Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder

This morning, I got the opportunity to test out my camera etiquette blogging skills for breakfast at The Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder.

I've had the luxury of going to The Larder a few times before, once for breakfast and twice for lunch. The restaurant is well set up, the Larder well stocked and the little shop a treat. But it is the food and the 'atmosphere' which draws so many to The Larder, and which, certainly keeps a few other cafes/restaurants from setting up shop.

I used to work at a shitty (and I mean shitty) cafe a few doors down from The Larder. I would often look up at the always packed front tables and the waitstaff with their elaborate aprons and always straight chairs, wishing that I worked somewhere like that where I could stretch my waitressing skills. Well - I'm a pretty dense waiter so it's a good thing I didn't.

For those not in the know (I am such an arse), The Larder is Stephanie Alexander's restaurant (I think her daughter runs it now?), open for breakfast and lunch and special occasion pre-booked dinners and private functions. Fancy Shmancy.

The first time I came to The Larder, I saw that guy from Recovery who now works for Nova radio - first 'celeb siting'- guy wearing glasses inside: oh so Hollywood. I think that sums the shmoosy people quite well.

Anyway back to the food. It really is that good. The breakfast, apart from a few dishes I could take or leave, is tough because it all looks so good.

My table of four, on this particular breakfast occasion, ordered three special breakfasts and something quite typical, all dishes include something special from the Larder or Cheese room, so it's a nice way of trying something that you can take home and use yourself.

The corn fritters - Breakfast lady, after much scrutiny decided on the Fritters with smoked salmon and RHCL chutney. I've had this dish before (without the egg). A good relish, really does make any corn dish. Breakfast lady seemed to enjoy it, but miffed (as was I) that the poached egg on top is $3 extra! Miffed, because it really needs the extra protein and smooth finish to complement the relish, and soften the richness of the corn fritters.

The Baghdad eggs - Breakfast Boyfriend A ordered the impressive looking and deliciously fragrant Baghhad eggs. With middle eastern flavors and flat bread, you gotta admit it's pretty freakin impressive (if not a bit expensive). I mean is this not amazing?! This is the sort of dish for which you come to an always packed restaurant like RHCL, something special that you will never get anywhere else- except maybe in Baghdad?

The blueberry pancakes, much raved about by Breakfast buddy Man, look and smell amazing, claimed by Lady and Buddy Man as the best pancakes in...the world!
Breakfast buddy Man without any hesitation, ordered the pancakes as he always does at The Larder. Served with real maple syrup and blood red orange curd, this is an impressive take on an American favorite. But, we must warn you VERY filling. Breakfast buddy Man could only finish one pancake while Breakfast Lady polished off the rest. After one bite I was through- no more avocado toastie for me...

I struggled over what to have for breakfast. Muesli? No too milky for one with a cold. Eggs? No, I'll have them for lunch? The Bruschetta? No I don't like the thought of trout for breakfast. I thought, for the sake of this entry, that I shouldn't order the same dish as anyone else, so opted for the avocado on toast with goats feta, chilli and basil - something fresh (always tasted better with good produce). Yummy - bit serving and yummy, but a little more feta would have gone down well.

All gone!

Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder

48-50 Bridge Road, Richmond, Victoria

Phone: 03 9421 2808

Check out the website for upcoming special events at the Larder - must go one of these days.

Question ... Has anyone been to one of Stephanie Alexander's other restaurants - Florentine or Sapore?

Friday night is laksa night

I've been thinking a lot about Laksa King lately. We usually have Laksa King on friday nights - it's pretty good laksa.

I've been thinking about it though, in terms of its so called authenticity. LK has long been heralded as offering the best laksa in town, with ques out the door. Fair enough, I thought and have agreed: it is really yummy.

Jeroxie (aka Penny) from Addictive and Consuming recently posted a review of the great Laksa King and I think it perfectly sums up the King of Laksa. Here is a little excerpt summing up her thoughts:

With the change in dynamics of the punters, the taste of the food has changed to adapt or accommodate. The broth has less heat and become sweeter and more coconut taste in recent years. Hence the change in colour from a orange red to a yellow orange broth. It still tastes good but it isn’t as authetic as I like it to be.

I think she is totally spot on, and the comments posted on her blog seem to agree that's it's not exactly what you'd get in Malaysia or Singapore but for Hawker food in Melbourne, it's one of the best laksa's you'll find. The only other place I'd consider going in Old Raffles Place in Collingwood, if I was in the area. There's is good but without the yummy eggplant and huge ques.

