Last Saturday, we spent the afternoon watching a movie at Highpoint, and then as it was already dinner time by the time it finished, we decided to drop by Seared for a lazy dinner.

Situated outside on the lowest level (Level 1), occupying the space previously held by Kenny Rogers Roasters, Seared is fairly new on the block.

We had the choice of eating inside or out, but as there were people smoking in the outdoor area, we chose to eat inside. There’s nothing worse than trying to enjoy your dinner whilst breathing someone’s secondhand smoke.

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Affordable, Casual, Funky, Western | 6 Comments »

Last week we were in the City around dinner time, so we wandered upto Red Silks, in Bourke St, for dinner. Well known amongst Melbournes’ student population for its large menu and fairly cheap pricing, it’s always busy.

Red Silks is situated upstairs in the Mid City arcade (above BreadTalk), so it’s pretty easy to find.

Upon entering we were shown to a table in the sunken ‘lounge’ area inside, (outside on the balcony is the smokers’ area) and were given a menu each. I noticed they’d just introduced a new menu, and were offering 10% off for their birthday special until the 7th. Bargain!

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Cheap, Chinese, Ethnicity, Funky, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pricing, Taiwanese, Thai, Trendy, Vietnamese | Add a Comment »

Last weekend, the weather here in Melbourne decided to do its best to keep people at home. Drizzly rain and wind. Undeterred, we met up with a few friends and ventured upto King St, where there are more than a few restaurants popping up.

Amongst them, Taste of Malaysia beckoned with its bright red sign, a few doors down from the corner of Lonsdale St. Not yet having found a Malaysian restaurant we’d recommend to being on-par with real Malaysian food from a Malaysian mamak (despite obvious currency differences), we decided to give it a go.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Indian, Malaysian, Pricing | 4 Comments »

A different view outside a different window, although the weather is very similar. Hello from Sydney, where i’ll be working for the next week.

The day was busy, and the time passed quickly. After asking a few co-workers about a restaurant they’d recommend, I decided that tonight we’d try out Nakashima Japanese Restaurant, at The Rocks.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Ethnicity, Japanese, Pricing | Add a Comment »

On Saturday we went to Shark Fin House with two friends, Jin and Kian.

I rang up at 10am, expecting them to be booked out, but they had some room available for their late (1.30) session.

The only trouble with having yum-cha on a Saturday is finding a park. Most parks are 1 hour limit, and you normally need at least 1 1/2 hours to have a nice relaxed yum-cha. We were lucky and found a 2 hour park at the top end of Exhibition St, and filled the $3.50-per-hour meter with coins.

We got to Shark Fin on time, and joined the queue in the (cramped) foyer. Then, once the lift arrived back at ground, we were told to go to L2. So we crammed in the lift with everyone else.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Family, Pricing | 2 Comments »

Once again, we set out in search of a decent place to have dinner. Tonight, we visited Golden Orchids, who proclaim to have been the first Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne.

This two-storey eatery, open since 1973, boasts three claims to fame: Its ’signature dish’, the Malaysian Chilli Prawns, its range of Malaysian Curries, and its Satays.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Malaysian, Medium, Pricing | 13 Comments »

On Saturday I didn’t feel like cooking dinner, so I rang John & Robert to see if they wanted to eat out somewhere with us. I decided we’d go somewhere a bit different, and I had Nyala African Restaurant in mind.

I rang and attempted to book, but was told they were already booked out - but if I rang back in half an hour, he’d confirm some bookings to see if he had any cancellations. Wow, Nyala’s certainly become busier than when I last visited, which was a couple of years ago. I rang back, and we were in luck, so I booked us in for 7.30.

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Affordable, African, Ambience, Casual, Ethnicity, Medium, Pricing | 2 Comments »

Last night, we went to Spicy Fish in Little Bourke St. We’ve walked past a few times lately, and it always seemed packed. So we thought either the food must be good and customers keep coming back, or a lot of people go there wondering the same thing as ourselves.

After being shown to our seats near the rear of the restaurant, we were presented with a substantial menu, and a laminated ‘Specials’ leaflet. The waitress fetched us two glasses and a bottle of chilled water, and left us to decide.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Pricing | 5 Comments »

As we were pondering what to cook last night, my friend Kenny rang to tell me he was in Melbourne, and asked us out to dinner. Problem solved! I decided we’d take Kenny to Ye Shanghai, but this time we would sample a nice selection from the main menu.

We got ready, and headed into the city. After driving around in circles for a while looking for a park, (Damn busy for a Sunday night!?) we finally found one. Then we made our way to Ye Shanghai, where Kenny was waiting outside.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Chinese, Ethnicity, Funky, Pricing | 6 Comments »

Minh Tan II is a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. I had never actually been inside, but i’d walked past this restaurant many times on my way to my regular haunt, about half a block further down Victoria St.

Two friends if ours, John & Robert, asked us out to dinner. We decided that we would visit Minh Tan II, after Robert mentioned the food he’d eaten on previous occasions was fantastic.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Family, Pricing, Vietnamese | 1 Comment »