Hunky Dory

Location: 252 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Phone: 03 9696 4025
Link: www.hunkydory.com.au
Cuisine: Seafood

A week off in Melbourne with 30+ degree weather every day meant that a trip to the beach was definitely warranted. And when going to the beach, fish 'n' chips is a must.

After spending a couple of hours at South Melbourne beach, Teapot and I headed back up Clarendon Street to Hunky Dory to see if it lived up to its reputation.

The shop is small, but luckily for us, air conditioned. The menu ranges from typical fish 'n' chip packs to gourmet international flavours (see the website for more details). You order and pay at the counter

the Caribbean topped with a mango, onion & coriander salsa

It definitely lived up to expectations. We ordered the Caribbean from the 'flavours of the world' selection and really enjoyed it. The dory fillets were perfectly grilled, moist but flaky with a nice crisp coating. The fillets rested on a nutty brown rice pilaf and was served with a fresh garden salad. But the real hit was the salsa. Fresh, tangy and sweet with a hint of pineapple, the salsa was a refreshing contrast to the fish and a beautiful accompaniment with the rice.

grilled flake fillet

Prices were reasonable, with the usual fish 'n' chip packs priced just under $10, and the more 'gourmet' international dishes around $18. Serving sizes were generous and well worth the money.

Overall Impression: 9.5/10

Pelagic Bar & Dining: $49 Seafood Meal for 2 Plus Wine Deal

Location: Shop 2, 131 London Circuit, Canberra
Phone: (02) 6162 0752
Link: www.pelagicdining.com.au
Cuisine: Seafood, Modern Australian

I had never heard of Pelagic until the restaurant cropped up one day as a LivingSocial deal. For $49, the restaurant offered two entrees, two mains and a bottle of wine up to the value of $45. Being a bit of a seafood fanatic, and having been fairly disappointed with the lack of decent seafood in Canberra to date, the deal was too good to pass up so I bought it.

J and I finally went to try out the restaurant the other night and it was well worth it. The entrees on the menu were priced at around $20 each, the mains were around $32 each. We ordered a bottle of Wily Trout sparkling to start.

Wily Trout sparkling

I'm no expert when it comes to alcohol, but J certainly is. And thought the sparkling wasn't bad. Especially for the price we were paying.

Balmain bug pasta

Pelagic haven't updated their online menu for a while so this entry is going to be somewhat lacking in descriptions. J was sufficiently pleased with her entree of Balmain bug pasta. There seemed to be a generous enough serve of bug, which was cooked just right, and plenty of pasta.

seared scallops with crispy pig ears and shaved fennel

This may look small, but it was absolutely deliciously. The scallops were cooked perfectly, with nice slightly charred edges and soft tender centres.  The pig ears were so crispy that they tasted more like crackling than like ears, and the shaved fennel added some freshness to the dish. I certainly wouldn't have  minded more, but for the price paid, it was totally worth it.

Yellowfin tuna with roasted tomatoes

From what I tried, the tuna was very well-cooked - and nothing like canned tuna! I have a tendency not to order tuna when eating out for fear it will end up tasting like the canned stuff, but J went for this one, and I think I may have been convinced that a tuna steak is actually quite decent.

haramashi kingfish with mushroom ragout and garlic crisps

Again, if the online menu isn't going to be updated regularly, then don't have one. I had decided on the seared kingfish as advertised on the website's menu, but turned up to find they didn't have the dish. The mushroom ragout caught my eye so I gave this kingfish dish a go. The fish was soft and again cooked perfectly, with a nice crispy skin that bordered a bit on being oversalted. The mushroom ragout was hearty and imparted a beautiful flavour to the fish. 

classic creme brulee

Despite the deal only covering two courses, I could not pass up dessert when I saw creme brulee on the menu. And it was a good decision. The toffee was perfect, making a nice crunch as I broke through the top layer to get to the creamy filling, and had just the right amount of burntness to give it a bittersweet flavour.

The deal was certainly well worth what we paid for it. I'm not entirely sure I would pay full price for the dishes, but I've been told that Pelagic does a decent $15 lunch deal during the week. Might give that a shot one day.

Overall Impression: 9/10

Wang's Lucky Bar (旺旺辛运吧)

Location: 921 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill
Phone: (03) 9899 8558
Cuisine: Chinese

My parents had been talking about this lobster banquet deal for quite some time, so when I finally got back to Melbourne, we decided we would give it a shot.

The deal: $98 for a four person lobster banquet which involved lobster, three dishes and rice.

Shallot and ginger lobster with egg noodles

First up, the lobster was quite fresh and cooked just right. However, the sauce was a bit of a let down. It wasn't nearly as aromatic as I had expected - there was an obvious lack of the strong ginger and shallot flavours that are the champions of the dish. Noodles were just as they should have been.

As for the rest of the dishes, I was too fixated on my lobster to take photos. Not that it matters too much as they were a bit of a let down. I think it started with the poor choice in combination of dishes (the banquet did not offer us any choices, so the dishes were fixed).

