The Lobster Cave, Beaumaris

Friends are great - they answer the phone when you call, they listen to your whinging, they don't judge you and they get you what you like! Knowing how much of a foodie Gaz is, one of his friends gave him a $99 voucher to Lobster Cave Restaurant in Beaumaris. 

Lobster Cave was mentioned in several big news stories in the press last year as the venue for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy's meeting with an alleged Mafia boss. So I was half expecting to see some famous people there when we got there but was disappointed... not really. We were there to try out the food and was impressed with the quality and quantity of the food and the great service. 

Our waitperson was very good at explaining how it all works (our voucher did not entitle us to the Set Lunch Menu) and made sure our glasses were topped up and we were looked after. 

The thick carpets of the restaurant absorbed all noise, there was an aquarium running the length of the wall, it was dark, heavy and intimate within the restaurant. 

To start, we received complimentary corn fritters. I'm actually not sure how this whets the appetite for the large courses to come and the fritters stuck to our palate but it was nice of the restaurant to provide complimentary entrees for their diners. 

Complimentary Corn fritters

We ordered fried mushrooms in butter as a side. This is not a great picture as the button mushrooms and black fungus do not show nicely on the black plate but it was a nice dish.

Fried mushrooms

For mains, I ordered the fish while Gaz had ravioli with lobster tails. The  blue eye fillet was perfectly cooked. The skin was crispy and the flesh was still moist. It was a very generous serve of fish and asparagus and cherry tomatoes. The sauce was an anchovy butter which was very buttery but no real anchovy taste. Still, I thought this dish was well cooked and was probably enough for two meals for me!

Blue eye fillet with anchovy butter, cherry tomatoes and asparagus

Gaz ordered the pasta with lobster tails. It may seem like only five or six ravioli parcels but they were very filling. The butter sauce was rich and the mushrooms were fragrant. The lobster tails... mamamia! There were 5 lobster tail halves on the plate! We had a great time eating those lobster tails. It felt so luxurious eating this dish for lunch...

House made Beef Cheek Ravioli with Lobster Tails and Duxelle Mushrooms

Because we ordered a side dish, the restaurant also gave us some complimentary sweet potato chips. It was served with creamy aioli dipping sauce. I think sweet potato chips may be a healthier substitute for plain potato chips, but they are not my preferred choice of chips because it is very difficult to get them crispy on the outside and moist on the inside; and they get burnt, or look burnt easily because of the sugar content. 

There was so much sweet potato chips on that plate that as much as we loathe to waste food, we just had to leave some chips on the plate. 

Complimentary sweet potato chips

I hope they were put to good use, maybe it would make a healthy feast for the seagulls by the Beaumaris foreshore?

The Timber Mill, Officer

The Timber Mill is located in the middle of a new housing estate Timbertop (hence the name). To me, the cafe looks like it is housed in a semi-permanent structure - there is a wooden frame but no walls separating the seating area and the deck outside, just thick plastic sheets to protect from the wind if needed. It is good for when the days are hot and more seating is required. 

Parking can be found on an empty lot next to the cafe. There are no clearly marked parking spaces, and the area is not paved. Just park where you like! There is a man made 'lake' in front of the cafe which was half full when we were there and was fenced up to prevent anyone from falling into the water. So, there really isn't much of a view. 

The cafe may be located in a housing estate that is still undergoing development but the food is certainly well developed and delicious! The cafe is family owned and they want to make you feel like one of their family too, the service is so friendly and warm. 

I ordered the double cheeseburger which came with fries and house made tomato relish. The relish was delicious. I ate all of mine and then stole some of Gaz's as well. The beef patty in the burger is moist and well cooked. It was saucy and full of veges like lettuce and tomato, it felt fresh and as healthy as cheeseburgers can be. 

Gaz ordered the Pulled Pork and Corn Fritters. It came with avocado slices and tomato relish. The fritters had lots of real pieces of corn, but was a bit bland. Each mouthful when eaten with a piece of pulled pork and tomato relish was just nice though.

