Downstairs Bistro & Lounge

215 - 217 Sturt Street
Southbank
VIC 3006

We were off to a gig nearby and settled on checking out Downstairs Bistro and Lounge first. It occupies the ground floor of a mid-rise tower block towards the southern end of Southbank on Sturt Street, and if you aren't looking carefully would be fairly easy to miss.

There is a large covered terrace area out the front, which was busy on the late Autumn Friday evening when we visited. Inside there is a bar area which was hosting a guitarist and chanteuse with an opening through to the simple and elegant dining area.

We were both taken by the glassware for our water I also enjoyed the Yenda pale ale on offer.

We decided to order a couple of the 13 inch pizza's to share. My pick was the Gamberi, topped with tomato sugo, fior di latte, prawns, cherry tomatoes, spinach and black garlic. I think it was my first try of the preserved garlic and certainly a new one to me on a pizza. The combination with the sweet tomato sauce and a bit too much cheese didn't quite win me over, although the prawns were good.

The Fungi featuring fior di latte, mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, rocket, thyme, truffle oil and hazelnuts however was fantastic. The strong fungal flavours were all through the pizza and were nicely complimented by the rocket.

The service was fine, friendly but occasionally it was a little hard to get the staffs attention. The bill came in at just over $60 including a few drinks. I'd be happy to return and think about trying some of the other dishes on the menu... and probably end up going for the Fungi again.

Ayam Chef

67 Coventry Street
Southbank
VIC 3006

We were invited to dine at Ayam Chef on Coventry Street Southbank. The restaurant is at the base of a large block not far from St Kilda Road. There were a few tables under bright yellow parasols outside on a warm autumn evening.

Inside the fit out is modern, featuring plenty of wooden along with a few hints of Malaysia.

Early in the evening it was quiet, but it filled up surprisingly rapidly. Along the back wall were reminders of the rainforest and some feature lights. The menu covers a range of dishes, most of which were familiar, with a few new options.

We kicked off sharing a few entrees, including a great chicken San Choy Bao with its minced chicken and spring onion in lettuce topped with an appealing combination of sesame seeds, crispy enoki mushroom and hoisin sauce.

The roti looked quite small but packed many light and flaky layers and the mopped up the slightly sweet peanut sauce well.

We both enjoyed the 'Original Recipe' school prawns with their homemade chilli lime sauce. Crunching through the crisply coated shells dipped in the lightly spiced sauce was really satisfying and moreish.

The mains we also shared included the Sambal Fish, featuring deep fried cod cutlets on a banana leaf in the sambal sauce. It was well worth pulling the fish apart to extract the bones before tucking into the perfectly cooked flesh, beneath the crunchy coating in the chilli based sauce.

Hogan who had got in touch with me had mentioned that the "San Low Fried Bee Hoon" was a new dish which can't be found anywhere else in Melbourne, it seems to be a speciality of Johur Bahru as mentioned in a post by Cavin Teo. The combination fried rice vermicelli, with egg, choy sum, pork slices, prawn and fishcake aren't a visual stunner, but the flavours are great! As Calvin mentions the smokey 'wok hei' flavours leap out, the phrase translates apparently as wok heat or ‘breath of the wok’ and is familiar from wok fried dishes from the region. It is always great to find a new dish to enjoy and this mix of well cooked seafood, meat, veggies, egg and noodles brought that.

We may have been greedy adding garlic spinach to our meal, but it was good to add the greens with their different texture, moisture and vibrant colour!  

We didn't have to pay for our meal and the restaurant hasn't had any influence over this post.

We deffinately enjoyed our meal, and the staff were friendly and helpful all evening. Ayam Chef will certainly be high up on my list next time I'm dining in Southbank!

Grill'd, South Melbourne

278 Clarendon Street
South Melbourne
VIC 3205

We popped into the Grill'd on Clarendon street in South Melbourne on a sunny Sunday lunchtime. There were people eating inside and at the tables on the street. It was the first time I tried any of the chain's stores, partly because the better half had won a two for one voucher.

The fit out inside was bright and modern, with a bit of an industrial feel, and plenty of menu options up behind the counter.

We both ended up deciding on veggie options. The Field of Dreams burger enclosed a grilled field mushroom, basil pesto, roasted peppers, tasty cheese, salad and herbed mayo. It seemed to eat well, although the mushroom provided quite a bit juice that leaked out! The thick-cut chips were crisp on the outside and soft inside and sprinkled with a tasty salt and thyme mix.

I had the Bombay bliss burger, filled with a chickpea pattie, roasted peppers, tzatziki, salad and relish. The burger was a little crunchy on the outside unusually for a pulse based burger, but held together pretty well and was complemented by the other components.

The service was pretty efficient and although the burger didn't quite reach the level of Jerry's masterpiece, but I'd happily have another...

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Chicco - Seddon

77 Charles street,
Seddon,
Vic, 3011

Chicco sprang up on the site of the former Touks a few months ago, but we hadn't made it down. There have been plenty of superficial changes to the decor and a new all white exterior, but the layout is still the same. It was fairly busy on the SUnday lunchtime when we visited, but we managed to grab a table in the spring sunshine.

