Following on from my Salta post, the morning after our free day in the city, a private driver/guide picked us up early in the morning to take a trip to the Humahuaca Valley, taking in the small town of Purmamarca and the Salinas Grandes salt flats.
With Antarctica off the cards, instead of going home or staying in Buenos Aires (while a great city, I don’t think we could’ve spent two full weeks there), we had to decide what we were going to do instead.
Our travel agent was very helpful – they had an office in Buenos Aires, so we dropped in for a chat – and less than an hour later we had an alternative itinerary for the rest of our time in Argentina, with our first stop being Salta.
I haven’t visited Estelle in a while, and since our last visit it has had a make over and become Estelle Bistro. The bistro is more casual than the original and the fine dining has been moved next door to ESP.
I noticed on their website recently (long story as to why I was on their website, but it involved a not very good truffle dinner at a completely different and unrelated restaurant) that Estelle Bistro were holding Sunday roast lunches (3 courses for $50 with a glass of wine). Well. I like Sundays and I like roasts, and I like them even more when someone else is cooking, so roped our friends Maz and Daz for a catch up lunch, deliberately selecting the pork themed lunch.
We were seated in their outdoor dining area, which is completely enclosed and has a wall of edible plants in pots. It was also a sunny day and very pleasant out there.
Disclosure: We attended courtesy of Australian Mushroom Growers and Prahran Market.
On one Saturday recently, Alastair and I trotted up to Prahran Market at 7.30am.
Now, I like markets and all, but I don’t like them so much that I’d be there that early on a weekend. But I like mushrooms, so the reason for the early start on this particular day was a visit to a mushroom farm – Bulla Mushrooms.
Disclosure: Alastair and I attended courtesy of Southgate and Fuller PR.
It was a cold, wet, winter’s night… that could be the beginning to a really bad novel, but it also perfectly describes Melbourne right now. And it was a cold, wet, winter’s night when Alastair and I headed down to Southgate recently for one of their Moveable Feasts.
Southgate Moveable Feasts is basically a progressive dinner/lunch, where diners have three courses at three different eateries in Southgate. The program is available for Sunday lunch and Monday dinner until early August, for $65 or $85, and a glass of wine accompanies the entree and main courses, and coffee/tea with dessert.
There’s 13 or so participating restaurants for the Moveable Feasts, and the ones that Alastair and I visited were Pure South, Waterfront and The Deck.
So the latest hot opening in Melbourne is Din Tai Fung, which has opened on Level 4 of Emporium. I’m sure we’re all aware of Din Tai Fung – the mega dumpling chain that started in Taiwan over 40 years ago and now has restaurants in 12 different countries. Sydney itself has 7 branches, and the Melbourne one opened only last month.
Disclosure: We attended the soft opening courtesy of Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen.
Ramen in Melbourne has been gradually getting better as more ramen focussed restaurants have been opening up.
The latest is Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen (IKR) and a couple of weeks ago I attended the soft opening with Alastair. As you probably know, there are numerous styles of ramen with different regions having different variations. IKR’s style is tonkotsu which originates from the Hakata district of Fukuoka city in Kyushu. Tonkotsu is made from a pork bone base, cooked at high heat for a long period of time until the soup is opaque, milky and creamy.
Back in January when we went to Nelson, one of the places Annette and Terry took us to was Jester House cafe. They won an award for top cafe in NZ in 2013/14.
You know how Melbourne cafes have a certain ~~thing~~ in common – the coffee, the food, a certain kind of aesthetic with the decor? Jester House Cafe is nothing like that. No blond wood, exposed bricks, or single origin coffee here.
They have a cafe cat – but more impressively and much more quirky – they also have tame eels! How many cafes do you know that can claim that?
Disclosure: I attended the previous courtesy of Melbourne Racing Club
March is almost upon us – and you know what that means – it’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival time! It officially kicks off on 27 February, and one of the first events happening is the Flavours of Asia Market Festival at the Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day at the Caulfield Racecourse.
On Thursday I attended a preview of the event. On the actual day, vendors will include Hammer & Tong, Hoy Pinoy, Wonderbao, Overdosa, Lankan Tucker, Uncle, Gogi and Eat the Chicken (menu at the bottom of this post) and a few of them were at the preview event to show us a sample of their food.
Product and giveaway provided by SunRice and F4 Consulting.
Brown rice and lentils.
I know, for most people it doesn’t bring up images of deliciousness.
But but but… what if I told you that it is possible to cook something really tasty from brown rice and lentils – something so good you could serve to guests?