Most of the customers in this cafe are residents of the housing estate. Some popped by for a quick takeaway coffee, some for brunch after walking their dogs. I think we were the only ones who had travelled a distance to get there for lunch. We were at a function nearby and had decided to try cafe out after seeing the reviews on Tripadvisor. We were definitely not disappointed!

Thai Kitchen Beer, King St CBD

I wouldn't normally associate King Street in the CBD as a place to dine, and it is very probable that Thai Kitchen Beer don't associate themselves solely as a restaurant either. 

By the sounds of their name, they probably would like to cater to the cocktail drinking, beer guzzling crowd while the Thai tapas style food is served more to accompany the drinks. But it was exactly the food that we found to be the star of the show here!

We visited Thai Kitchen Beer on a Groupon promotion where we were free to choose any 5 dishes (there were entrees, fried noodles and rice, curries, salads, desserts) from the menu for $40. 

First dish - we chose the grilled pork neck marinated with Thai rum and coconut cream. The sauce for the pork had spring onions, chilli, roasted rice powder, fish sauce. The pork slices were tender and fragrant when dipped in the sauce. 

Stir fried seafood with cashew nut, chilli jam and vegetables - loads of vegetables and seafood like fish, calamari and prawns. The flavours are so well balanced here, it would be great to eat this with a bowl of steamed white rice.

Crab meat fried rice - there was a decent quantity of crab meat in this fried rice. Although a tad salty, the portion was big and filled us right up.

Seafood red curry - Prawns, fish, calamari in red curry. I think that Thai red curries are generally quite thin, or is it because the restaurants add too much coconut milk to make it less spicy and more palatable to Western tastes? But as far as Thai curries go, this dish was quite good. By this time,we were already quite full.

Som Tum Tiger prawns - Papaya salad with tiger prawns - this was so spicy! It has a real kick to it. Shredded papaya, tiger prawns, cashew nuts, carrots, green beans, chilli and fried dried shrimps dressed with a Thai dressing.

Man oh man, the food was so delicious and the flavours were so authentic. The serving sizes were more than enough for us, and they certainly did not skimp on the ingredients even though we were on a Groupon voucher. Recommended!

Sashimi

Gaz bought a sashimi knife from an online shop recently, it was something he had always wanted to get. So there will be more sashimi at home for us! He did a really good job the first time round, cleanly cutting the fish fillet, but the second time was not so great - there were ragged edges and the slices were not of even thickness. But practice will eventually make perfection! So there will be more sashimi to come. 

We got the fish fillet from the local fishmonger who sells sashimi grade salmon.

By the way, this picture is not one of Gaz's sashimi dishes. It is from one of our visits to Japan Komo Restaurant in Mitcham which is also described here: 

https://lifeseas0ns.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/japan-komo-mitcham.html

Triennale at National Gallery of Victoria

What do Will Smith and I have in common? We both went to the NGV Triennial! Although we did not bump into each other, but I think we saw the same pieces like the ones below: 

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/ngv-triennial/

Some pieces that stood out for me - the giant sleeping Buddha in the foyer; a large carpet that looked like it had lakes, mountains, tufts of grass woven onto it; an interactive 3D game; and a series of drawing which show it is slowly fading into nothingness (to represent the effects of time).

Some controversial works were also on display, like Caucasian actors and actresses reading the life accounts of refugees; lots and lots of giant skulls (although we missed this when we were there).

There are works from over 100 artists from 32 countries and represents so many new and exciting pieces that it is really worth going to have a look if you haven't already been. Entry is free!

The Triennale is on at National Gallery of Victory from 15 Dec 17 to 15 Apr 18

Monroe's Burger and Beers, Healesville

It has been a few years since we last visited Healesville and it is always interesting to go back to a place and see how the dining scene had changed. This time, we found some new restaurants on the main strip like Herd, and Monroe's Burger and Beers. It was a shame that our favourite restaurant A Wanda Inn, is no longer open. We really enjoyed the Japanese twist in their food. 

