Australia
"The Press Club - Modern Greek Cooking" by George Columbaris. IT sells for $AUS 45.00 Columbaris did some molecular gastronomy in Melbourne before returning to his Greek heritage. But his Greek cooking is refined - you could almost call it haute Greek.
"Cooking At Home" by Karen Martini. This is another hardcover, and it sells for $AUS 55.00. It's a collection of recipes from her newspaper column. Martini is known for her work at various Maurizo Terzini restaurants such as Icebergs (Sydney) and Melbourne Wine Room (Melbourne).
Return to Melbourne...
in Australia & New Zealand: Dining
Posted
"I'm so ron-rey, oh so ron-rey!"
I hope people take this in the humour that it's intended