Exceeding the Normal

Well Christmas is over and the new year has begun and I've been off the radar for a good 6 weeks, but never fear I've been eating lots and have plenty of reads coming your way.

The only thing I have to really put my mind to is where should I start? Should I start talking about the many burgers I have devoured, the brunches that were relaxing, the ice creams that are so heavenly or just about my Christmas feast in my new home.

Let me think....... Maybe I should just start at the beginning of my many weeks of my food comas and adventures.

Super Normal Canteen (Test Kitchen) is a delicious source of a pop up eatery and opened through till the 1st of March. A  sample of what will be an amazing restaurant serving us scrumptious modern Asian dishes.

Succulent prawns drowning in a miso sauce tantalises your testbeds and although I dislike the word that I use next to describe it, but it's true. The flavours make you salivate and is a soft way to begin your evening.

Some Peppers are ordered but saddened to find out that the seeds have been gutted and don't stimulate heat. However add some lovely chilli condiments that sit in front of you to flavour it up a notch .

The soft Bao never goes astray especially when you fill it with some wild boar meat to add more adventure to your evening. Not over powering in flavours and easy to enjoy. The bao's are fluffy like a new pillow and the meat a little richer than a simple pork, and very delicious.

Speaking of rich flavours the lobster rolls are a given choice for any seafood lover. Sweet milk buns becomes the home of sliced lobster in a creamy mayo dressing and rice. Simple but yet pretty scrumptious. When I read Lobster rolls my mind does tend to think American, but for some reason it works on this menu.

Of course when their are dumplings are on offer you have to have them. If your not a dumpling fan, then clearly you wouldn't but I'm just putting it out there that you would be missing out on something here.

Soaked in chilli oil these little dumplings are divine. Full flavoured gems that heat up the taste buds. I just wish the servings were bigger, or perhaps next time I devour a serve on my own....

Would you believe that we had to keep ordering dishes due to the fact that every time a dish came out and was presented on our communal table we wanted it.

I don't think strangers could fall for that what's that over there trick and steal their food. Could cause a rather abrupt argument.... but I do sometimes wonder what if I did that on a communal table. Food envy is a real thing and could potentially come to stealing other people food at a restaurant.

Dishes such as Tempura crab  served Vietnamese style with fresh lettuce and mint, cured octopus on a spiced capsicum and then Carpaccio of Waygu beef were all magnificent and hard to fault.

Everything was so tempting and there is still so much more that I wanted, so will only mean one thing.... I need to go back.

We of course though enjoyed some rather outstanding desserts though I have to admit. Some of the best desserts we have enjoyed for a while to tell you the truth.

A Lychee and sago dessert with freeze dried raspberries was sweet and textually amazing. Bursts of sago with the tartness of raspberries and sweet from the lychee was an adventure on its own.

The other hit and almost very hard to get a taste of due to Paul loving it so much was the Pink Lady soft serve ice cream. Luscious creamy soft serve exploding with sweet apple flavour and drizzled with a thick caramel and crushed nuts. It's as though you were eating a candy apple.

Service was a delight and food exceptional. As a test kitchen I don't think these guys will have to much trouble opening their real doors when the time comes.

Limited dining area of course being a pop up, however it still seats a good 60 or so. Get in early and their will be no problem getting a seat quickly and if you go at the usual peak eating time of 7:00 you will clearly be battling the many other hungry diners like any restaurant around that time. It's worth a visit and a trial, there isn't much you can choose wrong here.

Supernormal Canteen (Test Kitchen)

53 Gurtrude Street

Fitzroy

9419 4888

A Pub with Sassiness, Sake & Grill. No Parma on this menu

A casual Japanese styled pub located in Collingwood is casual but yet stylish and is delivering some very succulent tapas styled dishes that leaves for an enjoyable evening with friends and family or a quaint evening for any couple.

Pabu Grill and Sake sets our evening with a warm welcome. A narrow dining front area leads to a quiet day lit room sectioned room. Mellow but up beat tunes set for a relaxed atmosphere not so loud that you can't have a conversation but not so quiet where you could almost hear the crickets.

