Sambal Kampung

234 Little Bourke St

Melbourne, 3000

Sat in the middle of China town on Little Bourke between Swanston Russell, I've had lunch at Sambal Kampung a few times. Due to the lunchtime special - $10 for a dish and a soft drink I've generally ordered from the limited menu.The dishes are mainly Malaysian, with some Chinese influences.

I've tried the chicken sambal, a curry and a few other options, and they've all been good. The service is pretty quick at lunch which is handy.

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Hao Phong

136 Hopkins St
Footscray, 3011

I'm not sure why we haven't been to Hao Phong before, it is in the area of Hopkins Street near several other Vietnamese restaurants, so perhaps we just drifted past...

It's modern, clean and bright inside.

We ordered spring rolls to start, but all the accompaniments for the meal arrived first.

The rolls arrived and we devoured half of them before I remembered to get the camera out...

The Pho Ga was large and good but not the best ever apparently...

I had the vegetable and bean curd claypot rice with Szechuan sauce. It wasn't cooked in the clay-pot and was basically stir-fried veggies and tofu in the sauce on the rice in a super hot clay-pot, with the sauce on top.

It all came to $25.50.

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Treviso

4 bank place

Melbourne, 3000

Treviso is on Bank Place opposite the Mitre.

There are a few tables outside, but you head downstairs to the basement for the relatively large main restaurant area.

On a Thursday lunchtime it was busy, but we had a reservation so there wasn't a wait. The service was efficient and friendly. I ordered the Spanish pizza, which was a bit small, had a crisp but not brilliant base, with good goat's cheese and chorizo. I felt I'd lost out compared to the lasagne, tortellini and spaghetti dishes others had ordered. It was reasonably pricey given the size of the pizza ($17.90), and I wouldn't rush back if I was paying!

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Mekong

241 Swanston St

Melbourne, 3000

Mekong would probably be the first restaurant I had Phở in Melbourne. From their card it seems their full name is "Phở Mekong Vietnam - Original Vietnamese Rice Noodle Soups". Apparently they are open 9am - 10pm every day, but I didn't manage to pick up the Phở for breakfast tradition, even after visiting Vietnam, so it’s a lunch or dinner spot for me. Certainly the "Phở Bò Gà Đặc Biệt" or Original Vietnamese Beef Chicken Rice Noodle Soups description accurately describes their staple dishes.

Being on one of the busiest streets in Melbourne, it always seems to be full, although there normally seem to be some seats they can squeeze you into. The crowd is mixed and fairly young, and there is a bit of a buzz about the place. The real reason we come back is the food, the Phở is reliably tasty, arrives quickly and is accompanied by fresh been sprouts and basil. The spring rolls with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce aren't bad either - crispy, tasty and not too greasy. At $8.50 for a regular bowl of soup, it’s great value. Don't come here expecting 5 star service, but as the card says “Tell your friends how much you love Mekong noodle soups”!

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Supper Inn

15 Celestial Ave

Melbourne, 3000

We popped in to the Supper Inn again over the weekend, before meeting up with friends. We've visited a few times, some times as part of larger groups. The walk up the lane way off Little Bourke St, after stopping to get some byo at the bottle shop is atmospheric, or is that just a bit dingy, and hard work if you aren't wearing sensible shoes. We headed up the stairs and joind the queue behind one group of 5. It was ptretty busy inside and after a quite a few people had left, and the group in front of us had been seated we were told to go downstairs to get a table. We've eaten downstairs before, and the décor is even more basic, and the service is just one guy! We got a table down stairs and perused the vast menu. In the end we went for the steamed whole flounder with ginger and spring onions, along with Chinese broccoli with garlic. We didn't have to wait too long for our food, and the flounder was impressive looking, filling a large plate, head to tail! 

The fish tasted as good as it looked and we were so keen to eat that I forgot to get a snap until a bit late! The greens were lovely too, the garlic flavour was rich, almost that burnt garlic taste. It was a pretty classic Supper Inn experience, and we enjoyed it.

The bill came to $44 for the two of us, not super cheap but pretty good value all the same...

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