You know the place people keep telling you about? The one everyone says is the epitome of that particular cuisine in your city? The one you inevitably put off visiting because it’s one of those ‘special occasion’ restaurants? Montrachet has been one of those places for us. Its reputation meant we would only allow ourselves to visit to celebrate a special occasion and  so when my birthday rocked up, the SO made the earliest dinner booking.

To stretch our dining pleasure without doing the same to our stomachs, we agreed to order an entrée to share, a main each and a dessert to share.

To start, we decided on the Gnocchi et Crevettes Sauce aux Cêpes - freshly made potato gnocchi topped with tiger prawns and porcini mushroom sauce

Gnocchi et Crevettes Sauce aux Cêpes. AUD$22

Our waiter slid effortlessly back to ask if we would prefer an extra prawn, as the dish would normally come with only three. Uneven numbers can be such tricky creatures and rather than fight over the last prawn, we agreed to add and provide more company to the entrée. The more the merrier, right?

Enter the entrée. On two plates. I was surprised – sharing a dish usually involves romantically hunching over one plate and picking it apart with two sets of cutlery. It’s an act that might bring to mind Walt Disney’s canine love story ‘Lady and the Tramp’, minus the serenading chef. Perhaps the posh think sharing one plate is much too middle class or childish, but the perk was we got a little more of everything, but slightly less than had we ordered one of our own.

I had to take a moment to compose myself – admiring the pretty circle of pale creamy baby finger lengths of gnocchi and straws of porcini mushrooms around the two monstrous Tiger prawns. The earthy aroma from the porcini mushroom sauce was calling out to my primal instinct to savagely devour it.

Bouillabaisse. AUD$42

For the main, the SO’s choice was the Bouillabaisse – reef fish, scallops, fresh green prawns and calamari served in a rich seafood broth. It came with aioli and garlic French toast on the side. While the seafood was divine, the broth had an anise or liquorice tang to it, which definitely is not up my alley and so I was glad to leave the SO to his main.

Lapin à la Moutarde. AUD$42

On the other hand, the last time I had rabbit was at a hole-in-the-hole joint in Paris two years ago and it was brilliant. Rabbit is not generally a regular menu item in Australia, despite the bunny plague population in some parts of the country. It comes as no surprise, seeing as a colleague squealed in horror and chided me for eating such an adorable creature when I mentioned what I dined on. Don’t get me wrong – I find rabbits extremely cute too, but my retort, which came with a generous shrug, was: “I’m Chinese – I eat everything.”

The Lapin à la Moutarde is a casserole of rabbit with white wine, Dijon mustard and mushrooms.  They didn’t mention there would be bacon and these were juicy thick cut. Served with sauteed potato and French beans, I found one half of the rabbit portion far too dry and I had trouble cutting into it with the supplied knife, but the other half was succulent when coasted with the creamy Dijon mustard sauce.

Crêpes Suzette. AUD$9.90

Whatever the legend of its birth, there is no denying crêpe suzette is quintessentially French. Each thin crepe was folded like a neat napkin, swimming in a generous bath of orange syrup and topped with a modest ball of creamy vanilla ice-cream. We couldn’t help but giggle as we spooned each mouthful and breathed the alcohol heat through the nose.

We can definitely see how Montrachet earned its stellar reputation, but be warned that if you’re sharing a dish and receive separate plates, there will be an additional charge.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

Bills is one of Bill Granger’s three restaurants in Sydney. We hadn’t planned on dropping in, but we had a late lazy start to the morning. What else can one expect on a long weekend besides snugging under the warm covers with the heavy hotel curtains drawn to block out any sunshine?

Thankfully the initial breakfast crowd had already thinned and we had our pick of seats at Bills – both inside and out. The rest of the clientele appeared as relaxed as we were and dressed casually, even when they were there for a meeting.

Bills’ breakfast menu has some instantly recognisable items, such as scrambled eggs, muesli and loaves. And then there are items such as the crab, chorizo and kim chee fried brown rice, and brown rice and sweet white miso porridge with coconut and mango. Perhaps a little too adventurous for my palette in the morning, but we were had a hunger craving to satisfy.

Full Aussie Breakfast. AUD$24.50

The full Aussie breakfast comes with scrambled organic eggs, sourdough toast, bacon, roast tomato, swiss mushrooms, pork and fennel sausages. It all smelt so delicious as the SO rearranged the plate to work out which to eat first.

