Food adventures in Melbourne and wherever the tummy goes
I got a chance to eat here because I won a $200 voucher from the urban list (THANKS SO MUCH!!!!) and I decided to take the whole family (it was a family affair). We made a booking at 8pm and when we arrived we were greeted and shown to our table which was in the outdoor bar area (no fuss) and we were given blankets since it was cold (HOW AWESOME!!!). Menus came out and I started picking the entrees.
I’ve been here a couple of times courtesy of my cousin. She’d thought I’ll love this place because 1. I love christmas lights (they are on every single day throughout the year), 2. I love dumplings and 3. IT’S CHEAP! Yes she was right! I LOVE IT ALL. Also forgot to mention that the interior is PINK (woooo!).
So we went in at 7pm on a Wednesday night (we tried to come here on Tuesdays on two different occasions and forget that they don’t open on Tuesdays….yep, happened twice) and were immediately seated. We always get the usual two dishes, xiao long bao and thai fried rice and then we go rogue for the third dish.
We decided to duck into here for a quick dinner since we were all starving and cold on a Saturday night. Luckily we arrived when we did at 7pm because as soon as we were seated a huge rush of customers came in (like they all just teleported here all at once!). There was no service at all. We didn’t receive any menus and had to keep asking for it and finally they brought it around AND they gave us one less (I was the sacrifice and had to wait patiently).
It was Mr D’s birthday and I booked Lake house for his second lunch (wooohoooo lunchhhh) because I’ve been hanging to come here (2 chefs hat!). We arrived and entered through reception and was greeted warmly. We were shown to our table, I of course went and sat on the cushiony bench surrounded by cushions (Mr D was lucky I didn’t just cocoon myself with cushions). We (really it means I) decided to get the Autumn/Early Winter 2015 Tasting Menu for $145 (why pick two dishes when you can have EIGHT!!!) and waited for our food to arrive.
I came here for lunch since it was Mr D’s lunch choice today. He was craving chips an so this menu caught his eyes. We walked in and was seated immediately (we thought we wouldn’t even be able to get seats) and was handed the menu. I ordered a Chai Latte and Mr D got a latte and he really liked his coffee, they use 100% Arabia beans (said so on the signage).
I was craving for xiao long bao and my friend suggested New Shanghai at the Emporium. Since I haven’t been yet we decided to give it a go. Emporium, Melbourne’s new shopping centre with a gazillion shops and confusing escalators and layouts to lose your orientation, we finally found our dumpling spot (with the help of the electronic information stand thingy of course). At the front it had people making the dumplings so you could watch them (looks at them creepily hohoho).
So it’s date night again (I’m always finding excuses to have date night) and Mr D took me to Nieuw Amsterdam (SURPRISE!!). We got lost getting there because he refused to tell me where we were going so I couldn’t help him. When we eventually got there, I was ecstatic. I was a bit confused since there were stairs going up and down and no signs to which one we should take. I went down and BAM hit the bar. This mean the eatery was upstairs (damn!).
Another dinner with the girlies and we decided to come here for Thai since it was local for them. It looked fancy and decent from the outside and was seated immediately (not that busy on a Tuesday night). We got the Pad See Ewe with chicken and found it to be really oily and salty. We also got two servings of the Roti with peanut sauce. The roti was okay but ones as Malaysian restaurants are much better.
Walking around aimlessly in the city trying to find a last minute place that we could walk in and have dinner with a friend, we decided on Korean. It was 8pm and we walked in and had to wait for 10 minutes till a table for 3 opened up. So we waited and looked at the neon lights and they gave us the cutest queue number stick ever, it had a ladybird and everything – we argued over if it was a ladybird or ladybug and realised it was both…
So I’m back in Brisbane and guess where the baby brother A wants to eat? Yes, Jamie’s Italian by Jamie Oliver. He’s been hanging to try this place since it opened late Nov 2014, so who am I to deny this food request? This is one of Jamie’s Italian that’s opened internationally and within Australia including Sydney, Canberra, Perth and Brisbane (Yep, none in Melbourne so far).
