Wow, I have totally spaced on something cool and big. My 6 year anniversary with Josh!

We celebrated this about, oh... 2 months ago! Not writing about this is grounds alone for Josh to give me the flick. Well I'll make up for it now!

So I arranged accommodation at "The Blackman" hotel - one of the Art Series Group. They are very VERY cool! Don't get me wrong, the property was very lovely, but next time I think I'd try 'The Olsen' - it has a pool and is closer to more restaurants etc. My friend tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen! So here is our balcony Suite for 2 nights:

So on our first night, Josh arrived super late so we got some room service dinner and lounged around in our big fluffy robes drinking red wine. I may or may not have spilled a few drops on my robe :S Of course I did... c'mon. Food is an all over experience!!


The next day in the city, we took the opportunity to do some shopping and lunch. Seeing as we both have champagne taste on a beer pay check, we went to the "Clear It" outlet on Brunswick Street Fitzroy to get some Jack London (for him) and Dangerfield (for me) items. The place was so intense. Because there weren't really any mirrors, we used my camera to model the things we liked. Here is Josh modelling but pretending to look casual. He is going to kill me for putting these up :D

Lovely <3 And here is me...

I don't know why it is so blurry. Either Josh doesn't know how to use a camera or he felt super self conscious in the girls section taking pics of his little lady so lifted it for a split second to take the picture before quickly lowering it.

Anyway he bought a few jackets and i bought... nothing! Unreal!! So we worked up an appetite and went a few doors up to the Little Creatures Dining Hall. It was awesome! You could leave your ID and borrow a board game. Naturally because Josh is obsessed with 'Words with friends' on iPhone... we got scrabble. We played at our own pace while eating, sampling the fine tap beers, and also while Josh juggled a few more scrabble games on his phone.

My yummy lunch! Beef and kipfler potato salad, with a poached egg. YUM! 

Josh got a club sandwich on a chopping board :)

That night we mustered up the appetite and energy to go out for dinner to "The Kitchen Cat" (used to be Jamie Oliver's Fifteen) which is run by Tobie Puttock - who was working hard in the kitchen :) It is a really nice basement layout and has such delicious food, but I thought it was a little pricey - particularly the alcohol. There was a great selection but we just couldn't manage it :( frown frown. I had the best EFFING dessert there - a beautiful plump grilled peach with vanilla marscapone. DROOL!! Check out their site - you will be convinced to try it.


For the rest of our time we lounged around on the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on in my life. I pulled the sheets up to see what it was...

I'm now looking out for ex-art series hotel mattresses. Providing they don't come with ghosts and STI's :) ahhaha...

Restaurant Review: Shou Sumiyaki

Hi Everyone! It appears we meet again! :) I gotta say, I am about to talk about something that happened literally weeks ago :O I am so far behind in finishing my post drafts, it's not even a joke! Well it actually is a joke, a disgrace if you will. Life has me in a wrestling move, maybe something called a... choke-hold? That analogy has lead me to realise I'm not well-versed in wrestling terminology, so let's do a restaurant review instead!

Shou Sumiyaki

160 Little Bourke Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

Shou Sumiyaki, nestled just inside the big colourful gateway of Chinatown, is this cool little Japanese Restaurant I visited a few weeks ago. Or do I mean... Koren BBQ Restaurant? No no, I mean Japanese. I think. It certainly had a Korean BBQ vibe to it, as the food comes delivered to your table on dainty little plates which you can cook yourself on the table-top grill. Luckily I'm not as arrogant as the Japanese food purist on the next table, and can just shut up and enjoy the good food.

We ordered a special combo so that we might try a bit of everything, and were given a good amount of food in my opinion- which some may say is a little too much. The starters included fresh cucumber salad in a sesame/white miso dressing, a crab dish, miso soup and lovely steamed rice. My memory is a tad hazy on the details as it was so long ago and I didn't make many notes. Bad Jade, BAD Jade!

The friendly staff removed their shoes to walk into our sacred dining zone and fired up our grills. Thus commenced the meat procession, in which they carried little plates of meat out to the table and explained what each plate was in case we didn't know. Scotch... Oyster blade... Ribs... Wagyu... the words were flying around as we discussed our favourites and their prefered cooking times.

