Addis Abeba: 220 Nicholson Street Footscray

Fantastic African restaurant in a town that is dominated by African restaurants. 

A word of advice, don't try to order take away over the phone, it never ends well. Just go in, be served by the lovely student who does her homework in between taking orders and enjoy the food. The take away menu is much more limited anyway so you will be missing out if you don't eat in. 

The dishes are very filling. Senor Gringo and I order a salad, entree and meat dish of some sort and always walk out stuffed. Our favourites are Special Tibs (cubed lamb with onion, rosemary, garlic, and jalapeno peppers on a hotplate) and the spicy lamb curry (without the butter. 

We also highly rate the vegetarian platter (veganised) and the Sega Firfir (spicy lamb stew with tomato, garlic and onion tossed with injera). Plus, sometimes they have live music, which adds to the experience.  

Three ticks. We are regulars (sorry about the lack of pictures, my stomach gets the better of me sometimes). 

Bangpop: 35 S Wharf Promenade South Whaf

Here is a restaurant that is not getting the attention that it deserves simply because it is in the wrong place - South Wharf. It has food to rival Chin Chin, a great atmosphere and an enviable list of cocktails. 

I walked right in on a Saturday night with no booking, was seated promptly and then struggled to choose what I wanted to eat as everything sounded so appetising. I settled on the pad thai with no egg or shrimp and the pork belly croutons with stir fry Chinese broccoli, soy, chilli and garlic. The dishes were huge but we courageously powered through, did a little dance in our seats and blessed the universe for chefs that can cook so well. 

Words fail me when I try to explain why but I think the following questions say it all: 

• How come some people can cook the food that is served at thousands of other places and just do it so much better? 
• Why aren't more people blessed with this talent?
• Is food allowed to taste this amazing?   

I recommend you take friends, as many friends as you have, and then insist on ordering for all of you so you can taste lots of dishes. They will thank you at the end of the day, even if they do call you bossy. 

Here are some pictures to wet your appetite: 

We're back (after being turned away twice, turns out you need to book for standard dining hours). 

This time we ordered the beef short ribs with salad as well as the vegan rice crackers with a red chilli and herbs dipping sauce (nam prik ta). 

The beef short ribs were AMAZING. They were caramelly and smokey all at once, with a little chilli zing. They were perfectly matched with a cucumber, bean shoot and cashew nut salad that was tangy and citrusy but not too sharp. The rice crackers were also great, my only gripe is that there was not enough sauce. It was so good I wanted more and there was only enough for a little on each cracker. I would order these again to dip in a curry.

We also ordered mocktails. Usually I steer clear from mocktails as I consider them overpriced fruit juice with a distinct lack of booze but these were stunning, with lots of flavour. 

Rice Paper Scissors: Fitzroy and Melbourne CBD

A post about Rose BBQ offers a nice little segway into a discussion about Rice Paper Scissors. This place does offer nouveau cuisine/Asian fusion and it does it very well - tasty, zesty flavours that pay homage to authentic and traditional dishes.

Rice Paper Scissors is my favourite restaurant in Melbourne, not just because I love modern Asian food but because everything is small and you get to try a little of so many things. For a couple, the standard option is five dishes for $55 (27.50 each - bargain). If there are more of you, you all order the same five dishes, they just bring out the number of portions you need. They are flexible and do allow group members to order different options, provided you don't have a group over 12, but don't make it too complicated - be nice to my Rice Paper Scissors peeps, they bring me food gold.

I have tried about half the dishes on the menu and nothing has disappointed me. My must haves are the twice cooked pork belly with tamarind caramel sauce, the steamed pork bun with delectable crispy pork belly, shallots, cucumber and hoisin sauce. Depending on my mood, I then add a veggie dish of some sort, roast duck and one or more of the meat options. I even trust the chefs so much that I'm going to try the lime cured kingfish next time. I need to eat seafood and one of these days my taste buds are going to catch up and learn to love it.

In terms of the flavours, everything is bold but not overpowering. There isn't any misplaced sweetness, just the right mix of tangy, sour and spice. It is fussy eater friendly as nearly everything is gluten free, dairy free and egg free. I don't have to alter a thing but vegans would definitely struggle and perhaps might even need to go elsewhere.

The only downside is you have to wait. They only take bookings for big groups and they allow an hour for each sitting. I have been turned away many times, including once when I arrived two minutes after the bar opened, not even the restaurant - the street was packed and a waiting list was already going. The Fitzroy place is more than double the size of the city venue and you can sometimes get a table with no wait but the staff are not as friendly (a few huffy, puffy, I'm too good for you types).

Now, here is where I rail against the Good Food Guide. Rice Paper Scissors was not in any of the 2015 guides. Any!! I sincerely hope they have rectified this for the 2016 version, otherwise I am going to have to question their taste buds. This restaurant has well and truly earned its three ticks. Come and fight me to get a table and don't get offended if I try to glare at you to hurry the hell up, finish your Asian inspired cocktail and let me at it!

