Time Out, Federation Square

Time Out is a cafe in the heart of Melbourne at the corner of Federation Square. You may not know but this cafe actually serves breakfast too!

Time out is located in front of the Federation Square building and the tourist information centre.

Apple Pancakes

Nothing special about this pancake as you can actually see, but I reckon the presentation is nice even the taste is just so so. It is served with American style pancakes with some blueberry compete and ice cream.

Nachos

Basket Steamed Smooth Dory

The steamer basket caught my eye as I was walking to my table so I decided to order it. It is dory fish steamed in a Chinese way served with rice.

Ocean Catch

Although this basket of seafood is expensive for a brunch meal, it's actually worth it if you are a seafood lover. The basket comes with grilled pepper infused Harvey Bay Scallops, Chilli Calamari, King Prawns, steamed Blue Swimmer Crab, natural Oyster, & beer battered wild Barramundi with chips and tartare sauce.

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble

The apple crumble is served in quite a big portion as a dessert.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 2/4

-Foods: 3/4

-Price: 3/4

-Service: 3/4

Time Out:

Coner Swanston & Flinders Street,

Federation Square.

039671 3866

taste of Melbourne 2010

Hi there! I just came back from the Taste of Melbourne exhibition at the Royal Exhibition Building and it was great since its my 1st time. The exhibition is a platform for local restaurants to participate and introduce their food.

The venue

Smirnoff new Vodka with Blood orange and Cranberry flavour

FREE chocolate fondue for tasting

Livornese seafood stew by Melbourne Wine Room & Mr. Wolf

Vitello Tonnato - sliced poached veal with tuna, caper mayonnaise by Melbourne Wine Room & Mr. Wolf

Duck Tortelloni with pea puree and truffle oil by The European

Beetroot-cured salmon with zucchini, apple & herb salad , horseradish foam by Koots Salle a Manger

Smoked duck, apple & walnut rillettes shredded duck confit en croute by Libertine & Le Traiteur

Pissaladiere fevillete - flaky puff pastry, soft onion, white anchovie & olive tapenade by Libertine & Le Traiteur

Salted western plains pork & sweet roll with pickled vegetables by Longrain

Yellow Curry off Wagyu beef with cucumber relish by Longrain

Rabbit & prune terrine with shallot & raspberry vinegar jam, pickled mushroom by Koots Salle a Manger

Raspberry & Rosella Flower cannelloni, Strawberry & native mint salad by Charcoal Lane

Pistachio "panna cotta", caramel salted popcorn by Sarti

Participating Restaurant:

01. Longrain Restaurant

02. Longrain Bar

03. Stokehouse Restaurant

04. Stokehouse Bar

05. Esposito

06. Melbourne Wine Room & Mr. Wolf

07. Charcoal Lane

08. Sarti

09. maze Restaurant & maze Grill

10. The Place by Luke Mangan

11. Mezzo Bar & Grill

12. The European

13. Libertine & Le Traiteur

14. Koots Salle a Manger (Thursday only)

15. Comida Bebe (Friday only)

16. Izakaya Den (Saturday only)
17. Embrasse (Sunday only)

Royal Exhibition Building

9 Nicholson Street, Carlton Gardens,

Carlton, Melbourne,

Victoria 3053.

26 August 2010 - 29 August 2010

For more info,

http://www.tastefestivals.com.au

KoKo,Crown Tower

Over the weekend, we celebrated a friend's birthday at Koko. Koko is one of the premium dining outlets in Crown Casino, Southbank. It is a hidden jewel tucked away on the 3rd level of Crown Tower.

The interior of the restaurant designed by international interior designer Tony Chi feels very Japanese.

The Interior & Teppanyaki Tables

The restaurant has a high, double volume ceiling which gives it a sense of spaciousness as well as a shallow pond in the middle that gives a calming effect. As our table was situated next to the pond, the staff kept reminding us to be careful not to fall into the water.

The Chef at Teppanyaki section

Assorted Sashimi

Since its still winter, we got the winter menu and I assume they have other seasonal menus as well. Sashimi is a must have in any Japanese restaurant if you love sashimi. Koko serves two variations of a sashimi platter, a Koko Chef's special sashimi and the one we ordered, the assorted sashimi.

The fish for the sashimi were really fresh but the presentation of the dish was terrible.

The O-Bento Box

There is a tasting obento box which is a tasting platter per person which has 4 varieties of Japanese appetisers each. The appetiser that comes in the bento tasting box includes wagyu beef tataki, smooth Japanese tofu with fermented beans, tuna roll and a piece of tempura fish with lemon dressing.

Check with the staff if you guys would like to order as it may vary.

Spider Roll

The spider roll we had was nice but it wasn't the best that I have eaten.

Ebi Hotate Gyoza

They don't pan fried their gyoza here as they only steam it. The steamed handmade prawn and scallop dumplings are served with "ginger ponzu" dipping sauce.

Soft Shell Crab - Crispy Soft Shell Crab and served with "yuzu miso" dipping sauce.

Kamo Kuwayaki

Kumo Kuwayaki is a pan - seared duck breast that simmered in soy mirin sauce with eggplant that comes with 3 different miso sauce.

The duck breast was cooked to perfection. The taste was smooth, the meat was tender and the layer fat just melts in your mouth.

On the whole, we enjoyed the dinner at Koko very much with food that not only tasted good but looked beautiful in a nice ambience and they also have quite a comprehensive wine list which has a wide varitey of japanese sake and wine that ranges from a couple of hundred to a few thousand a bottle.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 4/4

-Foods: 3.5/4

-Price: 1/4

-Service: 4/4

Koko:

Level 3 Crown Towers,

SouthBank.

