Izakaya Den, Melbourne CBD

I have read quite a bit about Izakaya Den and finally got there for lunch.

I had a choice of four lunch dishes;

Salmon roll with kombu and ponzi dressing (which I chose)

Grilled chicken yakatori

Green beans with fried tofu

Baked kingfish fillet with ginger and miso

The extras you could choose were house-made tofu, salad, rice, miso and pickles. A lunch dish with one extra was $12.00 and with all the extras was $18.00. So of course I had one with the lot!

Salad topped with shredded dried nori

Pickled veges (baby okra, sliced celery in mayo and pickled radish)

House-made tofu with soy dressing

Rice, miso, salad and salmon rolls

The lunch was really tasty. The tofu was soft and the dressing had just a hint of soy. The salmon rolls were good with the ponzi dressing. I didn't feel overly full from lunch, fortunately. So that left room for dessert!

There were two dessert options for lunch, fuji apple mille feuille or white sesame mousse. I chose the latter.

White sesame mousse with tapioca

$10.00

This suited me and my sweet tooth perfectly. The mousse was topped with a light butterscotch type sauce and inside the mousse was some mashed adzuki beans. Probably not the most traditional of desserts but very nice. I didn't get much of a sesame taste but that is a minor quibble. I really liked the idea of the mashed sweetened beans inside the mousse.

Izakaya Den is on Russell Street just near Little Collins Street and is easy to miss (walked past once before I found it). You head down a staircase and turn-left. The interior of the space is really well done. A long industrial space with soft lighting and music. There is a long bench with plenty of wooden stools where you can watch the bar staff and kitchen staff prepare some of the food. The menu is projected on the wall at about three or four different spots. The staff are helpful and friendly.

The place was about half full for lunch with office types looking for a healthy type lunch. Mine was tracking okay until I hit the indulgence train with the white sesame mousse!

I really loved the glass they served my water in (the glasses were all different). So much so I took a photo of both sides of the glass, blog nerd!!

Decorating a birthday cake - the cheats way.

One of my very close friends is a mum to twin boys. They will be turning two very soon and they are fans of Thomas the Tank Engine. I volunteered to make two cakes. In a delusional moment I'd considered making two 3D cakes, such as the one on this site. I had a lucid moment and realised I needed a less time-consuming option, especially as I work 5 or 6 days a week. Fortunately my friend agreed. So I will make two cakes, throw on some icing, smarties and these (edible) cake toppers that I found at Cake Deco. They have a pretty decent range of cake toppers with all sorts of characters that kids would like.

Thomas cake toppers, $9.90 each

Cake Deco is in Port Phillip Arcade in the city. The arcade runs between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane near Swanston Street. It is one of my all-time favourite shops. It is packed with stuff, on shelves, on the floor, everywhere really. There are cake tins, cook books, pre-made icings, a huge range of colours and flavours for icings and cakes. The list goes on. Their website gives you an idea of the products they stock. Here's a few pics of what you can expect to see.

There are two massive stands of chocolate moulds at the front of the shop.

Cookie cutters of all sizes and shapes.

There are special birthday candles but there is also a large shelf with plain candles in a vast array of colours, but I couldn't get a good photo of that.

Cupcake papers in a range of sizes and colours.


The shelves in the front window display loaded with cake tins.

And more stuff in the front windows of the shop.

If I worked closer to this place, I could go every day and still see stuff I haven't seen before.

Cake Deco

Shop 7, Port Phillip Arcade

232 Flinders Street

Melbourne

Ph 9654 5335

Delicious Vietnam #2 Bitter Melon

I've eaten some Vietnamese food but I've never cooked any. So Delicious Vietnam was my perfect opportunity to try. Thanks to Anh at A Food Lover's Journey and to Hong and Kim at Ravenous Couple. This is the second Delicious Vietnam blogging event. Info about the first one is here.

After looking online and in some recipe books from the library, I'd decided to use Bitter Melon. I found a recipe in Secrets of the Red Lantern by Pauline Nguyen, a co-owner with her brother of the Sydney restaurant Red Lantern. The dish was canh hu qua (bitter melon stuffed with pork and black fungus). I was bit nervous of the bitter melon because there seemed be a recurring theme of kids hating this vegetable and some appreciating it more as adults. Luke Nguyen in the Red Lantern book about bitter melon;

I always despised these dishes as a child, but now these foods are comforting for me.

A Vietnamese lady at work stopped for a chat. I hadn't seen her in a while. We got talking and got to food somehow and I mentioned how happy I was to be able to shop at Little Saigon Market. She is not local to the market and shops their infrequently. I decided to embrace the moment and tell her I had a plan to cook with some bitter melon. She told me of a recipe that she makes with fried bitter melon and egg. She couldn't tell me the Vietnamese name for the dish. Further searching of the internet revealed variations of this dish across Asia including the Philippines and Thailand as well as Vietnam. The dish also seemed less complicated than the canh hu qua I had planned to cook. I figured if it all went wrong and was inedible, I hadn't invested too much into the dish.