Our waiter was friendly and inviting, allowing us to browse the large menu, but also giving a description on how the dishes are arranged and offering suggestions if we were stuck.

This evening is about freshness, crisp flavours married perfectly to enhance your palate which leaves you wanting more.

To begin the Buta Gyoza and Pabu Famous Watori Kari Maki. The gyoza was filled with a succulent, juicy pork inside a soft dumpling coating with a golden crisp base served with a spiced ponzu sauce. Now you know that I always have Gyoza and theres a reason why....... there awesome! There little gems of pleasure and I have to say that the flavours in this gyoza were well balanced and what was great was that they didn't fall apart like most do. You could enjoy each bite with out the pork dropping out or the dumpling break into pieces. Perfect and one of the best I think I have to say.

The Watori Kari maki sushi roll was filled with soft shell crab, avocado and cucumber with a scattered coating of toasted sesame and finished with a flying fish roe and mayo. Fresh and soft flavours combined to make for a delicate pleasure. Everything in this roll is supposed to be there, there is nothing out of place here. Crab is highlighted through each piece perfectly and freshened with the hints of avocado and cucumber with bursts of roe.

To follow was some Renkon chips and the Gyu Tataki. Renkon chips are a delightful pub dish if you are downing those sake's or beer's. Golden crisp lotus root chips are addictive and tasty.

The Gyu Tataki of seared porterhouse beef coated in toasted sesame, spring onion and red ginger nestled in wasabi mayo and a garlic, ginger and citrus sauce packed a punch of flavours. Slight hints of spice wakened the taste buds but not so much that it over loaded the taste from the beef. A well balanced flavoured dish fresh and vibrant ginger added a depth of flavour to the meat and balanced out the strong garlic notes in the sauce.

A dish that won my heart was the glorious Unagi Kabayaki. Normally when I order eel I receive about 4 - 6 small slices of which you have to battle the rest of the family for. Here, theres no problem about sharing. This large fillet of perfect mouth watering grilled eel is glazed with a sweet sauce and coated with sesame. It's tender and falls apart, the flavour is outstanding and this dish a lone is what's going to make me return. Unbelievable.

The Takayaki of Octopus pancake balls served with a Japanese mayo, spring onions, sesame and red ginger finished off with shredded bonito were tasty morsels. Soft pancakes delivered a octopus flavour and balanced with the sweet mayo and fresh ginger and spring onion. They were firmer than the ones I've had at other places which I liked a lot more. It was a much better texture and I think it helped hold the flavours it was delivering.

The last couple of dishes were also a highlight of our night and are a must have along with the Unagi when dining here.

First is the Yaki Buta. Pan fried juicy fall apart pork belly coated delicately in a light soy and served on a bed of herb soy tossed mixed salad and finished with fried leeks. All I can do is drool like Homer Simpson right now as I remember such succulence. Truly amazing flavours bought through the pork and fresh salad.

The other was the Piri Kara Maguro Maki. Fresh tuna rolls with fresh cucumber, avocado, seaweed and flying fish roe finished with what I found out was a special hot sauce that no one will ever know apart from the Chef and owner. Amazing is all i can say. Delightful bursts of fresh flavours and pops of heat from the tiniest drop of red sauce. Almost looking Christmassy when it arrives, it's looks are decieving. I was not expecting such boldness from this dish, it blew me out of the water and really bought amazement and a smile to my face when eating.

A finishing plate of Dessert Moriawase was the only way to conclude our evening. A dessert selection platter with green tea ice cream, black sesame ice cream, lemon and Japanese citrus ice cream and also a Cherry blossom and kuromame rice cake. A refreshing plate to finish with a friend if you're about to burst at the seams.
My favourite was the cherry blossom rice cake and the black sesame ice cream. But everything on this plate was a delight and was a great sampler of everything.

The night was filled with amazing flavours and the menu delivered everything that you would expect from a Izakaya. The host and owner Koha Ngugen has truly put his heart and soul into Pabu and is destined to continue delivering the very best Japanese styled tapas with beautiful refreshing sake, cocktails and beers to make for the perfect social evening.

We will be returning with friends in tow next time maybe to test out the set menu with matching sake to make for an even more fun filled evening.

