Yakitori-ya Frenzy @ Maedaya

Maedaya

400 Bridge Road

Richmond VIC

Once again, Miss P and I made a trip to our favourite local Japanese - the famous Izakaya style - Maedaya.  Our first encountered at Maedaya was back 2 years ago when we moved to Melbourne.  I stumbled upon Maedaya by just walking pass by and my eyes were caught up with the decor and the set up of the restaurant.  Since our first experience, Maedaya has been our local favourite and we always bring our dear visitors here.

It was a good thing that I rang up earlier and found out that they no longer take booking for smaller group.  It has to be group of 5 or more...other than that, we just have to wait and queue up.  Since that was the case, Miss P and I deliberately went there just a bit after the restaurant open to secure a good seat and get time to enjoy the food for the night. 

Maedaya is own by the sake master- Toshi Maeda.  During the past numerous visits, I always see him at the bar and chatting with the customers.  Unfortunately, on my latest visit with Miss P, he wasn't there, oh well, that doesn't really matter, our main purpose here was for food and good drinks :)

We were greeted with the usual 'Irasshaimase!' by the floor staff.  Once we seated, the Complimentary Daikon Chips with dips was served.  We then got our hands on the drink menu and decide on the drink for tonight. 

 

Miss P opted for the Santory Premium Malts, while I chose the cocktails - Choya Blush.  We both then ordered Special Sake Tasting set of the month to share.  No complaints on the drinks...they always serve up really good drink, especially the sake.  The range of beers here also quite extensive but not as many as their sake.

Chow down @ Coda

Coda

Basement 141 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC

www.codarestaurant.com.au

It has been a while since Coda has made its way to my 'to do' list.  Thanks to my dear friend, Miss P, whom planted the little Coda seed into my thought, plus seeing Adam D'Sylva on Masterchef 2011, made me wanting it more and more. Finally, the day had come, Miss P and I made a pack to eat our way through Coda's menu.

 
Lucky for us that we got our table quite near the window, so there were plenty of lighting and neither Miss P nor myself have to do an embarrassing act in low lighting scenario.  The staff were superb - very friendly, approachable and made us feel welcome through out our dining journey.  After we chattering around for a bit, it was time to add a tiny bit of drink to kill our thirst.  Since we weren't really feel like having wine, we opted to beers choices. The wait staff recommended Quilmes and Moritz.  The recommendation was great indeed, both Miss P and I enjoyed our beers at first sip!

After few sips of beers, we then progress onto fulfilling our hungry stomachs.  We started off with Spanner crab, and Betel leaves.  During my first bite, I had an explosion of aroma inside my mouth, all the ingredients gave out very aromatic smell.  Unfortunately that the pomelo was slightly bitter and I found it overpowering the taste of the crab.

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.

Bangkok Tapas night @ Red Petite

Red Petite

194 Bank Street

South Melbourne, VIC

It has been quite a while since Miss P and myself had a good & interesting Thai food apart from home cook meal.  We stumbled upon Red Petite after reading about it from ANTS magazine - August 2011 edition.  The part that caught our interests was that they serve a particular type of food that Red Petite named them as Bangkok Tapas.  Basically, these type of food can be classified as appetizers/ street food and they are the mixture of Thai and Chinese cuisines, we called it ข้าวต้มกุ้ย [pronounce: Khao Tom Gui].  We eat them with plain rice porridge or ข้าวต้ม [pronounce: Khao Tom].  I have yet come across any other Thai cafes/Restaurants in Melbourne that serve this kind of food except here.  That nostalgic moment we got from thinking about the street food from home made us wanting to try them even more.  So we made a trip to South Melbourne on a hunt for Thai street food/ Bangkok Tapas at Red Petite. 

Red Petite is a small chic cafe by day and an interesting Thai cafe by night [Wednesday - Saturday], situated near the corner of Bank Street and Clarendon Street in South Melbourne.  Just look for a small cafe with a bright red door, and you will find it.

  

The cafe is quite small and there aren't many tables inside, but one thing I like is its coziness and welcoming feeling that I got from the friendly staff.  I left Miss P in charge of ordering the food, while I made the observation of the cafe and snapped few photos.  The food that Miss P ordered was mainly from Bangkok Tapas menu, and to our surprise, the price of each dish was reasonable as well.