Spacewalk Cafe, Ringwood

Spacewalk Cafe is a small cafe in a neighbourhood shopping strip that serves brunch and coffee. Their main attraction is a robot waiter that supposedly carries trays of food to the table. Too bad it was not working at the time of our visit. Even robots need time out for R&R. Another drawcard is the cafe's decor - modern, rose gold chairs, wallpapers with a space theme sets it apart from other cafes.

We had bought a Groupon deal for this restaurant which entitles us to choose a dish and a beverage each. We were given a special Groupon menu to choose from so I have no idea how much the dishes would normally cost or if they are on the main menu at all. 

I chose the Waffles with Schnitzel and a short black coffee. I was disappointed with the food portion, thinking that I would get a whole waffle. A small chicken schnitzel sandwiched between two quarters of waffles and some salad leaves peppered with cheese powder was quite a small main dish. The waffles tasted good, fragrant and eggy and the chicken schnitzel although looking a very dark brown was not overcooked. 

Gaz ordered a Beef Burger which came with fries. I think the standout here is the fries, it was crispy and fluffy on the inside. I'm not sure if it is housemade but it tasted good enough for me to wish there was another basket on the dish. As for the burger, I think it could be elevated with brioche buns and a larger patty.

Service is slow here (maybe because the robot took a sickie?) but since there was two large groups that day, it is possible that they were just not accustomed to the volume that day.

Verdict: Good for brunch with the kids, especially if the robot is working.

Update: This restaurant is now closed.

Staying at Home - Week 5

So, it's Week 5 of staying at home. The numbers seem to be dropping and people are more relaxed these days to the detriment of those who are still practicing social distancing and safe hygiene. For example, a man stood right beside me while waiting at the cashiers to ring up my purchasers. Someone was telling me that they'll start going into the office a couple of days a week then perhaps scale it up. 

As bad as people want things to go back to normal, I've gotten used to how the way some things are which I now enjoy very much. I like going for groceries and not having to jostle people for the specials. Because almost everyone is posting up fitness videos these days, I've gotten hooked on workouts that I can do at home. Who doesn't like casual clothes Friday all week long?

Today as I was going for a walk outside the house, I found it so strange wearing sneakers on my feet. They have been used to walking on soft carpets at home, not encumbered by any covering. Maybe in another month's time I will find it strange wearing anything other than tracksuit pants? 

Tao's Restaurant, Bulleen

Tao's is a modern Asian fusion restaurant located in Bulleen. It only does a degustation style menu which is priced at $68 per person for dinner or $58 for lunch on the weekends. Diners get 7 dishes which include a set starter, an entree and rice plus a 2nd entree, main, soup and dessert of your choosing. 

We were here many years ago and recently decided to visit this place again. Not much has changed, the interior still looks the same, the service is still good - in fact as a sign of the times we were handed a squirt of hand sanitiser when we crossed the threshold! (this was during the early days of the virus when hand sanitisers were still readily available for sale).

For the chef's seasonal platter starter, we got some grilled scallop wings (no picture). Scallop wings are the frilly bits around the actual knob of meat. I don't normally see it on the menus as obviously it is a by product akin to sashimi off cuts and so on, but it was tasty and is in the spirit of not wasting every edible bit of a produce. We also had cherry tomatoes which must have been infused with honey water because it was watery, and oh so sweet. If only I knew how to make it at home, I would enjoy tomatoes much more.

For my entree I chose tempura prawns with kombu shoyu sauce. The tempura batter was a light and crispy but not greasy. The ornamental wheat garnish is so Tao's and I remembered it really impressed me when I was here many years ago. Tao's was fine dining at an affordable price. 

Gaz chose the miso pork belly which was thin pieces of pork belly slices and blobs of miso on the side. It wasn't what we expected with pork belly, which conjured visions of crackling or melt in the mouth meat. The slices were tender but too thin to enjoy the melt in the mouth feeling.

The chef's 2nd entree was seafood fondue. It consisted to assorted seafood topped with cheese sauce and baked in the oven. It was nice and hot and quite filling. Add some rice and sriracha and you'd have a good dynamite pot bake.

For my soup I chose the ginseng chicken soup which as its name suggests was ginseng with chicken bits on the bone. I like my herbal soups and although this did not taste too strong of herbs, I enjoyed it.