I discovered something about myself during this dinner - I. Love. Ribs. I'm not just talking about the visible rib cage of my svelte boyfriend, I'm really talking about the edible type. Ever had chicken ribs? You should. My friend's dad is a butcher and he does some amazing marinated chicken ribs. It's cut up into little individual rib bones with a bit of tender and delicious meat attached! I'm also partial to pork ribs, and am working on my goal of one day having the Flinstones style giant ribs attached to the side of my car. A girl can dream. There is something about the meat in that area of an animal's body that I really enjoy... the taste, texture and fat:meat ratio - it's has it all.

I'm sure my eyes glazed over mid-meal as I was transported back to my Osaka home-stay in 2003. We stayed in a little traditional hut in the mountains and in between riding uni-cycles and playing with a three-legged stray dog we cooked our own meals from scratch. One night we made a dish named "Niku yaki" meaning 'grilled meat'. Basically we had a bucket full of hot coals with a mesh grill lid and we grilled vegetables and meat on it while sitting cross legged in a circle around the cooking pit. I have to say, Shou Sumiyaki was a little more up-scale than that and we even used Wagyu beef as a matter of course.

I spent my dinner blathering on about this or that, and warning my friends passively about one of my pet hates: People who can't pronounce Wagyu Beef and incorrectly say 'Way-goo'. It makes me die inside.

We each got $10 beers and the whole thing worked out to $50 each. For some fresh, good quality food and a big old Japanese beer... I was very impressed! Next time I feel like grilling my food I will think of this place before any other :)

The Holy Laksa Grail

Seriously guys, is Laksa amazing or is Laksa a*Maze*inG 'Oprah Style' with a capital "G" at the end??? I simply LOVE this dish!! I can't recall my first brush with the bowl of golden gastronomic gold, but I can tell you that I have never looked back since.

For those out there who aren't quite sure what I am jizzing about, Laksa is a spicy noodle soup from Singaporean/Malaysian influence. It has been adopted by almost every Asian take-away joint I know, so it's not too hard to find. In the world of Laksa, there are two main categories: Curry Laksa (coconutty curry-base noodle soup) and Asam Laksa (sour fish-based noodle soup). So far in my years of Laksa loving, I am yet to try the second category and I've always stuck to the Curry Laksa.

Here's what I know about Curry Laksa - which isn't much. There is a delicious orangey/golden coconut curry sauce, in which you can find noodles and toppings. There are usually 2 types of noodles used - thin rice Vermicelli noodles, and a thicker type of noodle- everywhere I've had Laksa here serves a Yellow Hokkien-type noodle.

Toppings usually include puffed tofu, some type of seafood and/or chicken, and maybe some type of vegetable. Usually here you can choose Seafood, Vegetarian or Chicken Curry Laksa.
When working at the Reception Desk of a backpacker hotel a few years back, I used to work evening shifts from 3pm - 11.30pm. In the winter, you can imagine that the tourism industry isn't maxing out, so I was usually doing uni homework or reading, then of course dealing with the occasional guest. The down-time gave me a chance to work up my appetite and crave a hot dinner - usually Laksa. I would wait until around 8 or 9 then go around the corner to get take-away Laksa. I thought it was soooo good. It was ok, but in hindsight I didn't know what I was missing.

This new place has opened up near work called "Coconut House" on Elizabeth Street, which advertise that they serve traditional Malaysian Street food. It is packed with Malaysian and Singaporean people every single day, and is so busy that they had to open "Little Coconut House" a few doors down to accommodate. I finally went a few weeks back to try their hand at Laksa, but i was busy at work so needed take-away styyyle:
 

I got the Traditional Curry Laksa and scuttled back to my desk like a crab under a rock who has just found something so amazing that he wants to hide it away from the world in case any nearby seagulls swoop in to steal it, rendering him without purpose in this world therefore he has no option but to throw himself into the murky depths of the ocean whereupon he realises he can actually swim and the whole gesture was un-neccesarily dramatic and pointless... Err... yeah so LAKSAAAA...