In my household, we've come to the conclusion that the only things we'll order are the Curry Laksa's either with seafood or vegetarian. We've tried a few of the other non-laksa dishes, which at best seem a little bland and same sameish. Last night, we tried the Fishhead laksa (with fillets), I thought the fish, though poor quality was pretty good, but without any vegies to sustain the dish it does become a little repetative. For me I'll keep going back for the vegie laksa - yummy!

Laksa King
Shop 3, 320 Racecourse Rd
Flemington 3031
(03) 9372 6383

cash only.

FIY, if your interested, Laksa King will soon be moving to a bigger location of Pin Oak Crescent, where the old video easy used to be. They've started renovations and it really is a massive space. Still in the shell/demolotion stage, it'll be a while till they move. It will be interesting to see what the new location/kitchen facilities does to the Hawker style quality of the food. Hmmmmm... what do you think?

I was sick - that's my excuse

So being the naughty sick person that I am - I sorta made the same lunch that I had a Peppers the other day. It was that good. I was down on Racecourse Rd, running some errands with Krumm and felt like smoked salmon and poached eggs.... well you know the rest.

Here is a picture of my yummy lunch, which I will also be repeating today. I feel quite naughty but it is a credit to Peppers for making such yummy food. I don't exactly think mine was better (my pepper wasn't as good and I had no hollondaise and my poached eggs were overcooked and cloudy) but it looks very pretty and hit the spot nicely.


Plain salad of rocket and cherry tomato dressed with a squirt of lemon. Steamed asparagus on top (microwave in a bag for 1 min 30.), a big slice of smoked salmon and some poached eggs.

Pepper

So as you've gathered, or already knew, Boyfriend and I recently moved to Flemington, or as I like to call it - Flemo! This is my first entry of a cafe in this area - it is our local of sorts.

Monday saw Paige and man friend, Twin A and bf, Krumm and myself at Pepper for lunch. A and I went to Peppers for our first Flemo breakfast, and have since become quite familiar with the place.

On this occasion, we all opted for the breakfast menu. I went for Peppers Special breakfast salad consisting of smoked salmon and poached eggs (thats right two eggs - none of this one egg business) on a bed of asparagus and rocket salad with hollondaise sauce.

I very much enjoyed my lunch - I'm not sure how well it would have gone as a 9am breakfast, but for a light protein rich lunch on a hot hot day it went down a treat. I was a little disappointed with the smear of hollondaise, but as it was lunch time it was understandable that they may have been running low. The eggs were poached perfectly and the serve of salmon was both fresh and generous.

There is nothing overly fancy or protentious about Pepper - good produce, fresh and largely organic/sourced locally. They serve all the usual breakfast and lunch meals with some creative non-complex treats in the mix as well. For a good meal Pepper is it.

Reasonable pricing, good service, and a nice atmosphere. With a bit of hip-hop or fine jazz pumping just to mix it up a little.

Open early till 9pm most nights, it's a great place for a glass of wine after work - just opposite Newmarket station.

44 Pin Oak Crescent, Flemington 9372 2726

Horoki Casual Dining Bar

I never actually posted a follow up to my post- fifteen girls night with K.
I find myself unwilling to post if I don't any any decent photos - but as I don't own a camera, this makes life (errrr the blog) a bit tricky.

So here are my follow up thoughts of Horoki.
photo credit: http://yourrestaurants.com.au/guide/horoki_casual_dining_bar/


I got the impression that the layout of the restuarant was modern aussie bar style - you know leather stools, bottles of wine displaced non nonchalantly and deep sedar mellowing the atmosphere, well the bar at Horoki fits well within this description, except with one difference - Horoki, sits in one of those buildings with ginormous front glass windows/walls - very asian-esque. This fusion, in terms of the interior design and the food is what makes Horoki a fun dining experience, where east meets west.


After reading a number of reviews for Horoki, I was curious enough to give it a go.
Said reviews, claimed it to be a fusion of Australian, Asian and Mediterranean cuisine - I wanted to see how this would turn out.... as it turned out - very well.

We started with a couple of sapporo beers while we set about deciding on what to eat.

We decided on tuna carpaccio with parmesan and dressing, the octopus pancake, and the diakon salad with sashimi.

I didn't find the pancake especially amazing, nor was the sashimi plate fusion-amazing... but the tuna caraccio was enough to beg me to come back again.

The flavours of the raw tuna with the tart dressing ans rich parmesan was a triumph - why have i not thought of this, i thought to myself.

That's how Horoki does it - simple creations which beg you to consider how well the fresh ingredients go together and how come no one has done this before!?

