Northern Light

Northern light is a recently opened bar and eatery that is quickly becoming a new favourite on Smith street.

Adam Liston, co-owner and head chef was influenced by his time in Shanghai and has created a constantly evolving menu with Japanese, Korean and Chinese influences. 

Having fresh sashimi, succulent wagyu and grilled scampi being a few of its many offerings, I found myself ordering practically everything on the menu. Every dish is an ingenious embodiment of Asian street food flavours with just the right amount of finesse, but any chef that shares my love for Asian food and mayonnaise has already stolen my heart.

All the food is designed to be shared in the laid back atmosphere with exposed brick and mahogany surroundings, where one can knock back a few Sapporos whilst snacking on some bincho tan grilled skewers.

Make sure there's room for dessert though. Northern light's notorious ice cream sandwich was without a doubt amazing. A revelation that apparently took the chef several years to perfect. The bitterness of the dark chocolate biscuit with gooey caramel and green tea ice cream was a well balanced and heavenly combination of flavours, simply a must try

Steer Bar & Grill

This extremely overdue blog is about Steer Bar and Grill. It's a steakhouse near my work that's satisfying Melbourne's growing demand for a bloody good steak.

Their philosophy is simple; quality steak comes from cows treated with love and respect.

Whilst you're ordering, the staff comes around with a large wooden board with the various cuts of steaks they have placed upon it, which I think is a brilliant idea! Being able to see the steak to get an idea of its marbling and size is extremely helpful when trying to decide. The staff are very friendly and helpful as well, obviously very knowledgeable when it comes to steak.

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We started our evening with half a dozen oysters, which were lovely. 

I would definitely recommend the house cut bacon, it is a must try! The bacon is a juicy and thick slice of pure guilt that comes with an extraordinary housemade BBQ sauce.

Our steaks, as expected were cooked to perfection, so tender and flavourful. No nonsense just the great taste of beef. Our steaks also came with a little bit of bone marrow, which was a tasty treat.

The foie gras potato puree was absolutely divine. I would personally like to thank the person who decided to combine foie gras and pureed potato. I could've polished off the whole bowl on my own, table etiquette was the only thing stopping me from licking the bowl clean.

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The desserts were also a highlight as well.

Their tart was lovely, it had a lot of different elements from marshmallows, jellies, meringues and ice cream.

The most memorable was the Bombe Alaska. The only way to make dessert better is having it set on fire! A touch of theatrics accompanied with ice cream enclosed in meringue. What more could you ask for?

The little bits of jelly with the Bombe Alaska went very well too, a little bit of citrus to cut through the sweetness of the meringue.

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I have to confess I went to Steer twice within 2 weeks, I liked it so much I had to bring more friends. If you're one of my particularly carnivorous readers, definitely give this place a try. 

Thanks for reading, I'll hopefully dish out a new blog soon.

Tokyo: L'atelier de Robuchon

Happy New Year, everyone! 

I hope that everyone's 2012 was memorable and that your 2013 will be even better! 

Today's blog is about one of Joel Robuchon's restaurants in Tokyo, called L'atelier de Robuchon. It's located in Roppongi hills and truly was a unique and incredible dining experience.

The restaurant is gorgeously decorated with elements of nature, accompanied with shades of a lavish red. We sat at the bar, which is definitely the best place to enjoy a view of the open kitchen. We were lucky enough to sit right in front of where they do the desserts. 

We began with our amuse bouche and we opted for a special set menu where we can select each course.

I had 'Le Crabe' for my entree. It was alaskan crab, avocado and lobster jelly served in the most gorgeous and creative glassware I've ever seen. It tasted amazing...I'm a big fan of crab and avocado!

My boyfriend's entree made mine look dreadfully boring! It was a Salmon Tartare with some gold leaf served in a bowl chilled with liquid nitrogen. This dish not only tastes divine but the showmanship is what really excites you! If it were tuna, this dish would have been perfection.

This is our waiter, Sylvain putting the finishing touches on my soup with foie gras ravioli. The flavours were amazing, really rich and intense. 

For my main I had a Guinea fowl with some mashed potatoes. A really delicious bird with a delicate crispy skin and moist meat. The potatoes were a buttery dream!

Finally our dessert arrived! It was gorgeously constructed but the only way I can describe it is chocolate on chocolate on chocolate on chocolate...It was chocolate prepared in 5 different ways, more than enough to give the biggest chocoholic a run for their money. 

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Dining at L'atelier de Robuchon was absolutely delightful. My boyfriend and I were able to enjoy an incredible meal whilst watching all the action in the kitchen right before us.

If you're ever in Roppongi Hills definitely try this place out. They have a cheaper lunch menu during the day but bookings are still recommended. There's also a little bakery/bread section as well, where you can purchase some freshly baked goods from the restaurant.

