Persian Flavours, Forest Hill

Persian Flavours is an institution, having been around for such a long time and serving authentic Iranian food. There is another Iranian restaurant along the same strip of shop, but having tried both now, I think Persian Flavours stands out more. The food is tasty, the place seems clean and service is orderly.

We ordered the Chicken and Lamb Tikka kebabs, with naan ($15.80). The skewers were cooked over charcoal grill and have a smoky flavour. The chicken kebab was tender and succulent. And the bread.. Middle eastern restaurants always makes such delicious bread. These are made in a big tannur that took centrestage in the kitchen. It was crispy and soft, hot and so addictive. We wrapped the kebab in the bread, and also used it to mop up the sauce from the stew we ordered.

Khoresh Bademjan (Lamb and Eggplant) ($16). The colouring of this dish looked as though it ought to be spicy like a curry but it is nothing like a curry. The red comes from tomatoes and it tasted like a mild pasta sauce with chunks of lamb and eggplant that melts in the mouth. It is so delicious that we only managed to curb our appetites for just enough time to take a photo of the dish.

Akbar Mashdi (Safron and Rose Water icecream) ($5). Akbar Mashdi does not translate into ice cream in English, so at the time we ordered this we had no idea what was going to be served. Luckily it turned out alright, though Gaz was not a big fan of the savoury safron in the ice cream.

The restaurant also sells safron threads and safron candies at the counter. We really enjoyed all the dishes we tasted that night and look forward to visiting again.

Poke the Bear, Northcote

I think Melbourne is the best city for brunches. Slept in? Can't be bothered having breakfast? Bland breakfast foods? Brunch is the answer. I like brunches, they make me feel good about skipping one meal in the day. It gives me the illusion that if I only did brunch, I could lose a whole lot of weight because I only had 1 meal instead of two. 

For brunch today, we chose a cafe on High Street, Northcote called Poke the Bear. There is a bear theme to the cafe, but luckily it's not overbearing (haha, get it?). Definitely not the 'stuffed toys everywhere ala freaky Chucky in a teddy bear suit' type. So, nothing to be afraid of. All the dishes on the menu has bear in their names e.g. Bear and Grin, Papa Bear (which is what I ordered), so cute! There were also little bear figurines and toys dotted throughout the cafe in a tasteful manner, like behind the counter, in the tip boxes and so on. Also cute. 

The cafe was buzzing when we got there and the waitpersons were friendly and helpful, especially towards their many regular customers - they must be doing something right! A good sign indeed.

Gaz ordered one of the daily specials - ham, cheese, cherry tomatoes, potatoes omelette with toast ($19.50). It almost looks like a pizza, loads of stringy mozarella cheese and ham until I found the omelette underneath. It is a generous serving of all the things I like :) There is probably more cheese to eggs, and I could do without potatoes but I love it the way it was.

I ordered the Papa Bear ($19.50) which was cheese and potato hash, poached eggs, arugula salad with a choice of toppings - I chose bacon. I enjoyed the poached eggs and hollandaise sauce the best, which provides so much flavour when eaten with the crispy cheese and potato hash browns. My only gripe was that the bacon looked black and burnt in some parts. It would have been better if the bacon was less black and with more salad on the side.

After brunch, we had fun menu surfing the many multicultural cafes and restaurants along High St, and the many artisan shops selling crystals, home made knick knacks, organic food stores etc. It was a wonderful way to start the day.

Yarra Valley Cafe and Deli

So, we had a very stressful time last weekend while getting some cherries at the orchards in Wandin as you would have read about in the last blog post. 

One of the things that can make things less stressful is... delicious and plentiful food. And did we get some of that at Yarra Valley Cafe and Deli. Located in Wandin's retail strip, it has plenty of carpark at the front of the restaurant, outdoor seating and was beautifully decorated for the Christmas season with fairy lights, cut outs of paper snowflakes and hampers heaving with Yarra Valley produce like jam, relish, fudge, wine. 

We ordered the pan fried salmon with hand cut chips and salsa. There was also a salad of rocket leaves drizzled with aged balsamic which tasted sweet and yummy. I loved the salsa which was avocado, mango and tomatoes with chilli - the chilli gave it a nice hit, but not too spicy. The hand cut chops were crispy but fluffy on the inside. I think the chef cooks potatoes really well because the hash brown in Gaz's dish was equally well cooked - crispy and seasoned well. The salmon didn't have a crispy skin which was a let down, but I was OK with it because I enjoyed the salmon (except for the skin) and the rest of the plate. For $22, it was well priced. 

Gaz had the big breakfast, which is only available until 12pm, but as it was only a few minutes past 12, they made an exception for him. There were bacon, eggs, toast, tomatoes, hash brown, relish, spinach and mushrooms. I liked the relish and the hash browns, and who does not like the combination of fried eggs, bacon on toast. Add some relish to that, and it's a sophisticated bacon and egg sanga. $20 for a big plate of food, well priced.

There are a few other cafes on the same strip of shop. Next door, there was a pizza place, a bakery, and another restaurant. Many of the cafes were full, all benefiting from cherry pickers visiting for the day.

Yarra Valley Cafe and Deli also sells cake slices and coffee, and although we did not try any they did look good.

Cherry Season 2019!

We went to Wandin to get some cherries today. There were sooo many people with the same idea that all the cars caused a traffic jam in Cherry Lane (where many of the orchards are located). It was crazy.. Cherry Haven next door had to turn people away because there was literally no room to fit anymore into their carpark. Nearby cherry orchards had signs up stating U-Picks (pick your own) had closed because there were no more cherries on the trees.

We were told that the cold season had not been good for the harvest, so there were less cherries to go around. Perhaps there will be more when we finally get more sunshine and warm weather in Melbourne, by the next couple of weeks perhaps. 

Cherryhill was buzzing with activity. There was a line of people with big buckets waiting to go into the orchard to pick all those goodies off the trees. There were a little cafe that sells cherry spritzers, cherry soft serves, cherry ice creams, and prepacked boxes of cherries. Out in the yard, there were entertainment in the form of a singer with a guitar, food trucks, photo ops with the beautiful view of the valley. It was a well oiled commercial machine. They even had Mandarin speaking staff to assist the tourists. 

Incidentally, this was also the place where someone opened their car door right into ours in the parking yard and then walked off in full view without apologising or even acknowledging what they had done. It was not a good experience. What should have been a relaxing trip to the country turned into what felt like pre-Christmas shopping frenzy. You know, where people wrestle each other to the ground for the last turkey roast, and driving like lunatics in the shopping centre carparks. 

While cherries were in short supply, we managed to get a 1kg box from another orchard which was less commercialised, less busy and caters more for locals. The cherries were bigger than the ones available right now in the markets, but of course one has to pay for quality. They were $22 per kg. The verdict? Juicy, but not as sweet as imagined. Perhaps the crop in two weeks' time, will be better.

Sushi Jiro

Not to be confused with Sushi Jiro / Sukiyabashi Jiro in Japan but it does well enough to satisfy any sushi train cravings you may have! 

Sushi Jiro has locations in Glen Waverley, Knox, Box Hill, QV and Chadstone. Most of the plates are priced at $3.90 while premium plates range from $4.90 to $7.90. There are also hot foods such as udon which you can order from the touchscreen available at each seat. 

$5.90 premium plate

Takoyaki $3.90

Aren't sushi trains just the greatest? It's like being at a buffet but you don't get judged on how many plates of food you've eaten (you glutton) and the food even send themselves to you.

Sushi trains seem to be one of the latest thing around, and I am so happy to be part of it!