Gaz chose the seafood chowder. It didn't taste too strongly of seafood and tasted quite generic.

For my main, I asked the waitperson for his recommendation and he did not hesitate to suggest the beef ribs with chocolate and red wine. I didn't think I would like a sweet sauce with a savoury dish but the sauce was not sweet at all which was a relief. It was rich and well balanced, and the meat on the beef ribs were melting in my mouth, so delicious.

Gaz chose the lamb racks with pine nut dukkah. Lamb is expensive and it's reflected in this dish. The lamb was thin slices of meat. I must say I didn't enjoy this dish because I felt the lamb didn't smell fresh, there was cumin in the seasoning which is not a spice I liked and there was not enough food to qualify as a main dish.

But we didn't go hungry because there was the chef's rice which was a simple egg fried rice to fill us up. This dish was very plain and would have been a lot more fragrant if they added some spring onions. My MIL does a very good fried rice dish and she taught me a vital ingredient of fried rice is spring onions.

For dessert I chose the chestnut puree cake. This looks like a birthday cake from Breadtop - they have one that looks like a shaggy dog, its locks formed by strands of chestnut puree just like this one. The chestnut was not too sweet and the cake was not too sweet either but even though I do not like sweets, I found this dessert a little too bland for me. Gaz had no problems polishing this one.

He chose the matcha swiss roll with adzuki paste. Similar to my dessert, this was not sweet and I found it quite bland, and probably good that it was a very small portion.

Our dining experience was good. We were only 1 of about 5 tables in the restaurant (due to the coronavirus situation) so the service was extremely fast. Sometimes the waitpersons would send the next course to our table even when we have not finished what we were eating yet. Gaz did feel like he got the shorter end of the straw because he seemed to have chosen his dishes poorly - small portions (though he was not hungry by the end of the meal as he had some of mine and also the rice filled us up) and he did not enjoy the taste of his entree and main dishes.

Tao's had wowed me in the past when it first jumped into the fusion, affordable fine dining scene more than 10 years ago but with new restaurants, bolder flavours, food known for its instagrammability rather than taste, I'm afraid it's getting left behind.

Update: This restaurant has now closed

Working from Home - Weeks 3 & 4

This two weeks are not any different to the last two weeks except that I'm trying some new routines to minimise going out and avoiding crowds such as buying my groceries on one weeknight, and getting hooked on workout videos on Centr (gosh, the HIIT sessions by the lady trainer is so good!). 

I also enjoyed a few days off from cooking ever since we overcame the fear of taking away food (or rather, our hunger for restaurant cooked food overcame us!). I remember how my babysitter used to cook for her family every day, every meal. Looking back, I don't know how she managed! She would churn out 6 or 7 dishes every meal on her own. She is a real superwoman. 

One of the meals I cooked last week was a mussel dish stir fried with minced garlic, minced ginger, minced lemongrass (white bits only), birds eye chillies and chopped coriander to garnish. I cooked it in a wok for just long enough for the mussels to open up. You won't need to add any stock or water (or wine) because the mussels will release their own juices as they open up and it is so so sweet, so good to drink like soup. 

The dish was part of our Easter celebration. This year, it was a circle of eating, napping, watching tv, exercising to videos on Centr and sleeping. It was very relaxing. People were urged not to go out this year and between the weather and the Victorian police, I think the message got through to most people. It was raining and very windy on the Easter weekend, and the police roamed the streets looking for people who were loitering to fine them. Gaz told me he saw many police cars on the road when he was driving to pick up our food. 

I can't wait for next week to see what other new routines I can incorporate into my day! 

Gurkha's Nepalese Restaurant, Brunswick

Ever had Nepalese food before? It is rather like Indian food and Chinese food, as Nepal borders both India and China. For example, momos are influenced by the chinese dumplings, and dhals influenced by indian cooking. 

We were indecisive on what to order so had the simple banquet ($27 pp). We received these dishes: 

Entree was Gurka's Special which was fried lentils and spiced potatoes topped with yoghurt served in a pappadum cup. The texture was a mix of crispy from the fried lentils and soft (yoghurt).

Chilli chicken is one of the main dish. The chicken pieces were deep fried then sauted with capsicum in a sweetish, chilly sauce. Although the name of the dish was chilli chicken, it was not spicy at all which I was fine with. This dish would be a chinese influenced dish as I have a chinese recipe that is almost the same, except it has the addition of dried chillies.