This Laksa had Vermicelli, hokkien noodles, some soft and melty grilled Eggplant (an amazing touch) , bean shoots, two big juicy prawns brushed with what looks like sambal chilli paste, 4 squares of puffed tofu, 2 seafood noodle things, chicken breast-meat, and chopped coriander. The sauce was also delicious but not too spicy!

I was feeling like a cold was coming on, but after devouring the whole thing my nasal passage was clear and i was energized and feeling amazing! The healing properties of Laksa!! So because I always go on about Laksa in my own head and to a few others, I feel like I should try to locate my favourite Laksa. Everyone has their different tastes of course, and I've never had a traditional Laksa in Malaysia or Singapore so I am really just some hack whose word aint worth shit BUT I know what I'm looking for. Join me on the adventure for the holy laksa grail.

I've developed a rating system for the laksas out of puffed tofus. This Laksa gets 3.5 tofu puffies out of 5.

So I guess I should break it down.. I loved the topping selection but the tofu was chewy - I've had much better tofu in laksa before and for me this is a big deal. The chicken was tender and tasty! I have had Laksas before where the chicken is kind of grey and it's off-putting.

The sauce was awesome, could have been a little spicier I think - it is probably traditionally very spicy.
Well, after writing this out, I am tempted to bump it up to 4 Puffies, but as it is my first one. I'll use it as a benchmark for now and then after a few reviews i will standardise the results. They used to do this at school if everyone went Reeeeallly bad on a test haha! I have also eaten at "Laksa King" in Flemington which is super amazing and popular, so I will officially review that soon!

So wish me luck on my quest for the holy laksa grail, and if you know of any good places around Melbourne please let me know :)

Smoke on the Water

Ahoy ahoy! What a fantastic weekend I had! I want to - hold on.... Sex on Fire is playing near me and for some reason i want to smash the radio to pieces right now.. I am grinding my teeth so hard and tensing my back... i could explode... Ok i have changed the station. Rage supressed. Anyway, I want to show you some amazing things I did starting with Friday night! So one of our 'couple friends' Megan and James invited us out to Maha in the city, not only because the food is amazing but because of the Shishaaaaaaaa! So Josh and I got all dolled up and got the train in to Flinders Street. I was standing at the lights about to cross over, fussing with my skirt and jacket and clutch bag - trying to hold it all in place and avoid flashing my lingerie all over town due to the crazy winds. When we were about half way across the intersection, the rain fell. Hard. It was instant saturation, and I remember thinking "Fuck fuck fuck, my hairspray!!" as i ran to the shelter of 7-11... well it was the best running i could do in heels being assaulted by rain and wind. Everyone was screaming and running in all different directions. We thought we might wait it out...     

But it just kept coming down! Josh suggested we head towards Flinders Lane so we might be able to sneak around undercover to the restaurant. We got to the next corner and waited there for a while until it died down slightly, but it was more the waves of water carrying leaves and rubbish along the gutters and up onto our feet that got us moving. It felt like a sinking ship!

Finally at the restaurant, we were absolutely drenched. The lovely staff took out dripping jackets and showed us to the hand-dryers. I felt so silly fluffing my hair up under the hair dryer and standing one legged with my foot contorted around to get a hot blast. I was just praying nobody came in and exposed me for the ragamuffin I really am. Luckily nobody did and I remained one of the most well dressed people dining that night - the other 3 being my dinner dates naturally! So once my shoes were emptied and Josh's white shirt had ceased being a free ticket to the nipple-show, we waited in the lounge with cocktails, chats and our grape shisha!!  Of course they made sure I went first....Inhale...

Annnddd Exhaaalllleeeeeee.............

Haha! So good! Another thing crossed off the list - and done in style no less :) Think shisha, think no burn, no cough - Just the intersection of flavour street and cool avenue located in the heart of Awesome City. Speaking of awesome city, do you like my giant rose? Very Sex and the city inspired, I do declare! Anyway, we all played around with the shisha for a while...

I totally want to photoshop this picture hahahaaaaaaaaaa *evil*

wi-wiew megan! What a fine specimen of woman-kind :) After the shisha fun, it was onto the meal!! We were first welcomed by an aptly named Egyptian hibiscus welcome Tea: 

It was a little shot glass, with this dark, sweet, thick, and most importantly yummy liquid inside. We ordered a bottle of Maltese Delicata wine too- available at this restaurant only apparently. YUM! We had locked ourselves in for the 4 course Soufra. First course was berid mezze - small cold dishes. We got beetroot dip, olives, fennel with dill, cheese balls (forgot the name), hot bread and these amazing tomato and asparagus soup shots. But it was like clarifiied tomato... amazing...amazingly blurred photo....