It's moden, sassy and best of all enjoyable. What more could you ask for?

Pabu Grill & Sake

190 Smith Street

Collingwood

9419 6141

Take me to the high Heavens

Saturday night and headed into Richmond to catch a concert left us time to enjoy a nice dinner out. Not eating in Richmond often left us on the scout for something that would take our fancy and of course fill our stomachs that were rumbling.

I needed something fresh and tasty, that wasn't going to be too heavy but overall satisfying and there is one cuisine that does this exact thing, Japanese. There is nothing I like more than fresh Japanese cuisine, and Maedaya has certainly delivered every element of what I would expect from true Japanese. It's not just about the sushi and sashimi of which most westerners recognise Japanese to be, there is so much more behind it.

With not taking reservations under 5 people we had to try our luck and walk in, with a short waiting list on the go it was only less than 10 minutes to wait for a table to come available, which isn't too bad however there is of course possibilities that it could be longer.

A menu of what could end up being a large feast is placed before us, and I am overwhelmed with the choices of dishes. I could eat it all, but I wont. Trying the process of elimination whilst enjoying some Locus chips and a Honey Choya and soda in hand, it's a battle to choose the dishes we so desire.

Choya embraces a balance of sweet, acidity and exotic fragrance that comes from the ume fruit. All natural flavours and slow ageing it was a great aperitif.

To start we choose the hand roll of Crab and avocado with crisp fried onion. Remarkable is the only way to explain it. This hand roll was so fresh it made me realise that fresh is valued and respected here and that I hadn't actually had true freshness like this. The rice perfectly cooked the flavours are to die for. A unique spin on the usual hand rolls with the crisp onion pieces on the top too. Mouth watering in every way, just a slight pull on the seaweed when biting into it, but it didn't bother us as everything else was so amazing.

To follow we enjoyed some Wagyu beef rolls and soft shell crab. The wagyu rolls were tender and flavoursome, a melt in your mouth beef. The soft shell crab although maybe not so picturesque as other dishes were, it was coated in herbs, salt & pepper that made your taste buds sing to the high heavens. Perfectly cooked and truly a delight to be able to enjoy the entire crab. A fine balance between sweetness from the crab and the herb crust was enjoyable.

Tempura prawns served with a roe dip was fresh and tasty, however the tempura a little flakey. The coasting unfortunately fell straight off the juicy prawns so we were left eating the prawns with the dip then picking up the batter. The gyoza were the best I've ever had. Most of the time when we order gyoza they are still water logged causing the dumpling itself to fall to pieces and difficult to eat, but not at Maedaya. Pan seared bases made bought a perfect depth of flavour and the dumpling batter made perfectly that kept the filling in tack whilst eating and not having to loose anything in the sauce. Juicy pork filling made it easy to just order plate after plate.

Now we come to the skewers, something that we don't often see in other Japanese restaurants, and being here embracing such bold flavours made us want to try something new and what also seemed to be a popular choice as we engaged in interest of watching grill flames from the open area.

Selecting the tasting plates of both options provided us a great selection and after sharing all the other dishes it was already a feast for kings. The Maedaya Chicken ball skewer selection known as Tsukune Topping consisted of groups of 3 chicken balls grilled on a skewer and each dressed with a different spice or sauce of wasabi mayo, garlic chip, spicy miso mayo, nanami chilli pepper and black pepper. Each showcasing great flavours and enjoyable. But my favourite skewer selection is the Maedays Sumiyaki set. Tender skewers of Tsukune chicken balls, Yakitori Chicken, Chilli Inari Bean Curd, Gyu Kushi Beef and Butakushi Pork Belly. Each skewer so tender and succulent all charcoal grilled and coated in flavoursome sauces and spices.

