Bite-sized review #02

Batch Espresso

1/320 Carlisle St
Balaclava VIC 3183
(03) 9530 3550

Decided to hike out to Balaclava one day, with friends who were in search of a good brekkie/brunch feed. Ok, so Balaclava isn’t that much of a hike, but we were hungry- and in our hunger we retardedly waited for about 15 minutes at the Melbourne Central Station until someone pointed out that the train to Balaclava leaves from Flinders St.

Anyway, we got there eventually. And I can confidently say it was worth the trip into the ‘burbs. Plus the cafe is only about a block down from the train station, so we made it there without passing out from hunger.

Omelette with spanish salami, basil pesto and goat’s cheese was such a hearty affair, with the fluffy eggs enveloping a burst of well-balanced flavours. The salami added a bit of tangy meatiness, while the pesto didn’t really add much- IMO it wasn’t quite punchy enough. The zesty goat’s cheese definitely carried the whole dish though, cutting through the mountain of eggs and making sure it didn’t taste same-y with every bite.

I didn’t sample the coffee, which doesn’t matter because I’m no authority when it comes to coffee. Yannick, a friend of mine who is an authority on such matters though, deemed his piccolo latte not bad. So there you have it.

Finally, I loved the atmosphere at Batch. It was  relaxed, sunny and outfitted with quirky touches everywhere. All the customers seemed to know their way around too, and there was a lot of familiar, friendly banter with the staff.  Definitely going to schedule another visit here.

Co Do

196 Victoria St
Richmond VIC 3121
(03) 9421 2418

Ahh, Co Do, currently my favourite place on Victoria St. The pho, bun ho hue, and various other dishes are executed with speed and consistency. The soup is complex yet comforting, the TV showing Vietnamese mutant sci-fi is bewildering yet mesmerising.

The bun bo hue, a chili beef soup noodle thing, is one of their specialties.

Dave loves this dish because it’s so packed with spicy and peppery flavours. It also comes with chunkier, spaghetti-shaped noodles with a bit of bite to them.

I prefer the comforting flavours of their rare beef pho. There’s no photo because I’m always pretty determined to start on my pho the moment I see it. Plus you guys know what it looks like, right? Otherwise, see next review.

Feeling like duck one day, I tried one of their specialties of duck and bamboo shoots vermicelli soup. It was good. What else can I say? This place is solid awesomeness. While I’ve only had one-dish things, they have a pretty extensive lunch and dinner menu which I’d like to venture into, if only I can ever get past their amazing noodle soups.

Pho Dzung

208 Victoria St, Richmond VIC 3121

(03) 9427 0292

For a period of time, I was so besotted with Co Do that Dave and I would go to that place, and that place only, on Victoria Street. To shake it up a bit, Dave suggested Pho Dzung. It was bustling on an early weekday afternoon, and there were no menus to speak of, save the giant boards on the walls listing the different types of noodles, toppings, rices etc. I like it. It’s not trying to impress anyone.

I had the mixed beef pho.

The rare beef was a little bit powdery, not as sweet-tasting as Co Do’s. The braised beef, however, was better than Co Do’s. Curious. In any case, both are great places to go for a spot of cheap, filling, delicious lunch.

Chai

127 Pelham St, Carlton VIC 3053‎

(03) 9347 7448‎

A disappointing lunch, considering all the good things I’ve heard about this Malaysian restaurant. I will scale back a bit on the rage though, because when I came in completely sopping wet from the rain, they were kind enough to let me sit and wait in the restaurant for a whole hour without ordering anything.

When my tardy lunch buddy finally turned up, I ordered a loh she fun (claypot rice drop noodles) and she ordered a char kuey teow. For a second I was stumped about how to describe char kuey teow. Umm… basically it’s flat rice noodles wok-fried with egg, beansprouts, prawns etc. Quintessential Malaysian hawker dish, easy to put on a menu but almost impossible to perfect. In this case, there wasn’t enough wok hei (that unmistakable smoky punch of flavour) and the use of thin (think pad thai) noodles was a bit WTF.

My loh she fun (claypot rice drop noodleswith minced pork and mushroom), which was dry and didn’t have enough dark soy sauce.  Also, both noodle dishes were dripping with oil. I still prefer the loh she fun from Old Town Kopitiam for the right balance of moisture and flavour.

Misty’s Diner

103-105 High St
Prahran VIC 3181
(03) 9510 0033

Misty’s Diner with the boys.

The pulled pork sandwich, seen above, didn’t really impress. The pulled pork had been cooked to a slurry of soggy floss which soaked up too much BBQ sauce and made for a difficult eat when combined with the crusty bread it was served in. Every bite I took, the sludgy pork would just retreat until it spilled out of the other end of the sandwich. This rates pretty low on the on the “deliciousness” to “effort exerted in eating” ratio.  Next time I’m going to go with the boys’ suggestion and just get a huge frickin’ burger.

The fries con queso were pretty good, well coated in a zesty and cheesy topping studded with diced tomatoes. Huge servings though, as you can probably tell from the fact that they were served with tongs. Definitely not sustainable to order sides unless you’re sharing or have a burning desire to become morbidly obese.

Also, I solemnly swear that I will get the Reece’s thickshake next time I visit. Chunky, peanutty, creamy, sweet, cold and chocolatey all at the same time. I feel a phantom embolism just thinking about it, it’s fantastic.

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