Blue Chillies

(degusted 24/9/2011)


You know that feeling you get when you find a restaurant that you think that you simply MUST come back to the same place the next day or at the latest next week?.. That excitement and anticipation of thinking about how you’ll try out all the rest of their dishes when you come back, and thinking of all the people you’ll be able to invite to come out to dinner with you to that place… Well, we got that feeling after eating here at Blue Chillies, on the iconic Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. Actually, it was more like that feeling had smacked us over the head, dunked us into the barrel of whisked happiness and rolled us in a crumb of satisfaction… Yeah, that was it, and we loved every minute of it.

In the past, when we’ve felt like Malaysian food, we have oft' popped into one of our favourites in Camberwell – Monk & Me – for a delicious feed, and it has served us remarkably well over the years. Steve says: “I’m a sucker for the simple stuff and tucking into a nice Beef Rending with some Roti is where I find my happy place”. Monk & Me have been the supplier of choice, but now we’ve got another vendor in the picture…

Beef Rendang at Blue Chillies. One of our favourite dishes.

The Robert Burns Hotel - Spanish food vs Scottish Poet

(degusted 19/9/2011)

Outside the RBH - Smith St. by night

"An unassumingly-named pub with Spanish food is a good twist, and serving tapas in a bar is a sensible pairing against which few would argue. As long as the quality and consistency of food stays high, this face-lifted Spaniard with the name of a Scottish poet might just do alright".

If you were to be asked –off the top of your head - what Spanish names come immediately to mind? What do you come up with –
Antonio Banderas…sure. 
Penelope Cruz… ahh yes. 
Salvador Dali… oh yeah, that “melted clock” bloke. 
Robert Burns? Excuse me – who was that last one?

The name associates more with a Scottish poet than with a tapas bar - perhaps that's why it took considerably longer for us to register that the Robert Burns Hotel (RBH) specialises in Spanish fare. Fear not, however, for if ever there was
a match made in that figment of peoples' imagination they call Heaven, it must be the serving of tapas and the (responsible) service of alcohol at the same location. And so it goes, from this day forth, the Robert Burns Hotel will, to us, now be duly known as the Spanish tapas pub on Smith street, in Collingwood, 'till death or cirrhosis do they part. We hope it will be a long and loving relationship.

Panama Dining Room and Bar

(degusted 7th July, 2011)
 

Overall I was impressed with the food quality, also from the service from the waitress. There are lots of good cheeses available here, both in the cooked dishes and also available as menu items in their own right.

A nice mix of old, character-filled
furnishings added to the atmosphere.

Panama sounded good from the few reviews (and menu) that I had read before going – in particular the atmosphere - there was talk of an upstairs warehouse style space with huge windows and lovely views. With heightened expectations, we managed to find this restaurant and bar after entering through a small doorway off Smith Street and up two flights of eerily dodgy and deserted looking stairs. Pushing through the doors at the top of the stairs and turning left to see the bar area, this place really is impressive. The huge arched windows give views out to the city on one side, and down to Smith street and the Dandenongs in the far distance.

We were seated in the restaurant and told that the kitchen did not open until 6pm – fair enough – we were there at 5:45, so enough time to read the menu and enjoy an aperitif or two.

Perfect for waiting for the kitchen to open..

Skipping the mains tonight.

This whole night out was based around getting into Cafe Rosamond's Thursday night dessert degustation (see our other post for this one), which meant that we were here at Panama as a token effort to at least have some savory for the evening. So instead of filling up too much on mains, we wanted to degust a number of dishes and looked to the list of starters and entrees as the source of these.

I had a short-list of things I wanted to try before I had even walked in, but the waitress advised of the specials and one was too good to pass up – the marinated goat in pastry.

The gruyere cheese puffs were pretty average to look at- but at 5 bucks for a serve of 2, you don’t expect anything too flash, nor should you judge a book by its cover. The humble looking, but crispy shell of these fritters yielded easily to the challenge with fork, revealing a gooey, custard-like interior of molten gruyere; around 3 mouthfuls of golden delight. Wow, this was a really mild cheese flavour, more emphasis I should place on the silky, even fluffy, texture of this fritter's filling. My cholesterol-conscious doctor would hate to hear me say it, but I would happily order these again (and recommend others to give them a try).  The salty cod and mashed potato croquettes were nice, with quite a mild flavour (certainly no fishy smell); these would make excellent canapes or an ideal beer drinking accompaniment.   

Cod croquettes, and only half captured to the left are the Gruyere fritters.

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers - very cheesy flavour,
broken up well by the candied walnuts.

