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 »

Recently, we took a trip to Sydney and I insisted on taking Louis to this restaurant my friends took me to last time I visited - Ichiban Boshi.

Situated nextdoor to Kinokuniya in The Galeries Victoria (opposite the massive Queen Victoria Building), Ichiban Boshi commands an exceptionally brisk trade. In peak times, you take a number, and wait. And listen carefully for your number to be called, which can take anything upto half an hour - but it’s worth the wait.

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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 »

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 | 6 Comments »

Being Mother’s Day today, I took a quick trip up to see my parents, in Ballarat.

I was a bit late leaving, so it was lunchtime when I arrived. I was hungry. I had a craving. Poonie’s Takeaway! I thought.

I’m not sure of their opening hours, but they never seem to be closed.

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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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Nestled in the heart of Footscray, the recently refurbished Hao Phong does a brisk trade.

For many Vietnamese, Sunday lunch means one thing: Phở (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup).

To give you an idea of its popularity, there are at least 5 or 6 other restaurants within close proximity that just serve this one dish. If Yum-Cha (Dim-Sum) could be classed as an unofficial Chinese pastime, Pho would be the Vietnamese equivalent.

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Post-Mao Cafe is a quaint, brightly painted restaurant situated toward the top end of Melbourne’s Chinatown. Normally, we stay clear of places that have someone out the front trying to coax people inside - as I figure if they need that, they can’t be very good.

But a few groups of people seemed to be heading in without needing any persuasion, so we decided to give it a go as well.

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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 »