We decided to try Monroe's Burger and Beers because a) I wanted some crispy onion rings, and b) it seemed like one of the more affordable and yet hip place to dine at on the strip. 

Did I say I wanted crispy onion rings? And crispy onion rings I got! These onion rings ($4.90) were crispy, and held their shape well. The batter was really well cooked. 

I ordered the Healesville Classic, which is Yarra Valley beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion, roasted garlic aioli, and tomato relish ($11.90). Gaz tried my burger and said he preferred his one to my more 'plain' burger. Well, it doesn't have the bells and whistles but I really do prefer my classic burger to his! I don't really the beetroot, bacon, egg etc, just give me a well cooked beef patty, some veges and sauce and I'll be a happy larry.

Gaz's fancier burger Smoky Texan, which is Yarra Valley beef, chipotle mayonnaise, streaky bacon, pickled red onion, lettuce and tomato relish ($13.90). There is a little kick of chilli from the chipotle mayo, and smokiness from the streaky bacon.

The burgers are an OK size but I think each burger need to be accompanied by a side of onion rings, or chips to complete the meal. The pricing of the burger is a little pricier than the others (compared to Betty's Burger, or Burger Project) but the onion rings are slightly cheaper. The beef patty was delicious and the brioche bun was good too, soft but not as sweet as the others. The burger also tasted more wholesome, and had less sugar, salt and fat compared to some of the American style burgers from other places.

Hilarie Mais Exhibition at TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville

It is a rare ocassion when I would voluntarily go for guided tours of art galleries but boy, was I glad I did at the Hilarie Mais exhibition in TarraWarra Museum of Art. The curator did such a good job explaining what abstract art was all about, and gave such a good explanation of Hilarie Mais' works in the gallery that I enjoyed the full hour of the tour. I gained an understanding of the methodology of her works, and the meaning behind abstract art style form. 

Hilarie Mais is an abstract artist based in Sydney. From what I can see, her works in this exhibition revolves mainly around lattices. What was really fascinating about the work was the methodology behind the art. For example, she will count up to a certain number (for example 7) places on the lattice before making a dot and by doing so, creates a pattern on the 'canvas'. I assume the number holds some meaning for her, but this was not explained. 

She is very meticulous with her each of her pieces. She sources the raw wood from for example Japan where they are known for their appreciation of raw timber, she leaves no spot in the lattice unfinished, even painting the sides and back of the lattice. 

One of the most interesting pieces in the exhibition is the one below, where there is not only a pattern but the artist has painted spots of the 'canvas' with different bright colours so that the viewer can see the reflection of the colour, but not really. It's like you can not be sure it's there, or if your eyes are playing tricks. 

Hilarie Mais' exhibition is at the TarraWarra Museum of Art from 24 Feb to 29 Apr 2018. 

http://www.twma.com.au/exhibition/hilarie-mais/

Yarra Valley Smokery, Lilydale

Yarra Valley Smokery is an American style BBQ burger cafe, located on the main strip in Lilydale. We were at the Lilydale Rotary Club Farmer's Market next to Lilydale Lake (held every first Sunday, entry by gold coin donation) so decided to stop by this cafe for lunch on the way home. 

The cafe was 

I ordered the Cubano - thinly shaved pork and ham with cheese in a toasted roll. I loved that they were so generous with the meats, and the chips were so crispy and delicious. There was even a hidden treasure within the basket of chips - a jalapeno and cheese croquette! But I must say that the bread was dry, the filling was dry and when the combination is toasted, it was just in need of some drippy sauce, more cheese, lettuce or something. Maybe thicker slices of meat will make the sandwich less dry perhaps?

Dirty beef brisket burger for Gaz. Isn't the sunny side egg just beautiful to look at? No problems with the dry factor, the burger was moist and delicious. Again, lots of meat, pickles, cheese and egg. I could smell the smoky effect of smoker 'Joe' on the beef brisket.