Ricotta Hotcakes, Banana and honeycomb butter. AUD$19.50

Thick fluffy pillows of ricotta pancakes stacked on top a foundation of pale creamy yellow bananas – that was my attempt at a healthy breakfast, but I somewhat doubt the liberal lashings of butter and honey with soft dustings of icing sugar would neutralise any healthiness to the meal.

Nonetheless, I wiped the plate clean – even of its icing sugar- and it made me all the happier to face the rest of the day.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

Woolloongabba welcomed its newest café addition to the suburb Wednesday night – Moose and Gibson. Owners Scott Higginbotham and business partners Malcolm and Danielle Watts invited 100 guests to celebrate their opening. The SO and I were invited to the celebrations and get a taste of the menu.

I adore the decor. The exposed pipes against white bricked wall and huge mirrors make a gorgeous contrast to all the wood. These are softened with the vertical planter above the iron wrought swing, which one should be careful not to swing too far back to avoid scratching the wall.

Moose and Gibson’s Antler Statement Chandelier

This is definitely my favorite feature at Moose and Gibson. It might scream burly men’s den, but it is so intricate and was so much fun to photograph.

The Entertainer’s Loft

Chef Luke Tye (Moose and Gibson) and Craig Benton (Leaf Espresso Cafe)

Mini Mexican Beef burgers

Chicken waldorf crostini with baby herbs

Mini lamb & rosemary pie with minted pea puree

Harissa lamb kofta with cucumber and mint yogurt

Mushroom arancini with gorgonzola & fig cream and micro herbs

Tempura whiting, sesame nori sprinkle and miso mayo

Cajun panko prawns with lime Aioli

The Cajun panko prawns were the menu highlight for me. The prawns were decently sized and fresh, beautifully crunchy and warm enough I could eat them whole, tail all.

Owner Malcolm took to the stage (well, chair actually) to express their thanks to those who have had a part to play in putting Moose and Gibson together.

And of course introduced Moose and Gibson’s namesakes – Malcolm’s Bordeaux mastiffs, Moose and Gibson. They were absolute cuties and were a little excited by all the attention, though I’m sure they didn’t have a clue what all the fuss was about.

Fellow foodies, including Anthony, Kirsten and Jessalyn

And to add excitement that evening, the fire alarm got tripped and the fire truck came out.

Moose and Gibson plans to trade as a café by day, and a bar and live music venue at night – as long as the entertainment can climb up to the loft (arguably the best seat in the house).

Moose and Gibson’s introductory opening hours are open Monday to Friday, 6am – 2:30pm and Saturday/Sunday, 6am – 2pm. Follow them on Facebook for their specialty nights, which feature food, drinks and live music.

Disclaimer: We attended the launch as invited guests of Moose and Gibson and Publicity Depot.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

We received the Burge Urge condom in our letterbox after the first article was published, and we had a good giggle. I doubt I would’ve known what it was until I was at least 16 years old – sheltered child that I was. As for the cow licking, I personally wouldn’t do it, because have you ever seen a REAL cow? Their muzzle is furry and your tongue might find the act quite uncomfortable. And by the way, a top hat and monocle on a cow a MAN does not make. Do they realise that a cow is female? It has the wrong kind of plumbing.

Anyway, enough of my little eyeball rolling.

It has been four years since I last visited a Burge Urge outlet. It’s a shame since we live close enough to their Fortitude Valley outlet. But today, Burge Urge is no longer just one burger joint. It is five – Fortitude Valley, West End, University of Queensland, Kelvin Grove and now QUT Gardens Point. Had they’d expanded when I was in uni, I wouldn’t have had to suffer the sometimes dire consequences of braving the cafeteria food.

At my last visit four years ago, I enjoyed the burgers, but I found the chips rather ordinary. They were fine regular fat chips you might find at most pub or burger joints, which just didn’t tickle my fancy.

Today, Burge Urge also has sweet potato chips – AUD$4.90 for small, AUD$6.50 for large portion. I ordered my combo with sweet potato chips and these sweet crunchy sticks were liberally dusted in a spicy seasoning that I think might have garlic powder and paprika. It made for an addictive combo and I was sucking in the cool night air as fast as I was the chips. Not for the spice vanillas out there (stick to the regular chips), but go for it if you like a little tongue tingle action.

The New Yorker has not quite made its way into the mainstream menu, but its ingredient list reads like something out of an American movie diner – American style cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, smoky BBQ sauce and the premium ground beef.

