Burmese House

303 Bridge Rd
Richmond, 3121

I'd not eaten Burmese food before visiting Burmese house, so I didn't know quite what to expect. We visited on a Saturday and it was busy. Outside on the sign there was the large teapot, inside the on the ground floor the kitchen is on display.

I scanned the takeaway menu below, as I couldn't find it online, it seems to be pretty much the same as the main eat in menu.

We shared the 5 deep fried chickpeas with dipping sauce. These were pretty similar to falafel, the dipping sauce was similar to some Thai sauces.

The tamarind lamb was incredibly tender. We had this at medium spiciness and it was pleasantly spicy. There were only 5 pieces of lamb, which made the dish seem a bit small.

We had the hot version of the rakhine sliced fillet of fish curry, and it was spicy! The hunks of fish were firm and the eggplant accompanied it nicely. The roti was good too!

The service was a little below par, perhaps because they were busy, but some places seem to survive that... The bill with a couple of beers was just under $70. An interesting culinary experience, and the food seemed to fit in between the various surrounding cuisines I'd tried. I doubt we will sprinting across Melbourne to get there, but might pop in if we around the area.





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Ramen Ya

Melbourne GPO 350 Bourke St

Melbourne, 3000

Ramen Ya is in a row of eateries that run down one side of the GPO complex in the CBD. I popped in for lunch with a mate.

We ordered at the counter and found a table 'outside' but the cover meant it wasn't too cold even in the middle of winter.

I went for the seafood gyōza ramen, the dumplings were great, the chicken and soy soup tasty and despite normally being a ramen noodle fan I was impressed. The serve was large, and filled me up.

Mr Hatch had the chicken curry Bentobox, which he enjoyed, although it left him still a little hungry.

Both dishes were $10.

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The Fox Hotel

351 Wellington Street
Collingwood, 3066

We visited the Fox with a group of friends on a Saturday night, it was busy and buzzing.

The menu had a mix of pub classics and more modern Aussie dishes.

The parma was enormous... and got a positive from a connoisseur.

I enjoyed my fish and chips, the batter was slightly soggy in places, and I'd have liked a couple more chips, but not bad for $17.

The salt and pepper squid was tender and juicy and was served with nice fresh salad and aoli, there were 4 nice sized pieces and plenty of chips.













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The Buckingham Hotel

21 Buckingham Street
Footscray
3011

The Buckingham is our local, and we pop in occasionally for a drink or dinner. It is a classic old school suburban pub, which unfortunately wont be the same for too much longer, as it has been sold to a developer, the current lease runs out in March 2011. The crowd is mixed, and even though we aren't there that often, the bar staff know us.

The menu is pretty classic for an Aussie pub. We had dinner the other night, I went for the lambs fry and bacon,with gravy, mash and veggies, all for $10.50! Never a fan as a kid, I've developed a taste for liver these days, the whole dish was well cooked, the beans being the best of the veggies. The porterhouse was good too, huge, with a very spicy green peppercorn sauce!

The Buckingham is well worth a visit if you are in the area, it's almost like stepping back in time, there is even a cocky in the courtyard out the back.




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Dumplings and More

96 Hopkins Street
Melbourne, 3011

After reading about Dumplings and More on the Footscray Food Blog, it sounded worth making a visit to. It's a bit more inviting than 1+1 just down the road, however the tables were a bit dirty when we visited, and the tea we were offered was cold despite being in a thermos.

The food however was better than initial impressions. We shared a variety of dishes, first to arrive was the Aubergine/egg plant in Szechuan sauce. The aubergine was sliced into long thin almost noodle like shapes, and the sauce was spicy, tasty and not to greasy.

The other dishes we tried were the lamb skewers prawn meat and pork dumplings. The skewers were spicy (as we'd asked for) and a bit salty, but great all the same, certainly unlike anything I'd had ina  Chinese restaurant before, more like food found in Pakistani style eateries.
The dumplings were good, with herbs adding to the meat and seafood flavours.

It came to $23 all up, a cheap and tasty meal!





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Groove Train

314 Bridge Rd
Richmond, 3121

Our visit to Groove Train in Richmond was unplanned. We had a reservation at restaurant down the road, but on arrival the entire smallish restaurant was dominated by one large loud table with 15-20 people on it. I don't mind large groups eating together, but it is a shame when they dominate a relatively small, normally fairly quite eatery.

Anyway, onto Groove train, a modern exposed brick cafe/restaurant with a variety of dishes available, quite a few with an Italian origin. The staff were friendly and efficient, although that was easier for them as it was relatively quiet by the time we arrived around 9:30pm.

I went for the roast vegetable pizza, which was huge! The roast veg weren't specified on the menu, and turned out to be aubergine and pumpkin. The pizza base was crisp and well cooked, the sauce was good, and there was a decent amount of veg.

I also tried a bit of the lamb souvlaki, which contained decent chunks of lamb, wrapped with salad and felt relatively healthy!

The overall bill with a few drinks was just over $50, so not cheap, but not bad either.





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