There are many adventurous dishes that I want to try, many though have red meat or chicken in them, especially the tapas menu. So I'll just have to come back time and time again to sample Chef Kenji Higuchi's many interesting main dishes for myself. Perhaps this is how he wanted it? To get you to come back over and over again - sounds good to me.


Horoki Casual Dining
19 Liverpool St Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9663 2227

Loser photos of my garden

Semi before and afters!

First photo of the garden 6 weeks ago....

After a new addition...

After a month...

Most recently...

The low-carb triumph of '09...

Although the ingredients are a bit of a gamble, this recipe was absolutely delicious, very adaptable and an easy impress-er for the in-laws...

Please excuse my shaky photos with poorly presented whiting... partially due to the iphone and partially because I hurriedly took the photo as A was pouring as glass of wine!

This recipe is reproduced from Neil Perry ‘good food’ page 136 (2007)

Whiting, Sicilian-style. The sweet-sour nature of this beautiful dish comes from the two-century Moorish occupation of Sicily. Lots of Sicilian cooking invlovs fruit, and cous cous is used often. Serve any of the delicous leftover sauce with pan-fried chicken, duck, or lamb. It is not always necessary to pin-bone fish before cooking, but it dos make for easier eating. Simply take a pair of fish tweezers, feel for bones with your fingers, gently press down on the flesh either side of the bone and pluck the bone out – it is that easy. This meal looks great as a banquet-style dish – serve it on a large platter with the cous cous on the side.

8 large whiting fillets, pn-boned

extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, diced

1/3 cup pine nuts, roasted

1/3 cup raisins/currents

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 handful dill, roughly chopped

1/2 bunch chives, roughly chopped

freshly ground pepper

Serves 4.

Heat a little oil in a large pan. Place the fish in the pan, skin side down. Cook for about 1 minute, then gently turn over and cook the fish for about 30 minutes on the other side. You will need to cook the fish in two or three batches. Remove the fillets and place on a baking tray, keeping them warm in the oven while you cook the others. Be careful not to overcook the fish as it has a very delicate flesh.

Heat a little more oil in a separate pan and add the onion and some seas salt. Cook until softened. Add the celery, a dash more oil, the pinenuts and the currances, then the honey, red wine vinegar, dill and chives. Grind on some fresh pepper. You should have a sweet- sour tasting vinaigrette. Place two fish fillets on each plate and spoon a generous amount of the sauce pver the top. Alternatively, serve the dish banquet style, on a large platter with couscous on the side.

I served them with a cold mushroom and avocado rocket salad and grilled asparagus with a generous squeeze of lemon and zest.

Why I'm such a failure...

Well that's a dramatic way to start an entry - now that I've got you intrigued I'll waffle on for a bit explain WHY I haven't posted any new recipes.

I've been gardening...

Alot...

...Pretty much all I've been thinking about (in my spare time - I do actually work and study) is how to make my garden(s) nicer...

And realising it...



A and I went away to the country for a few days over the Melbourne Cup weekend - good time to get outta flemo. I spent that time, drinking alot, sleeping alot, adventuring the new Bunnings in town and cooking with A's Dad (my obsessive nature did get the best of me at one point when I cleaned out the fridge...).

We had my oldest friend Paige and her man-friend for dinner and cooked up a MASSIVE greek feast. We've been snacking on left overs ever since! It was deliceous and quite the effort to put together, even with A's Dad and I both in the kitchen... hence, the mad rush to serve the food - I forgot to take any photos :(

A's mum isn't eating any carbs at the moment so a monday night dinner was the perfect occasion for a cooking challenge! Due to storms, internet was out so I had to settle for A's dad's AMAZING recipe book collection.
.. More on this great recipe in the next post...


Once home again I set myself the goal of creating a workable spare room/den for study/craft/ gym...
- going with an industrial/schoolhouse theme on a budget, not as amazing as the inspiration but we're gettin it.

A is very happy with the new $40 desk/krumm's fortress, not so happy with the futon couch and old desks sitting on front porch.



We've recently aquired two new/old bikes - no room inside, oh dear we're going to need to keep them outside... A's response, "After exams I'm going to have to build a shelter for them...", Me in response - "Or we could get a couple of tarps and I can make covers for them..."

Genius! Cost effective and easy.

Did I mention this is the last week?

In the last few days I've been running from the laundry to the gardens trying to use as much of the water from the washing machine as possible (tonight I broke my record- not one bucket wasted), pottering the house and attempting to be better at french... with the help of Renaissance Luke I'm a good 6 years from being any use... C'est la vie... I think?

Salut!