On the other hand, blue cheese is my catnip. I cannot resist the stuff and the smellier it is, the more I lust over it like a dog in heat. The opposite is true for the SO – he will barely tolerate the stuff, and just about never orders anything with it. The Blue Vein is modest with its portion of matured blue vein cheese for an addict like myself, but there’s still plenty of its rank creaminess to coat the mouth without overpowering the homemade tomato chutney, whole egg mayonnaise (cuz the hair cream type is disgusting), prime ground Australian beef, onion jam served on a bed of cos lettuce and tomato.

Blue Vein. AUD$12.60 (burger only), AUD$17.60 (combo).

Burge Urge is keeping up their good work on their burgers and they have found a fan in me with their sweet potato chips. I am jealous of all those uni students who have easy access to these – dang whipper snappers.

Disclaimer: Our meal was partly subsidized with a AUD$30 voucher from Burger Urge and Publicity Depot. 

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

But I am – if anything – persistent. Since moving back to Australia, I’ve managed to keep several aloe vera plants alive and propagating (for the SO’s redheaded benefit), a chilli plant (although currently infested by aphids), a little rosemary bush and mint alive. Now I’ve been trying to expand our little balcony garden with more edible plants and trying to keep it as organic as possible.

So for Christmas, I asked for some materials to build my own little worm farm. My sister-in-law and partner kindly got me a small worm pack and worm blanket, while the SO picked up 2 small tubs from Bunnings for me. It took me all of 30 mins to build my worms’ new home by drilling some draining and air holes, and filling it with what potting mix I had left and shredded newspaper.

It’s now been 4 months and my worm farm is very healthy! The worm farm lives under our kitchen sink and despite my reservations, does not stink at all. The tub gets fed and watered every 2-4 weeks with kitchen scraps (vegetable peelings and the like) and every 2 months, I turn out the tub to layer on fresh newspaper shreddings.

In return, I’ve gotten enough worm juice to dilute to watering ‘tea’ for all my plants every other week and the results are speaking for themselves. My broccoli, asparagus, mint and basil are thriving, and I now have my first tomato and my spring onions are sprouting new offspring. The watering ‘tea’ doesn’t rank like commercially available seaweed fertilizer.

Getting the aphid infestation under control with a tomato leaf spray

My first little tomato

The next thing I’ll be doing is filtering and collecting the worm castings, as the soil mixture is almost too much for the little tub and I’d love to use it to grow celery and beans in the garden. But that’s a job for June, I should think.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

Now I know the word ‘comfort’ means a lot of different things to different people. But comfort food to me includes stir fried radish cake, steaming fluffy rice with spicy soups, slurpy beef noodles buried under a thick blanket of thick beef gravy, chilli crab smoothered in luscious bright neon orange sauce and steamboat bubbling away like a jacuzzi. A steamboat is only made even better when it’s full of spicy tomyum or sichuan broth.

Yet no matter how much I wanted to sit down to a Sichuan hotpot dinner, the SO was adamant he didn’t want a repeat performance on the chilli stakes. Instead he voted that we have dinner at Fuku Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar.

Fuku Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar’s menu is Japanese and includes a little bit of everything: donburi, yakidori, sushi, sashimi, tempura and nabe. I danced a little jig inside, seeing as nabe is similar enough to steamboat and hotpots, so I was going to get my steamboat fix afterall.

Lychee sochu. AUD$5

The seafood nabe was a small order and perfect for the both of us. It included one leg portion of crab (possibly blue swimmer), 2 large prawns, mussels, squid, firm tofu, spring onions and fresh cabbage. I cannot imagine how large the large size might be.

Our waiter brought over the cooker and the claypot with all the raw ingredients piled in a heap, turned the cooker on and told us to wait, which was easy enough as we munched on the yakidori, sashimi and tempura. I couldn’t resist giving the nabe a couple of pokes to ensure everything cooked properly.

Once the pot got bubbling, a waitress came over to scoop out our individual servings and then shell the whole prawns. It was a little unexpected, seeing as how hotpot/nabe is normally a homely affair where we’d get down and dirty with our hands – it’s half the fun, but I suppose being posher than the street food stalls and home, the service Fuku Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar provided was logical.

Nonetheless, it was the perfect tummy warmer and we left very satisfied.

Assorted sashimi small (9 pieces). AUD$15

Assorted tempura. AUD$19

Scallop yakidori (spicy). AUD$5

Chicken yakidori (spicy). AUD$5

Seafood miso nabe (small). AUD$32

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

Well, apparently I did.
.
.
.

