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.

Storm in a Teacup.

Hello There,

I recently took a trip down Smith St for a long overdue visit to Storm in a Teacup. Storm in a Teacup is the baby of Sarah Cowell former tea sommelier at Vue de Monde, whom I had the pleasure of meeting when I had dinner there. Her tea knowledge and passion is inspirational and I am glad she could share her love of tea with all of Melbourne now.

Basically Storm in a Teacup is a Tea bar, so they are a bar but specialize in brewing tea as well. A place like this was a heaven sent for me, there are very few places in Melbourne that do their tea justice. Most 'tea drinkers' are happy sipping from a teapot crammed with too many leaves, filled with boiling water, steeping for much too long. At Storm in a Teacup, no matter which tea you select from their extensive list, you can be sure that the tea you are drinking is brewed with the utmost respect and care. The water temperature is perfect, the steeping time is exact and the ratio of tea and leaves is well balanced.

photo courtesy of: http://storminateacup.com.au

In simpler words, they do tea RIGHT.

They also do some pretty damn good cocktails as well. ;)

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I, of course could not resist their little food menu. I shared a charcuterie board and a vegie smash plate with my friend. Charcuterie boards are always great but what surprised me was the vegie smash. I really really enjoyed the flavours; there was an eggplant, beetroot and pumpkin vegie smash. Just really good simple flavours that I polished off in no time. All the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly so they can really help you decide on a tea as well as tempt you to try their selection of cakes.

They're always baking something new so pop in and have a look. 

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If you're a true lover of tea, you'll love this place. It's just amazing that a place like this has opened, it's a reflection of Melbourne's growing tea community and the recognition of tea's importance in culinary society. 

I sincerely hope you guys check this place out, it's doing some great things.

Address:  

  48A Smith Street

  Collingwood, Vic. 3066

Telephone: (03) 9415 9593

Opening Hours:  Tues & Wed 10am-6pm

                                  Thurs 10am-9pm

                                Fri & Sat 10am-11pm

                                    Sun 10am-6pm

                                    Closed Monday

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)