The zucchini flowers were stuffed with a 3-cheese mixture of ricotta, parmesan and gorganzola. Accompanied by a walnut salad (where the walnuts were incorporated into a nice salty caramel), the strong cheese flavour - which for me was a little intense for my liking- was balanced out by that sweet and salty caramel. The walnut crunch gave a good textural element. A well thought out dish, and cheese lovers would probably enjoy it much more than I did.

The “special” entrée de jour was the braised.goat in pastry, with a smoked tomato puree. The goat was very tender, easily pulled apart and melting in the mouth. That smoky puree was amazing- really intense smoke flavour but not so strong as to taste burnt- so good it elicited dual "oh wow!"s from the degusters. Awesome, I could eat these all day long... Yummm.

(They could even be the best re-interpretation of the humble pie and sauce, if panama were to market it and keep it on the menu.. although if it were a pie I think it could do with a little more gravy or moisture in the filling.).

 Although not on the permanent menu it does give some idea of the quality of the kitchen output, and for me, it was the winner.

The Braised goat in pastry. An amazing smoked tomato puree.. What a dish!!

Beetroot Tart - was overwhelmingly more a Sheeps cheese tart.

My next item that I had been really looking forward to tasting was the Baby beetroot tart with sheep's cheese, cumquat and pistachio crumble. In my mind's eye I had imagined a rustic, mainly beetroot-filled tart, however the actual dish was more fancy looking (and I think it photographed quite well).. When we cut into the tart it became apparent that the beetroot was playing second-fiddle to the cheese, which oozed – molten lava style - out of the cut tart. The tart was overwhelmingly dominated by the flavour of the sheep's cheese – which for me was too strong, but for others who love a good smelly cheese* this may be an absolute delight. The sweetness of the beetroot and the cumquat helped to cut through the cheese flavour, and made it tolerable. I thought the tart base was a bit too crumbly for my liking, too. Overall, if you love a strongly flavoured cheese, you could give this a go, but I would not have it again.

 

The two final dishes were a bit more substantial (considering they were in fact entrees). The quail 'cigars' had some beautifully cooked and tasty pieces of quail (watch out for remaining bones – we were warned by the waitress and found one small leg bone). I really loved the Mt Vikos feta cube that was wrapped in a vine leaf. When taking a little bit of everything on the plate into a single mouthful – the quail cigar, fig, and feta – all combined to give a really nice flavour balance and mouth feel. Very enjoyable.

Quail Cigars, with feta and macerated figs.

In terms of presentation on the plate, you've gotta love the look of this dish of King prawns.

The prawns were marinated in chermoula (a lovely marinade made up of a mixture of various herbs and spices, including cumin, tumeric, paprika and others - a neat recipe is here on Poh's Kitchen). The prawns came served with “caviar lentils” - I can only define them as being slightly seafood flavoured lentils that look like caviar from a distance (but their flavour and texture could never compare to the actual item). That said, I prefer the texture of the lentils as used in this dish. Again, when mixing all elements together - especially with the smoked yoghurt dressing – this whole dish gave some really good flavours and textures. 

Chermoula-marinated King Prawns with "caviar" lentils. The Smoked yoghurt was delicious.

Overall: I was impressed with the food quality, also from the service from the waitress (who was amused by our photography of, and lots of questions about, the food – she even bode farewell to us referring to us as the 'documentarians'). There are lots of good cheeses available here, both in the cooked dishes and also available as menu items in their own right – for me I can take it or leave it but for others this would be a major positive selling point.

Planning a party? This place might be a really cool venue – good potential from the kitchen, and a great space with great views to keep you connected to the real world passing by outside.

* jovially, how do some people enjoy cheese that tastes like dirty socks?... Oh well, each to their own.

Rating:  Nom(x3)  (especially if you like cheese)

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Panama Dining Room and Bar

Gruyere cheese fritters

Salt Cod and potato croquettes

Cheese-stuffed zucchini flowers

Goat in Pasty (special item)

Beetroot and sheep cheese tart

Quail cigars with feta and macerated fig.

King prawns with smoked yoghurt

..& great, friendly service.

DRINKS:

I had the Napoleone & Co Pear Cider - Very nice, and worth it's own review (Check it out!)

Pierre Roelofs @ Café Rosamond; Desserts on Thursdays

(degusted 7th July, 2011)

We got here with really high expectations – and we were not let down! What a single chef can do in a tiny kitchen (you have to see it to believe it) is astounding.  We took a while to get onto this bandwagon, but a dessert degustation on Thursday nights make this cosy little place a foodies' “must-try”.