 

daffy duck  

 mmm, look how crispy that is. So delectable 

 lemongrass cocktail

 twice cooked pork belly, looks are deceiving, it is very crispy

 quintessential Melbourne

ribs, a dish I don't eat elsewhere (portions for five of us)

Spicy Fish: 209 Little Bourke St Melbourne

Two words: delicious and yum! This place is going to the top of my Chinese food list (which is actually a really short list, hey I'm fussy!).

The menu contained all the Chinese food essentials. Each of the dishes we ordered had complex flavours with layered spices, which gave me confidence that I could order anything and it would be good.

We ordered the shao long bao (steamed pork buns that contain soup), which were really lovely (think about a dish that you would call lovely, you know it is better than average). Plus, the dry fried chilli beef, which was fabulous.

I was overjoyed to see dry fried chilli beef on the menu. I have not found it anywhere else in Melbourne so far and frankly I was beginning to think something was wrong with the city for its absence (joking, Melbourne is awesome)! Dry fried chilli beef is one of my favourite Chinese food dishes and I don't think I have had it better anywhere else, thank you Spicy Fish. The dish was salty and spicy and a little bit sour. My lips were pleasantly burning at the end and as it was rated as 1 chilli, I would say this place deserves a spice warning in general. I usually go for the spiciest dishes on the menu and often ask for more. If this dish gave me burning lips, I'm curious to see what they rate as three chillis(?!) For the record, Senor Gringo was bright red and had to drink copious amounts of water and he probably represents the general public when it comes to his tolerance level.

   

Three ticks.

 Mm, fried beef goodness

The menu has pretty pictures for everything, so you know what you're getting. 

My Taiwanese friend ordered this. It was basically cold cooked bacon. I couldn't bring myself to eat it but it got a big thumbs up. 

The Premises: 202 Bellair Street Kensington

After bagels with vegan cream cheese at the Flemington Farmers Market, Senor Gringo and I walked to Kensington for coffee. Since that took us a while and included a little detour to the art markets, we thought sharing breakfast was justified :)

Good choice. Our brunch was great and the menu had so many non standard options to tantalise my taste buds. We chose Lebanese flat bread with hummus, felafel, walnuts, bacon and a poached egg. Unexpectedly it came with yoghurt too but that was easily solved by scraping it onto Senor Gringo's plate. Look how pretty this food is. I eat with my eyes first and my eyes were happy. Plus, bonus, some sort of pickled veg. Nice and tangy to add to these warm flavours. I'm going back. Expect more posts about food at the The Premises. They even know how to cook bacon without being asked!

Three ticks (although full disclosure, Senor Gringo gives it two as the breakfast menu is short. I defend the short menu as it is a selection of yummy inventive options ;0)

 This dish was amazing! Salt beef with veggies. OMG, food goodness

Shanghai Street Dumpling - take three

You know what I love about this place, apart from the delicious pan fried pork dumplings that is? I love that you can turn up drunk at 9pm for some late night nibbles or at 4pm on a Sunday for an early dinner/late lunch and no-one bats an eye lid. I also love the sleepy teenagers sitting in the back and the army of older women at the front making my dumplings from scratch. It all gives it that homely feel. 

Tonight I ordered pork in tofu skins with vermicelli in a hot pot. It came out in a steamy broth with mushrooms and Asian greens. The broth was lovely and it all had that fresh, crisp, clean home made taste to it. You could pick out each of the individual components and it was so very well done. 

It reminded me of an early episode of the Naked Chef where Jamie Oliver went off to Italy to cook at a restaurant that had been round for centuries. The place had no menu and the chefs just cooked two dishes every night, with the locals trusting the family to cook something good. When Jamie had his chance he made the diners pesto pasta with locally caught fish and while many gave him positive reviews quite a few told him his food was too complicated and had too many flavours going on. Those diners were on to something and they would not have been disappointed with Shanghai Street Dumpling. 

My only disappointment is that there aren't more options on the menu but I guess that is what happens when you specialise.

Before you go, check out my dumplings. This is how I do it, poke holes in the bottom, dip them in a mix of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil and try not to burn my tongue devouring them while they are still hot. Mmm yum. Good stuff.  

Proof that even the views of a fussy eater can be shared by the majority

Fomo Thai: 171 Bourke Street Melbourne

Conveniently located near my work, this is my lunch time food favourite. I have never had anything here that isn't above average. In my humble opinion the stand outs are the duck curry with lean roasted duck and crisp vegetables, the perfectly spiced eggplant and tofu curry and the absolutely divine pork belly fried rice. They must fry the pork belly as you just get ultra crisp bite size pork pieces and none of that nasty rubbery fat that most (sane) people scrape away. So many tasty things to choose from, so little belly space!

I always try to remember to take a picture but as soon as my food arrives I forget as I'm just so excited and eager to tuck in!!! I'll try to rectify that in future. Food bliss without fail.