Co Hanh, Flinders Lane

Co Hanh is a new restaurant in the city that serves fusion Vietnamese food. It is a small place in what looks like an extension of a building without being too poky. Although a small place, the serving staff are friendly and welcoming. My friend was using crutches and the manager kindly gave us a seat at the end so she had more space to rest her leg.

As entree, we ordered the charred bone marrow (2 pieces for $14). It was really a piece of marrow cut in half but it was more than enough for us as a starter. I have not really had bone marrow this way so I did not know what to expect. The marrow was whitish in colour, but charred in places (as described in the menu), and very oily. There was hoisin sauce and crispy shallots on top. I suppose bone marrow is meant to be rich, but it felt like we had to go to the gym straight after just the entree alone. 

As mains, we ordered the whole flounder in burnt sage butter ($27) and the glazed crispy pork belly ($22). 

The flounder was very oily due to the burnt sage butter. To cut through the richness, a pickled radish was provided (the red 'fruit' on top of the fish) but it just didn't go well with the fish. I think it is too sour and sharp for a mild tasting meat like fish. The fusion factor didn't work too well in this dish, and salt and pepper flounder would have tasted better. 

The crispy pork belly was quite disappointing. The skin was not crispy at all even though the dish was named glazed crispy pork belly. The meat was dry and bland, even the sauce/glaze did not help much. It was as though this pork had previously been used to boil soup and all the flavour and juiciness had already been extracted for the soup. For a crispy pork dish, the ratio of fat to meat in the pork is not correct (too little fat to meat). Sadly, we did not enjoy this dish.

Fusion is a difficult thing to get right. Perhaps we had ordered the wrong dishes this visit, but we didn't think the dishes had displayed the best aspects of both cuisines this time.

On It Burgers, Ferntree Gully

Tradesmans Crack ($13.95) - bacon, fried egg, cheddar, beef patty, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard topped with an onion ring. I really love the crunchy onion ring bonus on the top of the burgers. I also liked the classic combination of fried egg, bacon and beef patty in the bun. The patty was well cooked and there were generous servings of bacon in the burger. 

I am not sure why it's called Tradesmans Crack and I'm not sure if it is what I think it means! 

Gaz ordered the BAE burger (short for bacon jam, avocado and egg) ($13.95) which also had cheddar, prime beef, chipotle sauce and smoky bbq sauce.

I would have added a serving of bacon with this burger. It was not my favourite out of the two, I must say. Bacon jam is one of the specialties here, so perhaps it would appeal to someone who loves bacon jam (not me!).

We also ordered a serve of large rosemary and thyme fries ($7.95) which was crispy and well seasoned.

This burger joint is much loved by the locals for serving good food at reasonable prices. The stream of people through the door was constant while we were there which is a testament to their food.

Update: This restaurant is now closed

The Deck, Southbank

Here's what I learnt recently:

1. Pre-theatre meals are purposely portioned to be small so that theatre goers can finish their meals quickly and still make their show. 
2. Panzanella salad is a Tuscan style dried (not stale) bread and tomato salad
3. Turandot is possibly my favourite opera to watch live

As you may have guessed, we watched Turandot recently. As part of an opera and dinner package, we got to enjoy dinner at The Deck, Southbank before the show. Being located so close to the Arts Centre, The Deck enjoys brisk business for pre-theatre meals so much so that potential diners without pre-bookings were turned away. Outside of partnering with the Arts Centre, they also offer a two or three course pre-theatre dinners for $45 and $55 respectively.

We received one main each from a choice of about 4 mains and a glass of wine. We also ordered a side dish of shoe string fries ($8) as the portions were rather small and not filling. 

Gaz chose the BBQ chicken, panzanella salad for his main. Pieces of chicken with good char, refreshing tomato salad. I liked the crispiness of the dried bread which added good contrast of texture. 

My main was the rainbow trout, fennel salad. The fish was well cooked, very light and the fennel puree was delicious.

The portions were small but the option to fill up with sides and dessert were available.

As for Turandot, it was the highlight of our night! It was funny (who can forget the names Ping, Pang and Pong?), tragic, and what beautiful songs. We also met and chatted with a worldly couple who had watched the same opera many times before who gave us many trivia facts about Turandot and Puccini. They also enjoyed the opera very much.

The other operas by Puccini are La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca, the former two will be performed by Opera Australia this year. I'm looking forward to watching those ones!

Artists Lane and Windsor Siding, Windsor

After our lunch in Windsor, we went to Artists Lane. This lane runs parallel to Chapel Street and is mainly used as a rear entrance to the kitchens of the restaurants on Chapel Street, and the commercial buildings on the other side. But it also is home to some impressive street art, which makes for nice pictures without having throngs of people in the background.

Artists Lane is between Green and Union Streets.

There are more street art at Windsor Siding Park, which is west of Union Street past the railway tracks. Here, there is one long art of the landmarks of Melbourne which includes Flinders Street Station and the Skipping Girl sign. 

Other than street art, Windsor Siding has a children's playground, BBQ facilities, basketball court, ping pong table (bring your own equipment), and a ramp course for bikes. There is also a walk along the railway tracks nearby. Fun for all the ages. 

So if you are ever in the vicinity and wanted to see some street art without the crowd, this is the place to go.