03 9292 6886

Blok - M Express

I finally had the chance to go to back to Blok - M today at Little Bourke street to try out their Indonesian food.

There is two Blok - M in Melbourne and the one I went to today is the Blok - M "Express" and another one is located at Prahan. There are a few dishes that I really like and I sure you guys will be like them too.

Gado - Gado

Gado - Gado is basically a traditional Indonesian vegetables salad that is served together with crackers and peanut sauce.

I really like their peanut sauce as it's very smooth and not really sweet, it just perfect to eat with a spoon of cracked crackers and bean sprout which is one of the vegetables that comes together with this gado - gado.

Ayam Balado

I ordered the Ayam Balado with spicy sweet sambal sauce on a fried chicken with rice.

Nasi Gudeg

For me Nasi Gudeg looks like normal mixed rice with few dishes that served together with rice. The special about this Nasi Gudeg is one of their side dish is actually made with sweet stewed Jackfruit.

They do have the story of the person who opened Blok - M and I think this would be great as well to share along with you guys.

"Once upon a time, in Jakarta's Blok - M district, there was a guy called Pak E who spent most of his tenage and adult life roaming about this area. He had no home to go to, his only roof was the polluted sky of Jakarta or under the freeway if he was lucky enough to find a spot. He was a beggar, a drug user, a thug , a busker and a composer throughout his early adult life. His notorious behaviours landed him in jail.

In 1996, after some heavy soul searching, he decided to go to Bali starting out on foot. Not long after an extended journey, he met and Australian girl named Kathie, where they fell in love and got married. Australia may not have been proud to take him on as it's new son, but it had no choice. After immigrating to Melbourne, he opened an Indonesian Restaurant in Prahan which is called "Blok - M" to remind him of how far he had come from the struggles of his early life.

This restaurant, were you are standing now is his legacy, a bred through story of love, hard work and faith..."

My Ratings;

-Environment: 2/4

-Foods: 3.5/4

-Price: 3/4

-Service: 2/4

Blok M Express:
380 Little Bourke Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000.
(between Queen & Elizabeth Street)

03 9600 2534

How to make "Onigiri"

Hi everyone, from today onwards, FnP will also be blogging about recipes to help you in making something easy and fast to fill up your tummy.

I've ask my dad to teach me how to make Onigiri. Onigiri is basically a rice ball that you can eat with nori wrapped on the outer layer or with different fillings.

He told me that this onigiri that he made is called "Yaki Onigiri Ocha Zeke" which includes the below ingredients:

- Rice

- Nori

- Itokazuri Boshi (Bonito flakes)

- Shoyu (Japanese soy auce)

Basically what you need to do is mixed in the Nori (seaweed) and Itokazuri boshi (bonito flakes) with cooked rice and shape them into a triangle. After you have done shaping them, all you need to do is brush some Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) on the top and grill them until it turns golden brown and crispy.

My dad also told me that this is also nice to be eaten with green tea bonito soup.

Pino's Trattoria

Pino's is one of the Italian restaurant that located in the heart of Cowes, Phillip Island. During our trip back in July, we went to this place and had our dinner since there is nothing much for us to choose on the island that near to our Motel.

Tropical Pizza

This family size Tropical Pizza comes with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, ham and juicy tomato it just perfect for sharing.

Risotto Marinara

I can actually tell you guys that I've been wanting to try risotto so much and now finally I had the chance of trying this risotto marinara in Pino's. It tasted normal

Carbonara Penne

Prefect creamy Carbonara Penne is our last dish that we had ordered.

Not comparing with the Italian restaurants on Lygon St, the pizzas and pastas here are not too bad. The atmosphere of the restaurant is a nice place to sit back, relax and have a few drinks with your mates.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 3/4

-Foods: 2/4

-Price: 3/4

-Service: 2/4

Pino's Trattoria:

29 Thompson Avenue,

Cowes, Phillip Island VIC

03 5952 2808

Hutong Dumpling Bar

Two days ago I went to Hutong Dumpling Bar which is couple of doors down Shoya Japanese Restaurant in Market Lane, Chinatown.

I first heard of them as one of the restaurants in The Age's Cheap Eats Guide.

Two levels with a open kitchen. People can see the cooks making dumplings or Shao Long Bao's.

Shao-Long Bao is one of the Must Eats that you need to order in Hutong. It is more or less like dumplings but the shao long bao contains a nice soup and meat wrapped in a translucent skin.

Salted Braised Pork in New Style

Crispy Fragrant Duck

We then ordered Braised Pork and Crispy Duck to go with rice. The pork is well cooked with layers of meat and fat. As you pick up the slices of pork, the slices are so thin that they just crumble. Crispy Duck is our favourite because of the crispness of the duck that very hard to explain.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 3/4

-Foods: 3/4

-Price: 2/4

-Service: 3/4

Hutong:

14-16 Market Lane,

Melbourne,VIC 3000.

03 9650 8128

http://hutong.com.au

Wonton House

Have you guys ever eaten "Wonton" ? Wonton is a type of dumplings with fillings such as minced pork or prawns. The words Wonton means "swallowing cloud " in chinese.

Wonton Noodle Soup

It's not easy to find a nice bowl of wonton noodles soup in Melbourne, but I can tell you guys that the wonton noodles served in Wonton house is the nicest I've found so far.

Wonton House:

271 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000.

http://wontonhouse.com.au