Thank you for reading, see you next blog! 

Tea Cupping & Food

Hello Readers,

I'm really excited about today's blog so I'm not going to babble on but get straight to it.

On Saturday, I attended the first session of Bistro Vue's Tea Cupping classes. 

This session was focused on Green Tea and they're held by Charles Serveau, the Tea Sommelier who replaced Sarah at Vue de Monde. He was such a delightful teacher and his passion and enthusiasm for tea was inspiring. 

A truly educational and eye opening experience that was held in the beyond gorgeous function room of Bistro Vue, my friend couldn't help but admire the architecture. 

We tried so many different kinds of Green Tea, I felt like I was in heaven. So much precision and care needs to be taken but it's worth it to brew a perfect cup of tea.

The day couldn't have possibly gotten any better....but it did. Our class was followed by a wonderful 3 course lunch paired with matching teas whipped up by the head chef of Bistro Vue, Chris Bonello. Chris was really friendly, such an easy going guy.

Photo courtesy of Charles.

Our first course was Cured Kingfish with salt bush, wood sorrel, lemon oil, seaweed salt.

Second course was Confit Duck Leg with Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted carrots and beer pickled onions. It was incredible how well the teas matched with this dish.

Finally for dessert a Rum and Vanilla parfait with 8 spice, honey and a White chocolate mousse.

An unforgettable experienced....well worth the early morning wake up and a bargain at $70, in my opinion. I only wish I could afford to attend ALL the sessions.

To top my day off, both Chris and Charles follow me on twitter! I feel kinda star struck haha.

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Before I finish this blog I'll do a very brief review and add some last minute food porn.

If you want good pizza in a stylish restaurant setting with spirited and charming waiters, +39 is where it's at. It was The Age's pizzeria of the year and I now understand why.

We ordered 3 pizzas, which were all good but the Quattro Fromaggi was mind-blowing. A 4 cheese pizza that has a really intense flavour.

Dessert was a Nutella pizza with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. It's hard to believe but this was the first time one of my friends had tried Nutella...I was mortified but he'd only been in the country a couple months so I let it slide. hahaha

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Now as promised, the food porn.

House Cured Vodka and Beetroot Salmon with a Mandarin, beetroot salad.

Salt and Pepper dusted Squid with Watercress and Mandarin Segments.

Porcini Mushroom and Chicken Risotto.

Beef Burger on a Brioche Bun with beetroot, lettuce, tomato, tasty cheese, bacon.

the CRISPIEST potatoes ever made by my masterchef boyfriend.

Lamb chops and vegies by the boyfriend. Don't let this picture fool you, I ate seconds....or was it thirds?

That's all! Sorry for the long post....See you next blog.

Izakaya Den

How's everyone been?

I've just realised it's been a month since I last blogged so HERE YOU GO GUYS!

A little while ago my boyfriend and I decided to try out a highly recommended "modern"  Japanese bar/restaurant called Izakaya Den. Hidden away obscurely on Russel St, Izakaya den is an incredibly stylish and modern looking venue with a lengthy bar that appears to go on forever.

The decor is minimalist and the menus projected on the wall add to its Japanese flair, which just emphasizes style and function. Not to mention it's small but well organised open kitchen where the many chefs prepare your meals right before your eyes. Nothing is more reassuring than knowing the kitchen has nothing to hide.

Moving onto the food!

These are scallops with garlic butter and soy 

Gotzinger Pork sausages

Wagyu beef with a side of pickled cauliflower 

Spicy Tuna Tataki (I LOVE TUNA)

Duck Liver Parfait with Crispy Wonton skin

Sweet Japanese Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Everything was delicious and cooked to perfection. The scallops were succulent, the meat well cooked and properly rested, everything just bursting with flavour. My only fault would be that there wasn't enough wonton skin for the duck liver! haha

I washed our meal down with a lovely glass of Umeshu and Matcha tea, one of the few selections on their extensive drinks list. I highly recommend this place but try to go on a quiet night as they don't take bookings and the place can get CROWDED.

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As an apology for not writing a blog in so long, here is some more food porn.

Brie-gazm pizza from the Lucky Coq

Chocolate fondue for two

Burger and chilli fries from Soda Rock

Lamb rack, sweet potato puree, fondant potatoes and chorizo

Green tea Swiss roll

A spit roast at my friend's birthday party!

The cake above is the one I bought my dad for his birthday, it was raspberry and chocolate.

The first time I came to this sweets/cake store, I was met with a huge surprise....Julia from this year's masterchef was doing work experience there!

She was so friendly and TALL in real life (she's bending down for the photo) and her skin is lovely as well. I can't wait to go back, it's quite close to my work so i'll be making lots of visits.

Thanks for reading! Until the next blog~ (hopefully soon)