Bernti's Mountain Inn

4 Mowamba Place, Thredbo NSW 2625

The fourth road trip entry, Bernti's Mountain Inn Tapas Bar in Thredbo.

It was busy when we arrived, and we ordered while perched on bar stools, but eventually were offered a swap with a couple at a sit down table. We were told it was one of the biggest weekends of the year. The menu contained a variety of tapas sized dishes, from a variety of origins.

We started off with Thai prawn and fish cake, which were small but pretty much perfectly formed, with some chunky prawns in the tasty cakes.

The Calamari was well cook and came with a great sauce.

The trio of dips covered fish, pumpkin and pesto style dips, all well flavoured.

We also had the grilled Mediterranean veggies with halloum, which were also great.

The dishes were around $12 each and we were certainly full after 4 shared between us. THe service was good considering how busy it was. 




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Narooma Services Club

98 Princess Highway, Narooma NSW 2546

The third road trip entry.

We tried the golf club and a hotel which were both incredibly busy before heading to the Narooma Services Club

. As with other clubs in New South Wales it was huge and filled with pokies.

We had the Kingfish special with chips and salad:

and with veggies.

The meals filled us up. We found a more interesting looking pub on the way back to our digs, unfortunately a bit late!




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The Waterfront Cafe, Merimbula

8 Market Street, Merimbula NSW 2548

Road trip entry number 2.

We've stayed in Merimbula a couple of times, but this visit was to meet friends for brunch. We'd eaten at the Waterfront Cafe a year or two back, so chose this venue in advance. When we first went past a little early it was rammed, but things had thinned out a bit by 11, and our friends bagged a table inside.

The full cooked breakfast looked good, and went down well, the baked beans were certainly super tomatoey!

The poached eggs were done perfectly for me, white all set yolk still runny inside.

The mushroom omelette took a while longer than the rest of the dishes to arrive, which was disappointing, but understandable given how busy it was.

The brunch options we had came in between $12-$18 each. I'm sure it isn't always this busy and the location by the water in great on a sunny day, especially if you can get a table outside!




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Great Southern Hotel - Eden

13 Chandos Street, 
Eden NSW 2551

The next few posts are from a road trip over the Easter break... 

The first food stop was the Great Southern Hotel in Eden. Old school pub from the front, modern dining area at the back.

We shared the special of Mussels in tomato, basil and white wine sauce as an entrée.

The sauce was great and the mussels themselves were huge and fresh!

The grilled sea bream, another special was very good.

The fish and chips were also well received. The flat head was well cooked in a light batter, and was tender and moist.

The dishes were each around $20 and it was a great place to get some locally caught seafood...




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Nelayan Indonesian

265 Swanston St
Melbourne, 3000

I met Phil for lunch on a Monday at Nelayan, it almost looked closed from outside, with the tinted windows and doors shut, it took me a second to realise there were happily eating inside. It was pretty busy and we headed straight to the counter and bain-marie at the back. For $9 you get to try 3 dishes with rice, there  are other options on the menu behind the counter. We selected some dishes, paid and then easily found ourselves a table.

I went for the spicy egg-plant, a tofu and vegetable dish and the spicy potatoes, these weren’t labelled, so I can’t give you their Indonesian names. The big tofu block surprisingly to me contained some pork, an odd combination for me, but not unpleasant. The eggplant was soft and spicy and the potatoes had a surprising kick.

Phil went for some chicken which was unfortunately a bit dry, a beef rendang and some green beans.

The service was friendly and efficient. The location near the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale was good for us and the price very competitive. Overall it is probably not quite on a par with Blok M, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out going back again.




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Wesley Anne

250 High St
Northcote, 3070

The Wesley Anne on High Street in Northcote takes its name from the church which used to be based in the atmospheric old building. The high pitched roof gives it a different feel from most pubs and restaurants.

We were sat in a booth at the back of the building which was cosy despite the big room feel. Next door, live music was playing when we arrived, adding atmosphere without preventing conversation. We enjoyed some of the range of beers on offer while we waited for our friends to arrive.

Bread was provided once we had ordered at the bar. I went for the Vegetable moussaka with "layered eggplant, zucchini, potato and braised lentils, topped with bechamel", which was served with a garden salad. The dish was hearty, well balanced and tasty, with the veggies still identifiable in the melange.

The roast button mushroom risotto with field mushroom ragú and porcini topped with grana padano had a strong almost nutty mushroom flavour and a creamy texture.

The Lamb and autumn vegetable pie with crushed peas and mash kept Al happy, and he'd been concerned that on previous visits the portions had been a bit small.

The Wesley Anne is a great place to eat with friends, and knowing plenty of people in the area, I'm sure we will be back.

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The Court House Hotel

86 Errol St
North Melbourne,
3051, Vic

We'd been to the Court House once before, and were looking forward to re-visiting this North Melbourne gastro pub. It is on the corner of Errol and Queensberry streets and is an interesting arto-deco style brick building.

Inside the wood panelling gives the place a great feel  We got there just after 6 on Friday and got one of the last tables in the main bar area, tucked in behind the bar itself, in a fairly dark corner.

The lack of light resulted in grainy black and white photos.

The menu isn't huge, but has a reasonable variety of interesting dishes.

The duck and chorizo croquets were great, crunchy, light and delicately flavoured.

I had the rabbit lasagna, with truffled bechamel and provolone, which was happily light on the pasta and filled with plenty of tender tasty rabbit. The bechamel and provolone was quite light and didn't overpower the other flavours.

The crumbed sea bream, came with a stack of large hand cut chips and a fantastic caper coleslaw. The bream I tasted was good without being outstanding, the chips were apparently OK, but slightly undercooked, the coleslaw was probably the highlight of the dish.

The service was generally friendly and efficient except perhaps for the first visit to the bar. The Hagreaves Hill ESB I had with the meal was fantastic, with loads fruit flavours. The mains in the bar were $22-25, entrées around $10. The beers and wines on offer are good and are priced as would be expected. We will probably be back again...




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Rice Paper

245 Swanston Street
Melbourne
3000

I was in the city to meet a friend in town for the evening only, I thought it would just be for a drink, but he wanted to eat to. We were looking for something quick, cheap and open late, as it was already gone 10. We wandered past Blok M Express but that had closed for the night, as had Mekong, so we wandered in to "Rice Paper Vietnamese Restaurant" next door.

The décor is modern and the restaurant opened on to the street on a pleasant evening. The service was a bit haphazard, but given the time of night wasn't bad. The menu covered a variety of Vietnamese dishes.

Jim went for the Grilled pork with vermicelli, which looked OK and was apparently pretty good, he certainly ate it all up.

The dish was $9.50 and we both enjoyed tea while he ate. A good option for dining later in the evening.





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Chatter Box

Shop 18, 235 Bourke St
Melbourne, 3000

Chatter Box sits at the back of the Tivoli Arcade which runs off Bourke Street. It was pretty packed when we arrived at around 12:30 for lunch, but after ordering we managed to find a table. It's pretty cramped inside, there were a few tables outside as well, it actually emptied out a bit over the time we were there. Once we had a table we grabbed some tea from the urn and listened out for our food order numbers to be called out over the hubbub.

Phil's Singapore Noodles noodles arrived first, a large plate of flavoursome noodles with some small prawn's and some small pieces of meat. The only reservation with the dish was the relative paucity of meat.

I had the seafood Tom Yum with noodles, which was flavoursome although not quite up to the standards I remember from travels in Thailand. There were a few small prawns amongst the more processed seafood and plenty of fine noodles.

The meals were $8.50-$9 each, so for the amount of food received we couldn't argue, and it is certainly a good option for this part of town.




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