Next was soukhoun mezze - small plates. There were 2 dishes. The first was like rabbit cigars, they tasted like baklava with meat. Very yummy! This one was Eggs coated in chicken and spices with an apple and chive salsa.

Then came sahen kbeer - large plates. There was fattoush salad, slow cooked pork belly on onion puree with pomegranate and other bits on top. There was also twelve hour roasted Mt. leaura lamb shouler with pistachio and green olive tabouleh, and Turkish "baldo" pilaf with dill, apricot and pine nuts. OMG...

Finally was helwayet - sweets. We got turkish delight filled Maha doughnuts sprinkled with crushed candied almonds. In the middle... i forgot - something fluffy and creamy and coffee-ish. It was amazing. Then Basil Ice cream with Rose Jelly and berries, and dehydrated sponge cake....

Then delicious tea, and complimentary hand cleansing oil, and vials of maha spices to take home and create your own special meal! After all that we waddled up stairs to the door and into the rain, and the lovely staff gave us some umbrellas to use and said just bring them back if we're ever passing by... wow 

Happy to be dry!! The poor things had to get up at 4.30am the next morning for an interstate flight! Wouldn't have gotten much sleep I don't think :( Ah well, I'm sure basking in our glorious company for the night was worth it :D Anyway, I'm planning an elaborate dinner for these two to say thanks for a great double date night! Watch this space!

In the Lygon Street Zone!

Do Y'all know Lygon Street? I'm sure if you're from around here then you would for sure. It's the Italian restaurant mecca of Melbourne. Very famous etc etc. The problem for me is the abundance of "Ferrari restaurants".. you know the dark 70's style decor with faded Ferrari posters on the wall? Yes, those. Well I had a few Ferrari experiences around here so I'm always looking for nice new places to go! Josh and I have come here quite a bit as it's near my work and his uni, and we occasionally go the the NOVA cinema on Mondays when tickets are $8! The place directly across from Nova is called "Tiamo" and i love it! But going there 3 times in a row was starting to feel a tad.... thoughtless. So we tried a place closer to the city end which was OK, and then on Monday night Josh and I tried "D.O.C" onthe corner of Faraday and Drummond.

Let me just say: I really liked it! From what I can gather from the Italian menu, it is a concept restaurant which is kind of like a mozzarella bar with multiple cheeses on offer. They had some antipasto on offer, and a selection of pizzas with what I can only imagine are carefully designed with the nicest ingredients in stock. No Don salami here. On the back of the menu they have descriptions of types of cheeses and salamis on offer...

So we drank some Italian Beers while we perused the menu and stared around at the passers by...

And then got our pizzas very quickly and they had that "minimal" vibe to them which i like, especially when everything on it was top quality and tasty! If we go there again (I'm sure we will) I'll get the pizza which had cremy broccoli something on it :)

I demolished mine!! And I even had a bite of Josh's too! Make no mistake people, I have a healthy appetite! A fact which many old people like to tell me, and a fact which I suppose I should embrace. It's just a shame that this deliciously relaxing dinner was spoiled by the movie we saw afterwards. Josh gave me the option of two movies.. one set in Tokyo and one set in Finland. So can you guess which one I chose? Yah, Tokyo.

