Amarantha

Camys is my staple for Shanghai dumplings Shanghai Village, and a place on Swanston whose name I forget (near Trampoline, probably called "Swanston Dumplings" or similar) will comfortably kill the cravings if Camys is closed. Also love love love Pacific Seafood BBQ House and Dumpling King. The latter's chilli oil dumplings have caused me serious intestinal agony, and yet I can never resist them the next time The main place I go to for Sichuan is Post Deng in Chinatown, kind of across the road from Spicy Fish (which I haven't yet tried). Some of Post Deng's dishes are better than others, but I'm addicted to their sichuan fish with steamed rice, and they make one of the best wonton noodle soups I've ever had. Although a friend tells me not to go there on Wednesday, as that's the usual chef's day off, and he doesn't think the temp chef is as good. What I really miss is Num Fong. Only went there once, but had the best stuff-fried-in-batter type dishes I've eaten. And now they've joined the lamented ranks of Restaurants Wot Are No Longer With Us

I've been making Rob Roys with some 18yo Glenfiddich my Mum got duty-free. I'm by no means an expert, but I like 'em like that The Islays I save for sipping

I recently had my first Aviation, at the Bayswater Brasserie. It was lighter and more refreshing than I'd expected. It mostly tasted lemony, but since it wasn't blue I'm assuming they used some form of maraschino rather than the Violette. I may just have to get some maraschino of my own...

My in-head auto-conversion stash (as a metric user): 1 fl oz ~ 30ml 1 oz ~ 30g 1 pint ~ 500ml 1 quart ~ 1l 2.2lb ~ 1kg 350º ~ 180ºC 1c ~ 250ml For baking, I'd either look up the exact conversions or use imperial instruments (iirc, my new scales have both).

Thanks for the suggestions We're staying in Dee Why, and can borrow a car - I'll check a map.

I don't know where she got it from, but my Mum sometimes does this for a special occasion: bunch of oysters on the half shell enough garlic/herb butter to go on all the oysters enough puff pastry to cover each oyster shell * put some flavoured butter on each oyster * cover each shell with puff pastry like a little pie * place under the grill/broiler/salamander (depending where you live - basically whatever you have that heats from above) * cook for a few mins, just long enough to cook the pastry and gently warm the butter whilst leaving the actual oysters fairly cold (but they're still damn tasty if they get warm) * serve immediately Even my non-oyster-loving sister-in-law is mad for these

Thanks, we'll look it up

Well put I have a psychosomatic aversion to mango after eating an overripe one and subsequently feeling ill. But I'm working on getting over it. I have reached the point where I can eat half a mango if I have to - I don't love it, but it doesn't make me gag.

We're going to be in Sydney for Christmas, so we thought we'd stay a few days and spend our anniversary dinner there on the 28th. We feel like traditional French (steak tartare, cassoulet, tarte tatin style-of-fing) - we're thinking of something along the lines of Melbourne's Aux Batifolles. I've searched the web, and it seems most restaurants described as French do fairly modern, fusion-style cuisine rather than old-fashioned farmhouse food. After making a short-list of promising places, we settled a few weeks ago on Tabou. But looking it up today, to make a booking, there have been several bad reviews posted in the past month, and we'd rather not risk it. The current short-list contains Bayswater Brasserie, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode and La Goulue. Does anyone have any experience with these places, or know of somewhere else that's worth a try? Thanks in advance

Mentioned to my fiance last night that I was thinking of something to make with white rum. He suggested rum with a little soy sauce and chilli oil. Intrigued, I went with the idea, but instead of chilli oil I used chilli vodka - this batch is less spicy than the last but has a lovely Locoto flavour. Result: 1 shot white rum 1 shot chilli vodka soy sauce to taste stirred inna martini glass Worked surprisingly well The soy and rum were nicely balanced. Both flavour and heat of the chilli vodka were a little lost in the background - might add some tabasco next time. I could try his idea of chilli oil, but I didn't think it would mix very well. Do any cocktails use oily ingredients (apart from the classic citrus twist)?

