Spring into Crap courses @ The Albert Park Hotel

The Albert Park Hotel

83 Dundas Place

Albert Park VIC 

On a Sunday lunch, Teddy and I made a journal slightly out of our usual route to Albert Park.  It kinda random for us to go all the way there but the aim for lunch today was for the Spring Graze menu ($55/ pp) that Albert Park Hotel had on Special for the weekend - only 10 & 11 September 2011.  Teddy spotted this special menu from The AGE newspaper and they claimed that the special menu had five crab courses.  Not just one, or two but FIVE crab courses, so I decided that Albert Park Hotel would be our lunch destination on Sunday.

We walked through the glass door and was greeted by the staff.  After we told them about our reservation, we were guided to our table.  Overall ambiance, it was quite pack, I guess most of the diners were there for the crab courses just like us, 'cause they were having similar dishes on their tables.  And yes, we also went there for the crab courses.  After advising the staff, we then went straight for the drinks.  Teddy ordered Kirin on tab ($6.50), while I had my eyes set on a bottle of Yebisu ($9.50).

After few sip of beer, our first dish from the crab course arrived - Sweet corn & spanner crab laksa.  My sight told me that this was so not the usual laksa that I had.  Well, since I knew fully well that Albert Park Hotel is a bistro, so I didn't really mind much about their take on recreating Asian dish.  To my surprise, the only portion of crab that was in this dish was just a tiny piece of crab meat put in the middle of the soup bowl.  Teddy also pointed out that there was no trace of noodle in the soup.  The noodle lookalike pieces were thinly sliced/ chopped vegetables.  Surprisingly, I also found sliced green mango in my laksa.  The laksa tasted kinda OK, I would prefer it without the sliced green mango, the soup base was a bit thick compared to other laksa that I usually have.

  

Caffeine rush @ Sensory Lab

Sensory Lab

297 Little Collins Street

Melbourne VIC 

www.sensorylab.com.au

I often wonder, what would happen when science meets coffee.  To me, making coffee is like an art plus a bit of science.  The perfect cup of coffee comes from the good coffee beans, right temperature of the water, good equipment and the skills of the barista.  When all these components come together, then there will be a good cup of coffee for you to enjoy.  However, since human do not taste with just one sense, i.e. taste, some good coffee also comes with a nice latte art, where it becomes the food for eye. 

Sensory Lab is a place where science meets coffee.  It doesn't serve up just regular coffee, i.e. latte, cappuccino, flat white, etc, it also serves other types of coffee that derived from different method of extractions.  The cafe is pretty hip and open space, where you can see all the activities happening there.  Especially with the Syphon brewer, it made me feel like I was back in the school lab looking at the equipment with an excitement. 

 The cafe splits into two section, the retail coffee beans and equipment and the cafe itself.  If you want to try take away coffee, just head to the take away window outside, but if you want to sit in and slowly enjoy the coffee, then just sit down and the staff will come to you.  For those whom extend the love of caffeine to their houses, Sensory Lab also offer many types of coffee beans and equipment. 

Ramen hunt @ Ajisen Ramen

Ajisen Ramen

130 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC

It has been a while since Miss P and I had Ramen.  When I thought about it, the last time that we ate ramen was couple of months back when we went to Sydney.  No wonder why our craving for ramen started to act up a bit, especially on me, whom has a love for noodles.  I know by heart that I wouldn't be able to find any ramen like the ones at Ryo's at Crows Nest or Menya noodle bar on Market Street  in Sydney, but I still do have hope that at least, there will be a good ramen in Melbourne.

After passing by Ajisen Ramen for numerous time, I decided that I should at least put my chopsticks into the ramen to see whether Ajisen is worth to be on my ramen list or not. 

Ajisen Ramen looks like a fast food restaurant that offered Japanese style food, where there are plenty of choices to choose from (Ramen and rice).  The service is OK, not that exceptionally outstanding since I still need to grap the attention of the staff every time I needed something.

The choices that we picked for the day was Ramen set A + extra ($17.5) and B + extra ($16.5).  Under set A menu, Miss P picked Tonkatsu Ramen with extra volcano sauce on the side and a small Chahan.  For me, I went with Volcano Ramen with corn on the side and Tori Karaage.  For drinks, we went with Hot Green Tea ($1.6)

Sushi feast @ Suzuran

Suzuran

1025-1027 Burke Road

Camberwell VIC

I don't usually do a review on the take-away food since dining in experience is far more fun and you get to enjoy the food freshly cook at the restaurant.  This time, it is an exception - Suzuran is an exception.  Suzuran is a Japanese groceries store with a sushi bar inside.  It is not just an average sushi bar that you may see, it is a sushi bar that does not have ready made meal, but rather freshly made to your order.  There is no table for you to dine in, so the only option available is to order them and do a take home.  I was surprised on the traffic of the customers that walked out with the sushi platters on their hands - when one walked out, new customer walked in. 

After being fascinated by the foot traffic of customers, I made my way into Suzuran.  After passing the groceries section, I saw what I came for...Suzuran Sushi bar was right in front of me.  I stood there looking at the menu and couldn't make up my mind on what to order since there were so many things that I wanted to eat.  Ooh, difficult decision indeed.  I ended up passing the baton to my companion, Miss P, to do the ordering.  After the order was made, Miss P and I were advised to come back in 15 minutes to pick up the sushi.  Before the pick up time arrived, I managed to pick up few side dishes from the groceries section and Miss P got her hands on the sake.  That's right, the sushi feast wouldn't be completed without a bottle of sake!

Tapas Calling @ MoVida Next Door

MoVida Next Door

164 Flinders Street

Melbourne, VIC

www.movida.com.au/next_door.html

Knock, knock...who's there?  NiCNAC and Miss P were at the door step outside MoVida Next Door.  It was a lovely day outside and we both decided to call it a day for our tapas treasure hunt.  Since this decision came up unplanned (as usual), Miss P suggested that we could just show up at MoVida Next Door. 


Since Miss P and myself went there just a bit after lunch time, we were told that it should take roughly twenty minutes max till we get the table.  We managed to find a spot near the bar to enjoy our drink as we waited.  Rather than just standing there waiting, I decided to call for a drink to kill the mood.  Miss P went with Moritz Lager ($8), while myself had my eyes set on Rebuijto ($12).  Great drinks for a sunny day, with a touch of citrus, I felt like summer!

About fifteen minutes later, I would say, we secured our seat at the bar.  The staff introduced us to the special menu that they had on the chalk board.  Of course, with full description and explanation, 'cause by the name alone, neither Miss P nor myself would have a clue of what they were. Then the ordering time began.  Our pick were four choices from the regular menu and five choices from the special menu.