suburb

ShanDong MaMa

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ShanDong MaMa

One Friday night, I tagged along with Haz to a fashion event. The sparkling wine was free flowing, there were people dressed in strange outfits, pretty people were having their photos taken, but guess what?

There was no food.

I don’t know why I was surprised – it was a fashion event.

After the event, we were both quite hungry, so Hazzie’s suggestion of dumplings at ShanDong MaMa sounded perfect. Better than perfect.

ShanDong MaMa is a family run business tucked away in Mid City arcade in Chinatown, between Bourke and Little Bourke Street that serves dishes and dumplings from the Shandong Province in China.

There was a brief wait for a table, and by the time we were seated we were starving and ready to eat all the things.

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Storm in a Teacup

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Storm in a teacup

Disclosure: I attended courtesy of Storm in a Teacup and Zilla & Brook.

The story goes that the origins of tea began about 4,700 years ago. It’s said that Chinese Emperor Shennong was drinking a bowl of boiled water when some leaves from a nearby wild tea tree fell in.

What would you do if leaves fell into your cup of water? Would you go ahead it and drink it? Emperor Shennong must’ve either been a very brave or very curious man.

Whether it’s true or not, it’s a cute story. And even if that particular story is just a myth, tea does have a long and complex history. And at Storm in a Teacup, a small tea bar in Collingwood, you can try some of the results of this history.

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Gangnam Pocha

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Mix it cool

Gangnam Pocha opened a couple of months ago on Bourke Street (it’s the restaurant with the cartoon figure who may or may not be PSY) and the interior is a bit strange. I don’t recall what was on the site before, but – judging by the patterned carpet and internal doors with stained glass windows – it might’ve been a pub or RSL.

I had dinner there a couple of weeks ago with Alastair, Haz, and Gaz. Gangnam Pocha’s point of difference from other Korean restaurants (apart from the kpop videos they show on a big screen – videos that don’t match the music piped through the speakers by the way) is that they serve Korean street food as well as other more usual dishes.

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Silks: mid-autumn / mooncake festival banquet

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Silks

Disclosure: I dined courtesy of Silks, Crown and Media Moguls.

In the Chinese / lunar calendar, the mid-autumn festival is one of the most important events of the year. It’s held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar year, when the moon is said to be at its brightest.

One of the ways the festival is celebrated is by eating mooncakes – confections / pastries made with a thin pastry skin and traditionally filled with lotus paste or red bean and often containing salted egg yolk (my favourite part and anyone who does like yolks, well you have no taste thanks bye).

This year, the mid-autumn festival falls on Thursday 19 September. In the couple of weeks leading up to it, there’s a series of events happening at Crown, including a special banquet menu available at Silks.

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Cafe Cui

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Cafe Cui

What’s your thoughts on the best brunch dish?

Smashed avocado?

Corn fritters?

Pancakes?

French Toast?

How about baked eggs? Baked eggs should definitely be up there, in my opinion.

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The Langham: Chocolate High Tea at the Aria Bar 2

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Display

Disclosure: I attended the Chocolate High Tea courtesy of The Langham and Media Moguls.

Afternoon teas seem to be hot, hot, hot this year. They’ve always been around but lots of new ones seem to have been launched in the past six months.

While that’s been happening, the classics keep chugging along.

For example: The Langham. They have been holding their Chocolate Bar afternoon tea in the Aria Bar for many years now. The last time I visited was a couple of years ago, and since then there’s been a change in head pastry chef, who has revamped all the chocolate treats to be a bit more modern.

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Hallah

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Meat cooking

The reason Alastair and I ended up at Hallah with Kat and Josh was due to fried chicken.

But before we begin, I must warn you – there’s no happy ending for this fried chicken story. I had a massive fried chicken craving and we were in North Melbourne to attempt to feed it. Unfortunately the place we wanted to go was packed. Kat’s suggestion for noodles (I know, not even close to fried chicken) wasn’t open. Our usual secret Korean haunt was way too busy.

So I suggested Hallah, a couple of doors down. Alastair and I had eaten at Hallah many years ago and I knew they did KFC.

But, but, but. When we sat down and looked at the menu – fried chicken was only served during lunch or after 9pm.

I WAS SO SAD.

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Common Ground

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Common Ground coffee

This post is short but sweet – a bit like Common Ground.

Located on Carlisle Street in Balaclava, Common Ground is a charming little place. The menu is brief: a few breakfast dishes, toasted bagels, plus pirozhki (Russian dumplings) and blintzes.

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Cibi

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Cibi

Cibi is so sweet.

So sweet.

Cibi is a cafe with Japanese leanings, located in Collingwood on a street that’s a strange mix of industrial / commercial / quiet residential.

One sunny Friday, I had breakfast there with my dear friend Em.

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He Says She Says

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He Says She Says

Our friends April and Lky welcomed Junior Food Trail into the world recently. Seven weeks or so later – due to the nature of social media and photo updates – I felt like I’d met the little man, even though I actually hadn’t see him in person.

This was rectified recently when Alastair and I had lunch at He Says, She Says with the Food Trail family, plus Kat and Josh.

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