Laksa King

6 - 12 Pin Oak Crescent
Flemington VIC 3031

We never made it to Laksa King before it moved around the corner to its new location, although we did wander around the old food court type setup looking for it on our first attempted visit, although in the end that Saturday evening it was just too busy to get a table!

Our second attempt was much more successful, we dropped in on a Wednesday evening on a diversion from our normal route home from the city. The new venue is certainly bright, airy and modern. There were several tables occupied when we arrived, just before 6, and by the time we left it was busy.

We ordered a side dish of roti, but it arrived before our mains, so most of it was devoured quickly.

I went for the combination laksa, which had a couple of prawns, some chicken, fishcake and aubergine, as well as the familiar broth and noodles. The lovely aroma hit me, as soon as it was placed in front of me, and the flavours didn't disappoint! Despite the generous serving I finished the bowl in pretty quick time...

The veggie Laksa looked good to, with a decent range of vegetables...

I really enjoyed the meal, and I'm glad we persisted enough to finally get to try the famous Laksa's, and I'm sure we will be back, although we'll try and avoid peak times. According to the card, they now have a Highpoint branch too...






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George Hotel Ballarat

25/27 Lydiard St
Ballarat,
Vic, 3350

We were visiting Ballarat with friends and were a little worried about finding somewhere that would seat 8 of us for a casual dinner after 8:30. It was no problem to get a table at the George Hotel.
We sat in the dinning area, behind the main bar which was quite lively, especially when we left. There were a few other groups of diners.

The menu was slightly unusual for a pub, featuring a variety of asian dishes alongside more standard pub food.

I went for the fisherman's basket, with prawns, scallops and calamari as well fish, chips and salad. It was all pretty well cooked and tasty.

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Other diners had a mix of dishes, the steak got a thumbs down, but most people were happy.

A reasonable option and certainly OK for medium sized groups...




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Funky Curry

164 Bourke St
Melbourne, 3000

I met a mate for lunch in the city and it was time try another Indian cafe, Funky Curry which is bright and indeed a little funky inside.You order at the counter, with all the curry's on display, so you can see what you will be eating before you order!

I had the Funky Curry special chicken curry with black eyed beans, rice and naan, both the curries carried warnings about heat, but I thought my British curry trained taste buds would be fine, but of these were pretty hot, I certainly need a few sips of water with the meal! The chicken was nicely cooked and the naan was good with out being too greasy. Both of the sauces were fairly runny.

Mr Hatch had the Lamb vindaloo, which was also spicy!

We both managed good efforts at cleaning our plates/trays, (I think I did slightly better).... The (large) lunch special which we both had is a good deal at $10, and given my taste for Indian food, I'm sure I'll be back!





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Golden City Hotel

427 Sturt Street, Ballarat, Vic
03 5331 6211

We visited the Golden City Hotel for lunch. It sits right on Sturt Street in the centre of Ballarat and is a traditional looking pub from the outside. On the inside you quickly realise that  it is certainly focused on serving food.. We got one of the last 2 seat tables, but despite the number of diners we were served in a reasonable time. The menu was a mix of traditional Aussie pub food, with a few Italian dishes.

I went for the Italian pizza, with hot salami, olives, mushrooms and anchovies. It was a medium size, and just about right for lunch. It was a super thin base, but the dough was good and well cooked. The hot salami certainly lived up to it's billing, and the flavours worked out well.

The prawn linguini had a creamy white wine sauce which was a little bland, with not too much evidence of the promised chilli and garlic.

The meals were around $20 each... As we don't visit Ballarat often, I doubt we'll be back soon, but we might try the Golden City Hotel again.





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The Inlet Hotel

45 Great Ocean Rd  Aireys Inlet, 3231

The Airey's Inlet Hotel sits at the top of a fill overlooking Fairhaven with views all the way along the coast to Lorne and beyond. There's a big beer garden with plenty of tables, which can fill up in holiday season. It was a bit too cold to sit outside for dinner when we visited, but we still managed to get a window table with great views. Inside the pub has a built in the 70's or 80's vibe. It has a medium sized bar area and a large bistro space.

The menu is fairly limited selection of standard Aussie pub meal. We had the fish and chips and a parma. Both were decent portions and well prepared and presented, with good chips and salad. The flake was in a decent crispy batter and the parma had a good tomato sauce, ham and plenty of cheese, and the chicken was tender and moist.

We were going to share a desert, but the orderer couldn't decide so we ended up sharing the lemon tart and the sticky date pudding.

Both were fantastic and we managed to finish both. Both were at the right level of richness...

The pub is certainly worth trying if you are in the area, and if you are there at the right time the sunset is fantastic!

These shots are from a previous visit!








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Truffles Cafe

34 Great Ocean Rd
Aireys Inlet, 3231

We'd had breakfast at Truffles on a previous visit to Airey's, it's very handy if you are staying at the caravan park, as it is just across the road!

I had the full breakfast with poached eggs.It actually a little better than the picture shows and was all well cooked and tasty. Eating outside in the morning meant it cooled down quite quickly, but I guess that was my fault!

The mushrooms on toast was a good size!Again these were well cooked and the sour dough bread was great.

The coffee's we had were good, although they could have been a bit warmer.

All up it was a good breaky, and not too expensive...






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