The jalapeno and cheese croquette was a surprise find within the basket of chips that accompanied each burger/sandwich. The sauce on the side presumably is for the chips, but as it was a little underseasoned I preferred tomato sauce or just chips on its own.

It was a good, filling meal. In fact there was so much meat for me that I had to take half the sandwich home for the next day. The chips were fried and seasoned very well. The meat was smoky and the portions are generous. Going with a big craving for lots of meat is recommended.

Dodee Paidang Thai Bar and Cafe, Little Collins St

If you like spicy and I mean really spicy food, then Dodee Paidang is the place for you. There is a Dodee Paidang in Sydney and now in Melbourne as well. The restaurant has little visibility from street level, it is located in a little alleyway, and one has to descend a flight to stairs to get to it. It is always full though, which is a real testament to the good and authentic Thai food they serve here. 

Dodee has an extensive menu of boat noodles. These are small bowls of soup noodles packed full with flavour. The spiciness level ranged from not spicy to omg spicy and nothing in between. 

They also have a range of curries, stir fried noodles, and rice dishes. One day, we ordered the papaya salad platter which came with papaya salad of our choice (we chose one with pickled crab - the crab was very salty!), cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, pickled mustard, hard boiled egg, rice vermicelli, deep fried shrimp, deep fried fish, pork chitterling and deep fried chicken wings. For all the deep fried foods on the platter, it was balanced out with the fresh vegetables on the other side of the platter. 

Dodee is a great place to go when you need a snack (as most of the boat noodles are very small in portion size, as they are meant to be), or for a quick lunch. Just steer clear of the spicy noodles if you cannot handle spice.

Trip to Ballarat

Over the Labour Day weekend, we took a short trip to Ballarat. We actually stopped by in Ballarat on the way home from the Grampians a few years ago for lunch but had forgotten all about it until we visited the local supermarket for some essentials (guess who forgot the toothpaste?) and found the surroundings extremely familiar. 

Well, Ballarat has not changed too much but this time we had more time to visit many more places, notably the restaurants! 

The Begonia Festival was on when we were there, and White Night the next weekend. Look at the begonias that were on display. Some of the begonias were larger than the size of my palm! Begonias on steroids. 

Besides the floral displays, there were food trucks, kids activity zones, fish hatchery tour, and stalls selling gardening stuff, crafts and begonia plants. Luckily for us, all the large flowering begonia plants had already been sold when we got there so we didn't buy one. We already have a collection of pot plants at home. 

The Begonia Festival is free to attend. There were lots of parking close to the Aquatic Centre even though a park and ride option is available from Victoria Park down the road.

Lake Wendouree is a large just opposite the Botanical Garden where the Begonia Festival was held. We crossed the road from the crowd and had a lovely time walking around the lake. The view reminded me a little of West Lake in Hangzhou.

There is a large population of black swan in the lake, sunning themselves.

We went to the Vintage Tram Museum nearby after our walk. Entry is free but there is a donation box for those who want to help the Museum in what they do. There are about 4 or 5 old trams, each one impeccably restored. One of the trams even had stained glass windows in the passenger carriage. Some of the notices were quite interesting, like this one - Spitting in the car is strictly prohibited. Wow...

If you are in Ballarat and not sure what else to do besides Sovereign Hill, check out the Ballarat Art Gallery. One of the artwork that made me stop in my tracks was this one below. Someone had actually commissioned a portrait for his cattle. Besides this group portrait, each of the cow/bull had their own individual portrait!

On the second day, we drove to nearby Bunninyong to visit a volcano crater where we spotted this alpaca on a farm. He was just so curious to see us that he continued to stare at us long after we were gone. I love alpacas, they look like little camels but are so cute and well behaved. I almost wanted to reach out and give it a hug. 

Meigas, Ballarat

On our recent visit to Ballarat, we had dinner at Meigas. This Spanish tapas restaurant came highly recommended and was ranked first on Tripadvisor's restaurants to eat at in Ballarat. 

