Spatula, Spoon and Saturday

Not the most dignified picture to start off a blog post but really, this isn’t a classy blog, is it? That is one of our entree, the barbecued quail ($7), which despite its undignified posture was easily one of the tastiest quails I have ever had (and I have had the famous Rumi quail).

(Bo la lot – grilled beef wrapped in betel leaves – $9?)

This post is the culmination of two visits to Thanh Tam (formerly known as Thanh Ha, the name change is still a mystery to us but mind you every time I hear a story about a Melbourne Vietnamese restaurant name change, it usually involves some sort of sordid family feud, anyone know what went on here?) whom I have grown to absolutely adore for its large interesting Vietnamese menu and just genuinely good cheap food.

(Banh cuon – steamed rice rolls with pork, prawns and other interesting things – $8?)

We first rocked up to this place at the recommendation of April from My Food Trail. The place was popular and a bit squishy. The four of us were cramped onto a small table, which is a big downer especially for this restaurant because the food is so damn cheap that you want to order more! In fact, our record so far is 7 dishes between 4 people.

(dipping sauces and accompanying vegetables)

The menu did make a distinction between entree and main but don’t be fooled, the classification entree really isn’t an indication of size but rather the fact that you don’t eat these dishes with rice. The small table problem became apparently when we ordered about 5 dishes between 4 people just to realise that the accompanying sauces, lettuce, herbs, bean sprouts and various other side dishes came before any actual dish and promptly filled up the table! Read the rest of this entry »

Nat said she would take me to her favourite local, Kojo Brown. And so we went.

I can’t say I hang around Bridge Road a lot. Never a good shopper, I prefer to skulk around op shops so I can buy yet more crockery to fill my ridiculously full kitchen. But I digress. Suffice to say that I rarely end up in that part of town for food. Except on our wedding night when we stayed at Vila Donati. But I digress.

(Oxtail stew – $12)

Anyway! I ordered one of the specials which was the oxtail stew. Mainly because I was curious what $12 would get you. Turned out, quite a fair bit. The stew had bits of rich oxtail meat, lentils and other vegetables. It was rich and lovely and went with the slices of bread that accompanied it.

(Raviolio with sun-dried tomato sauce – $17?)

Nat went for the ravioli with sun-dried tomato sauce. She found it a bit too one dimensional and too tomatoey and wanted some bread and butter to go with it. I did offer her one of mine but because it rested on the meaty stew, she wasn’t interested. The waiter disappeared with our bread order for a while and we had to keep asking for the bread. What came was a large order of toasts and margarine. Strange, considering she asked for bread and butter.

Kojo Brown
Address: 294 Bridge Rd, Richmond, 3121 [ Google Map ]
Phone: (03) 9428 9800

Just when you think life works out when you get a brand new shiny computer (well, we put it in the old case, so really, it doesn’t look any different) and blogging is now going to be much easier, I realised that Windows 7 is really not interested in talking to Josh’s old card reader. Yep. It’s that old. So anyway, that’s not the excuse why I’m behind. The excuse of why I’m behind is:

IwasoverseasIwaslazyIstartedanewjobIwaslazyIwassickIwaslazyIwaslazyIwaslazyIwaslazy

The card reader being ignored is but one of the problems actually but the good thing is I now only have the old materials I should have blogged about ages ago. So catch up blogging it is.

We discovered Punjab Cafe quite recently (well, when I took these photos, we discovered it recently then) and it has become one of our favourite Indian takeaway in addition to Moza Corner which is just down the road. Josh actually works in Clayton, which is how we become in love with that strip of Indian heaven near the Clayton station even though it’s nowhere near where we live. And we have had the takeaways in on Friday night on a few occasions since.

But let’s go back to that fateful day when we first went there for lunch. I had ordered an onion bhaji because I was hungry (and greedy) and couldn’t wait for the food. It was from the bain marie so it was slightly on the warm (rather than hot) side but it was intensely spicy and onion with crunchy outside. Pass with a flying colour.

(lunch pack)

Josh had decided on the lunch special ($7?) which was any curry of your choice with rice, naan, pappadum and raita. He decided on the lamb curry which came with the option of mild, medium or hot. Josh was not the one to back down on spice so he went for hot which seemed to make the lady very happy. The lamb was beautifully tender and the curry intensely spicy and flavourful. So very good. Read the rest of this entry »