Dessert was an option and destined to be sharing or else we would explode. We went for the platter capturing traditional Japanese sweet rice cake mochi & dango served with a scoop of green tea ice cream. Unusual textures I must admit with the skewer being explained as a coating of soy and sugar. If you are an adventurous person you may not enjoy this as much as it's very difficult for me to explain it to you as their is nothing I have eaten that I could compare it too. A glutinous rice ball is the essence of this dish and provides a very gummy texture or a chewy dough. Filled with red bean paste they are not over flavoursome and quiet bland, but it's the weirdness of the gummy texture. The green tea ice cream is awesome though, smooth and mild the tea flavour is not so strong that after a couple of mouthfuls you'd have to stop because your taste buds have been over dosed in such a strong tea.

Our over all experience was divine and are amazed in such freshness. We would have no trouble in returning here, even if their was a longer wait for a table, or maybe we will just have to make sure we have more than 5 people so we can book a head of time.

What I loved as well was the detail in service. Not only welcoming and helpful in selections of meals and suggestions of matching sake to your dish, but the awareness if something didn't look right. Ordering a cocktail of the Choya Heaven and being delivered it was noticed it was not to their standard and was removed and replaced with a new one.

Placing such high standards into the service and such pride in their dishes truly shows a great respect to how they wish to showcase the restaurant of which I respect and love seeing.

Maedaya

400 Bridge rd,

Richmond, VIC

9428 - 3918

A little bit Cooky

Take a moment and picture a small room painted in bold pastel colours like a rainbow, with an octopus a fish and you surrounded by single vased flowers even brighter than the walls. Have you got that image? Well I experienced this in reality and it's what to expect when you enter Heavenly Delish.

This Japanese creperie is decked out with things your mind would not think of putting together, things that will blow your mind and things that you have never heard of and just want to try.

First to begin you need to decide sweet or savoury. If you just thought savoury well you enter onto the path of perhaps a Hot Dog crepe -frankfurters with Jap tako sauce, mayo, tomato, cucumber and lettuce or maybe you like to play it safe and have the same type of crepe but without the hot dog you choose from chicken, tuna or cheesy omelette & ham (all priced at $6.80)


Do you feel like going a little bit stranger? Well how about you try an Original Jumbo Takoyaki, Japanese savoury pancake balls filled with your decision of octopus, bacon & cheese, prawn or hot dog.  Each serve accompanied with a free condiment of bonito, bacon bits, dried seaweed or shallots, but feel free to add more onto your creation (The most you pay is $8.80 plus your extras).


But we don't stop here ladies and gentlemen in the savoury selection, why not adventure into the Deluxe Takoyaki and we hit flavours inspired by countries. You can go extreme with A Japanese hot curry Takoyaki, A Taiwan floss chicken Takoyaki or how about a USA Sour cream and Bacon Takoyaki? There are 5 styles to choose from (max price $10.20 plus extras).


Now what was my choice you may ponder, and I answer with none as yet as I dived into the world of sweet. My ultimate weakness as we should all know by now. So where can I start you, the selections are almost endless.


Lets begin at the dessert crepes, you can either choose from a selection of delights or create your own. I wanted to experience their creations and went for the Exotic green tea - a combination of adzuki (red bean), premium green tea ice cream and vanilla custard all finished off like all their crepes with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a wafer stick. These crepes are not served on a plate for you but in a cone. Unusual but exciting. Slightly difficult to eat as the crepe explodes with it's fillings which are top to bottom. The thing is with these crepes you have to get down and dirty, indulge and devour.


The crepes are light and the flavour combination true to Japanese flavours but the  green tea is very strong and if you are a green tea lover this one is for you. If your not then whisk yourselves to the other 8 choices they give you such as Heaven by chocolate - dark & white chocolate bits, with a Hershey's chocolate sauce, vanilla custard and of course chocolate ice cream. Or maybe the Bananatella is for you - the great combination of banana, nutella and vanilla custard (max charge is $7.30 plus extras). The only real issue I had was the whipped cream, I'm a little fussy with cream as fresh is always best. If you are believer of the same thing you may wish to ask for no cream. Although sweet, it's more of a fake whipped cream texture and flavour and was a little let down on the crepe, but everything else was great.


