I was a fan of The Sharing House in South Wharf and so was a bit sad when they transformed earlier this year into BangPop. With the restaurant revamp the food changed to Thai street food, though the decor remained pretty much the same (ie the Lego bar stayed).
I had lunch there the other month with Haz and Gaz. Haz and I decided that – being Sunday lunch time – yes, cocktails were in order. Because Sunday lunch needs celebrating – right?
Hey, remember when I went to Ballarat earlier this year? One place I wanted to check out was Open Pantry, which is a cafe on Ballarat’s Bakery Hill. In addition to serving breakfast and lunch, they also stock a range of grocery and deli items such as cheeses, small goods, pasta and jams for purchase.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t fit it in on that trip, but I got my chance recently on our latest op shop crawl. One Saturday, Haz, Gaz, Winceee, Daisy, Mr R and myself piled into a couple of cars and took a drive to Ballarat.
It was a slow, slow start, when we all somehow managed to sleep in. So upon reaching Ballarat, we stopped for an early lunch / very very late breakfast, as most of the group hadn’t eaten (sleeping in = no time to eat). Half of us ordered breakfast, and half had lunch.
Meatmother opened in Richmond recently, and as you may be able to guess from the name – it’s all about the meat. Not just any meat though, the focus is the wonderful art of American BBQ.
One Saturday, I headed there for an impromptu dinner with Haz, Gaz, Thanh and Alastair. They don’t take bookings for groups smaller than eight, so we all arrived before their opening time of 6pm and hung around outside until the doors opened.
The restaurant is split over two levels, with downstairs holding a bar and bar seating, and a main dining room upstairs. Upstairs are several large communal tables (plus a few smaller ones), large pictures hung on what look like butcher hooks, and industrial style dim lighting.
Disclosure: We dined courtesy of Barmah Park.
You may remember some of my previous posts about trips down to the Mornington Peninsula. These trips are always fun. Part of the fun is getting to spend day with friends. Part of it is getting to poke around op shops looking for food blogging props. Some of it comes from stopping somewhere midway and having a relaxed lunch. But mostly? The fun is in llama spotting.
(Truth time: the last part is probably only fun for me.)
(Truth time 2: they’re not even llamas. They’re alpacas.)
In early May, I went with the usual suspects, Shellie, Haz, and Thanh, on another op shop crawl to the Mornington Peninsula. This one was the best trip yet – now that we’ve done it several times, we know what to look for and how to plan the trip for maximum op shopping efficiency.
And here’s a pro tip for anyone interested – Frankston is the mother lode for op shops.
Recently Mr DH introduced us to ChangGo, a Korean BBQ restaurant on Little Lonsdale Street.
Yes, I know. Surely I have eaten enough Korean BBQ to last me a lifetime? Does my blog need another post about a Korean BBQ restaurant?
The answer to both of those questions is firmly: No, there is never enough Korean BBQ, and yes, this blog needs another Korean BBQ post, because ChangGo is famous for their eight flavoured pork belly – cutely described on the menu as “8 colorful flavors of pork”.
Disclosure: I attended courtesy of Taxi and Little Big Marketing.
As part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Roast series, Taxi are holding a “Ducks in a Row” luncheon each Sunday in June. In case you haven’t figured out from the name, the theme is ducky duck duck, with a 5 course set menu for $85 per person.
Taxi uses free range ducks from a new producer, Great Ocean Ducks, in the Mornington Peninsula. We were told that the ducks are fed strawberries in the summer, and apples in the winter (mostly because that’s what is readily available rather than for flavour purposes). But – cute, right?
This is a story of how three food bloggers couldn’t organise a dinner to save themselves.
Even with the three of us, we couldn’t think of anywhere we wanted to go. After racking our brains (aka Haz and I bullying the youngest into coming up with ideas) the first suggestion was shot down as we would have needed to line up.
The second suggestion didn’t open on a Sunday.
The third suggestion didn’t open on a Sunday. (Are you sensing a pattern here?)
We were all happy with the fourth suggestion (aka it was coming up to Sunday and we had to make a decision). Unfortunately, after Haz and Wince turned up outside the venue, they found that it was closed… even though it was meant to be open.
A last minute suggestion – the fifth so far, for those playing along – was packed, with zero chance of us getting in.
We ended up at Yeonga solely because it was 1: open, 2: close by, 3: had free tables. Winner winner.
Disclosure: I attended courtesy of InterContinental The Rialto and Run Forrest.
I’m sure there are Melburnians out there who don’t like coffee.
Not that I know of very many. They are a rare breed.
So it’s a surprise that no one else has done this yet. Instead of having a normal afternoon/high tea – replace the tea with coffee. Brilliant. High Coffee was born.
I was invited to experience it a couple of weeks ago and trotted along to the InterContinental Rialto one Sunday afternoon with Alastair.
This lunch dates back to post-Xmas (I KNOW I KNOW) with mum and dad, Dany, plus Dany’s father Reg and step mum Denise.
Hellenic Republic, one of the George Calombaris stable of restaurants, has been open for several years now in East Brunswick. The restaurant is big and bright with a fairly casual atmosphere, and includes a big open kitchen with a charcoal grill.
The food is modern Greek, with the menu designed for sharing. Banquet menus are available, but as we were only there for lunch and didn’t want to eat too much (considering the indulgence over Xmas) I just ordered a selection of things.