Once you’ve stopped laughing, I must state in my defence, it was from 3 hours in the saddle and my Uniqlo jeans apparently disapproved of the activity. The combination makes for some very uncomfortable sitting.

The SO’s birthday treat meant waking up at 6am to be ready for breakfast at 7am, as the horse ride was to depart at 8:30am. Being an early riser meant this was the easy part, but that didn’t mean the ride would be.

We arrived at the location to find a number of horses, some saddled and some not. After selecting a helmet and watching the other riders paired to their horses, owner Graham coaxed me over to a white stallion.

Esau was to be my steed for the day. He is a 13 year old Arabian who once ran an 80km endurance race in 3 hours 45 mins. Being a little older, he was a bit grumpy and doesn’t like the younger horses trying to overtake him by swishing his tail and cutting them off if they tried to move in closer. This became a recurring theme that morning, so much so one of the more experienced riders picked up the tiniest stick and told me to give his flank a little poke if he was disobedient. Esau’s ears flattened, so I knew he knew and he behaved much better from seeing what I held in my hand.

Riding through the Mary Valley forest was beautiful. Riding in forest was very quiet and there were so many butterflies fleeting across the bushes and trees. Half the trouble with Esau’s behaviour was I was just as engrossed in admiring the scenery as I was trying to mind what I was doing with him. Being a mature horse, he knew better than I what was expected on the ride anyway, so he could get up to a little mischief.

Nonetheless, when Esau got to canter, he has some real flight to him, especially uphill. Feeling him huffing and his hooves pounding the earth in a proper canter, felt like flying.

Unfortunately I had a slight accident that almost made me fall off Esau. He was cantering through the forest and I didn’t bend low enough, so my helmet got caught on some low branches (lantana, I believe), pulling my head back and almost unseated me from the saddle. My left foot had even came out of the stirrup.

Thankfully I managed to hold on tight enough that the branch finally gave out and I could right myself, but I did end up with a couple of scratches on my face and under my chin. They might look terrible, but a couple of scratches is better than a broken back.

Still it was so much fun – despite sore legs and a blister in my arse crack.

… you can stop laughing now.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

He finally relented a week or two beforehand and let me in on the secret: we were to go horse riding in the Mary Valley.

I have always loved horses and even though there weren’t many opportunities to ride in Singapore, my parents still managed to get me riding lessons whenever we holidayed in Genting Highlands. However it’s been years since I last got on a horse, so the SO’s treat was a fantastic surprise.

As the drive to Mary Valley Adventure Trails up in Amamoor would take 2 hours, we drove up on Friday night after work and stayed the night at the Amamoor Homestead B&B. It’s a gorgeous property with a dam (and ducks), chicken, fruit trees and cottages, but we stayed in the main house. The owner Ken was very hospitable and organised a wood fire, showed us the spa bath, and organised a bus (the owner of the pub drives it) to take us to the local Kandanga Hotel/pub for dinner (which he, his brother-in-law and a friend joined us).

Have you ever watched Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert? Remember the scenes when the characters rock into a small town pub full of locals? The atmosphere at the Kandanga Hotel felt a little like that initially, what with the locals crammed in for the raffle (prizes included meat trays and credit at the Hotel) and I being the only Asian in sight, but everyone was very friendly and loud! It was fun watching the punters give each other a ribbing or cheer at the telly screen airing the Broncos vs Rabbitohs game. Shouts of “Go the Rabbitohs!” are still ringing in my ears.

We left early and got the backyard fire going. The SO and I allowed it to burn down, so we could adjust our eyes to the night sky. It was so beautiful and I was shocked by how much we could see. We even found the Southern Cross and watched as the constellations shifted over time.

Come the morning, Ken had a beautiful breakfast ready for us. We had a choice between two kinds of cereal, then there was a bowl of fruit salad for each of us. And to finish it off, we had scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomato and toast.

Getting to know the people over such a short 24 hours has opened my eyes to how wonderfully open and friendly people in the country are and there is no doubt I would love to visit again to stay for longer.

But first, to the horses!

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

So it would seem extra fitting that we would visit Jamie’s Italian while we were in Sydney. For one, it was open on ANZAC Day and located conveniently in the CBD. And after such a light breakfast, my stomach was holding me for ransom and demanding I provide tasty sustenance stat lest it implode upon me.

Besides, we had been pressed body to body against the wall of human sentinels watching the ANZAC parade the last half hour, trying to find our way beyond the maze of closed streets. Keen to get away from the pomp and fanfare of marching bands and smart uniforms before the end of the ANZAC Day parade, we ducked into the restaurant in the hopes there wouldn’t be a long wait for a spot of lunch.