We saw "Enter the void" - a French film in English about an American guy living in Tokyo who dies during a drug deal and comes back as a ghost to revisit past experiences and watch over his redneck fucking dickhead stripper sister who is incestuous and fucked up from growing up in foster homes. It comes with an Epilepsy warning... maybe I should have heeded the warning. But no, I chose the movie and we sat through almost 2 hours of it while a few people left, and then we called it quits after the abortion scene. As did the man sitting next to us. Maybe I'm not "cool" enough to appreciate the message behind it, but whatever. It was boring and repetitive, and each time i saw a light or lamp in a scene i was fearful because the ghost camera hovering around the room goes into the light and you are assaulted by a white screen of strobe for 20 seconds, then the ghost backs out and flies around some more and watches his sister fucking her gross sleazy boss. I dunno, i dont want to recommend it, but i think it would be interesting to see what point you get sick of it and walk out. i couldnt imagine sitting there for another half an hour or whatever was left of the movie... and i felt gross and depressed for the whole night and all of yesterday from it. I'm kinda past the assaulted feeling now and just dislike it. I liked the opening credits and the scenes near the very beginning where they were walking around Tokyo... i felt very nostalgic. And there was one scene during a flashback where his sister is taken away from him which was genuinely sad, and not a punch in the face like other shit going on it the movie. hmm.... thats about it. But it was so indulgent and wanky.

That is the second movie I have walked out on. The first was that Johnny Knoxville movie "The Ringer" where he pretends to be special needs in order to win gold at the special olympics. The audience were such bogans and were laughing AT the downs syndrome actors instead of along with the movie. It was horrific.

Anyway "Enter the Void"... to see or not to see?? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Some people have never walked out on a movie, it's a good feeling.

New Vego Restaurant (2/5) CROSSWAYS

Howdy Y'all! It has taken me a while to find this place, and I'm going to say it's because i couldn't seem to find it and it wasn't where i thought it was... Yeah that washes. You may know it as "cross roads" the Hare Krishna Restaurant. Basically it's $6.50 all you can eat curry, dessert and drinks (cordial or lassi) and $5.00 for concession card holders - that's YOU students :)

It's on Swanston almost near the corner of Little Collins :) This is the curry they had - a yummy chunky vegie one.

The only problem is that it was about 45 degrees up there and i nearly sweated my face off.. nearly. It was one of those times when the backs of your knees get sweaty. feral. I am sooo not a summer person. Anyway, at least you get to look at their cool pictures :)

And watch people eat funny...

And enjoy the breath of fresh air on the way out :)

If you can stand the heat (figuratively and literally) this is the place to go for your next weekday lunch :)

New Vego Restaurant (1/5) WHITE LOTUS VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

Ok, you're probably going "omg what a dick head... that place has been around for years....". Well yes, i fucking know that. The 2001 Cheap Eats guide review blu-tacked to the wall made it quite clear that I have officially arrived late to the opening night party of this place. But that's ok, I like the un-pretentious vibe it had and the fact that for a booking of 4 we were given a big round table for 12. I have been meaning to come here ever since i found out the definition of 'Vegan', and now... I HAVE. WHOOPEEE!

You can find this place on Victoria Street near the Queen Vic Market - just past Peel Street. They specialise in mock meat here, and their most famous dishes are mock duck and mock fish. Crazy huh? Here are a few of their beliefs displayed on the walls...

Pretty cool. We ordered some starters - an assorted plate of starters. Eggplant fritters, taro fritters, wontons, and spring rolls. Bear in mind that this is all vegan...

We got a bucket of rice to share - that was cool...

And here are our mains! This is Steak and black bean :

Wasn't amazing, but nice. This next one was just mind-blowing. It is the fake fish. It looks, smells and tastes like fish.... but it is not.

It's in a tamarind sauce. I highly recommend it. I think it was $19... which is pretty much what you would pay for fish at a chinese place. You have to eat it to believe it! Ok, and here was what i got... DUCK:

Again it looked, smelled and tasted like duck. Awesome! It had crispy skin and everything!! We were so impressed we tried to get rad out the front but i had the lighting all wrong and the 2 guys are just blurs of satisfied customers...

Then we went looking for ice cream at Korean Groceries. Corey found this yummy fish.. it was like ice cream cone with ice cream and red bean inside - was cool!

Sacha got a nice sponge cake ice cream coffee concoction which was also good. I am all about sharing ice creams in case you didnt notice already. I didnt want a whole one, but i wanted to try them both. With a little suggesting they happened to pick one that i liked too hhah

Then squelch decided to get some sushi for lunch the next day. Was pretty funny cos none of the assorted packs could cut it so the lady opened about 4 packs and did some swaps so he got the ultimate pack :)

So there you go, a bit overdue but that was the first new vego place i was meaning to try and have done it :)