MoVida, by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish, is due out in November. A$45 ← Bought this yesterday at Borders Completely on impulse as I was there for something else and hadn't expected to see it. It's a very pretty book, but I haven't had a proper read yet. A little flimsy-seeming; shall see how it holds up. Ironically for a cooking book, it doesn't smell very nice. But I daresay that will fade with time.

Frank Moorhouse and a mate discuss the concept of martini cities in his book Martini: a Memoir.

Thanks for the review We're hoping to be honeymooning in that part of the world in about 18 months' time, and that's definitely on the list of things to try.

Ooooo, let us know

Does grating fresh ginger into chilled vodka count? I suppose it's not really a fruit. But it was very nice

Drank to Michael Jackson Friday night with Forbidden Fruit and Schöfferhoffer.

Yesterday I had a Fursty Ferret - always a good drop I love a nice british ale, and I'm rather fond of ferrets, so it was a perfect combination Last month I went to the Victorian Microbrewery Showcase, which is a thing they do a few times a year where you pay $20 for 20 tasting tickets. I've been a few times before; it's always good value This time I wrote down tasting notes for each beer, intending to post in this forum, but sadly I've lost the notes I shall try to do better next time.

Equal parts chilli vodka, cranberry juice and soda, with a dash or two of lemon juice to taste. Good with lots of ice onna hot day. (This was my what's-in-the-fridge variation on the Vodka McGovern.)

Where do you work, chefmw67?

YMBACS/GI... you frequently use your jigger as a measuring cup whilst cooking

We ate there for the first time a couple of months ago (inspired by this thread), and were very impressed I had french onion soup for entree and sheol had steak tartare, then we shared cassoulet and slow-cooked rabbit with noodles for mains. Oh, and some steamed veg and frites on the side. Getting full, we went for dessert anyway - profiteroles for me and tarte tatin for sheol. We immediately put the place on our favourite-restaurants list and will be taking our families there for sheol's birthday next week

I recently grated fresh ginger juice into chilled vodka inna cocktail glass. Sharp, refreshing and totally delicious, not to mention dead easy. I also intend to try making infusions of lemongrass and of kaffir lime leaves. You could try making a Bloody Mary variation based on Tom Yum or a papaya concoction based on Som Tam.

Dunno about the oats, sorry, but my local-ish butcher tells me they can get in almost anything offal-y given enough notice. I haven't taken them up on it yet, but they're recommended in the Foodies' Guide, so could be worth trying (Di Censo and sons, in Tunstall Square, Doncaster East). They did sell me some honeycomb and blanket tripe, and they often have things like sweetbreads in the freezer there. (PS I know I just mentioned them in another thread, but I swear I'm not affiliated. It just happened to be relevent to both conversations )

First went there half a dozen years ago and it was the best meal I'd ever had at the time. Went again maybe three years ago and it was still very good, but nowhere near as good as the first time. Wasn't at all surprised when it lost a GFG hat, but I can't claim to have been really recently. My prediction is that you'll have a very good meal, but it may or may not be quite worth the cost. *edit - I really should have checked the date of your post before replying How was it?*

I know QVM has roo (not sure about tartare quality), chorizo and dark couverture. I've seen speck in supermarkets but dunno about quality. Some provenders will not have the rare stuff on hand but can get it in if you order it, so you might want to try calling a few places in advance. My local butcher, for example, tell me they can get pretty much anything animal-parts-related given enough warning (they often have things like tripe and sweetbreads in the shop). I suspect they could get marrow bones, but they're in Doncaster East (Di Censo and sons, Tunstall Square) , so you might need to find a place closer to the CBD. The Foodies' Guide to Melbourne 2007 By Allan Campion and Michele Curtis might come in handy. You could also try their Seasonal Produce Diary, although that seems less apt considering your ingredient list. Good luck