Jamie’s Italian seemed to have merged the dark warmth of an English pub with the chic charm of a European café. The wood panelled floors play host to the dancing of servers’ feet between the warm wood tables and multi-hued chairs, and up and down the length of the restaurant. While the staff might have been busy, their movements swift rather than rushed and their manner brisk rather than impatient.

Jamie’s Italian has been built around being approachable and I think they’ve accomplished it at their Sydney location. There is an electricity in the air from the hum of easy conversation throughout the restaurant and it seemed popular for family occasions (a child’s birthday was celebrated at the next table) and friends get-togethers (a mammoth group of 16 were downstairs), but those seeking an intimate duo-party meal are not neglected. Some of the best seats in the house for people-watching are the couple tables upstairs along the railing.

We kicked off lunch with a beverage from the bar and after making our selection, nibbled on warm bread and an Italian wafer-thin crisp bread (we were once served this at dinner with my Sardinian colleague) with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Our waitress also plonked down a heavy tin of tomatoes, which apparently acts as a base for the planks.

Fish Plank. AUD$12.50 per person

The planks come in a variety of options. The SO was still relatively full from breakfast and chose to go easy with a one portion of the fish plank. The fish plank consisted of cured and crispy fish (beetroot-cured salmon, roasted shellfish, smoked mackerel pâté and mini fritto misto with yuzu mayo), Italian cheese (aged pecorino with crispy “music bread” and chilli jam), pickles (pickles, green chillies, best green olives and caper berries) and crunchy salad (shaved carrot and beets with lemon and loads of mint).

The portion is for one and is huge! You get an amazing variety of flavours and textures, and at AUD$12.50 per person, we found it of pretty good value.

Honeycomb Cannelloni 3 Ways. AUD$19

I preferred having something more heartier and the honeycomb cannelloni 3 ways hit the spot with its three stuffings – aubergine & sun-dried tomato; pumpkin; ricotta & spinach. It arrived in a rustic earthenware dish that made me lust to add to my own kitchen and seemed to have taken less time to prepare than the SO’s fish plank, which arrived a good 5 minutes after mine.

While the portion might not look very daunting, it left me far too full to contemplate dessert, which is a shame as there were a few things on the menu that looked extremely tempting.

With the franchise’s locations in Sydney and Perth, and now expanding to Canberra, I do hope a Jamie’s Italian makes its way to Brisbane someday.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space

What a lot of the action has been around its newly built Alan Scott oven – a wood fired ocean blue tiled construction that at the moment sits centre stage in an otherwise bare shop space. Don’t worry, the rest of the furniture is on its way, but the oven and its caretaker Phil the baker have needed time to get to know each other.

Baker Phil was introduced as a self-taught bread geek, whose dedication to the Chester Street Kitchen oven might look more like a marriage. He has already lost the hair on his arms and some of his fringe, and has a few battle scars to prove his devotion to this 200-400°C inferno, but what relationship doesn’t suffer from a couple of spats in its early days? After all, it is said it can take weeks or months to learn to work the oven. He’s been blogging about the process here.

Chester Street Kitchen and Baker Phil were not kidding when they said everything will revolve around the oven. Baker Phil likened it to sailing the Titanic – it takes to change very slowly and so, he has been logging temperatures and times to work out the best schedule to not inconvenience customers without wasting the energy in the fire bricks that make up this centre piece.

Chester Street Kitchen plans to be bakery by day, churning out handcrafted loaves such as ciabatta, sourdough and flatbreads (though sourdough will be the primary feature), and in the evenings, serve a simple menu of savoury bar food dishes, such as pizza (by Darryl, the chef responsible for the sweets at Alfred & Constance) and local olives. Oh, and serve cocktails, spirits and wine with cider and beer on tap to wash it all down.

Here’s a look at the samples during our sneak preview.

Selection of breads, cheese (Fino Fine Foods), olive oil and Pepesaya butter

Potato and spinach tart

Sourdough with avocado, cheese and tomato relish

Breakfast pizza with buffalo ricotta, sausage and organic egg

Chef Darryl

Brioche style pretzel knot with chocolate and chelsea bun with cream cheese, hazelnuts and cinnamon

Stay tuned for Chester Street Kitchen’s opening day details!

Disclaimer: I breakfasted as an invited guest of Chester Street Kitchen and Lucid Media.

Melissa Loh - A journey through time and space