The Hainanese chicken, which was supposed to be a key dish of the restaurant, was good but nothing fancy. The chicken was a little on the oversalted side but other than that, was moist and well cooked. The sauces (shallots, and sweet chilli) were quite good accompaniments.

The salt and pepper pork ribs were a completely different story. The batter, whilst light and crispy, was heavily ladened with oil. A sign that the temperature of the oil had not been hot enough to force out all the oil. There was also a distinct lack of flavour. Together this resulted in crispy oily bits batter hanging off some pretty tender but flavourless meat.

Stir fried Chinese broccoli rounded off the meal, Pretty standard but definitely needed after all the oil in the pork dish.

So value-for-money-wise, it was definitely worth it. You don't get cheap lobster all that often, and this was a pretty good deal (we even had leftovers from the dishes). However, if you're looking for quality in what you get, this would not be my first choice.

Overall Impression: 6/10

Esposito Seafood Dining

Restaurant: Esposito Seafood Dining

Location: 162 Elgin Street, Carlton Victoria 3053

Link: http://www.espositofood.com

After a wonderful meal at Esposito I felt the need to share it with everyone my experience. Considering that it was a last minute decision to go to Esposito since we had split the bill tokens collected from the Herald Sun, we were lucky enough to book a table for three the night before. Each of us had a three course meal for half price.

The meal started off with a complimentary seaweed salad.

The entrees that we had were specials for the night, they included a mud crab meat dish and kilpatrick oyster wrapped in slow cooked pork belly.

My friends had the mud crab dish and I had the oyster wrapped in pork belly, the oyster was very fresh and not over cooked. The sauce went well, but I wasn't too sure about the pork belly. Nonetheless, it was very nice.

Next on the menu I had a Fillet of Snapper, steamed mussels, celeriac remoulade, saffron glaze. The fish was cooked perfectly, the vegies and dressing made the dish really fresh and vibrant. I loved the touch of saltiness in the mussels and beautiful dressing.

The other mains included another special of the night the Atlantic Salmon with vegies and the Rock Flathead Fillets, king prawn omelette, broad bean & preserved lemon salad, pancetta dressing. We all had fish and from what was discussed I think we all enjoyed our dishes.

Atlantic Salmon

Rock Flathead Fillets

Time for dessert!!

After some deliberation about whether or not Helen should order the Date tart which may take at least 20 mins to cook, Helen opted for the Hot Date Tart with spiced frangipane and vanilla bean ice cream, Jie had the Warm Chocolate Fondant, liquorice scented with black berry ripple ice-cream and I had the Elderflower Panna Cotta with a toffee pear and butterscotch sauce.

Warm Chocolate Fondant - the ice cream was fantastic!!

Hot Date Tart - that we waited for around 40 mins

Panna Cotta - really nice panna cotta and butterscotch sauce!

All up the total bill for our meal came to $120 with the 50% off. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, it was good food with good company. Will definitely be back next time (with split the bill tokens).

Margo's

Location: Crown Casino, Southbank
Link: www.crowncasino.com.au/margos
Cuisine: Modern Australian


Veal shank
slow-cooked veal served with mashed potatoes and vegetables
This is the second time that I've had the Veal Shank and its as delicious as ever. My plate was licked clean. The veal was bursting with flavour and falling off the bone. The mash was deliciously buttery =) The only down side was the vegetables. They had simply been boiled and then tossed on the plate but I really didn't mind since the Veal and the mash was sooo good.



My friends had steak and said it was tender and cooked to perfection.

Overall Impression: 6/10

Great for a casual catch-up dinner! Service was pretty good. Waiters served us crusty white bread upon arrival with a smile. Food arrived promptly and was yummy =)

The Strand

Location: 1 THE STRAND, WILLIAMSTOWN, VICTORIA 3016
Link: www.thestrandrestaurant.com.au/
Cuisine: Seafood, Modern Australian

Freshly Baked Crusty Campagne Baguette with Cannellini Bean, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic

Beautiful bread to start. I've never had to pay for bread at any fine dining restaurant but for $3, this was well worth it =)

Whole Baked Snapper, Piquant Red Curry Sauce, Fried Shallots and Pickled Watermelon

The pickled watermelon was a miss. I suspect they were trying to do some 'fusion' thing by having the pickled watermelon. Traditionally, curry is served with raita, a Pakistani and Indian condiment based on yoghurt and used as a sauce or dip. So, maybe they thought instead of raita, which is sour, let's go with something else that is sour like.. umm.. pickled watermelon?

Let's not.

Oven Roasted NT Wild Barramundi Fillet Crusted with Peanut, Corriander Pesto, Sauteed Mustard Cress with Soy Ginger Dressing

The barramundi was beautifully fresh. Nice and simple.

Overall Impression: 5.5/10

Prompt service. Great location that overlooks the harbour.

