A dim sim from South Melbourne Market Dim Sims

Here's a first and probably last taste of dim sim for me. Not dim sum. Dim sims are apparently something in Melbourne. A dumpling of "mystery ingredients" of the fried or steamed variety that one could pick up from most if not all of the fish and chip shops around. It could be viewed as a siew mai of sorts if you would.

This one was from a shop in South Melbourne Market (Stall 91, South Melbourne Market, Coventry Street & Cecil Street, South Melbourne) that apparently sold nothing else and had a queue going on.

I didn't like it. It was greasy and very salty. I couldn't understand the protein and cabbage mash that constituted the stuffings and didn't think it was delicious, drunk or not.

Top Paddock, Richmond, Melbourne

At the time when I was "researching" breakfast in Melbourne, Top Paddock invariably came out in one result or another. So I thought why not breakfast at Top Paddock (658 Church Street, Richmond, Melbourne, tel : +61 3 9429 4332) to start the day. 

If I had to describe the place, it's a hipster magnet - not unlike countless cafes in the city and also other cities. While these guys might have been one of the fore runners of cafe-bar/communal table for social brunch/breakfast type of place with possibly enough gravitas for name dropping, it has also occured to me that they have likely remained the mirror images to the clones that have spawned off themselves.

Food wasn't bad though. We ordered a bunch of items to share.

We had a blueberry pancake with ricotta. As much as it looked the part, it was not a salad. In fact, underneath the pretty shrubbery was pancake enough to feed two. Or even three. Comfortably. Which made its price tag of $23 look pretty reasonable if one had the sharing planned out.

There was a bacon and egg roll with cheddar and barbecue sauce. Solid and dependable greasy salty food group of carbs, protein and fat. Pretty big portions too.

Their 14 hour smoked O'Connor brisket was tender, fatty and flavourful. It was also a pretty sizeable portion. A much larger slab of brisket at 80% of the cost of what Decker Barbecue was charging.

That's eggs with asparagus with fried saltbush on toast. The menu mentioned the inclusion of Mountain Man washed rind cheese which was suppose to be a little pungent and complex cheese. Apparently also not good enough to register as a flavour component compared to the fried saltbush.

Balkh Bakery & Charcoal Kebab, Dandenong, Melbourne

Our friends mentioned Afghan food which they had stumbled upon previously and enjoyed in Dandenong where they occasionally do their marketing. They brought us down one evening to see how we liked Balkh Baker & Charcoal Kebab (256-258 Thomas Street, Dandenong, Melbourne, tel : +61 3 9794 5558).

The restaurant baked their own bread and from what I was told, that bread was made fresh on service. The portions above were a single serving. While it took a while to arrive, it was also worth the wait. One could taste the freshness in and underneath the crispy surface. Made a great vehicle for their charcoal grilled meats too.

One of the things they did at their grill was charcoal chicken. It was competent but it wasn't as impressive as their kebabs.

Their shish kebabs - which was pretty much what everyone else were also having were awesome. We had a mixed plate. The chicken ones were possibly the best I've had anywhere. Their spice mix was great flavouring but I thought being juicy and hot off the grill helped do the trick as well. This was some expert level kebab grilling here. I liked their lamb shish over the lamb koobideh. 

There was a rice dish on their menu which I later learnt was their rendition of the Afghan Kabuli palaw - a pilaf with sweet carrots and deliciously plump raisins. There was definitely some grease in the rice which I suspected but was unable to confirm were from the drippings of their meats. Delicious.

Hellenic Republic, Kew, Melbourne

It was only after we had gotten our food that I realized that the restaurant (26 Cotham Road, Kew, Melbourne, tel : +61 3 9207 7477) was owned by a George Calombaris - an Australian chef of Greek heritage that's a judge in Masterchef Australia and a character of some repute, some of which controversial.

Anyways, we were here for their showcase of Greek food which I heard is good in Australia. Melbourne I read, is home to one of the largest Greek diaspora communities in the world as well as being the city with the largest Greek-speaking population outside Greece. These have got to count for something with their cuisine here. No?

We started with some lamb manti with mint yoghurt and what might have been chilli oil. The stuffings in the dumplings tasted like lamb sausages. Pretty tasty.

I thought their spanakopita was delicious with the crisp paper thin filo pastry crust. There was a good balance between the stuffings of vegetables and feta cheese 

And then a saganaki - grilled Kefalograviera (which is very much like halloumi) that was topped with some peppered figs that provided a bit of spice and citrus sweetness.

Our celebration of the beast were a combination of spit roasted chicken and slow roasted shoulder of lamb. The former was all dark meat which I liked. Lamb was delicious with sweet caramelized char.

These might look like brains but they're actually roasted cauliflower with buttermilk tahini. The dark parts were the char on the cauliflower from the roast and not cancerous brain cells. For a little while, I had found the nutty creaminess a little confusing with the cauliflower.

The Barn Owl Cafe, Silvan, Melbourne

We were on the way to Yarra Valley for a wine tasting day trip and stopped by The Barn Owl (1 Parker Rd, Silvan, tel : +61 3 9737 9546) along the drive for some breakfast.

Cappuccino was okay. They dusted the weak foam with sweetened chocolate powder instead of powdered cocoa.

This was their Wolffy muffin with grilled halloumi cheese on the side. I liked that they used back bacon instead of the streaky ones. As a muffin, it wasn't as satisfying as the Mighty McMuffin.

What I found interesting was their chilli scramble. Scrambled eggs on croissant with chilli. Those cut red chillis were actually pickled - much like the pickled green chilli back home. 

Berwick Kebab, Berwick, Melbourne

We got some kebab/HSP this trip as well. This one was from Berwick Kebab (3/248 Clyde Road, Berwick, Melbourne, tel : +61 3 9702 2502).

While it satiated a craving, it didn't seem to be as enjoyable as the last one from Wot A Kebab which we though did a better job saucing up their meats. This pack also had relatively little cheese and chips.