If you want to design your own, the choices are almost endless. Choose your ice cream flavour from classic vanilla or chocolate to the premium selection of coconut, taro, mango and more. Then choose your toppings that are displayed for you or on there menu (a page full of selection, a total of 36 choices). You can choose from anything from popping candy, raspberry jam, butter balls, little boys (biscuit sticks with a chocolate tip) or a coconut and egg jam. Add as many or as little as you like, it's your creation. If you want it finished off like their creations with the whipped cream and wafer you can at $3.50 extra.


With your mouths all watering away, don't go just yet as there are waffles too. Not just your ordinary waffles, waffles in the shape of a fish, it's way cooler than your standard waffles. Filled with my choice of dark chocolate and banana but are available in many other tasty combinations. They are cooked to crisp golden brown and filled top to tail and fin to fin with gooey melted chocolate that ooze out when you bite through the light buttery shell. It's how waffles should be and even more fun when they are in a shape of a fish (max charge $3.90 each plus extras).


It's an enjoyable quick stop for a snack, not a place where you could spend a full dining time (2hrs) in due to the size, but with it's bright coloured environment it's a great place for a catch up with a friend when neither of you are in the mood for coffee, but want something sweat and also a great adventure for your kids.

Heavenly Delish - Japanese Snacks & Creperie
Shop 6, Don Arcade
672 Glenferrie rd
Hawthorn, VIC
0408-561-663

Ichi, Ni, San, Shi, Go

There is nothing better in life then to enjoy a relaxing Summers afternoon eating fresh japanese and cocktails.

Dining the afternoon away at Ichi Ni in St Kilda on the esplanade, overlooking the bay was the perfect way to unwind and relax. As a repetitive customer I have to boast about this restaurant, it never fails in it's service, atmosphere or food. Every time we have dinned there we have walked away with smiles and full stomachs.

A royal interior of  black and red with Japanese prints on the window and in there light shades, wooded tables and an amazing decking for those hot summer days, you can only embrace what St Kilda has to offer over a cocktail.

Paul and I dined and started with 'Kimpira' - burdock with soy, sesame and chilli, something which we have not had before and was amazed on the excellence of the dish. As we were unsure on what it was it only seemed to entice us more to order. Burdock it from the thistle family, and when taken from the taproot of a young thistle it is used as a root vegetable. To accompany this we also started with the succulent Ebi Mayo, Tempura prawns with an amazing japanese mayo. The Ebi Mayo is truly our highlight every time and by looking at the surrounding tables, I think it's the hit of the day. If you don't like prawns then it's sad that you are missing out, but if you are a seafood lover - you will have gone to heaven and back for this dish.

Some Gyoza (dumplings) and some fresh hand rolls were shortly followed. Delicate Japanese dumplings slightly pan fried and accompanies with a sauce, are always a light addition to any meal whether you are doing tapas style or having it as your starter.

Freshly made Calafornia rolls of prawn, cucumber, avocado, japanese mayo rolled together and finished with flying fish roe or perhaps some Ebi mayo rolls which have tempura prawns, carrot, lettuce, cucumber, japanese mayo and hot english mustered. These were not only just eye catching but utterly delicious as well. You can but sushi from any sushi parlour but they are nothing to compare to that here at Ichi Ni.

A couple more tasters to complete our meal were a couple of skewers of Fried tofu and some grilled eggplant with cheese. Although not as eye catching as there hand rolls they were still tasty and something different which we had not had before.

Now I know your asking, what about the cocktails. Well let me by saying they make there own ginger beer, not only as a mocktail but also an alcoholic version. This was Paul's poison for the day, and after a quick sip myself could only but picture myself sitting with my feet up and having a few of these myself. With a slight kick of fresh chilli and plenty of fresh ginger and a sprig of fresh mint, this bevie is to be enjoyed by all.

I myself was tempted by the Red Fuji cocktail. Although unable to tell you what the ingredients were it was still a refreshing vibrant drink. The interesting thing about Ichi Ni's Cocktail list is that each drink tells a story and no ingredients. It makes it a choice of chance to see what you get, or you could be a party pooper and ask the waiter. For me it's the opportunity to return and have a new cocktail each time.

So if you have not ventured to Ichi Ni and wish to have some fantastic Japanese one night, especially now during the warm weather, I can only say go there. You will not be left disheartened, and perhaps maybe we will see you there.