I headed off to Little Saigon Market to buy my bitter melon. I was confident because I knew what a bitter melon was. When I stood at the pile of melons to buy one, an Asian lady was there buying as well and she picked up one and then put it back, picked up another and put it back. Now I was worried, what is she looking for? I watched for a while and I gestured to her about wanting to buy one. She pointed to one and gave it to me. I thought 'oh she's making sure there are no blemishes on it or dents'.

As it turned out I didn't make my bitter melon dish that weekend, both from being busy and a bit intimidated - by a vegetable!

My Malaysian colleague asked me what I had on for the weekend. I detailed my plans. I mentioned my observations when buying my bitter melon. He explained that she was probably looking at the rides of the melon. We Googled and found this post at House of Annie. According to Annie I look for fewer ridges.

Back to Little Saigon Market to purchase another melon. While I was there, I happened to see an example of the original dish I was going to cook, the bitter melon stuffed with pork. I've never noticed the dish before.

Canh Hu Qua at both Thanh Han, Little Saigon Market

(I also saw some at Dinh Son which is next door to Thanh Han)

Probably not the most professional looking dish.

I fried off some sliced garlic and the melon for about 5 minutes, then added 3 beaten eggs, some fish sauce and little salt and pepper. Stirred it a bit and dished up with some coriander on top (as suggested by the Vietnamese lady at work).

I realised after I made it that I hadn't salted the melon as suggested by Annie. It wasn't too bad. The melon was a bitter but bearable. I'd like to try it again but salting prior. I'm also keen to try to cook the stuffed pork dish too, I might even trek back to Little Saigon to try it at Dinh Son (their dish looked a little nicer than Thahn Han, but I didn't get to take a photo).

Thanks Anh, Hong and Kim for the challenge. Here is a wrap-up of all the entries for Delicious Vietnam #2. A fantastic learning opportunity.

Update: I went back to Little Saigon Market and tried some of the Canh Hu Qua at Dinh Son. There were about six pieces served in (I think) the broth they were cooked in and a few coriander leaves in the broth as well. There was still some bitterness in the melon but not as much as in my bitter melon dish.

Thanks to Ravenous Couple; it seems like the egg and bitter melon dish is called Kho Qua Xao Chung.

Breadwell, Melbourne CBD

I'm a big fan of breakfast places. My first visit followed a review in Epicure and I was keen to check it out. I was very happy with my food that day. I haven't been to Breadwell for a year or so and thought it was time for a revisit. I'd read a couple of middling reviews of the place and was wondering if it may have gone into decline.

I was there about 8am on a Friday morning and my goodness I'd like a dollar for every coffee they make! People line up to order their take away coffees and there are plenty of suit types and designy types having their breakfast meetings there too.

I had the same dish this time that I had the first time I came here. Shashouka (or shakshouka, shakshuka, chakchouka, and I reckon there may many other variations of the spelling too!). It seems to be a popular North African and Middle Eastern breakfast dish.

Shashukka $12.00

It is one of my favourite breakfast dishes of all time. A bowl filled with a vegetable stew of tomatoes, capsicums, coriander and a hint of chili. A poached egg is plonked on top with some cress leaves and served with two pieces of toasted sourdough bread with butter. My knife cuts open the egg and the soft yolk oozes across the tomato. It's a tough choice; use a fork or pieces of toast dipped in. I alternate between the two options. If you like a tomatoey-eggy breakfast with buttery toast, this is the one. Brekky nirvana!!

The other breakfast options include muesli, porridge, toast and plenty of eggs and extras on toast.

Happy to report there appears to be no sign of decline in this place, well not for breakfast anyway.

Seddon Wine Store

Seddon Wine Store is a jewel. I wander in there with a rough idea of what I'd like to drink then enter into some chat with the staff who are quick to help with suggestions. They have a broad list of smaller wineries and some microbrewery beers. When I was in there last week I saw a shiraz from South Africa, so there is quite a diverse range. If you've bought your booze and think you might like some snackage with that, they also have a small range of cheese, olives, cured meats and anchovies. Seddon Wine Store is mentioned in an article in Epicure in March this year.

In the last couple of weeks they have done some renovations and have set up a wine bar on the premises. I've been watching and waiting for the renos to be completed so I could pay a visit. The Bloke went to the football with his Dad, so I treated myself to a little local outing!

Iberica de Bellota jambon, Moondarra wagyu salami and cornichons

$13.00

The jambon was okay however the wagyu salami was sensational! I was trying to eat slowly to make it last! The cornichons were pretty good too. I bought some once at a deli and didn't think much of them. I was informed that Seddon Wine Store's cornichons are from Spain. So if you're thinking of buying cornichons I'd be trying to find some imported from Spain.

Cheddar cheese and caramelised pickled onions

$9.00

The cheddar was tasty and bitey, and the onions were delicious. I'm not a fan of pickled onions, but caramelisation definitely took the edge off and they were very easy to eat.

There is quite a decent array of small dishes on the menu to try. You could just have a dish of olives or nuts, or a larger plate such as the cured meats, cheese, tuna belly or some pork terrine.

I reckon they've done a really nice job on creating a smart place to have a drink and a snack and I'm looking forward to some return visits!