Mesh

This review proudly brought to you by...Helen Lee

Location: Ground Floor, Crown Promenade Hotel

Link: www.crowncasino.com.au/dining/venue/1160/mesh

Cuisine: Modern Australian

• A seafood buffet consisting mainly of oysters and prawns with some sort of fish and squid salad

• This was accompanied by the usual salads and sauces (a thousand island and seafood cocktail)
• Dips and bruschetta (sic) were also a part of the buffet. They were eatable although the corn chips provided were too salty and would cause a heart attack to anyone who had a lot of it

• A main meal was also included with choice of lamb, chicken, fish , porterhouse steak and roast beef which was also accompanied with a choice of sauce
• Lamb: cooked nicely with the a bit of a pinkish tinge, however it was lacking in sauce and we had to ask for more which took a while so the meal went a little bit cold

• Porterhouse: according to reports, dry and not recommended although the mash on the side was very nice

• Chicken: according to reports, also dry and not recommended also

• Each person was also permitted to three drinks of their choice although limited to beer, wine and soft drink. They were a bit stringent on these choices, as I asked for tea and it was not allowed.

• Dessert buffet included a variety of small cakes (mango cheesecake, orange cake), jelly, mousse, Portuguese tarts, and ice-cream. Only the mango cheesecake was worth recommending.

• Cheese Platter: brie, blue and cheddar

~Atmosphere~

• There were quite a few birthday celebrations on the night which made it slightly loud and the place was packed
• Although a bit loud at times, we could still converse with each other.
• The only negative aspect of the crowd was that, at times, patrons had to queue up for the seafood buffet

~Service~

• Good overall
• Raman (sic) was our waiter, and informed us of the main meals and was kind when one of our party was eager in filling out the drinks sheet
• When the wait staff saw we had finished dishes, they did take them away, so this aspect of the service was good.
• But the second batch of drinks that we ordered did take a while to be served (approximately a thirty minute wait)
• The service was also quite slow on the extra mushroom sauce we ordered, and we had to remind them of our order a second time.

~Price~

• $42.00 per person
• For a seafood buffet, this is quite good value, because one only has to eat two dozen oysters and a main to roughly break even, and the cost included drinks and dessert
• Would return for a special occasion or large gathering

Overall Impression: 8/10

Margo's: Hot Seafood Platter

Location: Gaming Area, Crown Entertainment Complex
Link: www.crowncasino.com.au/.../Margos_alacarte_Menu_30Aug09.pdf
Cuisine: Grill, Seafood

Having talked about this for ages, I've finally tried the seafood platter at Margo's!

Hot seafood platter for two

The platter came in two-tiers, and included:

• Half a grilled crayfish
• An entire fish
• 6 oysters Kilpatrick
• 4 pieces of grilled calamari
• 6 x prawns
• 4 x scallops
• 6 x mussels
• 4 pieces of crab legs
• Thousand island sauce
• Garlic aioli/tartare sauce
• Plenty of lemons

In addition to all the above, we were also given a bowl of shoestring fries and a bowl of garden salad. We didn't touch many of the fries as they were a little on the dry side and not quite flavoured enough.

The bottom tier

The platter was extremely good value for money, especially since it includes an entire fish and half a crayfish. The oysters Kilpatrick were amazing. There was plenty of flavour in the sauce which was able to cover up most of the fishy taste from the oysters (ie: not exactly the freshest oysters I've had, but certainly very close). The fish was also very nice and fresh. A lot of the seafood was a slightly overcooked - the meat from the crayfish and prawns were quite tough and chewy, The crab was slighltly crumbly which was not really expected. The scallops and mussels were very nice, a tad overcooked, but tasted beautifully with a squeeze of lemon.

And yes, we did finish off the entire platter!

The place was bustling, and considerable noisy. If you're looking for a quiet night, this is not the place to be - the waiters rush around all over the place but they at least keep the place in order. However, the service was pretty prompt despite the platter coming out later than expected.

I will be back again, but not for a long while and probably just to get the crayfish mornay again! I think for lobster and crab, I'm going to just go back to KunMing in Chinatown, or go somewhere more local.

Overall Impression: 8.5/10

Margo's: Crayfish Mornay

Location: Gaming Area, Crown Entertainment Complex
Link: www.crowncasino.com.au/.../Margos_alacarte_Menu_30Aug09.pdf
Cuisine: Grill, Seafood

As part of a work social function, we headed to Margo's for a 'quick' dinner before a movie. Probably not the ideal place to go when you have a big group and don't plan to arrive very early, as the place will not take any bookings and there is generally a waiting line unless you arrive around 6pm. Friday nights and weekends are the busiest nights of the week, and you will be seated much faster if you arrive early.

Half crayfish mornay

I ordered the half crayfish mornay and it was absolutely amazing! The meat inside the shell was soft, sweet and fresh. The mornay sauce was also not too heavy, just enough to add a very nice flavour to the crayfish. The accompanying fries and salad weren't too bad either. One of the best meals I have ever eaten!

Surf'n'turf platter

Two of my colleagues ordered the surf'n'turf platter - one tier of meat, one tier of seafood. I didn't hear any complaints.

The service was pretty decent. Our food arrived at around the same time and was of a very high quality. The waiters were friendly, and we appreciated the way they were able to arrange a large table for us despite us arriving close to 7pm on a Saturday night.

Overall Impression: 9.5/10