The site at the end of Victoria street meant we had a view straight back up the street, and the trees down the middle of the street are growing to add a nice arborial touch.

We had coffees first up, my long black was a little on the intense side for my tastes, and could perhaps been just a little longer. the cups were cute and the tea spoons reminded me on my dear departed grandma's.

I had the vegetable and chickpea pattie stack with tomato relish and hummus. These were actually presented side by side on a bed of fresh peppery rocket. They were well executed, full of flavour and despite being tender held together well. The condiments were both great, the relish being the winner for me.

The home made baked beans with pesto and roast red onions was good without quite departing far enough from my memories of beans on toast to be really special.

The bill came to $37.50, which was fair for what we'd had. The staff were friendly and the service prompt. It's a great addition to the range of café's and eateries in Seddon and a good change from Touk's although from someone who mainly eats out in the evening, not quite so convenient. I did note that they were advertising the arrival of degustation dinner nights, which could be worth a visit!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Le Bangkok

195 Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne,
VIC,
3000

I hadn't noticed Le Bangkok on Lonsdale Street until a work lunch was arranged there. Nestled in the strip of mainly Greek eateries between Russell and Swanston streets it doesn't really jump out at you.

Once inside the bare stone walls look good and the fit out is pretty modern, if not particularly Thai in nature. We sat upstairs in an area that was decorated with large western style paintings.

For entree I had the "Spring Roll Puk", filled with mixed vegetables, fungus, and shitake mushroom, served with plum sauce. These were good but not particularly exciting, and were on the small side.

The curry puffs looked good and were filled with yellow curry mixed with chicken, mashed potato, and carrot.

I went for the Pad Cha Talay for my main, featuring stir fried prawn, calamari and rockling with seasoning sauce, Thai basil, chili, galangal, green pepper, and vegetables. As you can see it sported several bunches of green peppercorns which gave the dish plenty of kick! All the seafood mentioned was there, but the pieces were fairly few and far between, and in general were fairly small, the veggies were fresh.

The pad thai looked great, and I heard good things about the green curry.

The prices were around $5 for entrées and $15 for mains. The service was pretty efficient, and overall it was a good experience, certainly not a bad Thai option in the CBD.

Update: A  couple of weeks after visiting, Le Bangkok appeared in the news due to an overzealous attempt at pest control! So is it good they are trying to keep the place hygienic, or is it a worry they needed to use the bombs and/or used them so devastatingly!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Garamerica - South Melbourne

230 Dorcas Street,
South Melbourne,
VIC, 3205

We were in South Melbourne to do some shopping and then grab lunch before heading out of town for the night. We picked Garamerica as it seemed one of the few Asian options that were open for lunch at on Saturday. Just off Clarendon St on Dorcas St, despite the sign Garamerica would be easy to miss.

 

Inside it was pretty cosy, and relatively busy when we arrived at around 2, it emptied while we were there. The welcome was warm and we were offered help with the menu and suggestions!

Bali is the only part of Indonesia we've visited, and although we got around the island, I'm sure it only represents part of the national cuisine. I did remember a few dishes on the menu.

I had most of the Ayam Bakar, the marinated chicken grilled with garamerica's 'authentic sauce', was beautifully cooked, crispy spicy on the outside and tender inside. It came with rice, shrimp paste, chilli and a few veggies, along with some hot and sour soup.

The Mie Ayam had egg noodles blended with spices topped with minced chicken and mushrooms cooked in a "special sauce", was a new one to me and nicely flavoured.

We shared the Siomai which the menu listed as steamed Indonesian fish dumplings with home made peanut sauce. It came with with tofu and boiled egg as well as the dumplings, which were more gelatinous than we expected. The sauce was quite sweet and reminded me of those that I'd had on gado-gado in the past. It was certainly a different dish, and I'm still not quite sure if I'm a fan. The waitress mentioned that her favourite was the fried version, which maybe worth a try on another occasion.

The dishes were good value at around $10 each, we would have been fine with just one each... The service was very friendly, and I'd certainly pop in again if was in the area.




View Larger Map

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.




View Larger Map

Ants Bistro

9 Corrs Lane
Melbourne, 3000

We visited Ants Bistro with friends for a post cricket dinner.

Actually we tried Supper Inn first, but we didn't fancy waiting for a queue half way down the stairs... Despite there being six of us we were seated quickly. I'd had lunch at Ants before, but never dinner.

We ordered a dish or so each, the first to arrive were the salt and pepper calamari, which went down well, and the spring rolls.

The dumplings were good.

The Peking Duck came pre-wrapped, probably more efficient, but a little less fun!

The "Steamed Broad Bean Fish" was probably the highlight for me, delicately flavoured and something I hadn't tried before. From the menu I now see it is described as "Wunan style, steam fish fillet with homemade broad bean (grounded and roasted soy bean)", which explains my surprise at the absence of European style broad beans!
We had a couple of other dishes, the spare ribs weren't that special, the others slip my mind.


With a drink each the bill came to $25 a head for what felt like quite a feast... I enjoyed the dinner, although that might have been due to England having a good day at the MCG!





View Larger Map