Hotel Arcadia

7 Marine Parade
Arcadia
Magnetic Island
QLD 4819

07 4778 5177

This will be the first of few posts from our recent stay on Magnetic Island. The Arcadia pub, or to go by its official name,  "Hotel Arcadia" has a fantastic location overlooking the Eastern end of Geoffrey Bay and around the corner from Alma Bay. It's a big pub/hotel complex, offering accommodation, several bars, a pool, pokies and a bottle shop as well as meals.

We stayed nearby and ended up visiting a few times as some of the time it is the only option to get food in Arcadia, especially in the evening.

Pub standards dominate the menu, including the Fish burger below, which contained a generous, if awkwardly shaped chunk of crumbed and slightly dry fish. We weren't sure about the inclusion of cheese, and removed it... The burger filled us up at lunch though.

The 300g steak covered the plate, but was a little on the thin side. The accompanying pepper sauce was disappointingly thin and runny.

I went for the grilled fish and chips as a slightly healthier option, but fish may have been better suited to being battered...

 The chicken schnitzel was on special on Tuesdays, a bargain at only $8 that I had to investigate. It was huge and well cooked - not at all dry...

The crumbed prawns and calamari was fine, and followed a Magnetic Island/north Queensland trend for coating things in breadcrumbs!

On Saturday there is an Asian food stall/counter which serves good value ($12 a plate) Thai green and masaman curries, chicken and cashew nuts and a couple of other dishes. These were a pleasant change to the regular offerings and of a great standard, especially at that price. Eating outdoors and off plastic plates just made it feel a bit more like a visit to a food stall/market somewhere in south east asia!

The pub with its awesome views can be a great place to pass the time, and can vary in atmosphere from quiet to busy and louder with bands playing on weekends. The food meets expectations and the service was was fine too. Not a bad spot to spend some time while visiting the island.





View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Spice Bazaar

79 Victoria Street
Seddon
Vic 3011

I'd walked past Spice Bazaar many times and sometimes seen classes in action, but hadn't got around to finding out more about it. A work related event provided the opportunity to find out more! Inside the kitchen area was modern and clean with two islands for prep and hobs and ovens against the back wall.At the front the tables were set...

We worked in groups of four filling up the two benches in the kitchen area. The first thing we worked on were the Spanish tortillas with an anchovy, capers and lemon zest filling.

Jill flipped the omelettes using a plate.

They were finished in the oven and formed part of the second course.

The entrée included Rhodes zucchini fritters with mint and wine marinated feta...

...Za'atar Spiced Lebanese Bread with a herbaceous, topping  imparting tangy and nutty flavours.

The final component of the first course were the home style nachos with classic toppings and served with a guacamole.

The main course featured a variety of salads including Piquillo with sweet smokey roasted capsicum fillets topped with  anchovy, red oinion, Spanish Sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil....

... a Spanish black olive, fennel and orange salad....

...and a Broccoli salad.

The centre piece of the mains were the veggie and chicken and chorizo paellas.

There were also Koftas.

To finish we prepared and ate pears poached in Moroccan spices, with citrus labne whip.

 I've let the photo's do the talking, as I'm not sure 'reviewing' food I'd help cook (when I didn't have the camera out) was really fair. The dishes were all flavoursome and the ingredients authentic and good quality. The business was originally focussed on spice production, but has now successfully been teaching for a couple of years. The hosts were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It was different and enjoyable activity to participate in with colleagues and certainly and fun and educational way to spend an evening!

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

+39 Pizzeria

362 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

+39 Pizzeria takes its name from the telephone area code for Italy. It is located on Little Bourke steet between Elizabeth and Queen and has s stylish facade featuring plenty of glass, which allowed us to see how busy it was as we arrived on a Friday evening.

Despite the crowds we were quickly shown to a table, just in front of the bar area. Behind the counter were shelves loaded with plenty of products of Italian origin. 

Next to this was a refrigerated cabinet displaying a range of charcuterie, salads and desert. 

We shared the Caponata de pane for entrée, a bread salad with borlotti beans, rocket, tomatoes, white onion and shaved parmesan. We both enjoyed the wining mix of good quality ingredients.

The phone didn't seem to be on best photo taking form, but you can just about make out the rocket again topping the Tatufata pizza, which also featured a tasty combination of cream of mushrooms, fior de latte, mushrooms, truffle oil and parmesan on a great base.

The Napoletana pizza sported a more traditional and equally good combination of tomato salsa, fior de latte, anchovies, olives, capers, oregano and basil atop another perfect base.

The bill with a few drinks came to around $80. Despite how busy it was the staff were friendly and our meals were delivered at a good pace. I wouldn't hesitate on returning for another visit if looking for an authentic Italian pizza in the city.





View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Tidlom Thai Antique Restaurant

550 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Tildom had some good reviews on urbanspoon particularly for offering authentic Thai food. From the outside the restaurant is fairly nondescript, with an all glass street frontage and only some small signage.

Inside the rectangular space featured one wall covered in a mix of Thai and western film posters, another displaying dozens of Thai number plates, otherwise the décor was clean and modern with wooden tanles and chairs.

We perused the menu, and decided to share some fish cakes as an entrée, unfortunately they ended up arriving just after our mains. They seemed however to have just come out of the pan, almost too hot to eat. Combined with the dipping sauce the spice factor was up there too, and a good start to the meal.

 Phil had the Pad Thai beef, which looked a little different to the 'typical' dish I've seen in Bangkok, Melbourne or London, it was also missing the usual peanuts. It was fine without being outstanding.

I had the Tom Yum noodle soup with chicken, which was reasonable without the usual intensity of flavour and spiciness. The gangal/ginger and lemon grass were present as were the straw mushroomsbut the punch was lacking.

Apart from all the dishes arriving together the service was fine. We were there for the last day of an opening lunch special featuring $9 mains and the overall bill came to a reasonable $23. I'm glad we opted for the the fish cakes as they turned out to be a highlight.




View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map