Kotaraya - Oakleigh South

Kotaraya in Oakleigh South is a restaurant we visited recently. It has a classier decor than most suburban Asian restaurant. Down lights, a bar, nicely painted maroon walls is classy when put into context with the predominantly $17-18 dishes served.

Kotaraya serves a mix of Malaysian and Thai food. There is also a full page dedicated to Malaysian hawker fare.

We noticed a few dishes in the menu that had won an Asian food festival award 14 and 15 years ago. Perhaps they were trailblazer dishes during that time in Aust... but 15 years is a very long time. Perhaps it is time to ditch mention of the year from the menu?

We ordered the Thai fish (award winner from a decade ago) which was fried fillets of fish topped with sauce reminiscent of tom yum flavour $18. The waitress who took our order tried to explain the dish in Mandarin. She did not look Chinese so when she started speaking in Mandarin I could only gape because it threw me off completely so much so that she asked the question I was going to ask her, 'Are you Chinese?'

The other dish we ordered was the coconut butter chicken $17. We did not expect this dish to turn out also fried. I liked them both but the meal turned out quite dry though.

The restaurant was adequately staffed unlike the typical Asian restaurants where wait staff are scarce and it is considered very fortunate if one did not have to wait ten minutes for any attention.

We give this restaurant a thumbs up for the value for money dishes and friendly service.

Chicken or the Egg?

Meet Cream, that laid these eggs for my breakfast today.

Glossy fresh eggs. Also free range!

A friend very kindly gave me half a dozen eggs from her hens. The difference between supermarket eggs and backyard hen eggs I noticed is that the shells of the latter are thicker. The shells are also glossier.

Gaz can't really taste any differently and neither could I. I doubt there is really any difference in taste, but people always think free range eggs taste better. 

When I was cooking them though, I can see the difference. Fresh yolks are firmer and the whites did not spread as much when broken into the pan. The yolks were a deeper orange. 

We also have the peace of mind knowing the eggs were from a healthy hen raised in a clean free environment. My friend's chickens eat rice, grass from her lawn, worms, and her vegetable patch. Happy hens, healthy eggs. 

Japan Komo - Mitcham

Have you ever caught someone looking at something on the street and you just can't help but look in the same direction so you can see what they're looking at? Well, a similar thing happened to me recently.

We were at Japan Komo in Mitcham ordering our dinner when the occupants of the next table started snapping pictures of the interior, the kitchen, and everything in no particular order. I looked around to see what they were snapping at but could not find anything really outstanding. 

Japan Komo is just an ordinary suburban restaurant. What I did take pictures of were the dishes we ordered, just so when I get the craving for fresh raw fish, I can look at the pictures and salivate over them. They make really nice rolls and there are pictures of these rolls all over the walls of the restaurant. They also serve a nice raw fish which was my order that night.

Gaz ordered the panko bento $14.90 which also came with miso soup. He thought it would be something like tempura but it was just lots of crumbed fried food. The crumbed fried calamari and prawns were just a little too 'processed' for us.

This is my favorite.  Raw salmon don $13.90. Meltingly soft fish on seasoned sushi rice.So delicious!

                                      
Fried prawn gyozas. $5.90 for five. No guesses for who got too hungry before the picture could be taken!

Update: This restaurant is permanently closed

La Cassolette, Northbank

Gaz and I visited a new restaurant tonight, actually it was more a minimalist bistro than a restaurant. La Cassolette is situated at 26 Rebecca Walk, Northbank.

Just opposite the Yarra, there were its richer cousins, restaurants such as Bistro Guillame and Baci. The difference is glaring. The shining lights and crowd on the Southbank, compared to the less glitzy and definitely a lot less crowded row of container blocks housing restaurants, art gallery, barber shop and even a beauty parlour on the Northbank. Nevertheless the food is good, there is the same view of the Yarra, if not more beautiful because at precisely 8 pm just as we were finishing our mains, the spectacular fire show at Crown lit up the river.

We ordered the Cassolette, $35 which is a hearty French peasant food consisting of stewed haricot beans, french sausages, pork belly topped with a duck leg. It was very filling. Gaz liked the duck which had crispy skin.

I ordered the flambe of scallops with cream sauce and parsley ($33). The scallops were prepared in front of us. Grand Marnier was used to flambe the scallops then when the flames had died down, cream was added and cooked down. Lastly, parsley was sprinkled on the dish and served with parisian mash (I take it to mean smooth mash with lots of creamy goodness) and fresh salad.

The scallops were fresh and cooked just nicely although oddly there were two large and two small scallops and they were both of different textures. One was more cooked than the other but both well cooked.

To finish off our dinner, we ordered a creme Brulee to share. I am not a big fan of desserts so I was happy for Gaz to finish off the dish on his own after two spoonfuls.  The creme Brulee was served with a bowl of cream and almond slivers and dried apricot.

Unfortunately La Cassolette will be closing at the end of October. The less glitzy and quieter Northbank is not a conducive place for its business. Hopefully they will reopen in another location which can sustain the business.

As for us, we had a most enjoyable evening having the whole place to ourselves, laughing at our own jokes, listening to French music, eating good French food, listening to the two French owners talk to each other and being transported to France all over again.

Update: This restaurant is now closed.