We were so excited to have our dinner at Meigas that we arrived nearly half and hour ahead of our actual reservation. The waitpersons were very courteous and showed us to our seats, brought us water and cutlery without being narky about the change in plans. 

We ordered the Iberico jamon (50g), which we had with bread and extra virgin olive oil. It's so difficult to buy Jamon Iberico outside of Spain, it's ridiculously expensive. Meigas have a deli that sell jamon, sausages etc. Jamon Iberico was selling for $275 per kg while Jamon Serrano was selling for around $40 per kg. As Gaz likes to point out, Iberico pigs are black fur pigs that eat only acorns, and those acorns aren't cheap! It does taste better than Jamon Serrano..

Next was garlic chilli prawns. There were 4 large prawns with shells on, served in garlic infused oil (which was still bubbling when it was served on the table), paprika and fresh parsley leaves. We found that the garlic in oil at the bottom of the dish was most delicious when put on bread. Although there were chillies in the description, there were no spiciness.

Croquette of the day - bacon and mushrooms. It was creamy inside and crunchy outside, almost too much batter. Compared to the other dishes, this was my least favourite.

Now, this one is a new dish to me. Spanish meatballs in almond sauce. My mom and I always thought that almond essence and processed almond powder smells like cockroaches. Yeah... don't ask further, they just do. Luckily, we're OK with almond flakes, whole almonds and the like. And this dish definitely do not smell like cockroaches. Instead, it taste really delicious. The almond chunks add texture to the sauce, the meatballs were juicy and tender. It was really good.

To finish, we had the flan. Which just brings back good memories of how my housemate used to make this from premixes and then scarfed it down double fast. Thinking about it now makes me want to go out and get one of those premix packets now. The flan was a nice note to end on, but it was nothing spectacular. I was more attracted to the Spanish churros that the table next to us ordered.

Our bill came to $76 for two persons, including a glass of sangria. Meigas also offer a 'Feed Me' menu at $50 per person which is probably a better option if you are hungry.

We really enjoyed our food and the service at Meigas and we hope to visit again one day!

Louis Vuitton Time Capsule Exhibition

The Louis Vuitton Time Capsule Exhibition is on at Chadstone Shopping Centre from 24th Feb to 21st March 2018. Admission is free, though you may feel strongly compelled to go straight out from the exhibition to the nearest LV store to get yourself a handbag. 

The exhibition has travelled all over the world, including high LV consumption capitals like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. 

The first display to draw the crowds in is the artisan's table where a qualified worksperson from LV sits, sewing handles on LV bags. The person explains that each piece of LV is hand made. The only part that the machines has a hand in (forgive the pun!) is connecting the bottom part of a bag. Even then the machine is operated by a machinist with at least 6 months' training who carefully guides the machine so that the bag is properly shaped as they should be. 

There are many unique pieces of LV in display, all the way back from when LV started to contemporary times. The piece below is an ode to Australia, it is various LV bags forming a kangaroo. It kinda looks scary to me...

LV actually started as a luggage packer. His job was to pack people's bags for trips, unpack them and so on. He soon saw a niche in the market for good quality bags and started his own company to create them. His creations such as the one below are complete mini wardrobes, great for the avid (and well to do) traveller. Even Michael Clarke, former Australia's cricket captain has one of these. 

His creations soon extend to cases of all kinds including a case for carrying caviar. Mother of pearl spoons for consumption of the caviar are of course included..

As the times change, (and LV probably realised that women will spend big for a good handbag) LV branched into smaller items such as handbags, wallets and son on. And so LV evolved into the brand I know of today...

Some of the pieces displayed in the exhibition are from private collections while the rest are from LV's own archives in France.

The exhibition is a very smart way to reinforce and 'educate' consumers on its long illustrious history, the perception of quality and dynamism of the brand. Is it worth $3,000 per bag? That is for you to decide!