Outside looking in: Cafe Rosamond

In ‘Wikipedia’ style, first a disambiguation: The Café Rosamond is a little café in its own right for most of the time. It’s a small but cosy place, with eclectic furnishings (aren’t all places like this in Fitzroy/Collingwood?).  This blog post however, is specifically about the Dessert Degustation on Thursday evenings held by Pierre Roelofs at the Café Rosamond.

The high expectations of this place came firstly our own excitement about the decadence of a dessert degustation, and secondly from reading other blog posts about this place, and scanning through the biography of the chef, Pierre Roelofs (which reads like a galactic map, scattered with michelin stars). Of note, is his internship at Heston Blumenthal’s “the fat duck” (Heston – a hero of one of The Degusters!).

 

Eclectic interior of Cafe Rosamond. Small, but functional.

The deal is simple: Thursday nights only. You cannot make reservations. It's first in, first seated... And the doors open at 7pm. We arrived at 7:15 (late due to the entree degusting at Panama Dining Room and Bar), and found this little cafe already full (sad face). Understandable though, as the place only seats 25 or so. The very helpful and cheery waitress offered to put us on the wait list (happy face)- for the third sitting (expressionless)- and told us that 9pm was a realistic time to be seated (sad face). No worries, we were so keen for the experience (and the wait really was worth it). In the meantime, we headed back out into the crisp evening to explore Smith St shops.

When the phone call came in that our table was ready we hurried back and found ourselves at a small but functional table, and were promptly offered drinks and an explanation of the evening's courses. Smiles all round.

The brief details of the desserts we degusted are described below, but please realise that the menu is subject to change weekly; so what we actually had may not be available next week.. I guess that's all the more reason to go back again (happy face).

The first course was an iconic dessert in a tube. In this case, black forest cake (BFC) inspired. In dessert degustation terms, this was the appetiser. The tube is a glass cylinder, filled with distinct layers of the BFC - I guess you could call it a deconstructed cake- this seems to be quite trendy, and something I like (I daydream back to the deconstructed cheesecake we degusted at Jacques Reymond a couple of months ago).  So, with all lewd thoughts aside, ones gives a strong suck on the tube, and you are rewarded with a big mouthful of all the elements of this classic cake coming together in your mouth. Joy.

If there's a better way to eat BFC, I haven't found it yet!

Black Forest Cake inspired dessert "tubes".

 

The next dessert course was a really light, fresh dish - inspired by strawberry, yuzu (the Japanese fruit, which also seems to be in fashion these days), creamy soda and vanilla. The smells and tastes made me feel like a child again (creamy soda my soft-drink of choice when my big brothers were drinking beers, because it looked similar).  The photo of this dish looks as sweet and cute as it tasted. There were so many different textures and flavours on the plate, it was hard to take it all in. Individually, each item was good, but they all worked so much better when mixed together, like a symphony of sweetness.

Strawberry, Yuzu, Creamy soda and Vanilla. So light, so crisp, so many flavours and textures.

The next sweet to try was a little bit savoury, incorporating pureed oats (isn’t that porridge?) into a glass, with rhubarb sorbet, passionfruit jelly, yoghurt foam, and raspberry. There was some puffed amaranth in there too. Truly delicious, and I’m not normally a rhubarb fan. Thankfully, chef Pierre has really thought the menu through, and this hint of savoury was a real treat – it accentuated the sweetness of the rhubarb so well. This second dish was a little heavier than the first, this was like the "main meal" of the degustation. One of The Degusters said that if breakfast oats tasted like this, NOBODY would EVER skip breakky!

Rhubarb, yoghurt foam, passionfruit, raspberry and pureed oats.
If breakfast oats tasted like this, nobody would ever miss breakfast!

The last up was the real sweet one. It may seem strange to think that out of 4 desserts, you would label one as a ‘sweet’, but this was the “chocolately course”, and in a very mild way, a little richer than the others.  There were Chocolate, honey, and churron flavours, and hiding underneath all this - Like a shy Chihuahua under the bed in a thunderstorm - was a sponge-like cake soaked in shandy (where shandy=beer + lemonade).  It was a great finale, the dessert of desserts.

The Final Course: Dessert inspired by chocolate, honey, churron and shandy.

 

Nearby, for dinner beforehand, you could check out Panama Dining room, as we did on this occasion (note that the kitchen there opens at 6pm – so you might have to rush to make it out for 7PM), or just around the corner is one of our old Korean favourites, Goshen.

Rating:  Must go back!

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Pierre Roelofs Dessert night @ Café Rosamond…

Black forest cake "Tube"

3-course Dessert Degustation (menu changes weekly)

Drinks: Two espressos were both of consistently good quality (as I’ve mentioned before, an average espresso in Melbourne is really quite good on a quality scale – these were just fine, nothing exceptional, but totally enjoyable), and soy hot chocolate was really good.