Matar Paneer is a dish made of cottage cheese, in a creamy curry sauce with green peas. It is very creamy as the name suggests and is delicious when paired with basmati rice. It would be perfect with some roti but there was already too much food for us.

There were also Mutton Curry and Dhal. I must say that the mutton curry is where I wished it had a bit of spicy kick like the Indian curries have. The cut of mutton used in this dish has a dry texture, whereas I'd expected a springy texture. So although I love mutton and mutton curries, I liked this dish the least in the banquet.

For dessert, the waitperson was kind enough to offer us two different desserts when the menu specified we were to choose between one or the other. On the right there is Khir or rice pudding and the left, Rato Mohan or cottage cheese balls.

I liked the Rato Mohan very much, it is similar to Gulab Jamun in Indian cuisine. It is deep fried cottage cheese balls soaked in syrup.

It takes a little getting used to for the rice pudding which was spiced with cardamom, cloves and other spices. Being used to rice as a savoury dish, it'll take some time to get used to a sweet rice dish like rice pudding. So it was a dish for Gaz the vacumm cleaner to finish up.

I love the waitpersons' friendly and easy going attitudes. The amount of food was definitely enough for the both of us, so much we took some leftovers. The banquet was a good choice because it gave us an idea of what we would like to order again, and also to keep an open mind of what the dishes would taste like. For example, curries didn't necessarily mean it would be full of chillies.

Staying at Home - Week 2

It has been raining constantly and it's really windy this weekend, so we have been able to get out of the house much. Oh wait... we were not supposed to go out of the house anyway! Yes, that's right it's staying at home all week, Week 2. 

So far except for increased nagging (as Gaz would say, but I was just reminding him to clean the house and his hands!) and petty arguments, we have been coping quite well. Perhaps I should follow the Malaysian Government's recommendation to women to 'wear makeup at home, not nag, and talk like Doraemon' so that we can live in harmony? If they think that could end domestic violence, pigs will fly. 

I have been cooking almost every meal for the last two weeks, so it was a great break to have a delicious take away dinner last Friday. It would have been even better to dine out (no dishes to wash! served by someone else but me!) but of course that was not possible. Still, the food was delicious and piping hot. We arranged the food nicely on our best plates, had two and three helpings of rice, and devoured everything in 20 minutes, feeling much happier and fuller.

So if partners really want to live in harmony, there really is no need to talk like Doraemon. Give each other a break and be kind to each other.

Sun Kitchen, Albert Park

Who knew that there is so much controversy about the ownership (or part ownership) of the Sun Kitchen? We certainly did not, before The Age expose recently and remained blissfully unaware during our meal here. The restaurant was quiet, much like most Chinese restaurants during this time due to Covid 19. 

The service was attentive and personalised from the moment we walked in the front door. Even though the restaurant is spread over two levels, the staff had walkie talkies to coordinate and communicate to each other so that someone would always be available whenever a guest arrives or leaves. We were showed to our seats by the window which gave us a great view over Albert Park Lake. 

We ordered a Chef's Special, Sauted Milk with Crab Meat topped with Dried Scallops ($68). There was not much crab meat in the dish but it was silky rather like scrambled egg whites and I love eggs. There were complimentary house made XO sauce and dried olive sauce (the latter was very tasty, sweet and salty) which complimented this dish very well.

Gaz's selection of Claypot Black Pepper Beef Rib ($58) was an excellent choice because the sauce was rich and tasty, and there was a generous portion of beef (in comparison to the other dishes) in this dish though it was a little oily.

The third dish ordered was the Pan Fried Chicken with Mixed Mushrooms ($45). I really like this dish because the chicken was bouncy and bursting with flavour. The sauce on top of the chicken was ginger and scallion sauce, usually served separately in traditional Chinese restaurants but mixed together here.

You could say that a serving of 7-9 slices of chicken and some mushrooms does not really justify the price but this is a fine dining restaurant after all and these dishes are meant to be shared between at least 2 people.

I found the venue to be beautiful especially with the views over the lake and the service was attentive. The price is steep for this to be a restaurant you would go every weekend, or even once every fortnight but if you had someone you wished to impress it could be the place to go.